The Tempest has arrived.....HUZAAAAAAAH!

ClarkWGriswold

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Donor 2017
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Midlothian, Virginia
What a beautiful machine. Let's hope it works when I plug it in. There will be much rejoicing....and I have pictures, so it actually happened.
 

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Don't just plug and pray. Do yourself a favor and bring it up systematically:

- Set dipswitches on game board to freeplay (see the manual). Make sure self-test switch in coin door is off (set to middle position, not up or down).

- Unplug monitor and game boards from harness.

- Power on and test DC voltages on AR (+5V, +22V, and -22V). Measure +5V on the positive (+) side of the C1 cap.

- Power down, plug in game boards only, power up, retest voltages on game boards. Verify +5V (on both boards), as well as +15V, -15V, and +6.8V on main board.

- If board is set to freeplay, both start buttons should be blinking. Press P1, and see if the game will play blind. You should hear the sounds.

- If it's playing blind, test the AC and DC voltages on the XOUT and YOUT test points on the game board. AC for both should be between 2 and 4V AC. DC should be between -1.5 and +1.5V DC, but will move around. If DC is steadily more than +2V or -2V, don't plug monitor in. (It may fluctuate up to 3V briefly, but should come back down, and should fluctuate between -1.5 and +1.5V most of the time).

- If voltages are ok, power down. Inspect all monitor wires to make sure everything is connected, and there are no broken wires anywhere. Be careful not to hit the neck or neckboard with your hand while you're in there.

- If wiring looks good, plug in monitor and power up again, with your hand on the switch, ready to kill power if anything looks, sounds, or smells funny. If all is ok, you should see an image.

- Flip test switch on, run self test, and see of any errors are flagged (see the manual). Also, you can tweak the video pots on the game board at this point to adjust the picture.


Hopefully all is ok, but if you follow the instructions above, you should catch most common issues (if there are any), without frying the rest of the system.

If you run into any issues or have questions, post them here.
 
Don't just plug and pray. Do yourself a favor and bring it up systematically:

- Set dipswitches on game board to freeplay (see the manual). Make sure self-test switch in coin door is off (set to middle position, not up or down).

- Unplug monitor and game boards from harness.

- Power on and test DC voltages on AR (+5V, +22V, and -22V). Measure +5V on the positive (+) side of the C1 cap.

- Power down, plug in game boards only, power up, retest voltages on game boards. Verify +5V (on both boards), as well as +15V, -15V, and +6.8V on main board.

- If board is set to freeplay, both start buttons should be blinking. Press P1, and see if the game will play blind. You should hear the sounds.

- If it's playing blind, test the AC and DC voltages on the XOUT and YOUT test points on the game board. AC for both should be between 2 and 4V AC. DC should be between -1.5 and +1.5V DC, but will move around. If DC is steadily more than +2V or -2V, don't plug monitor in. (It may fluctuate up to 3V briefly, but should come back down, and should fluctuate between -1.5 and +1.5V most of the time).

- If voltages are ok, power down. Inspect all monitor wires to make sure everything is connected, and there are no broken wires anywhere. Be careful not to hit the neck or neckboard with your hand while you're in there.

- If wiring looks good, plug in monitor and power up again, with your hand on the switch, ready to kill power if anything looks, sounds, or smells funny. If all is ok, you should see an image.

- Flip test switch on, run self test, and see of any errors are flagged (see the manual). Also, you can tweak the video pots on the game board at this point to adjust the picture.


Hopefully all is ok, but if you follow the instructions above, you should catch most common issues (if there are any), without frying the rest of the system.

If you run into any issues or have questions, post them here.

Damn Andrew, that's an impressive check list. Saving this for future reference!
 
Damn Andrew, that's an impressive check list. Saving this for future reference!

I need to print it and tape it to the glass on mine and go through it every time. j/k

I got the single ROM kit from the guy on here, need to install that on my board. Had my boardset fixed, but there's a flaky ROM socket somewhere.
 
This is awesome advice Andy. I almost learned the hard way with my Gravitar repair. This is the way to go.

Congrats on the pickup Clark.





Don't just plug and pray. Do yourself a favor and bring it up systematically:

- Set dipswitches on game board to freeplay (see the manual). Make sure self-test switch in coin door is off (set to middle position, not up or down).

- Unplug monitor and game boards from harness.

- Power on and test DC voltages on AR (+5V, +22V, and -22V). Measure +5V on the positive (+) side of the C1 cap.

- Power down, plug in game boards only, power up, retest voltages on game boards. Verify +5V (on both boards), as well as +15V, -15V, and +6.8V on main board.

- If board is set to freeplay, both start buttons should be blinking. Press P1, and see if the game will play blind. You should hear the sounds.

- If it's playing blind, test the AC and DC voltages on the XOUT and YOUT test points on the game board. AC for both should be between 2 and 4V AC. DC should be between -1.5 and +1.5V DC, but will move around. If DC is steadily more than +2V or -2V, don't plug monitor in. (It may fluctuate up to 3V briefly, but should come back down, and should fluctuate between -1.5 and +1.5V most of the time).

- If voltages are ok, power down. Inspect all monitor wires to make sure everything is connected, and there are no broken wires anywhere. Be careful not to hit the neck or neckboard with your hand while you're in there.

- If wiring looks good, plug in monitor and power up again, with your hand on the switch, ready to kill power if anything looks, sounds, or smells funny. If all is ok, you should see an image.

- Flip test switch on, run self test, and see of any errors are flagged (see the manual). Also, you can tweak the video pots on the game board at this point to adjust the picture.


