Galaxian No. 815

[SithMaster]

Great job on the restoration.  I think its great that you can use the old currency since you can get them for almost nothing and they can be used as tokens.  Lucky.

[Level42]

Thanks SithMaster !!

Well, I think most people traded in the Guilders for Euro's. Lots of people have probably kept a couple just for "old time's sake" or something.

All the guilders I've got now I found on the bottoms of the Galaxian and especialy the Centipede. I'll definitly need more though

Did some more work tonight:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is something I often use in my work in electronics.

However, this is not always true of course. So I carefully removed the PCB from the cab. It had been running some time and the connector felt a bit warm (not at all hot) at the position of where the power is connected. So I cleaned the card-edge contacts with the glass-fibre pen. I don't know how to clean the contacts of the connector itself. I'm not a big fan of contact sprays and usualy only use them as a last solution, because they tend to draw more dirt to them and make the problem worse over some time....
So I connected, re-connected, connected and repeated this a couple of times. This is usualy OK enought te remove any bad contact stuff.....

However, when I looked at the PCB when it was out, it turned out the two diodes that are making DC out of the AC, are running pretty hot. You can see it on the PCB and the solderings were quite black. These diodes are right under the part of the connector that was "warm". So maybe, this is simply caused by the diodes and not any poor contact on the connector itself.

I carefully cleaned off all the dirt (surprisingly little !) off the PCB. I'm not the type to throw a perfectly working PCB in a dishwasher, sorry guys.

Inspected the board, it looks like there has never been ANY repair on this one.....amazing !

Anyway, I needed to do some more things while I had that PCB out.

(For US readers, boring SCART info ahead)

To run a TV as a monitor in RGB mode, you need to "feed" two voltages to two pins on the SCART connector. You need to put a voltage between 9,5 and 12V on pin 16 to tell it that it must switch to AV mode (=select the video input). Also you need to put a voltage between 1 and 3 V on pin 8 to tell the TV it should select RGB as input.

Now neither of these voltages are available directly on the Galaxian PCB. I solved this by soldering a wire to a known +5V point and leading it to pin 8 via a set of disconnects (in case I ever need to remove the PCB again). Some people connect 5V directly to it, but I used a series resistor to lower the voltage and be safe.

Next I needed something between 9,5 and 12V. I found a 7810 in my stack of electronics parts. This is a general voltage regulator. You can put in something like 20V and this thing puts out a very steady 10 Volt (a 7812 gives 12 V, 7805 5V etc.) So this should work. All I needed was a DC voltage that was high enough to run the 7810. I checked out the schematics and found there would be about 16V DC over elco C38. I checked it with my DVM and it was there indeed. So I wired up the ground pin to the - side of the elco, the input pin directly to the + pin of the elco, and lead the output to another connector. This  is connected to pin 16.

I checked everything and put the PCB in the cab. First I fired up and measured without the monitor connected. Voltages OK !

Connected the wires to the SCART connector, fired up again and BINGO ! The TV instantly displays the RGB signal without any manual things to do on the remote. The best thing is that the irritating green channel number (0) is now also gone !!!

So now it is just running as a monitor like it should.

Here's some schematic on the SCART:



I will add some pics later....

[theCoder]

At my company, we have outsourced any and all labor associated with oscilloscopes and PCB troubleshooting.  Cost cuttings and early retirement programs...  Great for the stock price this quarter, but hell on R&D.  I'm glad that people like you are still around.  Document this stuff well, your kind is getting more rare.

[Level42]

Hey theCoder.....thanks ! I think many companies are writing their own death-certificate by outsourcing everything. Companies don't have soles anymore. If the rise of the profits is not increasing anymore, they're underperfoming in the eyes of the stockholders. I think it's a real hazzard to our (western) economy in the long run.

But this probably is for the political section....

Does make me feel "old" a bit......

F.I. take a look at the Service Manuals they made for the classic cabs in the early 80's. They are SO detailed and extensive....What manufacturer is still investing time in documentation like that ?What would be included with a cab today ? One sheet with some very basic instructions. If it's broke, exchange it, it's cheaper.....

