Level42
New member
How does he know he can turn down the brightness without powering it up ?
Star Wars Upright Amplifone Help Needed
- Thread starter BlaineLocklair
- Start date
RetroHacker
Well-known member
+1
You shouldn't see those retrace lines - or the spot in the center. Although, the spot in the center will cure itself eventually - you'll burn the phosphor off the middle of the tube completely, and then you won't see the spot anymore.
Turn down the brightness!
-Ian
OP
OP
Aw, man...
Well, here's the good news... the Amplifone is repaired! The adjustment to the brightness solved the retrace line problem and the center spot issue. I think that there is just some play in the brightness pot, and really will need to be replaced in the future (soon). With the exception of a stretched horizontal picture and a little bit of ripple, it looked great! I'm so glad that beast is finally tamed.
Ok, here comes the "Aw, man..." part. I really wanted to use stronger language, but I'm sticking with the PG rated stuff for now. Ready for it?
The game is already broken. Yep, hosed again.
I pulled out the PCB set to make the adjustment to the horizontal width. I didn't see the pot right away, so I pulled the board set out, reattached the harnesses (correctly) and set the board down at about a 45 degree angle. Since the next power up, both of the CR2 LED lights are lit up on the board set, but the trio of LEDs still comes on and goes out right away. Also, the spot killer LED on the deflection board is on, and there's no chatter and no picture any longer.
What the heck have I done here? My son and I played three games of it, and now it's dead again. It's the absolute worst feeling to think that it worked, and I did something to screw it up just by moving the PCBs. Incidentally, I'd already moved the PCBs more than once to inspect them and to remove and totally clean the cage.
Ack! Help!
Thanks,
Blaine
Well, here's the good news... the Amplifone is repaired! The adjustment to the brightness solved the retrace line problem and the center spot issue. I think that there is just some play in the brightness pot, and really will need to be replaced in the future (soon). With the exception of a stretched horizontal picture and a little bit of ripple, it looked great! I'm so glad that beast is finally tamed.
Ok, here comes the "Aw, man..." part. I really wanted to use stronger language, but I'm sticking with the PG rated stuff for now. Ready for it?
The game is already broken. Yep, hosed again.
I pulled out the PCB set to make the adjustment to the horizontal width. I didn't see the pot right away, so I pulled the board set out, reattached the harnesses (correctly) and set the board down at about a 45 degree angle. Since the next power up, both of the CR2 LED lights are lit up on the board set, but the trio of LEDs still comes on and goes out right away. Also, the spot killer LED on the deflection board is on, and there's no chatter and no picture any longer.
What the heck have I done here? My son and I played three games of it, and now it's dead again. It's the absolute worst feeling to think that it worked, and I did something to screw it up just by moving the PCBs. Incidentally, I'd already moved the PCBs more than once to inspect them and to remove and totally clean the cage.
Ack! Help!
Thanks,
Blaine
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2008
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You poor guy
Time to start the process again
New problem, new process
Back to
Check connectors, sockets. You might have hairline cracks in the PCB
Good luck Blaine, what can i say
Time to start the process again
New problem, new process
Back to
Check connectors, sockets. You might have hairline cracks in the PCB
Good luck Blaine, what can i say
jonathan1138
Active member
Try the onboard diagnostics / see if you have chip issues (it will play 16 beeps, with lo tones representing trouble). Even though the spot killer comes on, you should still hear it.
OP
OP
Hi everyone,
Tried the test mode, no beeps. The game was in test mode when it was working and I powered it down to remove the boards to get to the XY pots. When I powered it back up, it wasn't working, and both CR2 LEDs and the Spot Killer LED were lit.
I also checked all of the fuses with my DMM, all are good.
What is the significance of the two CR2 LEDs on the game PCBs?
I think I read online that the spot killer will turn on if the game PCB set is not sending an adequate XY signal to the deflection board. Does this sound right, and is it just a matter of checking that particular corner of the board? Any other ideas?
