I found Paperboy #UR00034

Griffin

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Hi all,

I'm a pretty new collector and have just started to branch away from building my own cab to hunting down some of my favorite classics with the goal of restoring them and building up my own collection of fun memories.

Recently I was scanning CL and found someone selling one of my all-time favorites Paperboy. I was so excited that I was literally jumping up and down in the living room telling my wife how I used to spend all of my pocket money on that game at the local arcade. She started laughing at me and said 'well I haven't seen you this excited in a long time, I guess you better go and get it'. (I love my wife!!!)

The cab was in really nice shape for it's age, very clean and just minor wear and tear. The monitor had recently stopped powering on and the seller didn't know why, so I offered him $250 for it and he agreed.

It wasn't until later that I realized that the serial on the cab was #UR00034, yup she was a really early cab, sitting here in California where she was built all those years ago. Unfortunately the CPU board isn't matching, it's #UR01120, but still it's nice to find such an early cab in great condition.

Everything else works on the cab, I can fire up the game, insert coins, hear the audio and fire newspapers with the controller buttons, just no power to the screen. I'm really going to need some help troubleshooting the monitor as this is my first venture into cab restoration.

Anyway, here are the pics for you all to see...

cabs002.jpg

cabs003.jpg

cabs004.jpg

cabs005.jpg

cabs006.jpg

cabs007.jpg

cabs009.jpg

cabs010.jpg
 
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Don't feel bad about the monitor. Mine didn't work quite right, then I did a cap kit, then it didn't work at all. That issue ended up being a bad solder joint, and now the screen is squished vertically- probably the pot, which I need to replace. Those monitor chassis are finicky, but can def be fixed. Also a good idea to add a fan blowing across the chassis, as they get hot.
 
It seems I have an A.G.I Disco 19" Medium Res AGM-20M which is pretty common for an Atari cab I assume, a high possibility it is the original screen.

Apparently the monitor would start up 50% of the time until it finally just didn't come on at all. When it did come on I am assuming the picture was fine as the guy who had it before would play it, this is the info I got from the last owner, so that's my starting point in this trouble shooting process.

Also it seems like it may be one of the lesser found configurations of this monitor where only the brightness POT is on the neck board, everything else is on the chassis board, so far my research has indicated that the usual Cap Map for the AGM-20M doesn't match this variation of the monitor.
 
When the game is on can you see any glow from the neck? Hear any monitor whine? I would pull the chasis from the monitor and inspect it. Look for cold, cracked solder joints and any components that look burned, or loose. Look for broken traces as well. When in doubt re-touch with a bit of new solder.
 
Welcome to the madness! Spend a lot of time reading old threads on anything you work on, first. There is a wealth of information here if you dig.

Definitely suspect solder joints if what the guy was saying is true. Intermittent function is often solder joint related. There is a GREAT thread on soldering technique you should look at, even if you know general soldering. The PaceWorld videos (link in that thread) are a gold mine for soldering electronics. Cap kits, as I'm sure you found out right away, are a popular "shotgun" approach to fixing up an old monitor.

Best of luck, but I'm sure you are going to love this hobby!
 
whats up with the toggle switch under the right side of the control panel? lazy man's power switch =p...?
 
check the fusus on the monitor...i couldnt tell but the chassis looked dirty, giver her a quick clean down sometime caked dust makes everything stop...
 
Thanks guys I will definitely start looking over the monitor and chassis for those things. Is it safe to remove the monitor and chassis without discharging as long as I am not pulling it all to pieces? I guess it's better to do it just to be safe.

The fuses on the power board all seemed to be good, but yeah I can't see much on the monitor chassis due to the dust.

Yeah that toggle switch is a little rough for sure, just one of the things I'll need to take care of when I do the full refurb.
 
is it safe to remove the monitor and chassis without discharging as long as i am not pulling it all to pieces?
NO NO NO NO NO!!

Congrats on your first cab! Looks great for the price. I can't say much about the monitor unfortunately.
 
You can remove the monitor as a unit without discharging it, but don't disconnect any of the chassis pcbs from eachother or from the tube without discharging...

Also, nice score
 
You might get better response if you make a seperate post in the monitor section.

My take on the discharge is that it only takes a few seconds so it's better to be safe than in pain on the floor.
 
Wow nice grab. I'd love to have a Paperboy. I've never seen one for sale in my neck of the woods. Last time I remember playing one was in the Winona theater lobby back in about 1986 or so. Have fun with it!
 
So today I started on my first real work for the cab which is the art.

I've going to completely re-ink and redetail the artwork from the side of the Paperboy Prototype cab so that I can use it on the side of this one. I'm a total perfectionist when it comes to artwork (check out my Revolution cab to see how much) so I really wanted to pay respect to one of the all time greats by making sure the artwork for it is the best I can manage.

My final goal is to blend the prototype art into the system 2 art in a way that is true to both, but also gives a new spin to the original designs.

So my first job was to hunt down as much high res artwork as I could so that I could comp together a working base to do the redrawing over. I noticed for the computer game packing of the game the artwork had been redetailed, so I took those elements and used them to build out a foundation.

So far this is how far I have gotten...

Best shot of the art i could find
build001.jpg


My composite base for the redraw
build002.jpg


The new artfile is 24"x30" @ 300DPI, this is the resolution I plan on working to for the final piece.
 
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I'm trying to decide if I should introduce text into the newspaper rather than staying with the lines. If I did I thought it would be nice you make it all the comments and speech from the game wirtten out in a story.

Also, if I were to include a picture on the newspaper in the artwork, what should it be? Something from 1984, maybe a picture of the designers, or Atari headquarters???? It would be nice to include something that is relevent to the game's history.

bushnell.jpg
atariteam.jpg
kellner.jpg
 
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sweet early score for sure! love to find one around here!
 
Made some headway on redrawing the artwork. Newspapers and logo done

build006.jpg


Currently I am redrawing Paperboy himself, recreating the parts of the image that are usually obscured by newspapers so I have the whole boy and bike.
 
This is awesome! I am restoring a Paperboy right now as well. Had to get my controller re-welded and now have it fully working.

I would love to get this artwork done on mine if you are up to sharing the file or are going to reproduce it.

Nice work!

Torin
 
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