Ahh well, I'm not a nostalgic guy saying everything was better in the "good old days". Look at what modern times brought us, I would probably never got into this hobby, or would be able to find all the info and parts across the world etc.

And especialy meet other people with the same passion, who I learn from and who hopefully learn one or two things from me. That's the whole point of a thread and forum like this....

OK, "sentimental mode off"......

[Havok]

F.I. take a look at the Service Manuals they made for the classic cabs in the early 80's. They are SO detailed and extensive....What manufacturer is still investing time in documentation like that ?What would be included with a cab today ? One sheet with some very basic instructions. If it's broke, exchange it, it's cheaper.....

I agree - I love the documentation from "back in the day" - my uncle used to work for IBM, and when you got a computer, you got 10 hard cover binders full of documentation with each computer. Now, you're lucky to even get a "quick start" guide - usually any documentation, if included at all is on a CD...

Sigh...

[Level42]

F.I. take a look at the Service Manuals they made for the classic cabs in the early 80's. They are SO detailed and extensive....What manufacturer is still investing time in documentation like that ?What would be included with a cab today ? One sheet with some very basic instructions. If it's broke, exchange it, it's cheaper.....

I agree - I love the documentation from "back in the day" - my uncle used to work for IBM, and when you got a computer, you got 10 hard cover binders full of documentation with each computer. Now, you're lucky to even get a "quick start" guide - usually any documentation, if included at all is on a CD...

Sigh...

Mmmm, indeed, but that's also because an IBM actualy needed 10 hard cover binders to get something out it (says the Mac convert )

Don't forget we are part of the process as well. IBM builds a PC. It costs 2000 bucks. Chuang Whua Tech builds (Just to think up a name) builds a PC, strips it of the 10 binders and some other stuff....sells it for 1300 bucks.....what do we buy ?

[Level42]

Time to move back on topic !

Here's some of the pics I should have included a couple of posts ago....

Pic 1: The PCB. "Cleaned (well dusted off more) It's working as good as it looks

Pic2:  Close-up of the transistor that is controlled by the power regulator. All power is running through this one so it needs the big heat-sink.
Mmmm, I may need to remove the old cooling paste and put some new under this one. The mica could be replaced as well I guess, but the transistor is not running overly hot. Strange that they put that big fat resistor right "on top" (at least when the PCB is in the cab) of this heat-sink....adds more heat. The plastic holder is a little darkened by the heat, but nothing to really worry about.

Pic3: OK, so I need to lead +5V (actualy +3V) to pin 16 of the SCART connector. This is the closest +5V "rail" and it even has two "empty" soldering spots, so I soldered the wire there. I'm using round isolated quick connects here so there can be no shorts or 5V at wrong places....

[Level42]

Next I needed a voltage between 9,5 and 12V for pin 8 of the SCART. I used a 7810 that I had in my stack of electroncics parts.

The pin-out is very simple: left pin= voltage in, middle pin=ground, right pin=voltage out.
As mentioned, there's about 16 Volts across C38 so this is perfect for the input. I decided to solder the 7810 directly to the + pin of C38.

Pic1: Plus pin of C38 soldered to Vin of 7810
Pic2: Minus pin of C38 connected to middele pin of 7810 through a little wire
Pic3: Right pin wired to another connector. Note that I used the isolated part of the quick connects on the side that is actualy carrying the voltages. Should (for whatever reason) the board be running without the connectors connected, there's a smaller chance on shorting.

[Level42]

Pic1: OK the whole "modification", wire neatly run and ty-rapped together. Note that the quick connects are different size as well as different color. Prevents wrong connections...

Pic2: Of course I ran two new wires along the excisting harness and used the "other sides" of the quick connects. Again ty-raps and more ty-raps....
This picture also shows the darkened place on the plastic PCB holder (green circle). It seems on this picture that the harness is running over the PCB, but in reality there's much space between them.

