Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle
General Chat => Arcade Lifestyle => Topic started by: level42 on March 08, 2010, 10:47:04 PM
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Thanks to Paul (for importing), Bruno (for posting the first news), Erik(For, you know what for), Michael(for making it possible via-via) I am now the proud owner of a machine I never dreamt I would ever own:
A Ms. Pac Man !
Yes it's a little less exiting because such a big lot was imported all together, but still my joy is not less because of that.
The story is too nice: I was first thinking: NO, I do not need another project cab, I do not have the space and I do not have the funds at the moment. I was not jealous about the guys getting all these great machines, but I did feel like I was about to miss the chance of a lifetime.
So I casually showed the pictures with the lot to my wife and "carelesly" explained a bit and I was totally amazed by her response....she said she'd have no problem to get one but where to leave it ? She was right ! I already have too many machines. So, suddenly I decided to sell some machines I already wanted to move AND I took the decision to sell the MC cabaret. True, that was the hardest decision. It was the machine that required the furthest drive of all my cabs (but it was a great trip, incl. our first visit to Andreas & family !) and I loved that I could fix it and make it run very beatifully. I only had just installed the top bracket that Ully had (amongst the other stuff) had powder coated so beautifully.
But, MC was a "mixed emotions" machine for me. I loved the trackball concept but the game gets too hard too quickly IMHO. I remembered the game from the Atari 800XL homecomputer, and I can tell you that the conversion is _perfect_ on that machine BUT because of only one fire button, there is only one firing tower. This makes it a LOT easier to stay long in play in the higher levels, because you only have to defend one city and one tower. Not so on the arcade machine of course, 3 towers to defend and all in all this was one of the very few games I was a bit disappointed in in it's arcade form.
So, I've always mentioned that _if_ I would sell a machine, it would be the MC.
The Meteor is another story: I've also got an Asterock and I simply like that cabinet more. It's a bit pointless to have 2 Asteroids bootlegs in a small gameroom like mine, so that decision was already made.
And the Dominos, well the Dominos went out as a bonus.
Anyway, I never expected to sell the three machines so quickly, big thanks to Michael for helping in contact with the Danish arcade museum who bought them !!!
So, I knew that all the best machines were already gone or spoken for at Paul's, so I decided to not "let any grass grow over it" as we say in Holland.
I e-mailed Paul yesterday late in the evening and he said he still had a couple machines left. (Turned out 3 Ms.Pacs and 2 (or 3?) Pac's) and he would reserve one for me if I came pick it up. So today, right after work (near Amsterdam) I drove up to Paul's. A little over 3 hours driving. Paul was very kind and explained about the status of the machines a bit, saying that 2 were completely dead and one had some sync or "double" screen problems. So he powered up that cab first and.....IT PLAYED ! He was as surprised as I am. I credited it and yes indeed it played just fine (although it has some stupid speed-up hack and weird maze, but that can be reversed).
Although this machine was probably not the best looking, I still decided to choose this one. We all know what a working (Ms,) Pac board is worth....
The machine definitely has earned it's money back with 70000 credits on ONE counter (didn't check the other). Thus it has the usual wear and tear. The CPO looks amazingly good though. The bezel is nice too. Of the three machines this DID have the best feeling joystick.
The marquee was very discolored and I kindly asked if I could replace it with one of the other machines (because one was almost perfect) but Paul (as I expected) didn't want that (well it was worth the try ;)
Anyway, I will upload some pics ASAP.
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Oh, my history with Ms. Pac Man: when I was at school there used to be a little "shop" that sold soda and crisps etc. and had 1 or 2 videogames, a table-football and maybe a pool or so, and that was it. No clue how they could live from it, but every break at school we were there, and Ms.Pac was the machine we played. And played and played. I think it's the game I played most in the 80's. I've always loved it since. We played the Ms.Pac until the machine was replaced by a Q*bert. I remember I was kind of upset that they had replaced the Ms.Pac and even said something about it to the owner. He replied: try this first ! And well, he was right, another brilliant game !
