Tempest acting strange

videodan

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When I power it up, the 1P & 2P lights stay of for about 10 seconds before blinking, then attract mode comes on. When I start a game, I choose the pattern I want to start with, then things go wacky. This is what happens:

The characters on the screen are jumbled all over and flash frantically. Yet, you can still use the controls as if you're playing normally with the typical game sounds. Then, after another 10 seconds or so, the words, 'PLAYER - PLAYER C2' comes on. What's going on?

Before anyone asks, I haven't touched anything because I don't know what to do. Thanks for any pointers and/or suggestions.
 
Bump! 'Throw me a frickin' bone, here!' LOL

Will this do?:

IMG_29222.jpg


I am picking up a Tempest myself. We'll compare notes when I get it home.
 
If that were my Tempest, the first thing I'd want to do is make sure the Power Supply was working properly.
If it has not already been done, I'd remove the ARII from the game & either re-solder in a repair kit from Bob Roberts or have someone else do it for you.
I wouldn't touch a thing until I did that.
 
i would check the +5, which is fairly easy to check on that board. see if it's fluctuating or dropping, or if you have any burned resistors, like r29 or r30 on the ar2 board. if all that looks good, try swapping big blues with one of your other atari games to see if that's the issue.

also, if it's a p/s problem, from looking at your vaps, you have a 'pede. the ar2 board for that is the same as the tempest one, so you should be able to do a straight swap on those to see if that is the problem.
 
Good suggestions, guys! Well, I could swap out the arII board from my 'Pede, it's not working anyway. I actually have a spare new big blue, so I could just swap that out so I know I have a new one in there.

Thanks for the input. Wish me luck...
 
Good suggestions, guys! Well, I could swap out the arII board from my 'Pede, it's not working anyway. I actually have a spare new big blue, so I could just swap that out so I know I have a new one in there.

Thanks for the input. Wish me luck...

Dan i keep missing ya, i have a working ARII you can borrow, or if you get a repair kit id be happy to repair and test yours for ya. its just been a busy few weeks. call me next week
 
Bri, I'll call you next week. I may just try the ARII from my 'Pede just to see what happens. Miss ya buddy!

Talon: Which cable would that be? Could you please attach a pic for me? Thanks!

Clev: I replaced the Big Blue to no avail. I'm not panicking yet, it's good to have a new BB cap in there anyway. I'll attack the ARII dept. in the next few days.

Thanks, everybody!!
 
Don't forget that interconnect cable.. It'll cause those problems too

QFT!

The interconnect is the cable that connects the 2 PCBs, try reseating both ends of the cable. When mine starts acting wonky a reseat has always cleared it up so far.

Picture was grabbed off the net, but here you can see the cable REAL good...it's the only thing connected!
 

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