mulch
New member
First post for me....
Im 36, live in Bristol, UK.
HI... 8)
I hope this isnt too lengthy for you folks to digest, but I would really appreciate some experienced input.
After being totally inspired by the Gauntlet game of the 80s, it has taken me a good 20 years to be in a position where actually owning a cabinet has become a possibility!!!
I purchased one the other day(knowing it didnt work but thinking it MIGHT just be possible to get it running!) as a gift to myself (birthday coming up) and I am keen to assess whether its a project for me as soon as humanly possible!!!
To summarise this email, I've been searching through websites all day and have just got here... its past 4am here in UK... so forgive me for not reading the stickies or the Tech advice section... believe me, I will be!
Here goes my story... spose i'm keen to get any info about where I should start with this machine. What to do first about checking and fault-finding. Are there any common issues with old gauntlet machines wiring or obvious things I should check (obvious perhaps to people like yourselves that is!!)...
Skip to the section below that describes what happens when I switch it on if you want to cut to the chase here...
Machine Appraisal
---------------
Cabinet is a bit tatty round the edges but its a beauty!!!
Its an irish build (stated on handwritten sticker inside - as well as serial info if important)
Slight monitor burn-out obvious in its off state (the right-hand Level and Player detail panel) - this is not a surprise to me and actually not as much a concern as is getting the game operational! (that is, i spose, if the monitor showed any signs of life at all!)
Picture Panel (are these called bezels?) on right side of cab fully intact, a few scratches.
Picture Panel on left missing the top quarter of picture.
All original joysticks and buttons. (looking at their action from beneath control panel, they seem in good condition)
Fitted with '10 pence' slots - I'm missing the keys to both slot doors however the right hand door is already open.
I have the keys for both the coin drawers (below the slot doors).
Inside, the cabinet has obviously been stored for some time... cobwebs and dust everywhere and a bag with some fuses and the maplins receipt for them from 1993!!
After having a good look around inside I notice the following -
Player controls originally all unplugged (including a green cable - probably for earth) (I have carefully plugged these in now but assume their connection doesnt affect the game powering up)
In the top section (behind the original Hantarex tube) the cable that runs from the main pcb connects as it should, but some of the cables that run up alongside them feed off into a 5pin plastic female that hangs there going nowhere... I cant find any obvious location for it to connect, either in the tube bay OR below in the main cab area..
In the base of the cab area, where the power comes in, there is loads of dust and right near the transformer I immediately notice that there appears to be a jumper block missing. There are 3 slots on this base panel - the first panel with the fuse array on - each slot of slightly different size - and only 2 have male plastic blocks attached (i can only assume they are jumpers... the wires simply link back into itself on different posts)... am I actually missing a jumper here??
Fuses here are intact and in good condition.
There is a box immediately to my right (looking in from the lower back, where a panel is missing) that seems to distributes power in different voltages to various parts of the cab. The thing to note here is that also in the cab (just sat there loose and unnatached) is ANOTHER of these which looks slightly newer (its black and not dusty or cobwebbed - has the same screw-fit posts (12v / 5v / gnd etc) - my instincts say that perhaps someone was going to replace this but didnt... (im hoping the fix might be that simple!! - u still with me?? theres more... but not TOO much!!!) (note that this makes a slightly fluctuating faint hissing sound when machine is powered up)
And So...
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I POWER UP THE GAUNTLET MACHINE
------------------------------------------------------------
Upon powering up, the lights of the coin slots come on. (Except for Elfs - possibly the bulb has simply gone)
There is a slightly high pitch almost hissing sound from the power distribution unit. (perhaps - if someone recommends it - I should install the other distribution unit i found in the cab)
The red LED on the PCB comes on.
Absolutely NO response from the Hantarex monitor. (I keep thinking of the dangling 5pin plastic female - as mentioned in an earlier paragraph)
Speakers seem to respond to power-up, but only a droning hum which changes depth slightly after about 12 seconds - my guess is that there is a system check and then perhaps an options page and possibly the sound change indicates the end of the system check. (remember I cant see anything on screen) So once I attached the player controls to the board and moved the joysticks and pressed the buttons, the hum coming from the speakers changed as if I were scrolling through a menu or something. (With no monitor its obviously hard to tell what is going on... If anything relevant...)
However, if that is the case, that Im on a menu screen but cant see it, I have yet to get to the end of the menus (after trying many different combinations of joystick and button pressing) ... or perhaps I am just hearing some garbled feedback from the internal electrics which could possibly be at fault anyway....
Finally, after looking a bit more closely inside the cab at the wiring and getting my head around what goes where and what does what, I notice a couple of wires just above and to the right of the panel with the MosFets and heat sink on.... that may have have been cut. one is light blue and the other is light purple... looks like they were both on their way to the 'play counter' area (where the Potential Resistor is mounted as volume control - which works by the way, but crackles severely and only increases the volume of the hum/feedback noise...)...
Speaking of the volume control, there is a two-state switch there that has 6 spades from it... only the bottom four spades of this switch are connected to cables (black and white)...
Finally... I have noticed that up near the wires that (rather messily) come from/to the coin slot area, there are several small wires that appear to have been cut/come unattached/go nowhere...
Eeeek i need help i think!!!
Anyway... it is safe to say that I am so excited and yet so nervous of continuing from here. I have some friends who are keen to tinker with me, but any help or advice I can glean from this forum would be SO appreciated....
