Option paralysis

[jehuie]

So now I've broken my usual method of trying to have one project going at a time:

1) Pin Bot is stalled out because everyone is out of stock on Pin-Score displays for it right now because of the quake in Japan so I moved on to....

2) Defender and (with help from here!) tracked it down to a 4747 chip which I don't have so I cleaned that up and started going on the....

3) Amplifone monitor in the Star Wars but after replacing a bunch of parts found a bad BU406D so I ordered one along with more parts and tore out the monitor from the....

4) Mr. Do's Castle and started recapping the thing. It's a 20ez which I've never done before but then I got dragged off to my kids Scout graduation ceremony and now it's after 10:00 so it's time for dinner.

 

[Malice95]

If you have more then a couple machines.. you almost have to multitask in
this hobby. Thats what keeps it interesting

I have a Tri DK project I am working on but I want to get the cab restored
more before I start messing with the guts. I decided to restore my galaga
back to a galaxian (orig), I am in the middle of a berzerk restore, I just
picked up a star wars with monitor issue and needs some restoration and I
am picking up an empty FF cab this week to replace my busted up one.

I think I have about 9 months worthg of stuff lined up. Then of course I need
to do some monitor repairs on burgertime (flaky) and a couple other minor fixs
on other games.

While I LOVE playing the games the part that keeps me really interested is fixing/restoring things.

 

[Paul Olson]

I am going through all of the games tonight to get a list of cap kits I am going to need. Fortunately, I am not trying to do full restorations, so I am pretty happy just to get them working. I think I am going to try to track down a cold solder joint on the Neo Geo monitor tonight. Or I might just sit here and screw around on the computer; not feeling overly energetic tonight.

Waiting for parts is the worst for me.

 

[cleverlyj]

i would just continue finding time to squeeze in repairs here and there. doesn't your son solder, john? you need to enlist him in the repair assistance...

 

[back2the80s]

I hear ya on those projects I have a few games In my storage unit that I want to get working to bring into my gameroom mostly my Tempest and seawolf which both probably need a new power supply. This week will be busy for me my boss is having a company party and asked me to bring 6 games to work so that the kids will be entertained thats on Saturday but he wants me to bring in the games on wednesday. My step daughters graduation is on Thursday and we're having a party for her on Saturday and my gameroom will be empty because most of my games will be at the company party so I have to bring some of my games out of storage for the graduation party. I least I sold my bubble hockey on Friday and that clears some space for my new Tron coming in July but yes it's been busy lately im trying to finish my Gameroom walls with a new look also.I forgot to mention getting games ready for CAX?

 

[jehuie]

I sold my bubble hockey on Friday

Was that yours that was on CL recently?

i would just continue finding time to squeeze in repairs here and there. doesn't your son solder, john? you need to enlist him in the repair assistance...

He does solder. And he can be helpful...it depends on the project but sometimes it takes almost as much time to check his work as to just do it myself but your point is good. It would be good for him as well and he loves working on this stuff. The other problem though is that he spends half his time making "sculptures" and stuff out of my solder. heh

 

[back2the80s]

Was that yours that was on CL?

Yes sir! Went to a good home and will be enjoyed for many years!

 

[jehuie]

Well things have progressed...not sure if it's in the right direction or not though. I moved two games out: Phoenix is sold and so is the Pit Fighter atrocity. But....now 5 more games have come in: Tempest mini, another Defender, Asteroids , Centipede....all with issues, and X-Men which works but is going to be my new Mame box so also needs a lot of love.

So I pulled the beautiful newly capped Sanyo monitor from the sucky Mr. Do's Castle game and threw it in the Centipede which now works great but needs a new CPO. I'll probably put the broken Centipede monitor in the crappy Mr. Do's Castle game and try to unload the heap...possibly fixing the broken neck board first (Game plays fine but...it's Mr Do's Castle, and in a Kangaroo cab to boot)

The old Defender won't boot and the new one comes up but resets randomly every hour or so. The Asteroids has sound issues and the monitor is dead. Tempest mini has a very very nice but very very dead monitor, Pin Bot still has dead displays because I haven't ordered new ones yet, amplifone monitor now gets B+...briefly...but I don't have a HV probe for proper adjustment.....

