Spy hunter switcher / battery question....

jonathan1138

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Hello again - For Spy Hunter, I read all sorts of horror stories about the battery leaking on the boards - if i install this switcher from Arcade shop, would this protect me from "leakage"?
 
But Arch, i have the switcher! Does that outright replace the need for the battery? Or do i still need to order the kit from Bob Roberts in addition?
 
Switchers tend to suck in Spy Hunter. I started with an ArcadeShop switcher and pulled it out after an hour -- the hum in the audio was just atrocious. Most folks that put switchers in Spy Hunter report the same thing.

I personally recommend the original linear power boards because you get a nice relatively hum free game that way. And you can use a cordless phone battery for backup or an SRAM modification.

The latter is the coolest but some folks seem to have issues with the SRAM route.

With a little bit of care you can use a linear power board and an off-board cordless phone battery and not have to worry about leakage. I used a cordless phone battery for the last 3 years and then hot-swapped it out last summer for another one. 3.5 years of trouble free operation and going strong.
 
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Demogo,

Thanks. The switcher is installed - not much of a hum (although a jumper was needed on the cheap squeak). Although - i will switch back to see if there is a difference and report back. As said, not much of a hum, but its there, I am sure at some point it will drive me crazy (if the alternative is hum free). I see myself playing this game more than the others that i have - its really that good. The enemy AI is well ahead of its time - they chase you, try and sandwich you, its a thrill to play.

What i am having an intermittent issue with is the PG theme is "scratchy" at the high levels - when it gets around channel 5-6 (high notes) the speaker sounds like its virbrating / sounds scratchy. It comes and goes. I reseated all chips last night and grounded the Cheap Squeak board, but no change. I think i am going to order a full (5) serial cable set to see if this improves it. While i am on that order, i will get the battery.

Besides that, the lamp driver board seems to be dead (have one on its way) and the left control stick is loose (not sure why yet).

Not too bad - think it can be fully working in a few more days, pending shipping!
 
The switcher kit from Arcadeshop replaces the board with the battery, so you can remove the batteries and the whole board from the cabinet.

I also use this kit with my Spy Hunter. It doesn't make any hum. :D
 
To add to what was said above, the leakage is on the original linear power supply board. If you use the switcher, you won't be using this board. You can either remove it, or leave it. Either way, cut the battery off of it so you can repair it later and prevent any (further) damage to it.

If the sounds are "scratchy" have you considered that a speaker may be bad? Is the volume too loud? Mine had a bad DAC on the cheap squeak board. Replacing it fixed it. Thread here.
 
Thanks guys - it makes sense now. I removed that board, so no worries about leakage in the cab.

Nep - i saw your thread last night (through a search). The scratch is not that bad - its toward the higher range, sounds like when it hits a certain note, it causes and overbass / sounds more like an overvibration of the cone. Maybe i will swap speakers to see if it remains and to rule out a physical speaker issue. Will revert back with results.
 
Bob has shielded speakers if you need replacements.

Sometimes my speakers resonate when they hit certain notes/sequences and I don't like how it sounds, particularly when they are playing loudly.

Do you get the same effect with the volume turned down?
 
Demogo,

Thanks. The switcher is installed - not much of a hum (although a jumper was needed on the cheap squeak). Although - i will switch back to see if there is a difference and report back. As said, not much of a hum, but its there, I am sure at some point it will drive me crazy (if the alternative is hum free). I see myself playing this game more than the others that i have - its really that good. The enemy AI is well ahead of its time - they chase you, try and sandwich you, its a thrill to play.

What i am having an intermittent issue with is the PG theme is "scratchy" at the high levels - when it gets around channel 5-6 (high notes) the speaker sounds like its virbrating / sounds scratchy. It comes and goes. I reseated all chips last night and grounded the Cheap Squeak board, but no change. I think i am going to order a full (5) serial cable set to see if this improves it. While i am on that order, i will get the battery.

