RAM Controls Lunar Lander Thrust Controller

Daviea

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Ok, guys. I've decided to give you a progress report on the Lunar Lander thrust controller today. I'm waiting on ONE part (the "redo" of the plastic covers). Here's the first production unit being fit for parts before powdercoating. FYI, the powder coat process will take 4 days to complete on the full production run of 500 units, btw. I found a local vendor who's quick and cheap. LOL

Anyhow, here are the pics:

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- The main plate is made from 12GA cold rolled steel.

- The "bracket" is made from a single piece of 11GA cold rolled steel. Atari did the bracket with four pieces of metal - reproduction is a big upgrade in quality.

- The handle is hard black anodized 6061 aluminum.

- The pivot pin is a major modification. I cut out a d-shape hole at the end of the pin so that the potentiometer shaft will mate correctly without modifying the potentiometer. Atari could have done this back in the day, but it would have been horribly time consuming and difficult with the equipment available back then. Piece of cake now!

Everything else is to OEM spec. Obviously, the plastic cover is missing. That's the last part I'm working on.

Dave
 
Wow - except for maybe having to replace the pot, it looks like it will last until the next millenium!!

Bill
 
I'm making reproduction LL panels, too. :)

The panels are probably not going to be released at the same time, but I'm trying to speed it up to try and lessen the delay between the two.

Dave


Nice looking thruster, too bad most of them will end up on butchered Atari control panels.
 
Looks great Dave !! One question, is that a prototype, or are you lasering all the brackets ? It would be a hell of alot quicker than blank die for each part. For 500 piece runs it would be more cost effective too. I don't know how you find time to do it, every shop I know is running full tilt right now.. Keep up the great work.
 
What you see is a full production unit being test fit for all the accompanying parts BEFORE I have them powder coated. Incidentally, all the parts fit just fine!! In fact, all of the parts I make from sheet metal (sheet plastic, too) are laser cut. I have my machines running 24/7 on client jobs, but I manage to slip these things in-between those jobs. It's tricky, but I'm managing.

Dave
 
You do beautiful work Dave! Any chance of some Race Drivin' Cockpit repro parts at some point in the future? That and Gravitar are my only Atari games... :(
 
I would need to see the parts in question. Race Drivin' hasn't been on my radar much at all, but I'll certainly look at reproducing anything ATARI. :) I would need originals to work from. Ideally NOS, but I'm pretty good at getting around that requirement if I have to.

Dave
 
Someone brought this up last night and I've been thinking about it ever since.... Is there much interest in a FULL Lunar Lander conversion kit? Eventually, I can provide a fully populated control panel - wiring, buttons, thruster, mission select panel, etc... That means people will be able to slap them onto Asteroids cabs and turn them into Lunar Lander machines fairly easily. However, the CPU boards are somewhat rare.

The questions are:

- if I were to make reproduction LL CPU boards, would anyone be interested in them?

- should I make the boards EXACT or slightly different?

- wouldn't making a CPU board for LL be a "bootleg" essentially?

- wouldn't I be crossing a line by doing this?

- if I am crossing a line, what about others who make multi-boards? Are THEY crossing that same line and not worried about it or is it different all together?

I'm really reluctant to reproduce major boardsets of any type because of the whole idea that I would be making bootlegs, but it seems to be fine for supports boards - amplifone HV & deflection, 6100 HV & deflection, encoder boards, etc.. Maybe I could make the boards without the ROM and let everyone do it themselves or run over to Hobby ROMs? I could EASILY copy boards like Lunar Lander, Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, etc... but should I? I'm still leaning towards no on that one.

Comments?

Dave
 
I don't see a problem with making reproduciton boards. Someone just came to this site the other day with pictures of their reproductiod motherboard from one of the first Apples and how they populated it with chips that were actually made in the 70's.

As for how to do it that is up to you and what is easiest for you. You may run into less headaches and potential problems if you make it exact.

I'm just not sure of the market for an item like this, but It would be kind of neat to have a bare pcb hanging on the wall though.
 
I don't know about crossing lines, but availability of a conversion kit would probably push me over the edge to buying an Asteroids. I don't like Asteroids enough to dedicate space to just that, but if I could swap back and forth between the two games, I'd probably do it. And I wouldn't mind if the roms were left out.

You're already planning to do the Star Wars boards for the cockpit project, aren't you?
 
My opinion...(written in blue below)


- if I were to make reproduction LL CPU boards, would anyone be interested in them?
Yes

- should I make the boards EXACT or slightly different?

Exact, unless you are concerned for legal reasons about doing so, then I would just make modifications, and claim it was reverse engineered or something

- wouldn't making a CPU board for LL be a "bootleg" essentially?

I'd think of it as a reproduction, not unlike reproduction parts or artwork, especially if the Roms are not included

- wouldn't I be crossing a line by doing this?

Maybe, but leaving the roms out would at least make it easier to sleep at night ;)

- if I am crossing a line, what about others who make multi-boards? Are THEY crossing that same line and not worried about it or is it different all together?

The multiboard manufacturers know what they are doing and have no problem with it. However, I wouldn't base your decision on what they do.

I'm really reluctant to reproduce major boardsets of any type because of the whole idea that I would be making bootlegs, but it seems to be fine for supports boards - amplifone HV & deflection, 6100 HV & deflection, encoder boards, etc.. Maybe I could make the boards without the ROM and let everyone do it themselves or run over to Hobby ROMs? I could EASILY copy boards like Lunar Lander, Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, etc... but should I? I'm still leaning towards no on that one.

Comments?

I say do it, or at least do one to test the waters and then let the market decide.

 
Thanks guys! This is what I was looking for. I'm still interested in getting more opinions on the subject, so don't hold back.

If you like the idea of having CPU boards accurately reproduced, let me know. I can easily remake these things, I just need to hear an overwhelming positive response to my question of whether or not to make them.

Also, if you are against having CPU boards reproduced, please comment with reasons.

I need to see the whole picture here, so I'd like to read comments on both sides of the fence. :)

Dave
 
Rottendog and others make replacement cpu / driver boards / fliptronic boards etc, for pins that are no longer in production, whats the difference here?

A Multi / board like the RARE beta Braze Asteroids / AD and LL kit would be popular IMHO
Add a swappable panel and I'm excited!

Might be my first vector!
I played a ton of Asteroids BITD
 
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