Time to "KICK" it up a notch

[Spyridon]

The Kick game, like all MCR games, had a bad hum.  This one was much worse than my Satan's Hollow so I looked for a way to make it better.  I added a 4700 uF 35v capacitor across the +12v and ground directly on the switcher.  This has made a big difference.  The game still has the hum, but it is much more tolerable than before (still wish I could get rid of it completely).



Next up was working on some of the graphics glitches during game play.  I pulled the board to reseat the ROM chips and noticed that on one of the ribbon cables (J5) the last 4 pins had broken away from the board.  Not sure if this is causing the graphics problems or not, but it's probably not a good thing.  Anyone know what type of connection that is and where to order it?



I guess they couldn't find 24 pin connectors at the time as each ribbon uses a 20 pin connection and a smaller 4 pin connection.

[IG-88]

Wow, good luck finding that ribbon cable. It can't be reattached?

Also, what made you think to put that resister where you did? And why does it work?

Teach us Obi-Wan!!

[Spyridon]

Wow, good luck finding that ribbon cable. It can't be reattached?

The ribbon cable plugs into the header pins that are soldered onto the board.  The four pin header section broke off the board.  I've ordered some replacement pins and I should be able to solder them in place and plug the ribbon back in.

Also, what made you think to put that resister where you did? And why does it work?

Teach us Obi-Wan!!

Well, first I noticed that the audio system was running at 1.22 jiggawatts instead of 1.21 jiggawatts.  The capacitor adjusts for any disturbances in the force by routing the extra 0.01 jiggawatts to the warp engines thereby activating the laser which digitizes the hum into the ENCOM mainframe.  See...simple really.


...or I did a search on the KLOV repair forums and found this solution and can't really tell you why it works (but I like the first answer better)

[IG-88]

Well, first I noticed that the audio system was running at 1.22 jiggawatts instead of 1.21 jiggawatts.  The capacitor adjusts for any disturbances in the force by routing the extra 0.01 jiggawatts to the warp engines thereby activating the laser which digitizes the hum into the ENCOM mainframe.  See...simple really.


...or I did a search on the KLOV repair forums and found this solution and can't really tell you why it works (but I like the first answer better)

AND YES FOLKS, he's here all week!

I like the first one better too...

[Spyridon]

I repaired the ribbon cable but still didn't fix the graphics problems so I sent the board off to an MCR expert to work on it.  Got it back and it works perfectly.

[spoot]

Very nice work mate.  Now I have the urge to finish hooking up my own trackball.