Besides that, the lamp driver board seems to be dead (have one on its way) and the left control stick is loose (not sure why yet).

Not too bad - think it can be fully working in a few more days, pending shipping!

> I am sure at some point it will drive me crazy (if the alternative is hum free).

Good linear power boards are very low hum, almost hum free.


> I see myself playing this game more than the others that i have - its really that good. The enemy AI is well ahead of its time - they chase you, try and sandwich you, its a thrill to play.

Absolutely -- I'm still amazed at how rich and varied the playing environment is on that game. It becomes very apparent when you're playing longer games -- no game is ever like another one and the sheer number of ways for the game to kill you is amazing. Incredible what they did in such a small amount of code.

You have to have a battery somewhere or in some fashion to save the scores and settings. If you use a linear power board you want an off-board mounted battery. If you use a switcher there's an adapter that may come with it that has a battery on board. Or you can go with one of the battery backed RAMs. There's other variants too including using a modified linear power board with a lithium battery.
 
Demogo - thanks for the followup. Just got in (working on a Dragons Lair dipswitch problem that took up all my time, and i didnt even fix it).

Played the Spy Hunter - and believe its vibration or grounding as you note. Even though it does happen at low sound levels, if I "knock" the head - it doesnt pitch at all and is crystal clear. After a few minutes, it goes back. Considering its the cockpit, and the speakers are behind me and away from the boards, i can (For now) safely assume this is a speaker issue (since i know i am not jarring the boards when knocking).

Of course, i wont know for sure until i get back in there. Just a few screws. I will check out the speakers Bob has to offer this week.

Whats next to get it 100 percent:

-- Need to re disassemble the steering - the left handlebar is loose - need to find out where its loose and tighten it up. Man i dread taking those grips apart - getting them back together without crimping the wires upon resealing it was a little tight.

-- Awaiting an untested lamp board from quarter arcade - hopefully it works and fixes no lights on the dashboard. The board i have now doesnt seem to distribute 12 volts at J5 when it should (board gets 12 volts but doesnt dish it out to the dashboard).

I think thats it. Played a few games today. I am blown away at how good a game it is. When i was younger, i was fascinated by it, but it was always very difficult (i was 8 -9, so most games were). Years later, replayed it on Mame, does it NO justice at all, i guess that goes for any steering / multi button / pedal game, so i never thought about it much. But wow am i glad i took a chance - ive never taken to an arcade ive bought in like this one (ive had quite a few so far). The enemy AI is so ahead of its time, smart, and quite funny at times - how they try and sandwich you, chase you down and outsmart. Its quite a game.
 
(sorry - repeated my other post!!). Long day. Will update with pics when it is working fully.

By the way - Star Trek Sega - man that was another game i loved when i was a kid and still do. I remember the captains chair well.
 
Demogo - thanks for the followup. Just got in (working on a Dragons Lair dipswitch problem that took up all my time, and i didnt even fix it).

Played the Spy Hunter - and believe its vibration or grounding as you note. Even though it does happen at low sound levels, if I "knock" the head - it doesnt pitch at all and is crystal clear. After a few minutes, it goes back. Considering its the cockpit, and the speakers are behind me and away from the boards, i can (For now) safely assume this is a speaker issue (since i know i am not jarring the boards when knocking).

Of course, i wont know for sure until i get back in there. Just a few screws. I will check out the speakers Bob has to offer this week.

Whats next to get it 100 percent:

-- Need to re disassemble the steering - the left handlebar is loose - need to find out where its loose and tighten it up. Man i dread taking those grips apart - getting them back together without crimping the wires upon resealing it was a little tight.

-- Awaiting an untested lamp board from quarter arcade - hopefully it works and fixes no lights on the dashboard. The board i have now doesnt seem to distribute 12 volts at J5 when it should (board gets 12 volts but doesnt dish it out to the dashboard).