Pic 3: The extra wires soldered to the SCART connector. There's a resistor in series with the +5V wire.I see now on this picture that I still need to heat the heat-shrink for all the wires :S

[Level42]

OK, some of you might suggest that I could have used two "spare" connections on the PCB connector. That's true, but first of all, the connector is not fully fitted with metal pins. I would need to get and install these. Also, there seems to be only one connection not in use at all. Others seem to have some sort of singal on it (even though it's just a lock-out f.i., which is not used on a Galaxian cab). I would have to cut a trace on the PCB to be able to use that connection, and I just didn't want to do that.

There's even more power related considerations:
A) AC to DC conversion.

I could have converted the PCB and cab to using a modern swtiching power supply and running the PCB on the more common voltages +12V DC and +5V DC. There are several ways to do this (neat or not so neat: http://www.arcades.plus.com/galjamm2.htm   PLEASE NOTE THAT ON THIS SITE, THE SHOWN PCB CONNECTIONS SEEM TO BE FROM THE COCKTAIL. AT LEAST THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IS IN MY OFFICIAL GALAXIAN SERVICE MANUAL.)

There are a few good reasons to do a conversion like this:
- the old supply is bad. This is the main reason why people do this conversation I guess.
- the 12V DC and 5V DC are more standard. You can run a Galaxian PCB with a Jamma adapter and this mod on any Jamma cab
- (and this one  is often overlooked, but important these days) a modern switching power supply is WAAAYYYY more efficient than the old conventional power supply.
This results in less current being used. Now most of the watts eaten by a cab are going into the monitor/TV but still, it's quite a difference.
 
As a side effect, you will loose the 50/60 Hz humm from the bottom of the cab that is so noticiable.

This conversion would also have made it a bit easier to get the correct voltages for the SCART.


So why did I NOT convert it ?
1) it still works
2) I want to keep it as original as possible
3) the 50/60 Hz. humm should be there
4) a conventional power supply has a longer lifetime than a switching power supply. This one prooves it

B) The other power consideration:

There are two transformers in the Galaxian Power Supply. The smaller one is mostly an isoltion tranformer for the monitor, and the TL lighting is also connected to it.

Both of these are now directly powered from the mains (230V) since the monitor has been replaced by the TV and the TL armature is also exchanged for a 230V version.

So, this transformer is no longer doing anything usefull. I will disconnect it from the primary 120V side. It's not a lot, but a transformer is eating up a bit of power even when nothing is connected to it. I see no reason why to keep it under power. I won't remove it from the board though...


By the way,just because I didn't put it up here yet,  this is the best (color !) picture I found on the internet of the original cab. It's from a German flyer and was/is a great reference for this restoration

[JeepMonkey]

I am enjoying your journal.  Nice work.

A couple questions for you.  Did your machine have an RF filter board between the "jamma" plug and the main board?  Do you have a, possably yellow, ground strap connected to your main board?

[mamemia]

Better then new, great work

[Level42]

I am enjoying your journal.  Nice work.

A couple questions for you.  Did your machine have an RF filter board between the "jamma" plug and the main board?  Do you have a, possably yellow, ground strap connected to your main board?

Hi JeepMonkey,

I guess you mean the anti-static PCB ? No my cab doesn't have it. This was issued later, at least that's what the Service Manuals mention. Since this was a really early macine, it wasn't fitted on it. It was offered as a retro-fit set.
However, I've seen (on the net) plenty of Galaxians with (much)higher serial numbers and still didn't have it. I guess it was offered for install only if there were problems with a cab, caused by static.

Check out reply #69 on this thread, there's a listing of most of the original Midway Service Bulletins I've got for Galaxian. There's info about this too.

I really need to scan these bullentins....


Mamemia, thanks ! There's still somethings to do like the wood and paint on the underside of the kickplate, and I'm not yet completely happy with the bezel(s) (needs more sanding and polishing). Also I still need to fix up the backside, it looks pretty bad. Even though this will hardly be seen, I think I should get it back in shape as much as possible.

And welcome to the board, you're from Germany right ? Close to the Dutch border ?