Yours hopefully
mulch 8)
Im 36, live in Bristol, UK.
HI... 8)
I hope this isnt too lengthy for you folks to digest, but I would really appreciate some experienced input.
After being totally inspired by the Gauntlet game of the 80s, it has taken me a good 20 years to be in a position where actually owning a cabinet has become a possibility!!!
I purchased one the other day(knowing it didnt work but thinking it MIGHT just be possible to get it running!) as a gift to myself (birthday coming up) and I am keen to assess whether its a project for me as soon as humanly possible!!!
To summarise this email, I've been searching through websites all day and have just got here... its past 4am here in UK... so forgive me for not reading the stickies or the Tech advice section... believe me, I will be!
Here goes my story... spose i'm keen to get any info about where I should start with this machine. What to do first about checking and fault-finding. Are there any common issues with old gauntlet machines wiring or obvious things I should check (obvious perhaps to people like yourselves that is!!)...
Skip to the section below that describes what happens when I switch it on if you want to cut to the chase here...
Machine Appraisal
---------------
Cabinet is a bit tatty round the edges but its a beauty!!!
Its an irish build (stated on handwritten sticker inside - as well as serial info if important)
Slight monitor burn-out obvious in its off state (the right-hand Level and Player detail panel) - this is not a surprise to me and actually not as much a concern as is getting the game operational! (that is, i spose, if the monitor showed any signs of life at all!)
Picture Panel (are these called bezels?) on right side of cab fully intact, a few scratches.
Picture Panel on left missing the top quarter of picture.
All original joysticks and buttons. (looking at their action from beneath control panel, they seem in good condition)
Fitted with '10 pence' slots - I'm missing the keys to both slot doors however the right hand door is already open.
I have the keys for both the coin drawers (below the slot doors).
Inside, the cabinet has obviously been stored for some time... cobwebs and dust everywhere and a bag with some fuses and the maplins receipt for them from 1993!!
After having a good look around inside I notice the following -
Player controls originally all unplugged (including a green cable - probably for earth) (I have carefully plugged these in now but assume their connection doesnt affect the game powering up)
In the top section (behind the original Hantarex tube) the cable that runs from the main pcb connects as it should, but some of the cables that run up alongside them feed off into a 5pin plastic female that hangs there going nowhere... I cant find any obvious location for it to connect, either in the tube bay OR below in the main cab area..
In the base of the cab area, where the power comes in, there is loads of dust and right near the transformer I immediately notice that there appears to be a jumper block missing. There are 3 slots on this base panel - the first panel with the fuse array on - each slot of slightly different size - and only 2 have male plastic blocks attached (i can only assume they are jumpers... the wires simply link back into itself on different posts)... am I actually missing a jumper here??
Fuses here are intact and in good condition.
There is a box immediately to my right (looking in from the lower back, where a panel is missing) that seems to distributes power in different voltages to various parts of the cab. The thing to note here is that also in the cab (just sat there loose and unnatached) is ANOTHER of these which looks slightly newer (its black and not dusty or cobwebbed - has the same screw-fit posts (12v / 5v / gnd etc) - my instincts say that perhaps someone was going to replace this but didnt... (im hoping the fix might be that simple!! - u still with me?? theres more... but not TOO much!!!) (note that this makes a slightly fluctuating faint hissing sound when machine is powered up)
And So...
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I POWER UP THE GAUNTLET MACHINE
------------------------------------------------------------
Upon powering up, the lights of the coin slots come on. (Except for Elfs - possibly the bulb has simply gone)
There is a slightly high pitch almost hissing sound from the power distribution unit. (perhaps - if someone recommends it - I should install the other distribution unit i found in the cab)
The red LED on the PCB comes on.
Absolutely NO response from the Hantarex monitor. (I keep thinking of the dangling 5pin plastic female - as mentioned in an earlier paragraph)
Speakers seem to respond to power-up, but only a droning hum which changes depth slightly after about 12 seconds - my guess is that there is a system check and then perhaps an options page and possibly the sound change indicates the end of the system check. (remember I cant see anything on screen) So once I attached the player controls to the board and moved the joysticks and pressed the buttons, the hum coming from the speakers changed as if I were scrolling through a menu or something. (With no monitor its obviously hard to tell what is going on... If anything relevant...)
However, if that is the case, that Im on a menu screen but cant see it, I have yet to get to the end of the menus (after trying many different combinations of joystick and button pressing) ... or perhaps I am just hearing some garbled feedback from the internal electrics which could possibly be at fault anyway....
Finally, after looking a bit more closely inside the cab at the wiring and getting my head around what goes where and what does what, I notice a couple of wires just above and to the right of the panel with the MosFets and heat sink on.... that may have have been cut. one is light blue and the other is light purple... looks like they were both on their way to the 'play counter' area (where the Potential Resistor is mounted as volume control - which works by the way, but crackles severely and only increases the volume of the hum/feedback noise...)...
Speaking of the volume control, there is a two-state switch there that has 6 spades from it... only the bottom four spades of this switch are connected to cables (black and white)...
Finally... I have noticed that up near the wires that (rather messily) come from/to the coin slot area, there are several small wires that appear to have been cut/come unattached/go nowhere...
Eeeek i need help i think!!!
Anyway... it is safe to say that I am so excited and yet so nervous of continuing from here. I have some friends who are keen to tinker with me, but any help or advice I can glean from this forum would be SO appreciated....
Yours hopefully
mulch 8)