It really sucks to have got it working, and to see the excitement on my son's face, only to have it all gone in a moment. I sure hope it's something simple.
Tried the test mode, no beeps. The game was in test mode when it was working and I powered it down to remove the boards to get to the XY pots. When I powered it back up, it wasn't working, and both CR2 LEDs and the Spot Killer LED were lit.
I also checked all of the fuses with my DMM, all are good.
What is the significance of the two CR2 LEDs on the game PCBs?
I think I read online that the spot killer will turn on if the game PCB set is not sending an adequate XY signal to the deflection board. Does this sound right, and is it just a matter of checking that particular corner of the board? Any other ideas?
It really sucks to have got it working, and to see the excitement on my son's face, only to have it all gone in a moment. I sure hope it's something simple.
RetroHacker
Well-known member
I assume you've already tried reseating the boards on their edge connector? That little backplane that joins the boards is easy to knock loose.
-Ian
-Ian
Level42
New member
I know this is not going to make you feel any better, but H-an V-sizes can be adjusted by the pots on the Amplifone deflection board. There (usually) is no need to use the pots on the game PCB set.
If you haven't done so already I recommend replacing these. They are often bad and cause jitter.
Anyway, never run that beast of a board-set out of the cage...if you need to make adjustments to the pots on the gameboard, slide it out an inch or two so you can reach the pots, but leave it there....
My first guess it the interconnect PCB like RetroHacker says...
If you haven't done so already I recommend replacing these. They are often bad and cause jitter.
Anyway, never run that beast of a board-set out of the cage...if you need to make adjustments to the pots on the gameboard, slide it out an inch or two so you can reach the pots, but leave it there....
My first guess it the interconnect PCB like RetroHacker says...
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Is this the thing that you guys are suggesting is playing up?
http://www.andys-arcade.net/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1097
http://www.andys-arcade.net/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1097
RetroHacker
Well-known member
Yes. Usually it doesn't go bad, per say, but since it sticks out the side, it's easy to brush the board against the cabinet when pulling it out and knock it loose, only to find the next time you turn it on that the game no longer works! Not that I've ever done that... oh no, I never would do something silly like that...
-Ian
Level42
New member
Indeed, it never happened to me either
Especially not when installing SW/ESB kits...
Especially not when installing SW/ESB kits...
OP
OP
Good advice. I'll make this the first thing I check tonight.
Just to confirm... I should completely unbolt and remove the connector card, clean all edges and connection ports, and reassemble and re-secure? If all of the boards and edge connector are bolted together, and they can still separate, I'm guessing I might as well give it the cleaning treatment while I'm re-seating everything.
I'm gonna owe you guys a beer big-time when we get this game all set up. Thanks to everyone who has helped out so far!
Just to confirm... I should completely unbolt and remove the connector card, clean all edges and connection ports, and reassemble and re-secure? If all of the boards and edge connector are bolted together, and they can still separate, I'm guessing I might as well give it the cleaning treatment while I'm re-seating everything.
I'm gonna owe you guys a beer big-time when we get this game all set up.
Thanks to everyone who has helped out so far!
OP
OP
By the way, anyone know what the CR2 LEDs on the game boards represent? Does "always on" mean everything is cool, of does it mean something's wrong?
RetroHacker
Well-known member
The connector card at the back isn't bolted in, it's just plugged onto the stack. You don't need to disassemble the whole stack if you don't want to. If you knocked it loose, simply pushing it back on should do it. But, while you're there, you can pull the connector off, and clean all the edge fingers on the boards if you want. Use isopropyl alcohol (91%, or as pure as you can find is best), and a q-tip and clean the fingers. Don't use sandpaper or other abrasives. Firmly reattach the interconnect board. Also, reseat the sound board cable while you're there.
-Ian
MonsterBash
Well-known member
Did ya try a new Big Blue?
OP
OP
Yeah, put one in between taking out the Amplifone boards and putting them back in rebuilt. Definitely a good idea; it's one of those things that works behind the scenes to help keep things right.
Thanks for the good suggestion though.