Thanks for posting guys, sometimes I think I'm writing up TOO detailed and bore people. But on the other hand, it's also like a log for myself and I hope some people get inspiration or info from it


Something completely different: Of course my Galaxian is now fully playable. And I love every second of playing it. There is NO comparison with playing Galaxian on a PC with Mame (I don't mean on a Mame cab, but just with a keyboard), or any of the home versions.
The sounds, the movement,the controls, the whole concept of the cab.......it's all parts of the sum that add greatly to the playing experience.

I'm VERY glad I had the joystick shaft welded. It makes playing it a dream. It's also surprising how well the controls are. Remember that I still use the original leafs. The joystick and buttons feel great, repsonsive and I LOVE it that there are no microswitches ! When I bought the cab, the first thing I noticed was that the joystick ball is so low to the CP. I thought that would make playing it hard, since you can't get a good "grip" on it.......however, while playing, I discovered that I was actualy controlling it with my left thumb only, while my hand rests on the CP. Great way to control, it works fine.....

I still didn't manage to get higher than 25000 though......I guess I really suck at Galaxian !!!

[mamemia]

must be looking for withe ball   



Gruß Oliver

[Level42]

must be looking for withe ball   

Gruß Oliver

Mmmm, looks familiar Nice work !!!

What's up with the second fire button ??

There are lots of Galaxians with red ball tops. I'm not sure if they were installed by Midway, but I guess so. Could also be that operators replaced them. Anyway, I wouldn't be to bothered about it

If that ball is a screw-on, you could get a Sanwa white ball top....

[Havok]

Looks better with a red ball. Besides, those sweaty Galaxian playing hands will make a white ball grimy in no time!

[JeepMonkey]

I was looking on eBay the other day and found a Galaga #344 about 10 miles from my house.  It made me think of your project, only this one has already been reworked.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Galaga-restored-upright-arcade-super-rare-low-344_W0QQitemZ280101995016QQihZ018QQcategoryZ13716QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

What really bothers me is the statement "Ask me how to make this into a 48 in 1"

But to the real reason I am stopping by...  I see you cleaned your buttons.  How many did you replace?  Where did you get them?  Did you try anything to make them whiter?  I am currently in the process of cleaning my buttons and making them whiter, so I have let them soak in a watter/peroxide solution for a few days.  They are definitely cleaner, and a little whiter.  I am contemplating getting a new CPO, so I am worried about these old buttons looking even less white on a new CPO.  I would like to keep the old buttons, but will replace them if they don't look right.

[treborlicec]

It's sort of cheating, but Krylon makes a paint called Fusion.  It is designed to adhere directly to plastic w/o prep.  It works great.  A can of Gloss White and you can save your original buttons and bring new life to them.  Also, todays leaf buttons don't separate so you can clean them like the older ones.

Later,
Robert

 

[Level42]

I was looking on eBay the other day and found a Galaga #344 about 10 miles from my house.  It made me think of your project, only this one has already been reworked.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Galaga-restored-upright-arcade-super-rare-low-344_W0QQitemZ280101995016QQihZ018QQcategoryZ13716QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

What really bothers me is the statement "Ask me how to make this into a 48 in 1"

But to the real reason I am stopping by...  I see you cleaned your buttons.  How many did you replace?  Where did you get them?  Did you try anything to make them whiter?  I am currently in the process of cleaning my buttons and making them whiter, so I have let them soak in a watter/peroxide solution for a few days.  They are definitely cleaner, and a little whiter.  I am contemplating getting a new CPO, so I am worried about these old buttons looking even less white on a new CPO.  I would like to keep the old buttons, but will replace them if they don't look right.

Hey Jeep,

Yeah I tried cleaning the buttons but the fire button was a clear lost case. It was full of cigarette burns and it was as yellow as Pac Man. I simply bought 3 new buttons from www.arcadeshop.com. Sad thing is that they sent 3 and one was a bit different from the other (different spring). I managed to fix it (used one of the old springs !). Anyway, these buttons are widely available.

