Happy Birthday to me: another vector - Omega Race!

smalltownguy2

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Picked this one up last Friday during my lunch hour. Just happened to catch a mention of a 'vintage tabletop game' mentioned in a garage sale ad.

Here she is:

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Omega Race cocktail. All original, and in 8 out of 10 condition. Zero burn on the Wells Gardner 15V2000, and the inside is pretty much unmolested. Serial number 1406. Dusty, but it'll clean up real nice. Fully working!

I asked the seller where he got it from, and he told me that it was in a rental property that he cleared out when the tenants left. Before that, it was on location at Broadway Pizza, otherwise known as Shoney's pizza. There are still tokens inside from the original location.

Nice thing about this cabinet is that it uses the same type of vector monitor that my Asteroids Deluxe uses, so I'll be able to use the cocktail's monitor to troubleshoot my SI upright.

I've read that the Omega Race pcb is tough to find in working condition. The battery was prone to leaking and destroying the board. First thing I did when I got home was to pop this table open and leave the board tipped at an angle that would keep any acid from dripping down. I snapped a picture of the battery. It's corroded, but it does not appear to have leaked at all, which is good. I will work on pulling it off the pcb and install a remote battery holder.

My first cocktail!

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Nice thing about this cabinet is that it uses the same type of vector monitor that my Space Invaders deluxe uses, so I'll be able to use the cocktail's monitor to troubleshoot my SI upright.

Hmmm, did you mistype something there? Space Invaders Deluxe is a b&w raster game, not a vector one. Definitely not the same monitor.
 
Looks great! Does it work now?

I like Omega Race. I had an upright for a long time that I never got working :(

Hope you can get lots of enjoyment from this one!


Happy Birthday!

Chris
 
Looks great! Does it work now?
Chris

No kidding, right? I'm not sure if I should keep this (and all of the eventual problems that may come with it) or sell it to someone else who really wants it. I could easily triple my investment in selling just the boards alone, but that would bring bad KLOV Karma down on me, hard.
 
The good thing about the cocktails is that the board is positioned differently so the acid leaks away from the board instead of on to it. The battery sits at the bottom instead of the top. Cut that thing off of there right away.

Edit: Those games are not that hard to keep going as long as the board was not damaged. You should not have many problems with it. I see where you mentioned you cut the battery off. I did not see if you mentioned if it's working or not ?
 
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Does it always have to be about the money ? It's not hard at all. Just do the right thing and keep it whole. That's a nice looking game.

I've already decided, I'm not going to part this one. It's just way too nice. I've always wanted a cocktail game as part of my collection, and having one with spinners was about the only type of sit-down control that I feel comfortable using. I used to think I'd be OK with a joystick style cocktail until I played Donkey Kong over at Phetishboy's place on a cocktail cabinet. Wow, I sucked. I mean, yeah, I'm not that good at DK, but man, I couldn't even climb ladders on the first board on a cocktail cab. But the spinner on this game is silky smooth, and really easy to play, standing or sitting. I'm going to give this cab some love and it will have a permanent home in my basement arcade.

As far as the battery goes, can I just cut it off and be done with it? Should I be concerned about corrosion causing any more issues on the board? Should I soak it in vinegar or something, like the pin guides always say to do?

Does this board NEED a battery on it? Is its sole purpose just to save high scores?

The monitor will get all of the usual joints resoldered, and it should be trouble free. It really is in great shape. No water damage at all, no chips, the glass is great, and just a tiny little bit of black paint flaking on the masked side, which I could repair easily. But not necessary. It's in great shape just the way it is.
 
Yes, you can just put vinegar on it and then rinse it and then some alcohol to dry it. It does not need a battery. Did you say the game works ? Also, in case you did not know, you have to power it down to put it in test and then turn it on again, then do the same to take it out of test.
 
Thanks, Allen! I was not really LOOKING for a cab like this, but it sort of fell into my hands. Guess I'll have to make room for it :)
 
Okay, the honeymoon is over.

I had more time to dig into this machine over the weekend, and I found some disappointing things. It appears the battery did leak. But not to the main board. The daughter card took the brunt of the acid damage. Daughter card damage = no sound. Luckily for me, a daughter card shouldn't be too tough to find.

The mainboard connector for the daughter card is also corroded too, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to clean it up properly.

I may have to source a junk board with a good connector and daughter card to affect some sort of repair on this machine. The problem is I believe this game is haunted and I fear that touching the pcb in an inappropriate way will cause the pcb to stop working on me, rendering me the owner of a cocktail sized paperweight. No WAY I'll dump another $250 into it for a replacement boardset if I screw up the boards I have.

On the plus side, the monitor works great! I plugged it into my Asteroids Deluxe cab that is currently under repair, and got a great image of AD, and played a game. So that makes me feel good about my AD cab, all I need to do is rebuild the monitor on that one and she'll be good to go.

I have a choice here: try and get the sound working on this Omega Race cab, or just let it go as is with no sound. I did fire the game up in MAME just to hear what it sounds like, and it WOULD be nice to have sound with it. I'm just afraid to see what happens when I attempt to separate the two boards. I have a feeling the daughter card socket will disintegrate when I pull them apart, making more work for me :(
 
That is too cool. There's been only a few working Omega Races popping up here and there on these forums, and you've been lucky enough to be one of those owners!

As for the soundboard, I say try and fix it. In my case, every time I would play the game I'd just be thinking about how the sound didn't work.
 
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