I need rehab.......I just bought this....Missile Command Cabaret

[RayB]

Just shot gun it.

- New Big blue
- Good fuses
- corrosion-free fuse clips
- AR-II "repair kit"
- clean connectors and edges.

Total cost: $20

Then you're good to go and will either have a working game or board problems left to diagnose.

[Mauzy]

Anyone know why thats referred to as shot gunning?

[Level42]

Well I don't know a lot about weapons, but a shotgun fires a shot of all tiny bullets that spread a (relatively) large area. So, you don't have to aim exactly to hit something.
That compared to a regular gun with a single bullet that requires good aiming to hit the target.

So, shotgunning is "blindly" replacing all or most suspect components at once without searching for the actual problem.

[SirPeale]

Clean the edge connector and harness extra well.  It gets tarnished/dirty, which is why the voltage goes up.  Once it's cleaned your voltages should be okay.

[RayB]

The idea of "shot-gun" is that you don't find the exact problem, but by replacing many parts at once, your odds are you fix the problem with the added bonus of now having lots of new reliable parts installed.

Capacitors are cheap, and easy to install, so it's a great approach for newbies and ensures your board lasts a long time before failing again. For example, I fixed a "dead" monitor by installing a cap-kit. I have no idea what was wrong with it, but now it works.

Otherwise, you need the skills to diagnose electronics, probably even need an oscilloscope, etc, etc. BIG FAT WASTE OF TIME. 

[Mauzy]

hmm. sounds like ive shot gunned everything ive ever repaired then 

[Level42]

Haven't got the kit and Big Blue around so I'm not yet shotgunning.....

I've temporarily modified the sense circuit and I've removed the burnt R30. If I run the AR2 without load it puts out 5,6V. However when I have the board connected it drops down to the 2,3V. I also noticed that I can't regulate the voltage at all, the pot has no influence (is that normal when it's modded ?).

Now would that be some short on the PCB dragging the voltage down or would it be the AR-II not able to put out the power required by the board ?

O and yes, I've worked on the AR2's before (SW, Centi) so I know about the cleaning of the connectors etc. They were not that dirty but I cleaned them. I also measured on the pins, and it's definitly not the connector causing the voltage drop. There's also nothing burnt around the edge connector.

[AnthonyB]

good luck on this, MC is awesome!

[Darth Nuno]

Nice cab, nice roadtrip 

Holy Jesus... StarHawk  One of my favorite vector games 

I use to play it on my Vectrex...I have the control panel, but still not the cab 

[Level42]

BINGO !!!!!



OK, I cheated a bit. I took the AR-2 out of my Centipede. While I was at it, I measured between the +5V pin and the GND on the Centipede PCB, just for reference. Well it showed only 180 Ohms (and it works like a charm), so I figured the MC PCB would be fine (on the +5V part) with it's 230 Ohms.....

So I took a gamble, plugged in the Centi AR-2 in the cabaret, fired it up and:






YES !!!!

Of course I kept a keen eye on R30 and the +5V values. It was a bit low at 4,85 V (Does MC eat more power than Centi ? bit weird....) but it ran happily. The sense on the AR-2 read 4,87 V I think that's acceptable. I'll do some more measuring on the contact resistance tomorrow to make sure it will keep running once the AR-2 is re-built....

[Level42]

DAMN this is one freaking HARD game !!!!

The speed increased very rapidly. I've never played the arcade version before and all I remember is the Atari 8-bit version. Lacking the three fire buttons they only put up one missile launcing tower for you. So my strategy when things got rough on that version was to defend only the remaining 1 city and the tower. But now I HAVE to defend the three towers, else you simply don't have enough missiles to stay alive.....

It's amazing how that Atari 8-bit version sounded exactly like the original

And apart from the 3 towers, the rest of the game was an excellent conversion too Not too hard with this simple graphics......

O and did I mention it passes the tests in the set-up/test mode without a problem !

And the PCB has the revision -01 game ROMs (yes ROMs, not EPROMs). Anyone knows what changed in the -02 revision (don't tell me they made it easier ...... )

[SirPeale]

Nice job.

I wouldn't worry about that voltage too much.  As long as the contacts are clean and a good connection is being made it shouldn't jack up things to compensate.  It's clearly playing and playing well.  Rebuild the AR2 and have fun!

[Level42]

O I'm sure I can regulate it to a nice +5.00 V, but it's regulated for the Centipede now, so I'll let it as it is.....

I'm going to need to order kits from Bob, plus lots of other stuff

[Level42]

More pics....






So what do you do when you smoke while playing a game of MC  :



That's ready for the trash.    Will replace it with a new one, in grey look. (I hate the bronze !)

Lot of dust on the monitor:



Will need to fix the damaged black parts. Easy enough.

[Level42]

CP inside:


Mmm, all the buttons are directly wired (not one single connector for all of them) bit clumsy to get the panel off. [Edit: Of course this wasn't true. I should have known better with Atari. The plug was just a bit further down than I'd expected......duh !]