I did try to make the balltop of the joystick whiter with limited success. I simply sanded it, first with a lower number sanding paper, then a very high one (1200) and then I "polished" it with the household stuff called HaRa, read a few postings back, it should be there. I had thought about peroxide, but I'm a bit affraid it will hurt the plastic. This (white!) ball top is unfindable NOS or even used, so I had to be very carefull. I think I even tried toothpaste on it if I remember correctly. All in all it's ok now. Not perfect but OK. That paint idea could be a solution. Another thing I though about was getting the small version of the white Sanwa balltop. However, this is screw-on, the Galaxian ball simply has a hole, nothing else. Also the size is not 100% right....

Let me know how the peroxide works out !

[Level42]

Well, been busy with a load of other stuff lately, but I found the time tonight to fix a couple of things that still were wrong on Nr. 815. For the time being, I had connected the mains of the marquee and the monitor/tv directly to the power cord. Naturally this meant that both would come on as soon as I plugged it in, which was annoying of course.

That the marquee came on wasn't too bad. In fact, it made me think of making a separate switch for it, just to make it possible to light it up while the cab is not running (for decoration). But when it's in the still to be made gameroom, I guess I wouldn't use that much.

The monitor/TV was more annoying because since there were no control signals coming from the PCB (the custom made one's),  the TV would select channel 1 and display snow....


So.....I connected both to the input side of the mains filter. This filter is behind the main switch and safety switch, so that is the right place to go.

Have to admit that I first soldered the wires to the primary side of the mains transformer. When I turned it up, my mains earth-leak protection kicked in, house completely dark :S.......

Checked the diagrams and figured out that this was the wrong spot So then I went for the filter.
Works fine.

While checking out the transformer, I saw that there were different tabs for different voltages. Of course one wire was connected to the 220V tab. In 1981, 220V was what we had here in mainland Europe. But the voltage has been adjusted to  230V. This was to level it with the UK (They lowered their 240V to 230V.)
Amazingly, this transformer actually also has a 230V tab, so I figured I should rewire it to that. This results in a lower secundary voltage output on the transformer, and a little less stress for the rectifying and regulating parts, which won't harm.

That's it , not spectaculair, but I'd still suggest this mod for all European Galaxian owners, or other cabs that have this. If there is only a 220/240 selection, go for the 240. This is still easing things for the mentioned parts a bit (less voltage, less current, less heat and less spilled energy).

 

[theCoder]

You've got to love it when you bring down the household power system, but don't fry your device.   I've done something similar twice in my hacking career and both times the magic smoke got out, killing the project.  Congratulations.

[Level42]

You've got to love it when you bring down the household power system, but don't fry your device.   I've done something similar twice in my hacking career and both times the magic smoke got out, killing the project.  Congratulations.

Well there was no sparks or smoke, so I wasn't TOO worried...and I immediately had a hunch of what I had done, a direct shorting of the phase to earth. VERY stupid !!! I should have checked the schematics before making that connection.....

I'm lucky that I'm living in a relatively new home with an earth-leak protector of 0,03A AND that the cab was connected to a group protected by it.....(note to myself: install earth-leak protector in to-be-build gameroom )

Sorry to hear about your projects frying, what a nightmare ! It's the worst part of what you have to do, turning up the power after you've worked on the electronics....there is always this possibility of things going wrong, especially with the old beasts we are trying to save...

But that's the risk of what we do. Nu guts, no glory.Everyone makes a mistake like that once in a while.....

[Level42]

No progress on this one, been busy with the SW cockpit

But I did want to share this picture:

My father-in-law, you know the kind that goes: "What good are those old big cabs" all the time....


CAUGHT !!! 

[Level42]

I just realised I've never posted a pic of the total cab without any people in front of it. It's still not finished yet. The bottom part of the kickplate annoys me, because the rest of the cab looks so damn good (if I may say so myself).
Also still gotta get the bezel polished more.....

Anyway, here are some full shots:

[csa3d]

Again, stellar job on this!

Did you ever get that metal screened coin door plate or the namco back plate?

-csa

[arcadefever]

 

very nice !!!!

[Level42]

Again, stellar job on this!

Did you ever get that metal screened coin door plate or the namco back plate?

-csa

Thanks guys !

Well Rich from ThisOldGame.com finished it, it's available:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=66421.msg705725#msg705725

However, I will be ordering some more stuff from him (hope he also gets the coin door metal plates done) and want to get it in one go, which will be a bit easier on the postage over to Europe....

