Ever do something and wish you'd taken pictures to document it?

modessitt

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Ever do something and wish you'd taken pictures to document it?

Ever do some repair and after it was all done and working, you think you should have taken pictures while doing it so the newbs or less-experienced would have a clue how to do it themselves at some point?

I had to repair a 6100 neckboard that the focus pin had broken and fallen out of the socket. I removed the socket from the neckboard, separated the top and bottom pieces, and found that the entire focus pin piece was actually in three pieces - the spark-gap part where the wire from the HV cage connects, the part that contacts the pin on the neck, and the bendy piece in between - instead of whole as expected. I got out my file, filed the edges of the pieces, used solder as a weld to reconnect the pieces, got it bent back to the original shape, reinserted it, put the socket halves back together, reinstalled it into the neckboard, fired it up and had a perfect picture.

That's when I thought, "Damn! I'm sure someone would've liked to have seen how I did that..."
 
I would have liked to see that. This is all great stuff. I like when people that know their stuff post their successful repair notes. I don't like posts that don't reply on what happened after getting the help that they needed. How are the rest of us newbies going to know if it worked or not. It also sucks when you are doing searches so you don't ask the same questions. Thanks for all the great help and posts MOD.
 
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I would have liked to see that. This is all great stuff. I like when people that know their stuff post their successful repair notes. I don't like posts that don't reply on what happened after getting the help that they needed. How are the rest of us newbies going to know if it worked or not. I also sucks when you are doing searches so you don't ask the same questions. Thanks for all the great help and posts MOD.

I know it's sometimes wordy and people don't give a fuck, but if I have a problem I'm trying to solve I always follow up. If I can't fix it, I detail what I've tried, just to keep a document of it. It's frustrating here when members ask questions about fixing problems, and never follow up with findings after receiving advice.

I don't know how many threads I've read that end with a post that reads, "Thanks I'll try that."
 
I know I've personally done some stuff that would have helped others out, and I would really like to see what I have missed from the more experienced techs around here on what they have fixed.

But it would seem like the "how to fix it" part is easier to photograph and document than the "how to find the problem" part which can be tough at times.
 
"Ever do something and wish you'd taken pictures to document it? "

All the time! Im working on it though. I have been documenting some of the less common pac problems that are not listed in the various repair logs that are out on the net.
The problem is when im working I dont want to stop to take the time to get a camera and take pictures and jot down the notes. Then sometimes I do several in one day and forget which chicken scratch note goes to which pic.
I repaired a qbert board yesterday that I should have documented. I fixed four videot boards the last couple days that I should have documented. I can remember the videot stuff so I will probably go ahead and log that stuff while its fresh in my mind.
 
The bad part for me is that I had a camera sitting right there and a pad of paper, too. I could have snapped a pic, checked to see what number it was on the card, wrote the number on the pad with a brief description to remind me, then moved on. I could have loaded the pics and typed it up later...
 
Ever do some repair and after it was all done and working, you think you should have taken pictures while doing it so the newbs or less-experienced would have a clue how to do it themselves at some point?

All the time. I get so involved in doing that I think about snapping a picture, then go maybe just after this step. When I'm done I go, "Damn I should have taken some pictures"....

It is just too easy to get caught up in the moment.

ken
 
I don't do pictures of much of anything besides cabinet restoration stuff... which I haven't done in forever...

But I do document (probably to the point of being annoying) pretty much everything I do to my boards here though. Normally it's not too bad, but I've got a few projects going right now and I feel like I'm posting something about a game every couple of hours... it's almost starting to annoy me, but I just get carried away sometimes. I do it because there are some other threads where people will ask about something I KNOW I just read about, then when I finally find the original threads, the OP never said what did or didn't fix the problem.

I'd REALLY love to see a "repair logs" section in the monitor and game tech sections. When an issue is resolved, it's moved to the repair logs section, where a volunteer can combine all the repairs (weekly, monthly, whatever) into game/monitor specific threads. Got an issue with a 4600? Check the 4600 repair log... got garbage on your Pac? Check the Pac/Ms.Pac repair log...

... dare to dream.
 
I'd REALLY love to see a "repair logs" section in the monitor and game tech sections. When an issue is resolved, it's moved to the repair logs section, where a volunteer can combine all the repairs (weekly, monthly, whatever) into game/monitor specific threads. Got an issue with a 4600? Check the 4600 repair log... got garbage on your Pac? Check the Pac/Ms.Pac repair log...

... dare to dream.

Superb idea! I'd have added this thread instead of the non coin-op one....this one would be waaaaay more useful!
 
I try and take pictures of everything I do now. I wish I took more pics of all the games I restored 10+ years ago. For now on, everything gets documented even if i dont post it.
 
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I had a Missile Command board a while back that had a spectacular failure mode! It would play fine for about a minute then when one of the DRAMs heated up and it started to flake, reset, play,... then flake some more and reset more. After about 2 mins it would print the "Missile Command" attract and just reset cycle there, changing colors, reprinting, flashing colors, reset, reprint backwards, flash screen colors, reset, reprint, etc.. Eventually the text would look striped, wire framed all while flashing colors as it slowly just faded to black and then died.

Damn I wish I had taken a video. It was beautiful man!
 
Ever do something and wish you'd taken pictures to document it?


yeah, there was that time with the ticklish girl from my high school art class and a whole lot of body paint. but she and I were both underage at the time, so posting pics would be illegal.

I'm still not sure what was the most fun, applying the paint, or cleaning it off.
 
I always do this....especially with restorations...I get so involved with the restoration I never take pictures..and then when its done I always kick myself because the before and after would really tell the story....

Board repair is something I do when I have to ....but there are plenty of people on this site that do it everyday that can take care of that...I am equipped to do it..but don't enjoy it..except for when its easy repair and then the board fires right up...:D

I wish I would have documented all the Professor Pac boards I worked on...man those things are pain in the ass..and there are all kinds of glitches you will find when troubleshooting them...Riptor can also comment on this...:D He made my last few batches of Professor pac repairs a hell of a lot easier...byt stocking a lot of the chips ...now when I restore certain boards I just replace most of the trouble chips not matter what before I even tackle other issues.
 
I would have liked to see that. This is all great stuff. I like when people that know their stuff post their successful repair notes. I don't like posts that don't reply on what happened after getting the help that they needed. How are the rest of us newbies going to know if it worked or not. It also sucks when you are doing searches so you don't ask the same questions. Thanks for all the great help and posts MOD.
Guilty!
Just went back and posted findings on all of my questions I forgot to follow up on.
 
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