Spy Hunter cheap squeak strange problem

tstone

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Hi

Well, I'm still working on the Spy Hunter. It seems like everything that could go wrong has gone wrong!

Here is my issue:

Most times I start up the machine, the green light on the cheap squeak board flashes a few times, and then goes out. After this the game works perfectly, with the Peter Gunn theme playing at all the right times.

SOME times, however, when I power up, the LED does not flash at all, and the Peter Gunn theme then never plays. If I power cycle the game, it works (the light flashes a few times, goes out, then everything works ok).

Sigh...

Anyone know what would cause this problem? Is it possible something needs to "charge up" and is doing so when I power the machine up the first time when it doesn't work, and is then charged up the next time I power the machine on?

Could it be a power issue? I don't know how it could be since it always works the second time...but I checked the +12 at the power board, it is around 12.2. I'm not sure where to check the voltage on the cheap squeak.

thanks!
 
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TstOne,

Hi. I also just got a Spy hunter. Have been doing a lot of research, to prepare myself for the anticipated issues this game demonstrates. I just came across a good posting that might help you. Please try this and let us know if it works for you? Found this on google groups video arcade collecting site (posted by Johnny D).

Also, for KLOV members - TstOne reads 12.2 volts. On my machine it runs at 12.60 - 12.70 - is that too high? What is an acceptable value?


This is an info post. I have a Spy Hunter upright that didn't play the
Peter Gunn music. Everything else worked fine but the cheap squeak
board (CS), it makes the music. The CS board is located on the left
side wall and has a green LED light that flashes on the machine start
up and should then go out if its working right. If the LED light stays
lit you have a prob on the board. Of course MacMan's many posts to
this group show be headed, check the volume pots inside the coin door.
They're inside the coin door to the right. The lower dial is for the
sound effects, i.e. guns, engine revs, and the top pot is for the
music. This is good advice only if you know how to use a meter you
really wont know if it works regardless how high or low you turn the
dial. If your boards not putting out the music (green light on) the
pot is a mute point. Now there can be a hundred things that can go
wrong, and this message board's many postings can attest to that but
what got me working again was to turn off the power to the machine.
Disconnect the three sets of wires from the CS board, note how they
plug in for when you reconnect, you don't want to jam them back the
wrong way. Unscrew the screws in the 4 corners of the board, undo the
metal grounding strap from the board too. Now the CS board is free.
Here comes the part where a gentle hand comes in handy. You'll notice
there are various rom chips hard soldered onto the board and some
plugged into sockets. We want to reseat the entire socket ROMs. Do
this to ONLY one ROM at a time as to not get them mixed up and note
the way its seated, usually one side has a crescent or hole to mark
which way it plugs. To do this get a small flat screw driver and
GENTLELY slid it between the rom and its seat on one side and give the
screw driver a little twist so that the rom prys out a wee bit. Now
stop and so the same to the other side of the rom so that the even
lifts don't bend or damage any of the roms metal legs. Do this a few
times to both sides until the rom is free of its socket. Take some
fine grit sandpaper 100-120 grit and gentle ruff up the roms metal
legs. If any are bent take a needle nose pliers and gentle grasping
the whole leg gentle straighten it. Then reseat the rom in its socket
with even pressure. Do the same with all the other roms. After that
flip the CS board over and inspect all the solder points, if any look
questionable you can use a 25-30 watt solder iron and reflow that
point. Just heat it up to liquefy the solder and then let it cool
again. Careful not to let the solder touch any other points that its
not supposed to. After all that reattach the yellow ground strip,
screw it back to the left wall of the machine and replug the 3 wire
harnesses. Turn on the power. With any luck the LED will flash and go
out. Press the red reset button on the CS and if the pot is turned up
you should hear Henry Mancini's classic. Hope this helps someone, it's
what I did and my machine works 100% now. Good luck.
 
Hi

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately, I had already reseated the chips and inspected the solder joints before I installed the board.

The board was also purchased as 100% tested/working (which doesn't mean it is of course).

The weird thing about mine is that it often boots and works perfectly. It is just now and then it does not come up at all. Once it comes up it stays working until the game is shut off. It seems like some kind of start-up issue, but I don't know what it would be related to.

Do you know where to measure the voltage on the cheap squeak board itself, and what it should be?

thanks
 
Hi - not sure where to measure (i am a noob too). I am also waiting on schematics so i can have a look and know. There are online schematics i have used in the meantime - they will help in this case.

Maybe someone else with experience can suggest where?
 
It is the SSIO board that tells the Cheap Squeak when to play the Peter Gunn theme. It should play anytime you press the reset button on the Cheap Squeak. The next time it boots without playing the theme, hit the reset on the cheap squeak and see if it plays. That would mean your cheap squeak is fine.

Have you checked the SSIO board yet? You can set the DIP to a diagnostic mode to tell you if it is having any issues. Set SW3 at D14 #1 to ON. Then #2 ON will give you a RAM/ROM test. #3 ON will give you an oscillator test. #4 ON will give you a filter test. Check the manual (page 3) for details.

Since the problem is intermittent, I would guess it is an intermittent signal going from the SSIO to the cheap squeak. Check the voltage on the SSIO across a ROM chip - should be around 5.1V. Maybe check the header of J5 of the SSIO for cold solder joints.
 
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I'll check those things, thanks.

Question: Is it also the SSIO that tells the board to "boot up" at power-up and cause the LED to flash a few times? My problem seem to be that at power-up the board does not initialize on rare occasions.

It is the SSIO board that tells the Cheap Squeak when to play the Peter Gunn theme. It should play anytime you press the reset button on the Cheap Squeak. The next time it boots without playing the theme, hit the reset on the cheap squeak and see if it plays. That would mean your cheap squeak is fine.

Have you checked the SSIO board yet? You can set the DIP to a diagnostic mode to tell you if it is having any issues. Set SW3 at D14 #1 to ON. Then #2 ON will give you a RAM/ROM test. #3 ON will give you an oscillator test. #4 ON will give you a filter test. Check the manual (page 3) for details.

Since the problem is intermittent, I would guess it is an intermittent signal going from the SSIO to the cheap squeak. Check the voltage on the SSIO across a ROM chip - should be around 5.1V. Maybe check the header of J5 of the SSIO for cold solder joints.
 
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