Galaga 88 - Understading my First Machine

GalacticDancin

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Hi everyone, this is my first post. This past weekend I picked up my first arcade machine, a Galaga 88. I've been lusting after this particular game for awhile and one came up and I bought it. My friend and I took a fun road trip in a large rental van and picked it up on Sunday.

I'm the first to admit that I have and had no idea what I was doing. I probably overpaid. But, I have the game back in my apartment in Brooklyn and it has been getting a lot of love and attention. It's an incredible game.

The reason I'm posting here is because I've been doing some investigating to try to understand more about the origin of my machine. I understand that there were a small number of dedicated Galaga 88 cabs made and the rest were conversion of Dragon Spirit. I'm trying to figure out if mine was dedicated or a conversion.

I recently read through this restoration thread https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=282090&page=6

I noticed that in his photos that there were matching serial number stickers on the components. I checked the circuit board that the control panel connects to and saw the serial number was not a Galaga number. What does this serial number belong to? See photo.


I didn't see serial numbers on other components. Also it's clear that the power supply has been modernized.



Behind the coin door there is a monitor adjustment. It adjust for picture size and position as well as brightness and contrast. No control for color, gamma, etc... I didn't see this on the restoration thread. Was this added later, maybe by whoever replaced the power supply?




Ok so remember how I said I couldn't find any pictures of the serial number? Well there was this really grimy piece of paper in the back of the machine that I had never felt compelled to reach back and grab and check out. But looking around again today after reading the restore thread I posted above I decided to reach back and see if it had any info and low and behold I find this!


This is a sticker sheet that has all the serial numbers stickers on it. It was super dirty. I actually brushed off a bunch of grime before taking this pic. You couldn't hardly see anything at first.

So what does this mean? Why were these never applied? Did these come with the conversion kit, or did they only come with the dedicated cabs?

Ok, I know I have posted a lot in this thread already. But I have some more technical questions I'd love to ask you guys. One is about whether this machine supports stereo sound. According the specs on arcade museum it is in stereo, but my machine only has a single speaker in the center of the overhead speaker baffle.

Finally, only one of the shot buttons is hooked up. Is it possible to make the second one operational? Where doe sit plug into the board?



If you have read this far, thank you. Also, I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. If anyone in the area is handy this this stuff or wants to meet a the local barcade for a drink, hit me up.

I'll end with some pictures of picking the game up.



My friend came along to help.


Willman Coin???? Anyone heard of it?

Good thing my cousin works for Enterprise and got me a good deal on the stupidly large van.


My buddy playing with the classic giraffe stance.
 
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Oh, I should mention. I bought the game from a woman who didn't know much about it. She had bought it around 7 years ago from an individual (not an arcade) as a gift for her disable husband who was a Galaga fan. According to the lady her husband only played it a couple times because it was the wrong Galaga (presumably he wanted the original and she didn't know the difference when she bought it). So if the seller's story is true it's been sitting for the last 7 years unplayed.
 
Nice looking machine. My BEST guess is that it was likely another game and Galaga was a conversion kit and the installer (operator) didn't bother installing the serial stickers, etc.

It could have started life as Pacmania, or Dragon Spirit...though Dragon Spirit had 2 buttons on each side I do believe...
 
First of all congratulations on your first game and welcome to the addiction!!!

I also have had a Galaga 88 arcade before and I feel that it plays better than the original.
Anyways, it looks like your game has been updated.
The original monitor in most of the Galaga 88 games was a Sanyo monitor like you would find in your Nintendo arcades.

The monitor in there now has been updated and has a separate adjustment PCB which is the rainbow colored board behind your coin door. This adjustment board makes it super easy to adjust the monitor using that versus the older monitors that you would have to remove the back of the game to adjust the monitor.
As for the colors not being right you might want to take a look at the monitor harness that I've circled in blue.

Also the original Galaga 88 used a different linear power supply. The one that's in your game has been updated to a newer one which is good.

As for your button problem, there should be some stray wires lying underneath the control panel somewhere due to the red button in your picture not having any wires.
That button needs a microswitch popped on it and that would give you control of the button back. I shown it circled in red.
 

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It does look dedicated Galaga 88, but then again, could have been a Pacmania as well. Do you see any remnants of old art on the sides? Were the sides painted?

I found an Atari arcade which was dedicated and the serial stickers, etc. were not put on, but were dumped in the back. I wonder if it was somewhat common for Atari to do that.

It looks to be in sweet condition. Good score.
 
I can tell you live in Williamsburg by the beards..

just kidding. I lived there from 2006-2007.

I bet if you ask at barcade someone will help you out they have a few repair guys who know their games.
 
First of all congratulations on your first game and welcome to the addiction!!!

I also have had a Galaga 88 arcade before and I feel that it plays better than the original.
Anyways, it looks like your game has been updated.
The original monitor in most of the Galaga 88 games was a Sanyo monitor like you would find in your Nintendo arcades.

The monitor in there now has been updated and has a separate adjustment PCB which is the rainbow colored board behind your coin door. This adjustment board makes it super easy to adjust the monitor using that versus the older monitors that you would have to remove the back of the game to adjust the monitor.
As for the colors not being right you might want to take a look at the monitor harness that I've circled in blue.