So, this is why I much preferred to have a Ms.Pac machine instead of Pac. Also, I already have the Puckman so it makes more sense that way too....
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Great story! - always nice when everything add´s up in the end! :spaceace:
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Congratulations André, we all know that you wanted this game very much. And it's nice how you wrote it down, it feels a bit like a community effort :D
And also great that it plays despite the initial comment of Paul. Game on!
Oh, and bring on the photo's. :D
One hint: if you need the original roms, you can get them from hobbyroms.com. I usually order my roms there via e-mail. He is not too expensive and quick, and an overall nice guy.
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Thanks guys ! I'm sorry but I'm very tired _AND_ I have a training tomorrow so I'm heading straight to my bed.
Anyway, I uploaded the pics here for those who want to have a sneek preview....
http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts#100723
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One hint: if you need the original roms, you can get them from hobbyroms.com. I usually order my roms there via e-mail. He is not too expensive and quick, and an overall nice guy.
Thanks, but if I can find some empty one's I can burn them at my company!
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Nice photo's, and the cab doesn't look too bad at all. Especially the CPO looks great. Sure, the cab has some wear and tear, but it is almost 30 years old. The woodwork is still very good. :) Great catch.
Nice detail is the brown enveloppe. I found one also in my Pac-Man cab, still sealed, marked with 'Pac Man UR'. I probably will never open mine.
Familiar place by the way where you brought the game ;)
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Thats why you needed the space !
Congratiolations andre!
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Nice machine Andre !!! :-*
Congratulations :spaceace:
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OK a little bit of roadtrip pics:
As always I forget to take a picture of the statistics. But this time I don't start my journey from home but from the place I had been working that day, Hoofddorp, a place not too far from Amsterdam and very close to Schiphol airport.
About 306 km to do:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/Schermafbeelding-202010-03-09-20om-2007-23-14/web.jpg?ver=12681158910001)
I'm lucky because I'm able to finish my day job early (15.00 hrs) so after robbinggoing to the bank I head for the east. Amazingly (and because pretty early hour) I have no traffic jams around Amsterdam. Only a very small one a bit later on the road.
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4944/web.jpg?ver=12680863070001)
My "favorite" city.....NOT. O well, it _did_ bring me my SW cockpit...
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4945/web.jpg?ver=12680863080001)
I do like this building. Head-office of ING, now a state-bank, we all know the story:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4946/web.jpg?ver=12680863090001)
WHY is it that I see Lada's on my road-trips ? OK, this one is "much" more "modern" than the one we saw on the Asterock-Power Drift-SI trip but still, these have become a real rarity here...
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4947/web.jpg?ver=12680863100001)
Making good progress, city of Deventer nice place to visit !
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4948/web.jpg?ver=12680863110001)
And in Germany. Do you know why you can see this is Germany, because there's a Baustelle ! Germany has great hi-ways, I love them, but they have too many Baustelle's !!!!
And if there's a Baustelle in Germany, you can bet your ass that it's for LOTS of KM's.
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4949/web.jpg?ver=12680863120001)
Reminds me of road-work places in Massachusetts. There were always police cars at them, my aunt told me that road-workers demanded them and those police officers do nothing but sit in the car all though with their blinking lights on. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Not very cost-effective IMHO.
Although it's still freezing cold here, there's no more snow in Holland, but Germany got hit by another pack of snow last weekend (the reason for Ully to cancel his trip to Paul, man that snow has caused some troubles this winter):
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4950/web.jpg?ver=12680863130001)
The good thing is that the days already start to get longer, nice winter evening atmosphere:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4954/web.jpg?ver=12680863160001)
Glad the roads are OK now (except for a number of places with Strassenschade (Road-damage because of winter):
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4955/web.jpg?ver=12680863170001)
I clearly have front wind heading to the East:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4957/web.jpg?ver=12680863180001)
When I arrived at Paul's place I didn't take any pictures, I think Erik did lot's of them and there was very little to add. Plus I wanted to be back on the road again ASAP. Paul and I had a nice chat in which (once again) it became clear how small the (European) arcade world is....The best looking machines were in a row and as I expected these were reserved for others (lucky you ;))
It was funny that I could add Paul to the people who initially don't believe that the cab will not fit my car. He said I had to keep the back-door open for sure but I told him it would fit just fine and mentioned what machines I had in there....
