Tempest Troubles Part VI

Phetishboy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 12, 2006
Messages
47,929
Reaction score
9,392
Location
Avon, Minnesota
So I moved my Tempest from one side of the room to the other, fired it up and the screen was upside down. Then it kept power cycling off and on. Turned it off, then on, screen right side up, but it was still power cycling. The elements of the screen are also all out of whack. Turned it off and back on, screen upside down again, same power reset, off, on, off, on. Then the elements of the screen start to collapse then bloom, then collapse, etc. Now, this is a rebuilt boardset, new edge connectors, new big blue, rebuilt 6100 with LV kit and a fan running on the monitor. I literally just moved the game (on sliders) roughly 10 feet. What's up?
 
Phet you should know better than to move games especially Tempest.

Put it in test mode and see what she does. Probably just need to go through and reseat all your plugs.

Do the normal stuff first. Plugs, voltages.
 
Sounds good. I figured I should reseat everything first. I hope that's all it is. Man, I could push my DK3 or my PC-10 off of a cliff and they would still work. Why are Ataris so damned hard to keep running?
 
OK, now it comes up in attract mode fine and the led's are blinking, but I can't start a game. In test mode, none of the corresponding bars light up when a button is pushed. It seems the control inputs aren't working.
 
RTFM! It clearly states that moving a Tempest voids the warranty.

Pull your boardset and reseat your interboard connectors, then reseat your edge connectors.
 
Did you say that the A/R II was already rebuilt?

Not yet, I have the kit sitting in a sealed bag taped to the back door though. It was putting out the correct voltages last time I metered it. Maybe it's time to test it again. What should I be getting at the AR TP's?
 
Well I 'd almost say your CP was unplugged, but you have blinking LEDs

So that leaves the edge connector to the aux, the pokey at C/D2 and of course the dreaded interconnect.
 
Reseated all connectors, pushed down all chips, game came right up, all controls now work.

Tempest=Temperamental
 
Try rolling them around on a cement floor with a giant crack in the middle...I might as well just start over every time I re-arrange something lol.
 
Back
Top Bottom