I should really stop acquiring projects for a while huh? Get caught up...but when deals come up they are sooooo tempting!

 

[mrslo]

Im with you on the tempting deals that come up. I have a garage full of project games and some in the gameroom. I just have no time to get around to these projects.

 

[cleverlyj]

well for the tempest all you need is a good eye over the 6100 boards and a full bob roberts kit and you should be good there, as long as the boards all work fine...

 

[jehuie]

well for the tempest all you need is a good eye over the 6100 boards and a full bob roberts kit and you should be good there, as long as the boards all work fine...

Yes, I actually really enjoy working on k6100's. I've had good success with them overall and they are so well documented and easy to find parts for that they are great. Plus they come apart very easily.

 

[jehuie]

So I'm at a whole new level of stuckness.

- Trying to get my friends Star Wars working and the Amplifone monitor has a bright dot in the middle. The other graphics on it are all working fine but the darned dot won't go away. Tried everything I can think to do. A good friend who knows quite a bit about this stuff tells me he's pretty sure the tube is bad. If that's true I'm screwed. Probably never find one.

- Finally bought new displays for Pin Bot and there's issues with the MPU board. I might be able to figure them out but I've had sketchy luck with repairing cpu/mpu boards. So...new MPU boards are about $350. Repair is probably close to that. So I'll be into the game for more than it will ever be worth.

- Tracked down display issues on Simpsons pin to the power supply. Not sure if the display glass is good or not yet. But I need 2 39k ohm resistors to check. Fry's doesn't sell them. Radio Shack doesn't sell them. Lasher's in Berkeley probably does but it's $25 in gas to get there so I need to order them. So it's wait and see time.

Sigh.

 

[Paul Olson]

So I'm at a whole new level of stuckness.

- Trying to get my friends Star Wars working and the Amplifone monitor has a bright dot in the middle. The other graphics on it are all working fine but the darned dot won't go away. Tried everything I can think to do. A good friend who knows quite a bit about this stuff tells me he's pretty sure the tube is bad. If that's true I'm screwed. Probably never find one.

- Finally bought new displays for Pin Bot and there's issues with the MPU board. I might be able to figure them out but I've had sketchy luck with repairing cpu/mpu boards. So...new MPU boards are about $350. Repair is probably close to that. So I'll be into the game for more than it will ever be worth.

- Tracked down display issues on Simpsons pin to the power supply. Not sure if the display glass is good or not yet. But I need 2 39k ohm resistors to check. Fry's doesn't sell them. Radio Shack doesn't sell them. Lasher's in Berkeley probably does but it's $25 in gas to get there so I need to order them. So it's wait and see time.

Sigh.

Can you pick stuff up at Jameco? I couldn't tell if they had a store or pick up area when I drove by. It is always fun for me to see all of the businesses that I spend all my money at online.

 

[jehuie]

It's been like 2 months since I looked at this thread and I'm realizing that all the projects I was trying to get to are now either repaired or otherwise gone except for the Pin Bot which is still sitting all forlorn looking.

The Simpsons pin has been sold, so has the Mr. Do's Castle. Both Defenders have been repaired and are long gone. The Star Wars that I was so frustrated by and thought was impossible to fix is now working beautifully and ready to be picked up. My other Star Wars is working again and I'm happy. And I even picked up, repaired, and sold another SW since then.

So now I've got the Multipede to complete (that will be a keeper) and the Tempest has developed board problems (also a keeper). And this NBA Jams TE that I need to do something with and can't decide which way to go on.

I reaaaaaally want to work on the Pin Bot but I need to do the NBA Jams first realistically to make some room. Or I could just sell the NBA Jams. Paralyzed again I think!