My Gravitar is here , i`m going to get it right now

RetrOmatic

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My Gravitar is here , i`m going to get it right now

Dare i say , i am over the moon with excitement . I bought it months ago from a very well respected Klover , at a fair price for it`s condition [ B ish ] , it is the main reason i joined the forum , to learn about my games , and maybe get the chance to purchase a few awseome USA machines .

And even though i never thought of posting anything on the chat about pages back then , well , the rest is spoken for a bit .

I won`t mention the Klovers name , and there is no real reason to guess who it is , really ,and mate if you are reading this , i will contact you shortly .

I will take a few pics , for all to see , then i need to make sure it`s good to plug into 240v . I have a step down transformer for USA to OZ , but before i do that , i will talk over with my games guy , about changing the rail wires around , and an Isolation transformer .

Don`t worry , it wont be getting plugged in until all this is absolutely perfect .

In the mean time , i am off to a port down in our gippsland area , as for some reason , they bypassed Melbourne , and went WAY down south !!

Will post some more in a few hours , when this awesome machine is with me !

Right now , this is my xmas present from hell , and i do feel that magic like when we were young boys , and you saw that handle bar sticking out of the wrapping paper !
 
Sorry, couldn't resist! But seriously, good luck on the game. That's pretty cool....how much work is it to convert these things to 220?
 
Sorry, couldn't resist! But seriously, good luck on the game. That's pretty cool....how much work is it to convert these things to 220?

i believe all you need to do is re solder the wires on the power transformer rails to suit 240 v , plus your leads are different to ours , we are earthed and double insulated , that has something to do with it ,,

I can plug it straight into my 110 v to 240v step down transformer , and just go , i have the US adapter plug to suit .
 
Shouldn't Gravitar have a power brick in the bottom?

(Goes to check the manual.)

Yep. You don't have to change anything in the game but the voltage selection plug. There are usually four of them zip-tied together, with one plugged into the connector. You plug in the one for the voltage you want to use:

Violet - 100vac
Yellow - 120vac
Blue - 220vac
Brown - 240vac

The transformer will automatically step it down (or up) for the game. No need to make any changes.

Here's a pic of one. You can see the blue and purple connectors loose, with the brown and possibly yellow underneath:

dsc00691i.jpg


Here's a thread I did where I used the brown jumper and reverse wiring to use an Atari Power Brick to convert 120vac into 240vac so I could test a Ceronix chassis that ran on 240vac:

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showpost.php?p=753176&postcount=55
 
Yep. You don't have to change anything in the game but the voltage selection plug. There are usually four of them zip-tied together, with one plugged into the connector. You plug in the one for the voltage you want to use:

Violet - 100vac
Yellow - 120vac
Blue - 220vac
Brown - 240vac

The transformer will automatically step it down (or up) for the game. No need to make any changes.

I always wondered what the extra connectors were for.
 
Don't need an isolation transformer, or a step down transformer down here in OZ Retro like the prev guys said above

Just fit the right color plug as per the gravitar manual mate
 
now get ready to be aggrivated (gravitar=aggrivation). that game is one of my favorites but i tend to stay away because it could drive me nuts!!!
 
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now get ready to be agrivated (gravitar=agrivation). that game is one of my favorites but i tend to stay away because it could drive me nuts!!!

It seem`s rather normal to me ,,,,,,

It is interesting how i came to want this game .

First , i love vectors , Asteroids and Battlezone are both games i have , it is the analog mono sound , that first caught my ears , that beautiful sound that makes you feel you are really in space . All that from 1 speaker , not even split mono as far as i know .

The second was the attraction of just lines for shapes , initially you think , this cannot entertain me , look at it ! . Oh so wrong i was .

The game play , is the 3rd , you all have heard this before , and to new modern gamers , most cannot look at it , let alone stop sarcastically laughing whence playing . Some do love it , non the less .

So after some Kloving , and reading other posts on Vector games , i came to the conclusion , that i must get this game , there is about 4 more color Xy`s i will get over the next 2 years , i will never look back , as the service from my local tech guy [ genius ] , plus the guys on Klov that most likely know Xy`s way better than him , i should be ok .


Oh one thought , do you need to de-gause an XY monitor ? , if not , why not .

Thankyou people for your interest so far .

P.s , the game has come from Mr Yates . [ he wont mind , lovely guy ]
 
It is a VERY frustrating game.

Don't go into it thinking you'll be snapping off records in no time. I've been playing one for well over a year and still can't complete the invisible landscape universe.

Progress is slow, but very rewarding. It remains a challenge, even after you learn how to work some of the planets.

Congratulations!

+1 on the dongle for the power brick. Atari engineered it in there just for YOU.

Kerry
 
and i do feel that magic like when I'm with young boys , and saw that handle bar sticking out!

Yikes! :eek:

coughSanduskycough JK!!!

This is one game I can honestly say I have no memory of having played in my life. Not that I didn't *want* to play it, I just don't remember it at all.
 
Just got "Gravitar Duel" running today, it is the bomb-diggity. Easiest conversion ever. Got a marquee coming to complete the look.
Have fun with yours Retro.

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Great game! One of my Grails. Congrats!

Well after another long wait , and a shocklingy big amount of money [ didn`t know i was going to pay anymore than the shipping John charged to sent it here , more in a minute .

I have the Gravitar in my house as of today ! .I`m not in a hurry to plug it in and blow it up

So i will make sure i have swapped the wire correctly [ when i can find it ]

will post a few pics up of it tomorrow , i`m beat right now , and it`s late .


Importing big items as a private individual have these dangers , as listed below , $ dangers that is .


Extra $`s i had to pay [ on top of the $800.00 for original shipping over ] .


$364.00 freight release ???? { THE Melbourne freight Company that got it , charged me this , to release it from their holdings ? }

Then i was asked who my customs broker is ,, like what ? so i had to organise one to Quarrantine it etc , $ 250.00 , and they didn`t open it , most likely ran a dog past it


Then i had to go to another place to pick it up , as it went into storage , they said if only i picked it up 3 days earlier , no charge , charges were $300.00 more odd dollars . based off cubic size and days over .

So that was another bunch of $ 900.00 odd dollars , i had no choice but to pay , but next time it will be done way differently , i got ripped , stung , but i don`t care anymore NOW, i have my Gravitar .


I will be questioning the shipping Company , and the storage manager tomorrow , to try and get some discounts here , there was no information given to me by any of them , of the hidden dangers to a newby , to me that doesn`t cut it , i`m pretty pissed . If i was infomed of a few things , i could of Brkered it out to save a heap .
 
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