Newest Project: Spy Hunter

FrizzleFried

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I picked up this Spy Hunter today...

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It works...mostly... there is no red showing on the monitor. I wiggled both ends of the video wire... one end does nothing and the other end (PCB side) causes the video to cut off and on but doesn't ever show red. I figure it's likely either the monitor chassis or the harness... I'll figure that out easily enough by plugging in to the extra monitor I have sitting here.

The game has been changed over to use a switcher... but instead of being a total hack-job, there is a PCB the switcher hooks up to:

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The little PCB says "MCR Switcher Adapter - Copyright Tom Wisnionski"

There is an on-board 3.6v battery back it looks like.

But it's not saving high scores. Any ideas?

Also, I get major popping every time a light on the dashboard (bezel) comes on... (machine gun, etc.)... grounding issue you figure?
 
try adjusting the red color pot/drive before you start in on plugging into "other" monitors.
could save you some time.
me? id replace all three neck board transistors probably and get any cold solder while im at it. got to do a cap kit, etc.

theres a guy here who wants one baaaad. been searching CL since before thanksgiving but i will find one for him.
 
try adjusting the red color pot/drive before you start in on plugging into "other" monitors.
could save you some time.
me? id replace all three neck board transistors probably and get any cold solder while im at it. got to do a cap kit, etc.

theres a guy here who wants one baaaad. been searching CL since before thanksgiving but i will find one for him.

Not the neckboard pots... they do nothing (the red pots)... first thing I tried (after messing with the headers that is)...
 
I had this game but tired of annoying problems that were beyond my limited abilities.

You may want to consider changing the big blues on this game. They can be the source of problems with this game that can be improperly diagnosed and cause you a lot of wasted time and money.

Be careful with swapping out monitors in this game, as I recall the original monitor type is the only one that usually works with this game (G07?). Other monitors seem to have sync issues with this specific game. I don't know why this is.

Some people recommend getting rid of the switcher in favor of the original MCR power supply. I would think twice about restoring it back to the MCR. Don't fix it if it ain't broke.

Good luck.
 
There's currently a WG K7000 in it I do believe... I have a K7300 on the bench I'll check out...
 
i like that LED doin' the blinky thing there...

didyou see that stack of 4 PCB's? holy mackerel ! thats a lot of work to run down and change all those electrolytic capacitors and replace. funny(pita) how so much work just one game can be. and here WE are trying to keep them going ANOTHER 20 years... just like the guys before US...

i love the first week in january...favorite time...

hapy new year all you helmut heads...
 
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Well now shit...

I just tried the K7300 I just picked up from Dave (Arcrevival) and sure enough, the typical Spy Hunter sync issues reared their ugly head. The K7300 is essentially a Vision Pro chassis.... I just can't get it to properly sync. I can get a good picture, but it constantly rolls horizontally (vertically if it's sitting on end)... which is, evidently, quite common for these games.

One good thing came out of it... I verified the "red" issue I have is a chassis issue as all colors came up fine on the K7300.

Of course shit can't just be easy... and of course all the old school monitors I have around have some form of burn... including the K7000 that is currently in the Spy Hunter (Afterburner burn-in). I DO have a Wei-Ya G07 replacement chassis in my Vertical MAME cab, but since it's "newer" it too probably won't sync up... but that is going to be my best bet. If things get to be a real pain in the ass, I could pull the Wei-Ya... drop the K7300 in it... then swap the tubes from the Multipede cab and run the Wei-Ya chassis on that semi-burned (Centipede) tube in the Multipede and drop the G07 on to the frame holing the tube the Wei-Ya currently is running...

Damn... a lot of work... has ANYONE figured out WTF is up with this cab and running "newer" chassis? I have a lot of options, but it sure is a pain in the ass having to yank monitors to see if it will sync with the SH.
 
Sync

I have got 4900s Go7s and 7000s to sync correctly in Spyhunters. I had 3 of them this year all with different monitors. I would recomend changing the big blues also.
 
I have got 4900s Go7s and 7000s to sync correctly in Spyhunters. I had 3 of them this year all with different monitors. I would recomend changing the big blues also.

Yeah...none of those are "newer" monitor chassis though...

I've tried all possible sync locations... there are 4 pins... 2 part of the main group and 2 separate... and there is a positive/negative sync button on the chassis itself. I even tried tying the syncs together to make a composite sync.

The best I can get the image is to look great... but it still has a roll and won't stop. Oh well. I have a Wei-Ya in the vertical cab I can try... I have a separate Wei-Ya (different model) in the Pole Position I can try... I have a Vision Pro in the Multi-Williams I can try (all different chassis and all with extremely little or no burn). If none of those work, then it looks like I am stuck with a tube swap from the wei-ya to the G07. Unfortunately the K4900 in the Wizard of Wor has some burn (looks fine behind the dark plexi of the WoW though)... the K4600 in the Multi-Pac has some burn (also looks fine behind the dark plexi)... I just checked the G07 I have sitting on the shelf waiting to be rebuilt and it's got some pretty severe Scramble burn (why did I keep the tube I wonder?)... the K4600 on the shelf waiting for a rebuild has some light Wizard of Wor burn-in, but I want to stick that back in the WoW when I get around to rebuilding it... I DO have a Nintendo 20EZ on the shelf waiting for a flyback, and I guess I can try that, but it's a 20" monitor not a 19" so it likely won't fit up nicely and what are the chances of it syncing? Dunno.... plus I'd have to stick the 100v transformer I have in to the cab as well...

I'm hoping one of the 3 newer chassis will sync up (damnit!)... I guess it's time to wheel in each cab one at a time and test in cab. One nice thing I suppose is the wire coming off the PCB to the monitor is decently long enough to stick a cab next to the SH to test.
 