OP
OP
Updates
Great call on the interconnect board. Not only had it come loose, it wasn't even connected to the bottom board. Cleaned the edge connectors, plugged it all back in, and I'm back in business. Whew! Finally, something easy to fix on this game!
Well, it played quite nicely... for a little while. Now, I'm back to the same damn problem with the over-brightness:
I've adjusted the brightness pot all the way to the lowest setting, but it's still overdriving the brightness. It seems to be an intermittent problem - I think I even bumped the cabinet and caused it to go away once for a short while. So, it looks like there's a short somewhere that's causing this issue. But where? If the brightness pot is consistently increasing and decreasing the intensity, there's no short in the wire from the HV adjustments to the neck. The short must be somewhere else.
Once I get this nailed down, it's all over but the playing. I feel the force, but cannot control it. What's the last step to get this brightness issue resolved?
Thanks for sticking with this with me - I'm thrilled to see this former warehouse game coming back to its former glory!
Great call on the interconnect board. Not only had it come loose, it wasn't even connected to the bottom board. Cleaned the edge connectors, plugged it all back in, and I'm back in business. Whew! Finally, something easy to fix on this game!
Well, it played quite nicely... for a little while. Now, I'm back to the same damn problem with the over-brightness:
I've adjusted the brightness pot all the way to the lowest setting, but it's still overdriving the brightness. It seems to be an intermittent problem - I think I even bumped the cabinet and caused it to go away once for a short while. So, it looks like there's a short somewhere that's causing this issue. But where? If the brightness pot is consistently increasing and decreasing the intensity, there's no short in the wire from the HV adjustments to the neck. The short must be somewhere else.
Once I get this nailed down, it's all over but the playing. I feel the force, but cannot control it. What's the last step to get this brightness issue resolved?
Thanks for sticking with this with me - I'm thrilled to see this former warehouse game coming back to its former glory!
Level42
New member
The interconnection board doesn't seem to get bad or dirty much. At least I've never seen one that was bad. It just happens sometimes that because of movement one of the PCB's comes out (partly) and the game won't play. Simply push it back all the way towards the PCB's.
OP
OP
Gotta work out the short in the brightness, but...
... it's finally working right! It needs a few tweaks, and some cooling fans, but it's working well.
If it weren't for the help of the many contributors to this thread, it would not be working. I am proud to be a part of the great community here at KLOV, and I sincerely appreciate everyone's help with this.
Here's my philosophy on our hobby:
If you buy working games, you become a collector.
If you buy non-working games and send them out to get fixed, you become a preservationist.
If you learn how to fix non-working games and bring them back to life, you become a resource.
I am always the most interested in becoming a resource. Although my knowledge of Star Wars and the Amplifone monitor will never rival the experts in the KLOV community, I now have some skill sets with the Amp that will hopefully be of value to others.
Again, thanks to everyone in the KLOV community that contributed. Arcade game collecting has been a hobby of mine for 9 years now, and it's great folks that keep it fun for me.
- Blaine
... it's finally working right! It needs a few tweaks, and some cooling fans, but it's working well.
If it weren't for the help of the many contributors to this thread, it would not be working. I am proud to be a part of the great community here at KLOV, and I sincerely appreciate everyone's help with this.
Here's my philosophy on our hobby:
If you buy working games, you become a collector.
If you buy non-working games and send them out to get fixed, you become a preservationist.
If you learn how to fix non-working games and bring them back to life, you become a resource.
I am always the most interested in becoming a resource. Although my knowledge of Star Wars and the Amplifone monitor will never rival the experts in the KLOV community, I now have some skill sets with the Amp that will hopefully be of value to others.
Again, thanks to everyone in the KLOV community that contributed. Arcade game collecting has been a hobby of mine for 9 years now, and it's great folks that keep it fun for me.
- Blaine
m_mcgovern
Active member
Congratulations!
So what was done in going from your second-to-last picture to the last picture?
So what was done in going from your second-to-last picture to the last picture?
