Black Widow intermittent display

JDGJr

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Machine is completely new to me, I think it sat in a (dry) shed for several years.

On power up, the spot killer is lit, neck glow present and very light flutter sound from video. After a minute or so, the spot killer goes off, the fluttering sound gets much louder, scores show brightly on the screen, and mostly stead for 10-15 seconds until the display stops and the spot killer comes back on.

I have checked the voltages at the power block (after swapping big blue). I checked P900 pin 5 and adjusted from previous value of 158 to 180 - testing the pin on the neck board shows around 179. This value does not change when the display starts/stops.

Is my only next step to cap the 6100?
Any suggestions?

thanks,
John
 
Machine is completely new to me, I think it sat in a (dry) shed for several years.

On power up, the spot killer is lit, neck glow present and very light flutter sound from video. After a minute or so, the spot killer goes off, the fluttering sound gets much louder, scores show brightly on the screen, and mostly stead for 10-15 seconds until the display stops and the spot killer comes back on.

I have checked the voltages at the power block (after swapping big blue). I checked P900 pin 5 and adjusted from previous value of 158 to 180 - testing the pin on the neck board shows around 179. This value does not change when the display starts/stops.

Is my only next step to cap the 6100?
Any suggestions?

thanks,
John

Probably a good idea to do a full rebuild - frame transistors and everything. Up to you whether you want to include an LV upgrade (LV2000 or LV6100). Black Widow doesn't stress the monitor as much as Tempest...
 
While the monitor could almost certainly use a full rebuild, it sounds like you have a problem with the game pcb.
 
Possibly the power supply, too....

Power supply? Please elaborate? I swapped in a new big blue and checked the voltages acto the video on youtube - all checked out fine. Are you saying the A/R II needs to be reworked? How can i prove/disprove that A/R II is ok?

thanks!
 
On another note, i swapped in a different monitor that i got at the same time from the same guy - the +/- 28 voltages at p900 read around 27, but the B+ never changes from 52!

spot killer stays on constantly on that monitor.
 
Why do you say this?

Because you're getting intermittent activation of the spot killer. This could be caused by a malfunctioning game pcb that's only sporadically sending a valid x-y signal to the monitor. It could also be caused by other things such as a bad power supply, or a monitor deflection-board problem, or...

Flip the test switch to put the game into test mode. See if that successfully comes up on the screen or not, or if you get any tones indicating bad rams/roms. (See the Black Widow manual for more info on the test mode.) Other required reading would include the K6100 manual, and the K6100 FAQ.

Atari vector games require a systematic restoration approach. If you want it to work reliably, you need to go through everything. See this thread for an example of the process that I go through...
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=104226

Alan
 
Please take a few pictures of your monitor and post them here. Pull the screen off of the HV cage, if it is still present, to show us it's condition. A picture or two of the High Voltage cage and the deflection board will tell us in seconds if it has ever been touched...
 
Check the connector that plugs into the monitor very carefully - both sides - the one on the harness and the one on the monitor itself. The pins like to push their way out of the connector. If an X or a Y signal pin is making poor contact, it'll trip the spot killer. The spot killer on the monitor basically senses when there is a missing deflection signal and shuts off the beam so the tube doesn't get burned.

It could also be a game board problem, or a game power supply problem. Check the edge connector at the game PCB, also check the voltages right at the game PCB.

-Ian
 
Flip the test switch to put the game into test mode. See if that successfully comes up on the screen or not, or if you get any tones indicating bad rams/roms. (See the Black Widow manual for more info on the test mode.Alan

Oh, i was being stupid. great idea, and thanks for the reminder. In test mode the display is perfect, and the first page is showing ROM error 0 with a low tone. I have something to start on tomorrow!!!!
 
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