Star Wars Vector Problems - Making me crazy!

slappy

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I have had this SW for a while now an have made several repairs from the cabinet to the PCB. Everytime I get one thing repaired, I find something else wrong with it.

My latest problem can be seen in the attached picture. I am not sure what to do about this problem, and was hoping someone with more experience could lead me in the right direction.

It appears that the game is running, but within the confines of that small area on the screen. I have tried X and Y adjustments, but it only apears to make a difference within the small area. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 

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I've heard of this issue before, but I'm not finding anything in the search, probably because it's from before the changeover.

Check the voltages from the power brick. IIRC, low voltages (possible from your 10.3) can cause a shrunken pic. Changing the Big Blue might help with that....
 
Will do

I have checked some voltages, but it has been a while. I have read that the big blue can cause several problems. The power brick is one of the few things I havn't completely overhauled yet. I felt like it was working OK at the time, but I think i will take your advise and just get it over with and revamp the power brick from the bottom up.
 
I'm guessing this has a 6100?

I ran across another post from last year with a similar issue on a Tempest, and the way the posts were going it looked like it might have been board related (perhaps with the DACs or the vector generator), but if the issue was resolved, the thread never says....
 
Looking at the bits of the frame on the outside, looks like a 6100 to me.

I'm guessing this has a 6100?

I ran across another post from last year with a similar issue on a Tempest, and the way the posts were going it looked like it might have been board related (perhaps with the DACs or the vector generator), but if the issue was resolved, the thread never says....
 
Could be a bad dac on the main board or something else in that circuit. I had the same problem on a couple asteroids boards and thats what it was on them.
Of course, make sure your power is good before proceeding. Check voltages on the pcb test points.
 
Okay..I havn't had a chance to order anything to replace yet. But, I did recheck the voltage test points on the PCB. All were within 1/2 voltage of specified voltages.

I would like to check the DACs next, but I am not 100% sure what I am looking at. Which board would I find these on, and are they socketed for easy removal?

Thanks again.
 
WAY too low. Should be right in the 180VDC area. You need to use the adjustment pot located in the middle of THE HV board and crank up the B+.
 
Okay, so I was curious about the B+ voltage and did some research and it looks like it should be closer to 180 VDC. I was able to adjust the HV pot and get the voltage inline with specs. It did center the small "box of vectors" (that you can see in the attached pic) on the monitor, but did not make any difference in the size of the picture.


Edit: thanks Deadly, I must have been typing this as you were.
 
Let me ask you about your setup. Is the K6100 plugged directly into your main wiring harness or is there an extension wiring harness used? If there's an extension remove it or try wiglling it around and see if the out put changes. I had a VERY similiar situation and the pig tail extension cable was the culprit.
 
There is no extension between the monitor and board. For good measure though, I still wiggled it around and no change was seen on the monitor. I did notice, that the "spot killer" LED is lit on the monitor PCB. This is lit even though I can see the small picture on the screen. Not sure if that is relevant or not.
 
Are there any reputable repair guys left that still work on these old vetors? I'm starting to just think I should send it off so someone. Any recommendations?
 
Test all the surface mount transistors. Put your DMM on continuity test and put black lead to ground and red to the top of the transistor. If it beeps it's bad. Typically you end up with half a screen or nothing however it hurts nothing to try this. Otherwise you can send it to [email protected]
 
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