I think thats it. Played a few games today. I am blown away at how good a game it is. When i was younger, i was fascinated by it, but it was always very difficult (i was 8 -9, so most games were). Years later, replayed it on Mame, does it NO justice at all, i guess that goes for any steering / multi button / pedal game, so i never thought about it much. But wow am i glad i took a chance - ive never taken to an arcade ive bought in like this one (ive had quite a few so far). The enemy AI is so ahead of its time, smart, and quite funny at times - how they try and sandwich you, chase you down and outsmart. Its quite a game.

Lamp boards are cheap and plentiful -- you won't have a problem finding one of those.

Sounds like you just need a new speaker or need to put something around the existing one to stop the resonating.

My favorite thing the AI does is accidentally kill one of its own cars immediately in front of you. And of course when they die they immediately stop and you crash into them with no time to dodge them.

There's so many crazy things you can do in that game... lately I've been killing the spiked wheel guys by knocking my weapons van or bullet proof bullies into them. And even if it doesn't kill them, the game is smart enough to disable their spiked wheels on the damaged side which makes them a sitting duck...

You just never know what's going to happen next in that game...
 
(sorry - repeated my other post!!). Long day. Will update with pics when it is working fully.

By the way - Star Trek Sega - man that was another game i loved when i was a kid and still do. I remember the captains chair well.

You're a glutton for punishment! :)
 
Since you're talking about gameplay, I have a question. Do you usually leave it in High, and adjust your speed using the gas pedal? Of course, if you slow down too much you would need to shift into low to get started again. Or do you shift from low to high when the action gets tough?

When I played it BITD, I don't even remember using the gas pedal to adjust my speed. It was always floored. My guess is the machine was probably not really calibrated well, and you couldn't get to the fast speeds anyway.
 
I remember playing in low -> high, but that was because i was younger and wasnt coordinated to use the shifter and pedal back then.

Now, just leave it in high, alternate speed. Need to use low after crashing though for a brief moment.
 
Demogo,

Thanks. The switcher is installed - not much of a hum (although a jumper was needed on the cheap squeak). Although - i will switch back to see if there is a difference and report back. As said, not much of a hum, but its there, I am sure at some point it will drive me crazy (if the alternative is hum free). I see myself playing this game more than the others that i have - its really that good. The enemy AI is well ahead of its time - they chase you, try and sandwich you, its a thrill to play.

What i am having an intermittent issue with is the PG theme is "scratchy" at the high levels - when it gets around channel 5-6 (high notes) the speaker sounds like its virbrating / sounds scratchy. It comes and goes. I reseated all chips last night and grounded the Cheap Squeak board, but no change. I think i am going to order a full (5) serial cable set to see if this improves it. While i am on that order, i will get the battery.

Besides that, the lamp driver board seems to be dead (have one on its way) and the left control stick is loose (not sure why yet).

Not too bad - think it can be fully working in a few more days, pending shipping!

Why was a jumper needed on the cheap squeak?
 
This is from the MCR / Arcade shop documentation.

There appears to be several different versions of the boards sets and wiring harness. This
combination may cause a hum in the audio. Installing jumper W3 on the cheap squeak board
(Left side of cab, NOT on the CPU set) may remove it.
 
Lamp boards are cheap and plentiful -- you won't have a problem finding one of those.

Sounds like you just need a new speaker or need to put something around the existing one to stop the resonating.

My favorite thing the AI does is accidentally kill one of its own cars immediately in front of you. And of course when they die they immediately stop and you crash into them with no time to dodge them.

There's so many crazy things you can do in that game... lately I've been killing the spiked wheel guys by knocking my weapons van or bullet proof bullies into them. And even if it doesn't kill them, the game is smart enough to disable their spiked wheels on the damaged side which makes them a sitting duck...

You just never know what's going to happen next in that game...

do you know the trick how to shoot and kill the bullet proof bullies?
 
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