Trackball....sturdy, but clumsy metal trackball....as expected the rollers are still the original and really worn out. The bearings are actually not too bad, but I'll replace them anyway of course...I assume they are identical to the Centipede rollers and bearings. Was the trackball originally off-white or did it just become (more) yellow over the years ?




The vinyl is in bad shape and is letting loose on all corners. The good news, the cab seems to be plywood
Need to get some new vinyl though...





Worst part of the sides:


OK, why, please tell me why people do this:


Not surprising, Irish built:


The speaker is on the back/topside.

[Level42]

Repaired the AR-2:
I first replaced the R30 and tried it again, with the same result, still 2,3 V under load. Then I replaced both the 2N3055 and TIP32 and bingo, it works like a charm. Could regulate the +5V on the game PCB to an exact 5,00 V without any problems. It's sometimes weird how you can't measure problems with transistors. I had tested both with my Fluke in diode test, they looked OK, but clearly one of them were not....

Now it just needs the usual Big Blue, AR-2 cap-kit, Sanyo monitor cap-kit and cab restoration....

[Mauzy]

More pics....


So what do you do when you smoke while playing a game of MC  :



That's ready for the trash.    Will replace it with a new one, in grey look. (I hate the bronze !)

The reason I don't smoke? Not for health reasons, but because it ruins your stuff...

Gald to see it was an easy fix!

[RayB]

OK, why, please tell me why people do this:

Ashtray.

[Level42]

On both sides ? And at the back ? ....weird ...

Anyway, first things first:

Not the most sexy thing to work on, but very essential:

[CheffoJeffo]

 

[Level42]

Removed the monitor today to investigate it and compare it with the Sanyo in the Mario Bros.

I can confirm the main PCB's are the same. Of course the Atari has the inverter electronics on board that the "MB" one is missing. There are also some minor changes on the PCB.

Some of them are different cap value's. If your interested about the check this out:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=83761.0

Here's some pics...



That needs either to be made black again or replaced with some nice new cardboard....

[Level42]

Main PCB and control PCB (that's different on the 20" too).





The 14" and the 20" next to eachother:

[Level42]

Back in it's place and cleaned.


Together with the new Perspex for Bruno and my SW cockpits I ordered this:




Installed: The flash spoils all the fun. It's nice and dark in reality. Even the cardboard bezel looks fine (you don't see anything of it ) in real life. Needs a bit of cleaning, the perspex if very static when you remove the protective films.


Finaly I can see my scores for the first time thanks to the new C306. No more fold-over


It looks a LOT better for real. Something like this:


In reality the colors are much better. I can't say how much I prefer the gray (not colored) perspex over the original bronze color. The bronze color tones the colors of the game which I don't like. Now green is crispy green instead of a sluggish washed out green. And that goes for all colors of course.

Also, the new perspex of course doesn't have the usual hair scratches. Apart from the cigarette burns (which are outside of the screen area and were not very noticable when it was in the game, a cabaret is very dark in the screen area) those tiny scratches spoil then fun. You can see it on the comparing picture. Notice the reflection of the flash in the new perpspex and in the old......

Those scratches probably are caused by cleaning with paper towel (and probably some spray cleaner). Don't use paper towel, as it contains wood particles and thus causes those scratches !

My friend Andreas (from www.andysarcade.de) will come and visit me next week and will bring some brand new vinyl for the kickplate area ! (And of course the Meteor PCB ). I bet that will make it look a whole lot different !

[patrickl]

Coming along nicely. I'm always impressed with your dedication and attention to detail in restoring these cabs. 

Those scratches probably are caused by cleaning with paper towel (and probably some spray cleaner). Don't use paper towel, as it contains wood particles and thus causes those scratches !

Indeed I once cleaned my dashboard with a napkin and it really ruined it by creating a lot of scratches. Luckily there was a problem with it under warranty and they replaced the whole thing 

[Level42]

Can somebody please tell me how to get these "rivets" on the "marquee" loose ?



I'm removing the old vinyl with a heat-gun and I gotta remove it. Don't want to ruin (melt) it !

[RayB]

Low speed drilling until the rivet top "pops off". Remove marquee. Then you have to yank out the remaining rivet "bodies". You'll end up with the holes a little enlarged and best solution is using carriage bolts instead of rivets.

[Level42]

Mmm, would prefer to keep it original.... I managed to get all the vinyl off without removing the marquee. However, I will have to sand the wood panel to be able to neatly apply the new vinyl (looked more like laminate to me).

Anyway, I will have to work around it...

Pics of work in progress....

The "vinyl" is really stiff. It looks a whole lot more like laminate to me.... I could get it off this far without any tools...


From that point I needed to use the heat-gun and a flat knife...


CP close-ups. Not sure what to do yet. It's all painted directly on the metal. I guess I will have to live with it's current condition. Maybe a few touch-ups of the black paint....




Ha ! The panel is mounted to the wood with the same bolts as the one's on top of the CP.
The one's inside survived a lot better of course so I'll swap them



Weird ! Looks like the wire harness was manufactured in Germany. That sure is no Irish

[EDIT, that company still exists today: http://www.kromberg-schubert.com   Looks like it's main clients are car factories.....]

