Tech: Battlezone clicks and goes straight to high score entry

pipcade

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Tech: Battlezone clicks and goes straight to high score entry

Found a local Battlezone in good shape and almost works.
http://thebrokenjoystick.com/misc/battlezone/
(the whitish stuff on the left of the shroud is masking tape residue)

This is what it does...
When you turn it on, it makes a continuous clicking sound (sounded
like it came from the right side when facing the front) for about 5-10
seconds and goes straight to the high score entry screen. The sticks
don't have their cases on them and so no button so you can't enter
your initials and if you let it sit for a while it finally goes to
another screen (I forget which). I think it shows the main screen for
a second then goes back to high score entry maybe? The monitor looks
very good.

Seems like it might be an easy fix (maybe)? How hard is it to find
replacement Battlezone joystick covers?

I am not super-fond of Battlezone really but the price is dirt cheap
and might be a fun project to fix up (though I know zero about vectors
really) then trade for something I do want. I'm also afraid someone
will grab it and MAME it and would hate to see that happen.

Advice welcome :)

Brian
http://thebrokenjoystick.com
 
Try the self-test screen; the switch is on the inside of the coin door. Take a picture of the display after powering it up in self-test mode, (and if it beeps, write down the sequence of beeps), or just write down what (if anything) you see. That'll tell you what's wrong with the boardset.

Sounds to me like a math box problem. Could be as simple as poor contact on the big connector between the two boards, or a bad chip (one of the four "custom" chips, actually just AMD 2901 bit-slice ALUs, and readily available from the usual sources) on the square "math box" PCB.

In the attract mode, when it's displaying the high score table, it's not doing any fancy math, so it's able to display the scores.

When it switches from "display high scores" to "show tanks roaming the landscape", the main board has to talk to the math board to render the display, which is where the machine gets confused again. The clicking is probably the coin door lockout coils repeatedly engaging/disengaging for some reason, and is also probably related to the confused state of the machine.
 
I can't do any further testing of it since I don't own it :)
sounds like you're saying it could possibly be an easy fix though. Decisions, decisions.

Thanks dwj!
Brian
 
I can't do any further testing of it since I don't own it :)
sounds like you're saying it could possibly be an easy fix though. Decisions, decisions.

Thanks dwj!
Brian

Mylstar has the stick pieces. One of mine just broke and it was about $25 (shipped) for a NOS replacement half but they are available.

BZ can be a real SOB to get working.
 
Just realized I might not have made this clear... When it boots up it takes me to the high score ENTRY screen and wants me to enter my initials for a high score. It's not just the static high score table.
 
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Ok, you (and others) have convinced me not to get the BZ. Sounds like too much work and I'm struggling with a few other projects I have already (Centipede, Star Wars, Tapper). So, if anyone wants a troubled Battlezone for cheap, I can point you to it - it's in Garner, NC (and still not owned by me).

Thanks for the help, everyone!
Brian
 
Funny, I picked up a Battlezone and has the same issue (and one more, I'll describe later).

So far, verified all EPROMs, reflowed header pins, cleaned edge connectors, reseated interconnect cable and checked the edge connector contacts. I'll take a look at the custom chips and reseat stuff too. Any other suggestions?

Additionally, during game play, the retrace lines are visible on the main items (tanks, explosions, etc) the mountains & volcanoes are clean (including the eruptions)

Any other suggestions would be appreciated, and I'll post follow-ups.

Thanks!
 
I would start with the Transistors Q7-9 and just work your way backwards through the Z circuit. For the trace line problem. Also you have checked the voltage levels? Two things I've seen cause the clicking of the coin mechs is big blue, and interconnect cable problems.

Just a thought, since the volcano and stuff look alright, you still might try adjusting the brightness down.
 
+5VDC is good, haven't checked the others. I have a Big Blue and a monitor & power supply cap kit coming. Once the deflection board is out, I"ll reflow the headers on that too.

Good suggestion on the brightness, I'll fiddle with that in the meantime.

High Score thing is a little weird though....
 
Update: Swapped out the Z Channel transistors, no change on the retrace lines. (they were pretty rough looking anyway)

Brightness control didn't help much.

Took a 2nd look at the Test Screen and found 6 40 on the left side. Backdoor sheet pointed to PROM L/M1. Reseated it, and everything works fine!

Symptoms were: Major shapes had bright retrace lines along with missing geometric obstacles (didn't know they were there). Minor shapes had faint retract lines (like the moon), game would click into High Score Entry for no reason.

Fix: Bad connection/bad PROM in L/M1.

Your mileage may vary.

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
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