Symptom: Failing linear scaling test – game doesn’t zoom into the planets surface

Fix: replace DAC08 at D9

Symptom: No vector output but game plays blind

Fix: Replace AVG custom (137179-100) at J9

Symptom: Unstable video and report of 7 (bad ROM) in self test

Fix: Replace all roms with another set (bad ROM tested OK?)

Symptom: Board dead

Action: removed Pokey’s graphics will now run fine (they can affect the address lines)

Fix: replaced bad pokeys

Game: Asteroids Deluxe

Symptom: Occasional resets, sometimes blows pokey chips, killed a known working boardset (now has a dead short somewhere on the 5v line).

Action: Looked at edge connector. It’s looking very old. Tried prising the connector pins out again to give them a bit more ‘grip’ on the PCB edge connector. Improved situation but still has occasional glitches.

Fix: Replaced edge connector (slow and laborious), and now have jumpers from 5V and GND direct from the AR board to the test points on the PCB – have done this on all my Atari vector games.

Symptom: 5v measures 6v at lowest adjustment on the AR1

Action: Found R29 (10ohm resistor) measuring over 1Kohm

Fix: replaced R29

Symptom: Audio very quiet even at max volume

Action: Tried another AR2 and audio was fine so not a problem with the board set. Replaced the TDA2002’s on the AR1 and audio is now fine.

Fix: Replace TDA2002’s

Symptom: Audio has a loud hum/buzzing

Action: Measured resistance between the AR1 and PCB ground – found to be 50ohms! Added jumper wire from AR1 GND to PCB GND and sound now fine.

Fix: Add jumper wire from AR1 ground to PCB

Symptom: Random resets

Action: measured AR1 5v voltage and found it at only 4.8v

Fix: increased 5v line to 5.1v and game now OK

Symptom: Graphics glitches

Fix: tightened molex connector and secured with a cable tie

Symptom: Game plays blind – spot killer not always on

Action: Turned up brightness, now have image showing the retrace lines. Suspect the Z circuit. Found Q02 (2N3904) with broken middle leg.

Fix: Replaced Q02

Game: Asteroids

Symptom: Blooming screen

Action: Measured HV – only 5KV and observed blue sparking from HV box

Fix: Applied a sealant to HV wire coming out of the voltage doubler (VD900). This stopped the HV arcing to the grounded HV box. HV now at 12KV and blooming gone.

Symptom: Buzzing in audio and loud thumping occasionally in sound

Fix: Replace 2N3055 transistor in AR1

Symptom: Heavy knock on cab would reset game

Fix: Reflowed solder over suspect joint on AR1 – fixed it.

Game: Battlezone

Symptom: Random resets during gameplay

Action: Measured 5v at boardset – measured at 6v, and is at it’s minimum adjustment on AR2.

Fix: Replaced 2N2035 and applied new caps to AR2. 5v now adjusted to 5v and game works fine.

Game: Defender

Symptom: No blue on screen.

Action: Found transistor missing (Q1, Q2, or Q3 can’t remember which).

Fix: Replaced missing transistor.

Symptom: Stuck in Rug test

Action: Romident all the ROMs, found bad ROM.

Fix: Replaced and all OK.

Game: Star Wars

Symptom: Some odd graphics during gameplay. Scale test fails with one side of the square box detaching from the box.

Action: Looked for broken links/components on AVG board. Found .01k Cap at C2 had a broken leg.

Fix: Replaced cap at C2.

Game: Tron

Symptom: Totally dead

Fix: bent reset pin on PCB so that the reset line does not connect. Game now boots fine. Need to fix that Reset line at some point in the future…

Game: Super Cobra

Symptom: Random resets.

Fix: Tried on other Jamma cabinets and game always ran fine. Replaced switcher power supply in suspect cabinet.

Game: Pole Position 2

Symptom: Dead

Fix: swapped in a known good Z80 cpu. Game now boots and plays fine.