Battlezone Image Issue

FrizzleFried

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I have a strange shake issue with my Battlezone. At first I figured it was the monitor so I re-capped it. The problem remained. Shit. So I pulled the known good G05-802 from my Asteroids, plug it in, SAME PROBLEM. I guess I can write off the monitor as the issue eh?

Next I replace the Big Blue. Problem remained.

I then tried a 2nd AR-II board I had on the shelf and, well, the problem remained.

So now I am down to two things I think... either the PCB is bad or there is a problem in the harness, right? Anyone have any other suggestion?

Here is a new video of the problem...this is of the known good monitor from the Asteroids...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2BdIK9jgvw
 
I wouldn't say it's shaking as much as pulsing. How steady is your voltage coming from the power brick?
 
Remember Mod...I'm somewhat of a newb here. Where do I measure? I assume at the molex connector where it meets the montor, but which color wires? Been looking for a pinout unsuccessfully thus far.

EDIT: Nevermind... found the pinout. I am measuring 29.0 to 29.1 VAC...

I did find a couple places that were fluctuating from abou 2.7VAC to 3.2VAC up and down but I am not sure if I was measuring properly, etc.
 
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I'd suspect a power supply issue. You probably have some ripple on one of the DC lines some where. An 'oscope would tell you immediately, if you know someone you could borrow one from. Might try changing out the brick if you have another one around. Lastly, check all of the ground wires to see if they are all connected, and be sure your power cord has the third pin ground. Looks a little like hum, but it didn't seem to be 60 Hz, but could be 120 Hz (although I thought it was faster than that. Maybe you could count it for us and see if it is 120 Hz.) Maybe a bridge rectifier problem?
 
I'd suspect a power supply issue. You probably have some ripple on one of the DC lines some where. An 'oscope would tell you immediately, if you know someone you could borrow one from. Might try changing out the brick if you have another one around. Lastly, check all of the ground wires to see if they are all connected, and be sure your power cord has the third pin ground. Looks a little like hum, but it didn't seem to be 60 Hz, but could be 120 Hz (although I thought it was faster than that. Maybe you could count it for us and see if it is 120 Hz.) Maybe a bridge rectifier problem?


Wouldn't swapping the AR-II and getting the very same result eliminate it as the culprit or are you referring to the power brick?

Also, I assume a power brick form Asteroids won't work (or will it)? I say this as Asteroids uses a different AR than BZ...

EDIT: Man...just having "one of those days". According to ElectronForges pages... the power brick from an ASTEROIDS DELUXE would work with my BZ, but not an Asteroids. Now I am stuck.
 
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The brick. You already did the AR-II.

Count the ripple for us and tell us what the frequency is.

(There are other people here with much more experience than I have who will know exactly what the problem is, (like Dokert or Ken). I'm just chiming in trying to help until they notice the thread and reply...!)
 
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I was over 70 at 30 seconds... and the ripple isn't constant.... sometimes it doubles the "average" speed...
 
Maybe this info will help...

I used the B&W Vector Monitor Guide to do some testing...

According to the guide, X-OUT should measure 6.68 at the molex connector... it measures 6.3 and fluctuates to 6.4 from time to time.

Y-OUT should measure 6.69 at the molex connector... it measures 3.6 to 3.7...

Z-OUT should measure 6.7 at the molex connector... strangely, I can not get ANY reading for Z-OUT... zero. Is that right? Would an image appear onscreen if it's getting zero voltage at Z?

Anyway.... to continue....

30VAC measures 29 and change...

Pin 11 is 6.3VAC that is supposed to measure 9.7 according to the guide... it measures JACK... nothing...

What's that tell you smart guys?
 
The fact that your voltage readings are fluctuating would indicate that you are seeing AC ripple on the DC line. This indicates either the bridge is leaking and needs to be replaced or the big caps are leaking and need to be replaced. I don't have my bzone docs handy (they are at home) so I can't give more explicit help.

The other thing to check is the solder connections to the big caps. If they are stressed this will prevent them from doing their job of knocking down the AC ripple.

ken
 
Seems unlikely to me that you can see AC ripple on a DC signal with a voltmeter.

The boards signal from XOUT and YOUT is not a constant voltage (even in test mode). So I would expect the voltmeter to fluctuate.

Looking at the signal on a scope would be ideal.
 
Seems unlikely to me that you can see AC ripple on a DC signal with a voltmeter.

With a digital multi-meter you will see it as the voltage fluctuating by a couple of tenths of a volt. With +5 with no ripple you will see no fluctuation. With a slight amount of AC ripple you will see the voltages fluctuate. With an old analog meter you will probably not see it.

ken
 
You ever get this resolved? Fired up my BZ today and something is 'off'. The letters look ragged (ends of letters dont match up correctly) and it seems to pulse a bit...Wonder if we have the same issue
 
WOW im dealing with the Exact same issue with Tempest. The screen does the exact same thing as your BZ. First we thought monitor issue the 6100 had a new repro arcade shop deflection board but the HV board was old so I found and installed a brand new HV board. Still shakes.

bought a new interconnect harness and replaced the main harness, mine fit a little loose. I thought the problem was fixed. I moved the tempest to its new spot. and ran power in from around the corner it the next room since it would not reach the plug in the room.

played solid for a month. I decided to get a extensoin cord and run it to my main game surge protector, the one it was plugged into before. the shakes were back at full force.I plugged it back into the other rooms outlet and the shakes are almost gone again???
Im going to switch the power brick and I will let you know if it helps. All I know for sure is it does not like the power its getting from that outlet.:confused:

just curious if you try it on another outlet from a different breaker does it shake?
 
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Seems unlikely to me that you can see AC ripple on a DC signal with a voltmeter.

The boards signal from XOUT and YOUT is not a constant voltage (even in test mode). So I would expect the voltmeter to fluctuate.

Looking at the signal on a scope would be ideal.

I think he's trying to measure the 'average' DC voltage on those lines. I know that the DC levels are constantly changing on those lines, but some digital voltmeters will display a slowly changing value. I think that's what he's doing..

You can measure some AC ripple on the DC supply lines (where the voltage is supposed to be steady), but you can't get any meaningful info from those output lines.


I've never seen that XY Guide that he's referencing, but I think I'd chuck it...
 
I put a rebuilt power brick in mine tonight. I dont want to claim its fixed yet, because I have been chasing this problem for awhile. What I will say is the machine at least for now is stable in both outlets. If it continues to be stable I will be ordering Bob Roberts Atari Power Supply rebuild kit for my other brick.
 
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