BATTLEZONE TEST???...IT AINT BROKE!

[grabmyjoystick!]

OK,..Check this out,...i have a battlezone cabaret game that i purchased on ebay around 3 months ago for $300 (looks great & plays fine)

BUT>>>it always had a few (about 5) VERY THIN diagnal lines on the screen,...all but 1 almost invisible line would stay but wouldn't affect gameplay. 

And, as of late,..the radar scope and tanks remaining would jump a little,...and then stop afterwards,..it would disapear after 1-2 min of playing. 

I had nothing else better to do,...so i opened up my BZ cabaret manual and started reading,..i never tried to mess with something if it aint broke,..But i just wondered,..WHY are there lines on the screen and why is the scope and tanks jittering?

So i preformed the "TEST" on the machine, the sound test went perfectly,maybe the monitor just needs adjusting (vertical and horizontal buttons)..Like it says in the manual,..flip the switch in the UP position.

Then i seen the diamond screen with>> 0-thru-9 & A-thru-Z on the bottom,and in the middle was this>>(00III00100IIIIII)..WITH> III on top of the first set of 16 characters,...now,..what i see in my manual is not exactly the same as what i see on screen,..but the manual does not say that what is printed is what i should be seeing (16 characters) HERE is what i see in the manual>>(IIIIIIIIIIIII0II)

NOW,by seeing something wrong on screen when i turn it on...can anyone tell me if the characters in the manual is what im supposed to have -OR- is there something im supposed to do,..being that i have some lines and jumpy tanks? I dont want it to get worse,...Can anyone give me some info? 



Edit by moderator: inserted some paragraphs, because, well, DAMN.

[CheffoJeffo]

I may be misreading because it is early and because that is one long sentence ...

Aren't the characters you see actually 1s and 0s representing the dipswitch settings (e.g. so they need not match the manual) ?

Cheers.

[D_Zoot]

If I recall correctly, Cheffo is right,  the 1's and 0's indicate the status of the dipswitches.

There are a number board problems that can cause the issue you are having, but the most common cause of random vectors or jittery vectors is low voltage.  Check the voltages at the gameboard itself and also check for a burnt or loose edge connector.   Battlezone is usually happy at 5.1 - 5.2vdc  at the gameboard,  much lower than that and erratic operation occurs.  The big blue cap on the power brick is another possibility, if in doubt replace it. Bob Roberts sells them.

The other common issue is the cable between the two boards.  It has a tendency to develop bad solder joints at the header pins. Resolder the header pins for the cable.

Lastly, Battlezone's are horrible in regards to chip sockets.  If all else checks ok, reseat all of the socketed chips.  If the problem clears up, run with it, if the problem clears up and returns later, you'll need to look into replacing chip sockets.

If none of the above solve your problem you'll be looking at a board problem. That would be interesting as your post indicates the game is playable and mathbox/board failures *usually* render the game non-playable.  If it turns out to be a board issue, you might want to consider sending it out for repair.


Regards,
D