I have to seriously work on the backpanel as well. It looks terrible. However, my SW CP seems to be getting the most of my attention now.......

And it's also always nice to "still have to do something about ......" because else, maybe I could get bored with the cab..................

..
.
.
.

Just kidding of course

[Level42]

Bought me some Perspex today for both my Galaxian and Star Wars.
The Galaxian original one was very scratched. The Star Wars got heaps of speckles of the black spray-paint job in the factory, later more about that in my SW CP thread.

Here's some pics:

1) Got this from a local supplier. Those 2 sheets cost me about €27,-, actualy less then I expected, and cut to size for free/included.

2) To the left the original still on the bezel. Right the new stuff...

3) Getting rid of the old tape...

[Level42]

More...

1) The old one, black tape removed. Look at the flash, you can see all the scratches there....

2) Empty bezel...

3) New and old, sizes match exactly

[Level42]

1) Replaced double-sides sticky tape and put the new Perspex on it. The protective film says there's a "Good" side (the one with the text). Never knew this...

2) Nice and clear, no scratch in sight ! It's slightly less dark then the original, exactly what I wanted.
The color number was 923 and it's 3 mm thick.

3) Another shot...

[Level42]

1) It's still a disaster to take good screen-shots, or I just suck at it...

2) another....well the real thing looks VERY sweet. A huge improvement over the older one !

3) All set for the Retrocomputer fair where I will display it next sunday !!

[Neilyboy]

holy crap level this is friggin beautiful!!! I cannot say how awesome this restore is. This thing looks like a new retail cab!!! Great work man.. I am jealous

Neil

[Level42]

HA, can't believe you hadn't seen this one

Thanks, and I think it explains why I respect and admire your work on the DK !!

Did you see the Star Wars Cockpit ? Not too much done on it yet, but at least it works Still waiting for some parts from the US for that one...

[Level42]

Holy crap, I just discovered my Galaxian PCB likely has a (small) problem....

I've been fiddling around with the RGB lines to see wether or not I should still include some resistors to it (see this thread:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=71776.0)
I always thought that the TV was a little red/purple looking so I adjusted the green control on the neckboard a bit, so that I got a nice well-balanced white.

However, I've always felt that the bodies of the most common aliens (the one's with the least scoring points) were too dark. I thought it was because of the above mentioned adjustment, but now I did it, I compared it with how Galaxian looks on my Mame machine. I saw that the body color should be exactly the same as the color of the letters in the attract mode indicating "Convoy charger" and the points of the aliens, a light-blue color. The bodies on my real Galaxian look really much darker, a bit dirty greenish, almost grey !!!

Could this be an eprom thing ? It's strange as the text colors ARE correctly displayed !

[Darth Nuno]

3) All set for the Retrocomputer fair where I will display it next sunday !!

...opps I missed that information  Too late to plan the vistit for that event 

Take a ton of pictures of course  & convert as many persons as possible to the arcade vintage 

Have fun 

[Level42]

Sorry to dig up an old one, but one baby step further to completion

Often, beauty is in the details

[Singapura]

It's amazing how much eye for detail you have and how entertaining and educational your postings are. I'd really like to visit your arcade when I'm back in The Netherlands! For the moment I'm getting inspiration from guys like you and Atomsmasher for my own project. Hope to see your Star Wars cockpit finished soon! Vooral doorgaan!

[Level42]

Very kind words Singapura, and you're most welcome (although my "arcade" is still only a collection of cabs scattered about....) for a visit, just say the word.

Thanks !

I guess the SW will get more attention as spring will set-in here...

[Level42]

Can this be true ?

(see www.thisoldgame.com)


 

I am also more and more leaning to ordering the kick-plate art for the Galaxian.......I really don't see an easier way to restore the bottom side of my precious 815

[Fozzy The Bear]

Can this be true ?

First of all.... Fantastic restoration!! you should be very proud of it.  Secondly, yes! it's true, they do an almost perfect screen printed repro to go onto the coin door. They look really good too.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)