There's currently a WG K7000 in it I do believe... I have a K7300 on the bench I'll check out...

I forget which monitor type is original but I recall that putting in another monitor that's not the original monitor type can cause sync problems. A local repair guy here has a whole shelf of used Spy Hunter monitors specifically for that reason.
 
hey jon, when you say popping, are you getting crackling through the speakers when the lights come on, etc?

i had a similar issue with popping/crackling in my satan's hollow (also mcr2). anyways, because of the same adapter in the game making the need to use a switcher, and the fact that the mcr games have a decent +5 drop between the harness and the boardset, the +12 ended up being too high, so i soldered a 12v regulator in line between the switcher and the power supply adapter board and that pretty much took care of it, a lot quieter now.



edit - and note, prior to doing this, i had replaced the pins and molex connectors to the sound amp board, resoldered the connections on the speakers, and recapped the amp board as well, all with no change.
 
hey jon, when you say popping, are you getting crackling through the speakers when the lights come on, etc?

i had a similar issue with popping/crackling in my satan's hollow (also mcr2). anyways, because of the same adapter in the game making the need to use a switcher, and the fact that the mcr games have a decent +5 drop between the harness and the boardset, the +12 ended up being too high, so i soldered a 12v regulator in line between the switcher and the power supply adapter board and that pretty much took care of it, a lot quieter now.

Not so much "crackling" as a single "pop" across the speakers when a light turns on... when the machine gun light comes up ... "pop".... when the oil slick light comes on... "pop"... etc. Very loud... as loud as the music itself or even louder. Also, the machine gun sound is very low compared to the music...but I am hoping there are multiple volume controls (i've not really done much with the game other than test out a different monitor).

The ground pin on the power cord is broken off (of course)... not sure if fixing that will rectify anything but it sure couldn't hurt.

Also, is a big blue from an Atari the same as a big blue from a Midway? I have an Atari big blue sitting on the shelf...
 
Work

Yeah...none of those are "newer" monitor chassis though...

I've tried all possible sync locations... there are 4 pins... 2 part of the main group and 2 separate... and there is a positive/negative sync button on the chassis itself. I even tried tying the syncs together to make a composite sync.

The best I can get the image is to look great... but it still has a roll and won't stop. Oh well. I have a Wei-Ya in the vertical cab I can try... I have a separate Wei-Ya (different model) in the Pole Position I can try... I have a Vision Pro in the Multi-Williams I can try (all different chassis and all with extremely little or no burn). If none of those work, then it looks like I am stuck with a tube swap from the wei-ya to the G07. Unfortunately the K4900 in the Wizard of Wor has some burn (looks fine behind the dark plexi of the WoW though)... the K4600 in the Multi-Pac has some burn (also looks fine behind the dark plexi)... I just checked the G07 I have sitting on the shelf waiting to be rebuilt and it's got some pretty severe Scramble burn (why did I keep the tube I wonder?)... the K4600 on the shelf waiting for a rebuild has some light Wizard of Wor burn-in, but I want to stick that back in the WoW when I get around to rebuilding it... I DO have a Nintendo 20EZ on the shelf waiting for a flyback, and I guess I can try that, but it's a 20" monitor not a 19" so it likely won't fit up nicely and what are the chances of it syncing? Dunno.... plus I'd have to stick the 100v transformer I have in to the cab as well...

I'm hoping one of the 3 newer chassis will sync up (damnit!)... I guess it's time to wheel in each cab one at a time and test in cab. One nice thing I suppose is the wire coming off the PCB to the monitor is decently long enough to stick a cab next to the SH to test.
Damn, Good luck with that.
 
iirc, there's a small electrolytic cap and a large filter cap on the lamp driver pcb, replacing them should help with the popping in the speakers when the lights come and go.
There are 2 volume pots - one for the game sounds, and the other for the peter gunn theme. If you go into test mode, and do a sound channel test, you may find that 3 of the channels are softer than the other 3. I had the same issue in a tron not long ago, but off the top of my head, i can't remember what caused it exactly, but it was on the ssio board- maybe an out of spec resistor, or bad lm3900. I just don't remember.
As far as monitor syncing goes, i've run mine on G07's, k4900s, and k4600's with no problems. I did hook it up to the replacement wei ya chassis i got from 8-liners, and did get it to stop rolling, but it was very sensitive, but it did work.
Far as the big blues go- no, they're not the same as the one's in an atari, but bob sells them, too. 100,000 uf and 55,000 uf iirc. but you should check with the shematics first. But, being that your using a switcher, they really shouldn't be doing anything anyway, and shouldn't be needed.

edit - one more thing, your SH should have tinted plexi on top of the monitor as well, so a little burn shouldn't be a big deal.
 
If you are going to keep the switching power supply there is no reason to buy the 2 big filter caps. They are expensive and not used with the switcher. I had some of that sound popping too and the oil slick sound was distorted. The game sounds went out soon after. I haven't had time to look at it lately though. Star Wars crapped out on New Years Eve and so did Front Line's controls. Damn.
 
No distortion from what I can here... just popping when the lights come on. I'll try to change those caps and go from there. First thing is first... I need to get in the garage to try different monitors. I've got the baby tonight (wife works) so likely it's not going to happen tonight.
 
Yes, my bad, the big blues are not needed with the switcher. It was when I went back to the MCR that I found out my big blues were problematic and I replaced them. My wiring harness was also hacked up from the switcher project and there was a short in it somewhere. I replaced it with a complete good one.

I ended up replacing the monitor with a used one out of another Spy Hunter, wiring harness, big blues, and put in the MCR to replace the switcher. I never did replace the battery so I never was able to save high scores.
 
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