B&W Taito Space Invaders

JonM

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Just picked up a troubled B&W Taito Space Invaders. The game coins up but the picture on the B&W monitor is scrambled. Not sure if this is a monitor issue or not. Any ideas on how to tell? I've attached a couple pictures of the video. What I'm looking for is a good guess on whether I should be looking at a board problem or monitor problem. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 

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Looks to me like a horizontal hold / sync problem. May adjust right out with a twist of the knob. Even if that doesn't work, twisting the knob is always fun. :)
 
Ok. I just went through the v hold (and a few other knobs). I can make the picture shake less but the image is still all messed up like you see in the picture. How do I tell if it is the monitor or the game?
 
How do I tell if it is the monitor or the game?

You hook up the PCB to a known-working monitor.
Or hook up a known-working PCB to that monitor.
Or check the sync lines on the PCB with an o-scope.
 
I agree that the horizontal sync is not locking in.

You probably need to adjust the horizontal sync or horizontal frequency.

To do that without possibly misadjusting something else, you need to find the correct knob without guessing too much. (if you misadjust a voltage setting, you may be in worse shape).

Poke around on the net until you can identify the make/model of the monitor then search for a manual or check back here.

Kerry
 
I can point you in the direction of a Space Invaders Part II Cocktail manual, but I can't guarantee that it will help with the B&W monitor. I assume it's either a Toei or a Hitachi?

The Space Invaders Part II Cocktail Manual was the missing link to my Lunar Rescue. Also, I MUST recommend that you talk to Andy Welburn (P-man) andysarcade.net

Contact him and describe your problem as specifically as possible. He's the go-to guy for Taito Cocktails. He's owned several of these throughout the years. He's a true resource!!

Tell him Brandon in the U.S. with the Lunar Rescue sent ya!
 
Thanks for all the replies! I don't have any other parts to plugin for testing. It sounds like I need to run down the monitor model and test voltages. Thanks again.
 
The video out of Space Invaders is composite so you connect it to a video in of a standard TV to see how it looks.
Does look like a Horizontal or vertical hold issue, should be adjustable.

BTW, if anyone has a schematic for the Hitachi converted TV chassis monitor used in the Taito please let me know, I am hunting down a squashed picture on a SI.
 
What I would do...is turn it off, note the position of all the adjustment pots along the chassis, then crank them all to full turn both ways several times (only the adjustments on the metal part, NOT THE Flyback!). This helps clean them. Then turn them all the way down, fire it up, and adjust it back in and see if it dials in now. Sometimes the pots are so old they just need their world rocked a little to clean em up get them going again.

You can hook up a regular tv with video input to see if the board is working and if so, chances are its a monitor issue and just needs a cap kit.
 
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