Got Omega Race cocktail, now the "fun" part

[torez]

Great, lost the entire message, as my pics went over the size limit.  That will teach me to write longer posts in a notepad first. 
I got this table two days ago from PA.  Just over 4 hours drive in the evening with less traffic.  It's in pretty nice condition visually (thanks Chuck) and is playable, but needs extra tlc to make it run perfect.  First off, the sound stopped working when I got home and plugged it in.  I checked all the connections and re-seated all the plugs, including mobo-daughterboard joint.  Yes, I tried adjusting two volume knobs while the game is running, but still nothing.  All the wires leading to the speakers were also checked.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/k4375y
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ny5ao0
http://www.sendspace.com/file/wiw693
http://www.sendspace.com/file/wiw693
More info to follow

[BrentRadio]

Wow, that looks to be in really nice shape!

Contrats on owning a vector!

Brent

[torez]

As with all old arcade cabinets, this one needs cap kit as well.  Just hope that's all I will need to fix the display.  When I first turn it on, it takes about 10 minutes to warm up.  Actually, what I get first is the vertical display and the horizontal is the one that takes a while.  You kinda can see the movement of the ship, but it's all flat in the center of the screen.  After warming up, the screen fills up, but now from time to time it does not hold vertical very well.  Also there is little wobble of the beam (noise) that is much more visible when you get closer.  As it's not a projection, like in a standup, details like that are more noticeable.
I'll have to pull out my multimeter and check all the voltages.
As for the sound, I'll try running speaker wire from my receiver (at low volume) and see if I get any sound.  Will go from there to check continuity in the speaker wires.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/kannxo
http://www.sendspace.com/file/e0lgwd
http://www.sendspace.com/file/79p7j1

[torez]

Wow, that looks to be in really nice shape!

Contrats on owning a vector!

Brent

Thanks Brent, this table is pretty clean with well preserved woodgrain sides.  Inside is pretty clean as well.  Monitor is nice and bright, just the problems mentioned above.  I vacuumed it inside (after I found out first that the sound does not work), but there was not much dirt there.  It has a powerful fan that sucks from the bottom, so this would be a problem, if the table was located in some dusty place.
As you can see, there is paint peeling under the glass on one side.   I've seen same thing (one same side) happen to another cocktail table, so I'm thinking maybe this side is warmer (that's where the vector board, etc. is).  Previous owner said it's probably from sun exposure, but same peeling on same side on two cabinets?  Sure, sun exposure can cause it as well.

This table comes with blue pot spinners.  They seem to skip from time to time.  They are probably dirty inside.  Would adding a dash of oil help it (at least temporarily)?  I would like to convert the spinner to optical control that first Omega Race cabinets came with.  I actually have two of these just sitting somewhere here.  I didn't have a chance to check, but I guess I would need another original control board for the optical hardware?

http://www.sendspace.com/file/0niguj
http://www.sendspace.com/file/x41svu
http://www.sendspace.com/file/d93rxn
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7716mo

[torez]

Forgot to add, I ran self-diagnostics and all checked out ok.  Tested the speakers and both work just fine.  Tested continuity of the speaker wires to the daughterboard and all is fine.  Gotta go and rtfm a bit more.

[BrentRadio]

Have you check the power supply for the right voltages? (not sure what they should be)

I'm sure a cap kit wouldn't hurt. Read up on the fixes for those monitors. I'm sure if you search the archives at RGVAC you will find some answers.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video.arcade.collecting/topics

Brent

[RayB]

Can you stick the photos on Flickr or something better than that crappy SendSpace? I'd like to see them but I get "At Full Capacity" warnings.

[torez]

I didn't check the voltages last night, as I was too tired and didn't want to fry something.  It's on my list.

The pics are big, as I don't have any image editing software installed on this computer atm and just wanted to get this thing out to start the topic.  Each picture is around 500-900+ kB.  I'll try reposting the pics later today.  "At full capacity" ... I would guess they are overloaded with traffic atm?

[D_Zoot]

Your monitor is missing one axis of deflection until it warms up?  I assume it's a G05, haven't looked at your pics,  but I'd put money on a bad solder joint somewhere on the deflection board,

For the sound issue, look carefully around the battery for any signs of leakage or previous leakage and corrosion.   These boards are known for acid damage and it can cause all kinds of odd problems.


Congrats on owning an Omega Race!  Wasn't a very popular game when it was new, but I always enjoyed it.  Have an upright myself.   But then I've got a soft spot for any vector.. 


D
 

[torez]

Your monitor is missing one axis of deflection until it warms up?  I assume it's a G05, haven't looked at your pics,  but I'd put money on a bad solder joint somewhere on the deflection board,

Bad solder joint would make sense.  Could it be some capacitor that is dead and does not allow enough current to supply the part that is responsible for the horizontal deflection?  Will take apart the boards as much as possible and will check the transistors and diodes as well.
Btw, the monitor looks to be Sylvania type 15st4730r, part number 17-6152-05, some EIA 312.
Another question, if I work by the tube for a while (exposed neck, etc.), how much electro-magnetic radiation does this produce?  Even if it's turned off, when I get really close to the tube my eyes start to hurt a bit and I'm getting kinda of a headache.  I didn't feel this for at least two years since last time I spent many long hours sitting at a 19" crt computer monitor (not to mention "healthy" monitor glow in my skin  ).  With lcd I don't feel this.