The coindoor looks pretty good. Needs some cleaning and the black coin return inserts need a bit of paint. The doorframe needs some new paint (esp. on the hing) too.


The inside stuff looks very good. The left counter is for 5DM, the right one for 1DM. Not too many games played on this, it was privately owned for quite some time.


Mechs need some attention as the included 5DM coin doesn't work...nothing serious.

[ChadTower]

You can always pop the rivets and then just replace it with the same size rivets.  A rivet presser is pretty cheap if you can find it.

[WunderCade]

You can always pop the rivets and then just replace it with the same size rivets.  A rivet presser is pretty cheap if you can find it.

Harbor Fright sells a variety of the hand pressers and rivets cheap, if those will work. 

[ChadTower]

Probably not so cheap to ship to the Netherlands, though.   

[RayB]

Tape up your marquee so you don't accidentally scratch it with tools.

[Level42]

Yup, that's the plan I settled for

I really need to sand the wood before I can apply the new stuff. Glad it's not a very big area, one of the nice things of a cabaret (Like the 14" monitor....a pleasure to handle and work on

[Wade]

Most Ataris of that period had laminate on the front, esp when the wood was real plywood.  And those pictures look definitely like laminate.

That gold metal of your trackball housing?  It's probably cigarette tar.  That metal is aluminum I believe.  Some Wesley's Bleche-Wite (if you have that over there) will melt all that away in a few minutes.  Same goes for the monitor chassis.

Wade

[Level42]

I though the gold-metal was just that color.....I think I've seen others like that (but maybe smoked too  ?)

Anyway, my friend Andreas from Germany was here last wednesday night and brought the laminate with him. Regretfully, he had cut out what he'd thought what would be plenty to fit on the cabaret, but alas it was not long enough 

I was completely amazed, because the stuff he brought was EXACTLY the same as the original, right down to the backside structure ! Andreas thinks he can still use this piece on his BZ. I hope he has some more so that he can send it, but in all the excitement I forgot to ask.

There was another bummer that night, as we went to my SW so he (and the entire family ! could have a play on it. And then of course happens what never happens when you're alone: one of the other vector RAMs had died rendered the game unplayable. The attract did run, but with all crazy vectors etc.

Well at least he saw the MC and MB. I'm sure they'll be back someday when my gameroom is finished

The great news was that he of course brought back the Meteor PCB which I'm going to test today and of course will let know in that thread.

[Level42]

Since the marquee lighting was dead on this cab (probably the ballast, as I tried to exchange everything else) I renewed it, but this time a bit differently.

Instead of my usual tl fixture that I have to modify heavily, I went for a bit more elegant and unbelievably CHEAP solution:

Was at the Ikea the other day and they sell what we call "energy saving lamps" too. You know, the one's that fit in a normal bulb fixture. They were 3 for €3,-  so €1 each....

Also picked up a simple regular fixture that has an angled mounting €1,60) so I could align it like the original fluorescent bulb.

Rewired the lighting wiring, tapped into the 230VAC right after the mains switch in the cab.

When I first lit it up, the bottom side of the marquee was not lit properly. I'm pretty sure the same thing applied with the original bulb, guess Atari just accepted that as a fact. I decided to move the fixture up. This way it's nicely lighting the entire marquee. The only bad thing about this is that now the light also comes out of all the CP holes, trackball etc. but I will fix that with an extra piece of wood to block the light.

Anyway, this is by far the cheapest solution I've used so far at only €2,60
Another advantage is that the bulb is only 11 Watts. The larger tubes I normally use are 18W and sometimes make the marquee just a bit too bright for my taste.

A small note about this solution: it works nicely on a cabaret because of the smaller size of the marquee. I guess with a regular upright cab, you will see that the light is too much centered, compared to the more even spread of light from a long tube.

Pics:

[polaris]

ive been waiting to see someone use one of these bulbs, glad to see it work.
bit of info for the uk, my local morrisons are selling these bulbs for 10p each, worth looking out for (e-on brand bulbs)

[patrickl]

Don't you have problems with the colors? I used a couple of these cheap fluorescent bulbs to make a ghetto potography ligthing kit. I noticed that the pictrues I took using these lights suffered from the restricted color spectrum of these lamps (not just the color temperature, but the whole spectrum is uneven).

[Level42]

But that's the same with any other (TL as we call it Patrick) fluorescent light. So there's no difference between those in colors.
The marquee looks really nice.

[patrickl]

Well I thought it might be especially bad with the cheaper bulbs. For instance, not every TL has "bad" light. But yeah I guess they never used full spectrum lamps for marquees either (if those even existed back then).

Never mind 

[Level42]

Most original tubes I've seen so far are the cheapest cool-white color. The marquee do a good job of "hiding" the cool color. I prefer my marquees not to be too bright. Currently the one on my Mario Bros. is too bright for my taste. Already tried putting some smoked plexi scrap part I had around. Worked really well, but none of the scrap parts was large enough to cover the entire marquee area, which gives very bright spots around it which looks ugly.