Arcade restoration questions!

[1UP]

Now that my cabinet is finally pretty much complete, I've started thinking of future projects to undertake.  At this point, I don't think another Mame cabinet is necessary, and it's just a small step toward my fondest childhood dream -- to have my own mini-arcade in my garage or den!  Of course, it would be good to have a garage or den to start with, but there's no harm in planning ahead!  

Anyway, I may soon have an opportunity to get an old Asteroids cab, which I'd like to restore to working condition.  As far as I can tell, the only thing that's wrong with it is that the vector monitor is dead.  Since the solid-state electronics in arcade machines should last pretty much a lifetime, monitor probs seem to be the major holdback.

So, is there a solution?  I hear the monitors for old vector games are hard to come by, and would only burn out again later on.  Is there any way to substitute a regular arcade monitor or TV if I could live with the inferior picture?  Are there any more modern vector displays that might last longer?  Are there other problems I'm going to have to worry about with these old games, and how hard is it to learn the necessary stuff to repair these treasures?

Thanks for any help!

[MrArcade]

Asteroids black and white monitors are quite dependable.  As long as the monitor is complete....you can probably get it going.

The color vector monitors are the ones that fail frequently.

[1UP]

Asteroids black and white monitors are quite dependable.  As long as the monitor is complete....you can probably get it going.

The color vector monitors are the ones that fail frequently.

By dependable, does that also mean safe? I've heard that vector displays are prone to fire!  

Also, I've heard before that color vector monitors could be substituted with color raster monitors, at a loss of quality.  Is this correct?  Does this require any special interface?

[Thorn]

1up, have you seen this site yet?

 http://www.gamearchive.com/video/manufacturer/atari/vector/html/vector.html

[1UP]

Very cool!  I need more sites like this...

[rampy]

By dependable, does that also mean safe? I've heard that vector displays are prone to fire!  

1up, I'm not a vector monitor (or any other monitor) guru... but in my incessant lurking/browsing of the RGVAC, I remember that it was primarily a certain type of vector monitor... and it was the one that was used in the Star Trek Simulator vector game, and it was only one component that would fail and either smoke or flame... you could replace that component or make some minor change to prevent the likely possibility of fire.

So yeah...  sorry to be vague... a google groups search would turn up more detailled info .  

I'd use whatever criteria you were allready going to use to decide whether or not to persue this project, but I wouldn't NOT due just because you were concerned about vector monitors bursting in to flames... (over dramatization.. I know... but hopefully you get my gist)

rampy

[Howard_Casto]

I was thinking it was star wars.. but as you said, not every vecter monitor, just a select few have had problems.  

[rampy]

here's the thread  ... now you can't believe everything you read on usenet (or anywhere) but a few posts down seems like a very logical/reasonable explanation of what's up with those vector monitors.

YMMV of course, but it's interesting.

rampy

[1UP]

here's the thread  ... now you can't believe everything you read on usenet (or anywhere) but a few posts down seems like a very logical/reasonable explanation of what's up with those vector monitors.

YMMV of course, but it's interesting.

rampy

Good to know!  I get the feeling that now my cab is done, I'm gonna move over to that board more, and hang around BYOAC less.  I'm afraid once I get some money again, and a free weekend or two, I'm gonna spend all my time fixing old cabs instead of playing the one I have.  My wife is already giving me funny looks!

[SirPoonga]

There a vector monitor on ebay with 2 days left at $127.  If I had a job and money I'd get it for my uncle's broken asteroids machine.

[1UP]

There a vector monitor on ebay with 2 days left at $127.  If I had a job and money I'd get it for my uncle's broken asteroids machine.

If you sold me the cab, you could afford to get the monitor, but then...hey wait a sec!  

[1UP]

WOW.  I just had a religious experience.

I finally decided to visit one of the local arcade warehouses in LA.  They had EVERYTHING I remember playing as a kid!  Everything.  Pac-Man, Galaga, a fully restored and shiny Asteroids (damn those vector monitors are BRIGHT!) Space Invaders, Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Tempest, Marble Madness, Tron, Disscs of Tron, Gorf, Dragon's Lair, Defender, Baby Pac-Man (remember, with the pinball table under the screen!) Centipede, Missile Command, etc etc...   They even had some REAL oldies like Pong, Space Race, and 6 Computer Space cabs gathering dust!  I've never seen that game in person before, it was just a legend!    The guy gave me a price list, which was for fully restored games, which were about what you'd expect, but they also discount depending on condition of the cab.  There were a few gutted cabs there (a spider-ridden Donkey Kong for one) that I might want to go back for, and make them into dedicated cabs with just one or two games.  I dunno...

Their restorations looked really good though!  I just couldn't justify blowing a whole paycheck on one machine though.  Wait a sec, come to think of it, that's what I did with my Mame cab...  

[ErikRuud]

According to KLOV, the vector monitors used in old Cinematronics games were prone to failure.  That is one of the reasons why Tailgunner, Warrior, and some of the other Cinematronics are so rare.