For the sound issue, look carefully around the battery for any signs of leakage or previous leakage and corrosion.   These boards are known for acid damage and it can cause all kinds of odd problems.

The battery leaked and was removed about 2-3 years ago.  There is quite a bit of corrosion.  What bothers me a bit is that the aluminum standoff piece is touching part of the exposed metal circuit where acid was.  The damage is mainly just at the edge.  Not sure, if it causes short somewhere.  That part seems to be "-" for the battery.  Right now the game does not save high scores.  Many of the chips were replaced by ArcadeWorks.  There is even a tag on the daughterboard.

Congrats on owning an Omega Race!  Wasn't a very popular game when it was new, but I always enjoyed it.  Have an upright myself.   But then I've got a soft spot for any vector.. 


D

Thanks!  Actually, Omega Race was top 10 money maker during 1982-1983 time period.    Not too shabby.  With a run of around 35,000, it had to be a pretty popular game.  I believe Asteroids was 50,000?  With many games, cocktail version was coming out later on.  I believe Omega Race cocktail came out in 1982.  Looking at the manual some of the drawings are from second half of 1981.  Pictures show the death ship as a star (or a pentagram  ).

http://www.sendspace.com/file/duiksd - acid burn
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ldacyu - pretty new looking mobo
http://www.sendspace.com/file/0nxvdt - table # 1436 (why does it say "regular"?)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/htwh59 - tube
http://www.sendspace.com/file/z8ktdj - closeup 1
http://www.sendspace.com/file/oq3hgr - closeup 2

[torez]

I re-seated all the plugs on the vector/amplifier board last night.  After that the occasional vertical jumping is gone (it started doing it after the move).  I have a second (hopefully working) daughterboard that I will try plugging in today to pinpoint the problem with the sound.  The little noise/wavyness is still there, so it's probably some capacitor.
The monitor is very bright.  I actually may have to adjust the brightness down a bit.    Just for reference for others reading this:

Proper adjustment of the brightness and contrast controls is the same as for the raster-scan monitor.
1.  Turn both brightness and contrast controls to minimum.
2.  Turn up brightness until picture is barely visible.
3.  Turn up contrast for desired picture.

(taken from Atari The Book - A Guide to Electronic Game Operation and Servicing (1980))

What would be the best way to cover exposed circuit on a pcb?  I know in the old days one would simply use hot candle wax.

[torez]

Got some good news. 

I found that there was no voltage on the left side of the daughterboard.  I had a spare daughterboard, so cleaned it up a bit and plugged it in, but same thing happened.  Ok, so it looks like there is no feed of voltage to it.  Rechecked the wireing and got to the transformer with a bunch of wires "tangled" in a big mess.  Started checking continuity of the joints and finally started getting to the bottom and what do I see ... small wire going to the fuse is broken off (see the pic).  When I made the connection, the game started playing sound again.  Wow, I missed that sound  .  Sound from MAME on my computer doesn't compare.  Especially the sound when the ufo gets shut down.  I never noticed it, but the sound is actually stereo.  Part of sounds come from one speaker and others from the other at all times.  As the two speakers are placed at the opposite side of the cocktail table, it gives it nice 3D effect.  As you can adjust the volume on both speakers, you can tweak it nicely to your liking.  Wow, that ufo shut down sound really stands out.  It gives me nice adrenaline rush.

I noticed on both daugherboards that soldering of one of the capacitors is very bad.  The other side of the board the lead goes nowhere, so it must connect on the top.  I found it during continuity check and noticed that there is connection only at some positions of the capacitor (when you move it sideways, so the leg touches the edge of the board and makes connection to the circuit).  This is probably the reason this board was "parts" in the first place and noone checked why.

[torez]

The capacitor with crappy joint.  It's the blue one.  The big silver one on the bottom has good connection on the other side, so the joints are good.

[torez]

This is from the original daughterboard.  Same crappy connection here.

[torez]

I readjusted the voltages.  5V is fine, 12V can be adjusted with a pot to 11.92V max.  I found the problem that caused the long horizontal display warmup.  It was just a weak connection of one of the cables at the plug going from vector/amplifier board to the monitor.  Now it takes about 10 seconds to fully display the picture.

I tied down the big plug that has wires going to the amplifier board and all seems to be great, except there is still noise and some flicker in the display.

As for the removed battery on the motherboard.  Good thing about cocktail motherboards is the position it was mounted is different than the ones in standup and probably sitdown.  In cocktail the acid leaked down the edge of the board (not across any chips).  The board is mounted 90 degrees CCW compared to standup, so the acid went over the empty part that just has some insulation over one big trace for - voltage.
I checked the leads on the board where the battery was previously installed.  I'm getting 5V there, but the board seems intact enough, so installing a new battery should work.  Now, the thing is the battery there is supposed to be 3.6V Ni-Cad.  Should I go with 3.6V or something closer to 5V for the battery?  Also, do I have to go with Ni-Cd or something like Ni-MH is possible.  I'm worrying about the charging current, longevity, etc.  The battery will be installed away from the motherboard.  I know I could go with a button battery that is used on computer motherboards, but I still worry about that 5V voltage.  Any ideas?

[SavannahLion]

Sendspace links aren't working for me. 

[torez]

Sendspace links aren't working for me. 

Yes, looks like some of them went down.  I'll fix the size of the pics, so I'll be able to attach them to the post (probably tomorrow).