Pokey

spisi

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So, I had bought the new Pokey replacement PokeyONE because I thought mine was dead, turned out not to be the case. So, if you were me, would you put the new one in and sell the old one, leave the old one in and return / sell the new one, leave the old one in and hold on to the new one??? I only have one cabinet that uses it.
 
I had one fail on my Red Baron. That was a few years ago and found an original spare. When I installed it I added one of the 40-pin DIP heat sink that slips on. Didn't want to take any chances.

That is the only one that failed on my game but I have fixed boards where there was a bad POKEY chip.

If it is a game you're keeping and you enjoy it then keeping a spare of what is basically a custom IC isn't a bad idea,
 
Keep it as a spare. If one of yours fails, you are set. How long POKEYONE will be around is anyone's guess. Once they close out (as the guy who made DEXTER systems just showed), it's too late to find one.
 
I will keep it since it's my mistake, and doesn't hurt to have a back up on hand. Thanks for the input!
 
Use the original and keep the PokeyONE as a spare.

You WILL have another game that uses a Pokey eventually, of you stay in this hobby. Many games use them.

It's also good to have a spare to use for testing, if you ever suspect one might be bad, since swapping the chip is sometimes the easiest way to be sure if the chip is bad or not.
 
Use the original and keep the PokeyONE as a spare.

You WILL have another game that uses a Pokey eventually, of you stay in this hobby. Many games use them.

It's also good to have a spare to use for testing, if you ever suspect one might be bad, since swapping the chip is sometimes the easiest way to be sure if the chip is bad or not.
Yes, that sounds good. This way you can at least rule one thing out of the equation. Also, I think you're right, I'll most likely acquire another game that uses a Pokey :)
 
Yes, that sounds good. This way you can at least rule one thing out of the equation. Also, I think you're right, I'll most likely acquire another game that uses a Pokey :)
Pretty much every Atari game after the bronze age games, i.e. stuff like Breakout, has one. Sometimes they've got multiple POKEY's, like Star Wars uses four of em.
 
Pretty much every Atari game after the bronze age games, i.e. stuff like Breakout, has one. Sometimes they've got multiple POKEY's, like Star Wars uses four of em.

Quite right. He should buy at least THREE more POKEY-ONE just to be safe and prepared. :)

@andrewb, how many dead POKEY have you come across? In all my repairs over the years, I would estimate I've seen at least 20.
Experience with POKEYs is dependent upon how many Atari games you own and how many individual PCBs you own and have tested/repaired. YMMV
 
Pretty much every Atari game after the bronze age games, i.e. stuff like Breakout, has one. Sometimes they've got multiple POKEY's, like Star Wars uses four of em.

Breakout does not have a pokey.

Pokeys started to be used around 1980 (Battlezone, Asteroids Deluxe, Centipede, Warlords, Missile Command)
 
Breakout does not have a pokey.

Pokeys started to be used around 1980 (Battlezone, Asteroids Deluxe, Centipede, Warlords, Missile Command)
Bit poorly worded on my part, but I meant to mention Breakout as an example as Bronze Age game since I didn't think OP would really know what that meant in this context.


Also for uses for a spare POKEY, there's always chiptune

 
No. You read it wrong. There was nothing to 'clarify'.

Most of us had no problem understanding what he said. But nice try.

If you think there was nothing to "clarify" then you should have corrected him for being wrong.

Warlords is Bronze age, and has a Pokey.

...and while we're at it "pretty much every Atari game after" is clearly wrong as well -- none of the licensed titles used pokeys, and they disappeared with the Atari 68000 hardware (~1988), with the last Pokey game I recall being Tetris.

...but as we all know -- you're not here to provide any useful info -- you're just here to be a dick.
 
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