Hopefully all is ok, but if you follow the instructions above, you should catch most common issues (if there are any), without frying the rest of the system.

If you run into any issues or have questions, post them here.
 
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This is awesome! Unfortunately, my Andrewb-to-English decoder ring is in a different shipment. I just read that and nodded a lot and went "uh huh....uh huh....uh huh". So in over my head right now.

I am such a dirty, nouveau-riche arcade owner/poser. I feel dirty.
 
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This is awesome! Unfortunately, my Andrewb-to-English translator ring is in a different shipment. I just read that and nodded a lot and went "uh huh....uh huh....uh huh". So in over my head right now.

I am such a dirty, nouveau-riche arcade owner/poser. I feel dirty.


If you don't understand any/all of what is listed, in all seriousness, you need to do some homework. As a vector owner, you will need to know all of these things sooner or later. And sooner is better, if you want to minimize your risk of having a 350-lb, thousand-dollar paperweight in your game room.

You can start by reading the manuals for Tempest, as well as the 6100 monitor manual (google them). Also, read the color vector FAQ, here:

http://www.ionpool.net/arcade/tech/6100_faq.pdf


And get a cheap Chinese DMM on ebay for ten bucks, and watch some youtube tutorials for how to use it.
 
Don't just plug and pray. Do yourself a favor and bring it up systematically:

....

Well, you forgot to do a visual inspection first. Never apply power before inspecting that nothing moved inside the cabinet during the move ... especially the POWER BRICK ASSEMBLY. If it only had one or two screws holding it down, I've seen these break free of the bottom of the cab.

Then make sure all fuses are present, intact etc. (no loose screws fell into the fuse block etc)

Check monitor for neck damage. And connectors are in place.

Check ARII has all connectors on tight.

etc ... etc ... etc ...
 
I 100% agree with Andrew here...try to learn how to do all of this before you power up everything. It's not that hard at all really...there are no doubt some youtube videos to access to learn how to use a voltmeter for instance.

I'd also add to reflow the solder at the interboard connects as this is a very common source of board issues for Tempest boards.

And then after you do get everything going, look into refurbishing the A/R board and the monitor (i.e. rebuild kit for the A/R board, cap kit for the latter as well as adding in an LV2000 kit if it's not already there).

Enjoy...Tempest is the best video game EVAH!! IMHO of course...;) .

Jon
 
Hey man... I've been there too. Andrew has helped me out numerous times. Do yourself a favor and do your best to follow those directions. Even simple voltage tests with a volt/multimeter can save your butt with these machines. Gotta start learning sometime. Ask questions ... along with Andrew there are some awesome people here willing to help. Good luck.

This is awesome! Unfortunately, my Andrewb-to-English decoder ring is in a different shipment. I just read that and nodded a lot and went "uh huh....uh huh....uh huh". So in over my head right now.

I am such a dirty, nouveau-riche arcade owner/poser. I feel dirty.
 
The basic visual inspection was a go as soon as I manhandled that sonuvagun into the house from the garage by myself. I concur, that sucker is every bit of 300lbs; however, the wheels on the back of the cab are a plus. No visible issues with any of the wiring, the power supply or the monitor/chassis. I bought this machine from a klov member, TronGuy, out in NoCal. He had already addressed some of the consistent Tempest weaknesses, including the LV kit install. That's the main reason I was willing to jump all over this cab when he listed it and paid a premium to have it shipped cross country.

I will indeed download and read the appropriate manuals to get some basic familiarity....as well as go fishing on YouTube for some Tempest vids. I went ahead and bought a solder kit and a voltmeter as by the time January arrives I will have gone from zero cabinets to five in roughly four months.

I thought playtime was just getting started. Sounds like playtime is over! Love it.
 
While there's no doubt the machine was in good shape when Dylan had it, as any vector owner can attest, the easiest way to cause new issues with a vector game is to move it (even across the room, let alone cross-country).

Connectors vibrate loose, screws back out, pieces of metal fall where they shouldn't go, mice chew wires, etc. It's Murphy's Law with these things. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

But if you go though the steps I provided, you'll catch any snags before they ripple into major issues. (And you'll also verify that the game arrived with all parts in working order, which is harder to do if you let the magic smoke out by firing it up cowboy style, should anything be amiss.)

I don't mean to sound alarmist, as it's possible to just fire it up and maybe it'll be fine, but that just isn't a good practice with vectors, and will bite you eventually.
 
So to be clear, you run through a similar start-up procedure each and every time you power up your vectors? Secondly, is there a checklist you run through when you power up a raster game.....or are the vectors so uniquely fussy that it applies only to them? I think a I know the answer to this but I am a glutton for punishment.

Someone is due to add their passive-aggressive vector swipe in 3....2....1....
 
So to be clear, you run through a similar start-up procedure each and every time you power up your vectors? Secondly, is there a checklist you run through when you power up a raster game.....or are the vectors so uniquely fussy that it applies only to them? I think a I know the answer to this but I am a glutton for punishment.

Someone is due to add their passive-aggressive vector swipe in 3....2....1....

You need to fix your signature unless you are looking for a 2nd tempest. :)


I think andrewb is suggesting you do the checklist this time.
 
Leave it on overnight!

Leave it on overnight!

Leave it on overnight!

I've done this before. Most of my games are on a clicker that turns them all on at once. I've made it a habit over the years to not have the color vectors turn on automatically when the rest of them do.

So I'm playing tempest one day and when I leave the garage I hit the clicker and turn off all of the other games.

I come back a day or two later and tempest is on. shit! but it still worked with no issues. :)
 
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