Also the original Galaga 88 used a different linear power supply. The one that's in your game has been updated to a newer one which is good.

As for your button problem, there should be some stray wires lying underneath the control panel somewhere due to the red button in your picture not having any wires.
That button needs a microswitch popped on it and that would give you control of the button back. I shown it circled in red.


Thank you everyone for responding so far.

Shawn, yes I had noticed that that red tube under the right button was empty. I would like to get another microswitch to pop in there and hook up. Do you know which is the correct switch and where would you recommend I buy one?

I think the colors on the screen seem ok, but it would be nice to know how to tweak them if I wanted to. Perhaps this is somewhere behind the monitor. I have not taken the back of the game off yet.

Also, Shaun, do you remember i your Galaga 88 had stereo speakers or just a single center mono speaker like mine has?
 
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It does look dedicated Galaga 88, but then again, could have been a Pacmania as well. Do you see any remnants of old art on the sides? Were the sides painted?

I found an Atari arcade which was dedicated and the serial stickers, etc. were not put on, but were dumped in the back. I wonder if it was somewhat common for Atari to do that.

It looks to be in sweet condition. Good score.

I haven't found any remnants of other games other than perhaps that odd serial number on the monitor harness (URO1832). Does that code, URO, correspond to another game?

It looks like the sides of the cab have some sort of paper covering as you can see it peeling back here with the bare wood underneath. But then it also looks like at some point this paper covering might have been painted over with additional white paint.



Also, the front door accessing the PCB is held shut with a single wood screw you can see in the top left of this pic. I have noticed on other Galaga 88 cabs that they have a lock.
 
I can tell you live in Williamsburg by the beards..

just kidding. I lived there from 2006-2007.

I bet if you ask at barcade someone will help you out they have a few repair guys who know their games.

Hey, you lived in Williamsburg when it was still cool :) And yeah they wont allow you to move here and pay the ridiculous rent prices unless you have a beard. ;)
 
It looks to me that the front door to your game has been changed or re-done.
The original cabinet I had, had a lock.

As for the question about the colors, yes there is a smaller PCB attached to the back of the monitor that the colors can be tweeked to get them perfect.

I think there might be a dip switch setting on the test menu that you can change it to stereo but I don't remember 100%. I attached a photo of where the test button is. Once you hit the test button you'll be able to go through the menu screen to see. I circled it in green but don't remember which switch it was.

As for your questions concerning the microswitches any run of the mill microswitch will fix your problem. I have some I can mail you and I also have the original manual for it if your interested.



Thank you everyone for responding so far.

Shawn, yes I had noticed that that red tube under the right button was empty. I would like to get another microswitch to pop in there and hook up. Do you know which is the correct switch and where would you recommend I buy one?

I think the colors on the screen seem ok, but it would be nice to know how to tweak them if I wanted to. Perhaps this is somewhere behind the monitor. I have not taken the back of the game off yet.

Also, Shaun, do you remember i your Galaga 88 had stereo speakers or just a single center mono speaker like mine has?
 

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It looks to me that the front door to your game has been changed or re-done.
The original cabinet I had, had a lock.

As for the question about the colors, yes there is a smaller PCB attached to the back of the monitor that the colors can be tweeked to get them perfect.

I think there might be a dip switch setting on the test menu that you can change it to stereo but I don't remember 100%. I attached a photo of where the test button is. Once you hit the test button you'll be able to go through the menu screen to see. I circled it in green but don't remember which switch it was.

As for your questions concerning the microswitches any run of the mill microswitch will fix your problem. I have some I can mail you and I also have the original manual for it if your interested.

Thanks Shawn, PM sent.

Also, I have been into the operator menu - you can access it by flipping a switch on the control harness. There is no option for stereo or mono, and regardless, the game only has one speaker.
 
I've got a pretty nice galaga88 (best galaga game) which I thought was dedicated. After opening it up I found a PAC Mania sheet on door.

Congrats on a sweet machine.
 
I've got a pretty nice galaga88 (best galaga game) which I thought was dedicated. After opening it up I found a PAC Mania sheet on door.

Congrats on a sweet machine.

Thanks Ender. Just out of curiosity, does yours have Galaga serial number stickers on the components or Pac Mania stickers?

Also, does it have just one speaker and mono sound?

Thanks

Also, I agree this is the best Galaga game. Sadly it seems that a lot of people haven't played it I guess to to the small number of machines made.
 
Welcome to the forums and congrats on your "First" game...

Because, believe me, this will be your first game, as in, you will end up with more that just one...

:D

Brent
 
Welcome to the forums and congrats on your "First" game...

Because, believe me, this will be your first game, as in, you will end up with more that just one...

:D

Brent

Ha, well I'm somewhat restricted by the confines of a small apartment. But yeah there is another game I would love to get....
 
But yeah there is another game I would love to get....

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No such thing......... This is me, in my dining room:

You want them bad enough, you'll FIND space. :D

Ha! I dont know. Honestly there are very few games that I would actually want to own. I'd rather play the rest in the arcade. :) I do really want a Robotron though....
 
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