How much is this thing worth?

[spidermonkey]

This guy has an Asteroids machine in his garage. It has the normal water damage on the bottom. Hasn't worked in years. Looks to be complete but very dusty and dirty. It has sound but no picture. He confirmed that the moniter is infact toasted. I know that I"ll be reaching deep in my pockets for a vector monitor if the original can't be repaired. That is if I can even find one since vector monitors are so scarce. What kind of offer would you guys make? I don't want to insult the guy by offering too little but I don't want to pay more then its worth either. Sure would look cool next to my Mame cabinet though. What should I offer this guy?

[SNAAAKE]

$50

[eightbit]

Check what ebay gets for a working one. Then look into what  a replacement monitor is going to cost. Remember the monitor might not be the only thing wrong. Do you know of someone that can tell you whats wrong with it? It would suck to buy a new monitor if this one just had a loose connection or burned out capacitor or something stupid. The game might not be worth anything if its going to cost more than your willing to spend to fix it.

OT- Why do all old video cabinets have water damage?

[cdbrown]

Because they are the ones small shop owners put outside in the weather and keep the newer ones inside.  Very unfortunate  

[spidermonkey]

Good news good news!!
I just picked up the machine today for the great price of $0.00 !! I saw the guy at a Dunkin Donuts this morning and he said "Hey you still want that Asteroids machine?"  I said "yeh how much do you want for it?"  He said go pick it up its still in the garage Merry Christmas ! My eyes lit up like a 5 year old on Christmas morning ! Anyway, I got the thing home and opened it up only to find the original owners manual and all the wiring schematics still in it protective plastic ! I already started to inspect all the componants and found 2 blown fuses in the power supply so I'm gonna go pick them up Thursday and put them in and see what happens. I doubt that thats the only problem but its a start. Once I bring all my electrical testors and diagnostic equipment home from work I can really  start going through the machine.
Anybody know of any good sites with troubleshooting info (or any info for that matter) about Asteroids or Atari vector games in general? Even though I have all the manuals I'll probably still need some help from the pros.
Anyway, Happy Holidays everyone!
S.M.

[SirPoonga]

There is a vector monitor mailing list.  I currently can;t tell you what it is as I just cleaned my inox.  When I get a message from it I'll give you the details.

my uncle has the same problem.  The machine works but thevector monitor is not showing picture.
Here's two links that will help you out.
http://www.ionpool.net/arcade/asteroidtech/asteroidsrepair.html
http://www.gamearchive.com/Video_Games/Manufacturers/Atari/monitor.html

Oh, a freshly restored asteroids will go for about $400 - $500 as Mr Arcade just sold one on ebay not to long ago.

Here's the mailing list.
http://www.arlo.net/vectorlist/

[spidermonkey]

Thanks SirPoonga,
I just printed out the whole troubleshooting encyclopedia and some of the info on that x y  monitor page . This should help lots
Thanks again.
S.M.

[Chris]

So?  What's the scoop?  Are you blowing up little rocks yet?

--Chris

[spidermonkey]

No not yet
Over the past couple of weeks I've been picking Bob Roberts's brain to figure out whats wrong. So far I've replaced a couple of blown fuses and the big blue capasitor on the power supply. Now when I turn it on at least the back of the picture tube is glowing and the red start buttons are flashing but no picture or sound yet. Bob still thinks its a power problem rather then a monitor problem so I'm gonna have to study the owners manual some more and breakout the multimeter and do some more testing. I'm not given up though !