Chase HQ restoration

matsadona

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Donor 2011
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Hi all, I'm new here so be nice :) And since english isn't my primary language, please don't make fun of my grammar and spelling.

I'm currently in the middle of a Chase HQ restoration. I got it for free last summer but it was totally empty, except for the (broken) pedal and the steering wheel (that was missing the center sensor pcb).
All wires were cut so it has taken a couple of hours doing some reverse engineering.

Finally I found an original main PCB at a fair price and it is in good shape by the looks of it.
Didn't afford any original monitor, so a standard 10$ TV from a garage sell has been assigned to its new life as an arcade monitor. It is equipped with RGB scart, so a couple of 150Ohm resistors and it's ready to go.

Haven't really figured out yet how to wire the speakers and the volume potentiometer. The existing wires and the schematics in the manual isn't consistent. Have to power it up some day and see what happens.


The "flashing display pcb" and the filter pcb is missing, but I wonder if I really need them?
I assumed that the PT light outputs was just "digital" on/off signals, so I wired them to two solid state relays. Unfortunately it seems like a data signal that has to be decoded, since the SSR's are on all the time. The test mode or gameplay doesn't change that. So by that I ruled out the possebility that the signal was inverted. Don't have anything more fancy than a standard multimeter, so I can't really tell what kind of signal that is from the main PCB.
So my question is, if anyone can give me some detailed information regarding this topic.
Or is it a fact that I have to buy a "flashing display pcb"?

Thanks
 
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I can take pictures of the board that appears to control my flashing lights, if this will help you.
 
Unfortunately, I've never seen a schematic for the flashing display PCB in Chase HQ. I also have never found a good wiring diagram for the game... I'll I can find is are schematics for the CPU and video PCBs, which don't help very much.

I good high-resolution close up of the board (where the chip numbers can be read) might allow us to make an educated guess about what it does and how it might do it...
 
Yeah, I have also noticed the total absence of wiring diagrams for this game.
So of course, any pictures of the driver board would be very appreciated (hires, both sides).

If it doesn't tell by the pictures, please write down any component names (IC's) separately.

And of course, if anyone has a spare board I would buy it.
 
I have a complete wiring harness, including the PCB that controls the lights if you are interested. Maybe the easiest way to get yours going :)
 
That would be great. Let me know how much you want, and I will definitely consider that option.
 
I think I have found the problem with the missing red color. The TC0070RGB special circuit looks damaged, and since I can't get any red signal from it that makes sense.
There is a small burn mark at the circuit closest to the RGB output. Can't tell but it is probably a surface mount capacitor or resistor hiding there.

So anyone with a spare TC0070RGB circuit? Or maybe a dead Taito board with that circuit on it?

Or is there any real hardcore technician out there that has reverse enginered this curcuit and figured out what components there is? In theory it should be possible...
 

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Post them in this thread.
This was one of my favorite games back in college. Good luck with the restore.

OK, I'll give it a try...
 

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And some more...
 

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Fingers crossed now, having a another TC0070RGB board sent to me. The previous owner doesn't know if it is OK or not. Only time will tell...
 
Yes, those RGB SIP packages are common failures on Taito boards because they are so fragile. Often they are totally missing on board sold as faulty because they play blind. In your case you might find if you look at the pins with a magnifying glass that there are hairline cracks on the legs, which you can usually touch up with solder. One I fixed on a Rainbow Islands board had a number of its legs snapped off...

http://retrocomputermuseum.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1811.0

...and that now works again.
 
Still the patrol light circuits doesn't make any sense to me.
Is there anyone out there with a Chase HQ cabinet that can confirm if the patrol lights are glowing/dimmed in passive mode?
When I look at the schematics it seems to always be a current through the 4W resistor that is parallel to the transistor. And why is there heavy duty transistors?
I am more and more curious to see what kind of components there is on the external driver board for the patrol lights. Any pictures would be very appreciated.

Hmm... are the original patrol light bulbs 12V? Then it would make sense with the overrated transistors and resistors. I just assumed that there was some kind of triacs driving two 110V bulbs...
 

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I think 110v 50 watt are supposed to be there. I forget where I found that out. No they shouldnt be dimmed. They should wigwag when first turn on the cabinet.
 
Mr Sinister -> could you please take some pictures of the driver boards for the patrol lights?
I really want to understand why Taito choosed this stupid design.

Right now I am considering to remove IC76 (TD62003) and pull the non-inverted signals directly from IC77 (74LS273N) and drive the SSR's...
That would be much more convenient I guess.
 
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