Wizard of Wor power supply questions

[SithMaster]

So I was planning on sticking my boardset (not tested) inside a cabinet with a g07 (doesnt power up).  I figure that it would be best to get it playing blind first and then worry about the monitor.

What are my options concerning the power supply pcb and the psu?  The pcb number is A082-90006-B/C000 and the psu is the same as the gorf/space zap.  I have parts from a galaxian psu (surprise also untested) that I was hoping to use, but that seems doubtful.  Anyone with experience concerning WoW or Gorf?  I'd also need to build the wiring harness for everything.

Thanks.

[SirPeale]

If you can't see what's going on, how do you expect to repair it properly?

[SithMaster]

I thought it was common to at least try and get a game to play blind.   

[Kevin Mullins]

Sure, you could test the board blind to an extent ..... but if your concern is the power supply then I suggest locating schematics for both the game pcb and any power supply you plan on trying and make sure the voltages you need are there and exactly where they are before you go plugging a game pcb into anything.

[SirPeale]

Well, here's an example.  Suppose everything on the board is working just fine EXCEPT the audio.  You're trying to troubleshoot problems you can't even see because you're trying to get a board to play "blind" when the problems are audio related.

Get your video and power supply issues worked out first (and your harness, apparently) before attempting to troubleshoot a board that may or may not have issues.   If you can't see what's going on, then you're not using one of the best tools for this job: your eyes!

[Teknotoyz]

How did this project turn out??
Curious, been a few years looks like.

[boardjunkie]

Just a note here....the Midway card cage games (WOW, GORF, Space Zap, etc) have an external reset circuit on the pwr supply board. Without this reset signal, the game won't boot properly. If the supply is missing altogether or your building a game inside a different cab, an older PC supply *does* have this reset wire (called "power good", "Power OK", something like that)...connect it to the board's reset terminal on the power connector.

http://electroniccircuitsdiagram.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/ATX_Power_Supply_Connector_Table.jpg

What it does: +5v will appear on this wire when the supply detects that all voltages are present and stabilized. So that wire remains at gnd potential these conditions are met, then jumps up to +5v. So this holds the board in a reset state until +5v appears at the reset line, then the boards resets and loads code.

http://api.ning.com/files/Nfq0XdC2SajdKxCt1Eo96txENGWGiGi8B14ulNEunhCSp*gLLMQT6xGI3EpYQiG*VtFWPA7eCMQVdqQ705NnKQ__/GorfPower.bmp

If you find the -reset- output on that Gorf supply, notice that there's a line above the word. That means "active low", so the board is in a reset condition when the reset line is held low. Then goes into normal run mode when pulled high.

FYI, there's a lot of boards that require this external reset. Midway MCR boards, many early Taito boards, Midway Space Invader series, etc.

[SithMaster]

How did this project turn out??
Curious, been a few years looks like.

I have most of the parts needed its just lack of interest/not knowing what I want that's kept it from progressing.  I have all the parts needed with the exception of a switching power supply however I can't decide between my options.  I have a 13" monitor I could use inside a Defender clone but it would require adding two more speakers to fully support the audio of the game.  I could move everything to a cab that has four speaker mounting points but would require a new control panel (to be fair both cabs would since the bootlegs panel is pretty awesome).  My joysticks came as part of a complete cocktail panel set so I'm tempted to make a table but the cost of the glass is annoying.  Then I started thinking why don't I just make a dedicated using one of those fanmade pc versions with new levels and just correct the control scheme to use with my joysticks saving me the trouble of learning how to get the boardsets working again.  It has the added benefit of saving me the headache if the video board goes bad since thats the hardest part to find for Wizard of Wor.

That last one screams at me since it seems the most sensible but those control panels would go to waste if I didn't go with the cocktail table so I'd have to build one of those at least (I even planned out using my friend's ping pong table like that one guy did for his upright).

@Boardjunkie
To be honest I need to learn more about the finer details of electronics but that info will come in handy when I eventually get back into working on this.  The thought of running into a problem that requires a solder iron scares me into putting it off until my skills aren't so lacking.

[boardjunkie]

You don't *have* to use the 3 speaker setup. You can use a passive mixer to sum both sound channels plus the voice channel to mono and use a single audio amp/speaker.

The "video board" is not the only failure prone part in these card cage boardsets. By video board I assume you mean the little interface board that reformats the component video to RGB.

http://www.classicarcaderesource.com/GorfRGBpcb.jpg

The chip is available here: http://www.arcadechips.com/product_info.php?products_id=146

The TBA530 chip  does cause problems....I have a couple bad ones. But, this boardset used 3 custom chips (the large 40 pin jobs) and those are known to fail....especially the "custom data" chip. This one had a heatsink added to later issues of the games to keep its operation temp down. There's no source of replacements that I've heard of, but you can rob them from Bally Astrocade home games.....which were a scaled down version of the arcade boardset and used the same customs.

Eventually, if someone doesn't come up with a replacement for these custom chips, these card cage games will *all* end up inoperable. How's about it JROK?

[SithMaster]

Yep thats the one board I was talking about.  Just to clarify you don't mean the console itself for the chips but the game cart right?  That's also good to know.

I could see a multigame custom boardset doing well if only to keep Gorf owners going.  From what I've seen its more popular.

[boardjunkie]

Not the game cartridges, the main game unit. I used to buy Astrocade systems for next to nothing before they became collectable just to rob those custom ships out of and get Gorf and Wizard Of Wor boardsets working again.