Electrohome G07 Atari System 1 Indiana Jones ToD scrambled video

[rhuel]

Just picked this cab up yesterday. Cleaned it up a bit and plugged it in and powered on. It has scrambled video. I played the game before carefully transporting it home in the back of my Durango on its side. I powered it on and saw the scrambled video and started researching. I found that several people had similar issues and leaving it on for 5-10 minutes usually cured it. I waited about 10 minutes and checked on it. It was playable and everything looked good.

I powered it off and about ten minutes later my brother stopped in and wanted to see it. I powered it on and waited about 15-20 minutes and it never unscrambled.

It is all original (to the best of my knowledge) with the Electrohome G07.

Any ideas what to check? Below is a pic.

[qrz]

on game board, make sure all socketed ic's are properly seated , as well as any edge connectors.......good place to start

qrz

[SirPeale]

What qrz is saying is this isn't a video problem.  Your monitor appears to be working correctly.  You have a board fault.

Moving to Arcade Misc.

[D_Zoot]

Check for loose header connectors on the game board, also inpect them for browning of the plastic terminal housings,   very common for these to develop connection issues, unsually in the +5vdc supply connections.  A browning connector housing indicates heat from a bad connection.  Reseating the connection might get it up and running again, but the header pins and connector terminals will need to be replaced sooner or later.

If that's ok, pull the boards and seperate them,  clean the interconnecting edgeboard fingers with a pencil eraser. While the boards are out, lay them on a flat surface and firmly push on all socketed IC's (the boards aren't mounted rigidly enough to do this well when the boards are installed).

Put 'er all back together and see where you are at !


D

[rhuel]

Sorry for posting in the wrong forum.

Thanks guys for the advice. As soon as I get the locks out, I'll be able to investigate further.

Since this is now in the misc forum, I don't have keys for this cab and need to figure out the best way to get the lock cylinders out, drill them? Does anyone on the boards sell replacement locks with keys?

Thanks again!!

[SirPeale]

Indy Jones cab, eh?

Yeah, you're probably better off drilling them out.

Unless they're single bitted locks.  You could probably pick it then.  It's not terribly hard.

[rhuel]

Drilled locks and got the cab opened up.

I was happy to find inside the lower coin door the following manuals in a plastic bag:

Indy Operators manual with Illustrated Parts List
Schematic Package Supplement to Indy Operators manual
Atari System 1 Operators Manual with Illustrated Parts List
Electrohome Service and Operations Manual G07 R.G.B Colour Monitor 13" and 19" Versions

Also Inside the PCB door was stapled a two foot tall Indiana Jones Self Test instruction sheet.

No pics available as my 4 yr old dropped the camera 15 minutes ago.

Now I need to get the scrambled video issue resolved, some locks from Peale and I'll be good to go!!

[Lutus]

What do you think of the game itself?  ToD that is?

[rhuel]

What do you think of the game itself?  ToD that is?

I've not had a chance to play it other than on my MAME cab since the dedicated cab is in need of some "adjustment", but it seems fun. From the reviews I've read, many people find it difficult and enjoyable. Apparently, you can't feed it quarters to continue. Once you exhaust your "lives" it's over.

Hopefully I can get a chance to work on it today. I got the camera fixed up this morning so it works again. I'll get some pics up later.

[rhuel]

I pulled the boards out of the cab to clean/inspect.

Cleaned edge connector on PCB, pressed down on chips on both boards, one actually moved quite a bit.

Hooked everything back up, hit the power button and instant Indy Face on screen with music!!!

Thanks again guys for the help!!

[D_Zoot]

Cool!   Sweet when it's easy like that..   

Glad to hear another one is saved.

 



D

[rhuel]

Got some pics...

[Lutus]

"Not doing so may cause reduced profits"   

Love it when it is a simple fix.   


I am an electrical engineer by trade and I can't tell you how many problems I fix at work due to operator error or bad connections when hooking stuff up.


NOW you can tell me how the game is.   

[The_Tyler_Black]

"Not doing so may cause reduced profits"   

Obviously thats true! Because ToD was such a great game, and they were selling it!! (should've read the book)

[rhuel]

Now that it's up and running, any way to reposition/resize the display? Electrohome G07 monitor.

It could use shifted to the left a bit and vertical size increased equally on top and bottom...see pic below

[Lutus]

Of course!

There are adjustment pots on the monitor chassis that are labeled "Vsize" or something like that to control the vertical size and "Hcent" to move it left and right.

Now, stretching the picture horizontally requires something a little more special but you didn't mention it so we will skip it for now.



NOW, have someone help you do this or use a mirror.  You stay in the back by the monitor and adjust the controls and have someone yell at you when it is good.

Witht the G07 I think you need a small flat head screwdriver to stick into the pots to turn them.

[rhuel]

Super!!

