Pong clone pin out and transformer

weidadonny

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I came across a pong clone pcb that looks almost identical to the atari pong pcb. The clone board is a 22 pin connector. I would like to try this pcb but dont know how to wire this up or the transformer voltages. If anyone has any ideas on this that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks DON
 
Find the 5 volt pin on an IC nearest to the edge connector. Now trace that back and find the 5v edge connector strip.

Same approach, find the ground and repeat.

Now you have the power inputs.

Does the board have connections for a CRT?

The rest of the connections will be:
Coin mech
Spinner controls
Start buttons
Maybe tilt

If the board doesn't have CRT connections, then it went through the edge connector.
 
OP:
Posts pics and ignore this clown.

Find the 5 volt pin on an IC nearest to the edge connector. Now trace that back and find the 5v edge connector strip.
Atari Pong and most clones run off AC, not DC. There is no 5V power pin on the edge connector.

Spinner controls
Pong uses pots, not "spinners"
 
Most true Pong clones I have run into use the exact same pinout as the Atari version, esp. early ones if they have the same chip layout (4play, Rally...etc,) as Atari's... sometimes however the large cap is off the board for some reason near the power supply/transformer. Later Pong variants use all sorts of nutty connectors and have odd changes...Good luck!Screenshot 2025-04-28 at 9.04.07 AM.png


Screenshot 2025-04-28 at 9.07.55 AM.png
 
Thank you all for your help. I will try in the next few days to post a pic of the board. Maybe someone will know what it is. The board does have the big cap upright on it with the power transistor heat sync combo.
 
Thank you all for your help. I will try in the next few days to post a pic of the board. Maybe someone will know what it is. The board does have the big cap upright on it with the power transistor heat sync combo.

In that case it's def AC.

Like GG said, compare to the Atari Pong pinouts for starters.

The doubled up grounds and transformer center tap + thick AC power traces are pretty distinctive.
 
I'm certain that it uses a 12v center tap transformer.
I have a Chicago Coin T.V. Ping Pong I can check if needed. Electronically, it's an exact copy of Pong.
 
Here's my Amutronics TV Ping Pong PCB.
It is pin for pin compatible with Atari Pong.

And the cabinet wiring that I traced out by hand.
 

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Here's my Amutronics TV Ping Pong PCB.
It is pin for pin compatible with Atari Pong.

And the cabinet wiring that I traced out by hand.
That looks like the board i have. I have an amutronics game right like yours that is complete but not working but the board looks different in my cabinet. It does not have the power transistor heat sync or the big cap. Kind of strange they would change board design but anythings possible. Thanks Don
 
Here's my Amutronics TV Ping Pong PCB.
It is pin for pin compatible with Atari Pong.

And the cabinet wiring that I traced out by hand.
I pulled out my tv ping pong today traced the wire harness out with your diagram and measured the transformer voltage. Everything checked out the same so i powered up my board but it is dead. Would a cap kit maybe be my next step. I looked up the big cap unline and the value seems to be an odd ball. There are a few smaller caps on the board but cant make out the values. Anyone know the values. Thanks
 
If you want to try to repair something, the last thing you want to do is start guessing and replacing stuff. You're more likely to cause new problems doing that, than fixing existing ones. Guessing is not a troubleshooting strategy.

Get the tools you need to troubleshoot correctly. A logic probe, a cap meter, and ESR meter and a DMM are a good start. (And learn how to use them.)

You want to MEASURE things, FIND problems, and only when you've found something wrong. then you REPLACE parts. (Measure, Find, Replace.)
 
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