I saw adjusters on the neckboard, but didn't fiddle with them much. One seemed to change focus and the other brightness. I didn't touch the other three.

I won't be able to try adjusting it tonight...darn Master's Degree classes on Monday evenings.

Any pics of the locations of these pots on the board?

This looks flipped top to bottom from what's attached. I think I can find the right screws, just not sure what to do with the "tabs".



Found the attached picture on LizardLick's site...

[RayB]

Screws? 

There are 4 adjustments (potentiometers) at the top of your photo.
Use a plastic tool to adjust them. Electricity can hurt.
You shouldn't have to touch the ones on the neck board at all.

To move the image horizontally, you have to move the wire connected to one of three pins (I think that's them to the left of the left-most potentiometer). You should do that with the power off, as I've heard a lot of voltage goes through that wire.

[rhuel]

The picture is not of my board, but one I found at pinrepair.com.

I have not opened the back of mine since I found the diagram or picture. By "screws" I was referring to the small plastic adjusters like what are found on the neckboard for brightness, etc.

Can the pots be adjusted in the same way as the neckboard adjusters or is there a special tool required for the pots on the daughterboard?

Do you know if the wire is soldered or pushed on with a female connector for the horizontal adjustment? Do you know which direction the wire would need moved in order to shift the picture to the left?

Are there tutorials anywhere that have these adjustments outlined? I've been searching and haven't found anything yet.

Thanks for the patience and taking the time to answer what may be n00b questions. This is my first dedicated cab and I'm still learning.

[D_Zoot]

Are there tutorials anywhere that have these adjustments outlined?

Eyeball 'em !!

If you can find a good size mirror to prop in from of the monitor, simply start with one of the pots, note it's current position and tweak until things look right.  Play around with them to see what each one does, you won't hurt anything!

Now, having said that, the pots on the neckboard control color,  you won't need to mess with those.  Also, there is one pot on the G07 board that adjusts the B+ voltage (it's the one laying flat on the board), leave that one alone as well.

Yes, there is a small spade terminal on the position wire adjustments, no need to unsolder anything, just pull the wire off and move it to another post.

All of the adjustments are in the G07 manual, which appears to be included in your manual packet,  review the manual and you should find a diagram with the contols layout.


HTH,
D

[RayB]

If I've learned anything from my years in this hobby, it's to suppress the curiosity until you do the basics. Like right now, I just got an Asteroids and the monitor has a cracked flyback. Now, this is what the seller told me, and I'm under the impression the monitor is a G05. I could go off and search and ask for this part and related advice, but I haven't even looked at the actual guts yet! I need to do that so I am sure about what I'm talking about first.

So if you catch my drift... open your machine up and have a look first. Take photos of what you actually have and post them here. For all you know, you have a whole different monitor in there than you think.

[rhuel]

RayB
Thanks for your input.

I hope you are able to fix your cracked flyback, if that turns out to be your problem.


Thanks D_Zoot. When I get a chance, I'll try what you said.

Concerning the manual, I saw the component diagram, but it wasn't very detailed with the adjustment procedure for the vertical height or horizontal positioning. I'll see waht i can do and post pics of the results if I get to it tonight.

Last night I put the coin mechs and lock cylinders in I got from Peale. I didn't even notice the mechs were absent till looking over the pics I posted. 

New bulbs in the coin return buttons, straightened out the coin switch activator wires, changed from "free play" to "coin op" in the setup, adjusted the volume a tad, and it is almost like it was in 1985 again.

[RayB]

Oh and to answer one of your questions, the H position wire is usually push-on female connector type.

[rhuel]

I just adjusted the display. A very small amount of black on the top and bottom. I was able get the image centered pretty well.

It's as good as I'm going to make it.

Thanks to all who responded!!

[SirPeale]

And the mechs I sold you worked well?

[rhuel]

And the mechs I sold you worked well?

Mechs seemed to work perfectly. Both slots accepted a quarter.

The locks worked well, too. Although the lock length was a bit long and the doors rattled a bit when locked. I ran one of the large diameter nuts all the way up till it stopped against the back of the lock face before sliding it through the hole. It doesn't look bad and keeps the locked doors tighter. Not sure if there is anything that can be done other than making my own cams with a sharp bend in them.

[SirPeale]

They sometimes need adjusting a bit.  With the lock assembled you'd bend the cam inwards just a bit to take up the slack.

How much slack are we talking about here?

[rhuel]

At most about 1/4"-3/8"

About the thickness of the nut that holds the cylinder in place on the back. When I shimmed the front, the slack was pretty much all taken up. The PCB door doesn't have any slack, or it doesn't show as much due to the tighter fit of the door in the cab compared to the coin doors.

I didn't try bending the cams...maybe I could try that and see how it works. I'll try bending one of the old cams before one of the new ones you sent as a test.