And indeed the Ms.Pac just fit fine as expected. He was amazed :D
SO, time to head back and well, since the roads are clear let's see what happens when I flatten the gas-pedal:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4959/web.jpg?ver=12680863200001)
MMmmm, should have flashed I guess, but now I know the top-speed of my car (with tail-wind) Must be the fastest Ms.Pac cab ever....
Of course it's not possible to maintain these speeds for very long times. Near cities and at places with road-damage the limit is only 80....which is very hard to keep to if you just had this speed before.... ;)
Anyway, without any problems I reach Rotterdam. Time for pics !
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Congrats for your new girlfriend, lol!!! ;D
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The trip home is a little bit longer but not much, about 330km:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/Schermafbeelding-202010-03-09-20om-2007-26-33/web.jpg?ver=12681160420001)
So, arrived safely at Rotterdam around 22.00 hrs:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4963/web.jpg?ver=12680863220001)
Time to unload the lady:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4962/web.jpg?ver=12680863210001)
OK she has a wrinkle here and there, but she's still a beauty !
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4964/web.jpg?ver=12680863240001)
With a tight little but:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4965/web.jpg?ver=12680863250001)
It's clear that the majority of people play right-handed !:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4966/web.jpg?ver=12680863270001)
That will need to be replaced, very faded...
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4967/web.jpg?ver=12680863280001)
Flash shows a decent screen-burn. Didn't look as bad without flash ;) Bezel is not bad at all:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4968/web.jpg?ver=12680863290001)
The CPO survived amazingly well:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4969/web.jpg?ver=12680863310001)
Without flash:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4970/web.jpg?ver=12680863330001)
Kickplate:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4972/web.jpg?ver=12680863340001)
Strange place for paint to fade....but the Galaxian was the same, that's an easy fix :D
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4973/web.jpg?ver=12680863360001)
Details:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4974/web.jpg?ver=12680863370001)
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4975/web.jpg?ver=12680863380001)
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4976/web.jpg?ver=12680863400001)
That should be better, both the picture _and_ the top:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4977/web.jpg?ver=12680863410001)
Woohoo, the key for the backdoor is in the coindoor:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4978/web.jpg?ver=12680863420001)
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4980/web.jpg?ver=12680863440001)
Bonus ! But it's opened and it does have a number of schematics but not the operation manual..o well.
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4982/web.jpg?ver=12680863450001)
Looks like a WG to me. The monitor did show some pretty strange colors so will have to look into that. Sorry for the poor focus !:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4983/web.jpg?ver=12680863470001)
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4984/web.jpg?ver=12680863490001)
A hint form where it's coming from ? I've seen this Brady distr. before on Luc's SW cockpit (I think)...
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4985/web.jpg?ver=12680863500001)
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haha so you did buy a Ms Pacman after all. When me and Gyruss picked up our cabs at Ckongs place, we still were wondering why you didnt get one yourself. So strange, for such a hardcore arcade man not to buy one from this Pacman-lot. Luckily you did!! :ghost: :ghost: :ghost: :ghost:
Congratulations on your Ms Pacman, you must be as happy as I am with my own yellow cab!!!
:ghost: :ghost:
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Congrats Andre, I almost knew you would get one. You must be just as happy as the rest of us.
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congrats on the catch, andré! i was wondering "how could that guy resist the temptation of NOT getting a ms pac for that price when he's been talking about wanting one so bad quite often?". well, here we go ;D
hope the weather will be ok atthe weekend, trailer has been reserved and _AT LEAST_ two games are going to be added to the list ;)
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Thanks friends and congrats with your's as well of course !
Can't wait to bring this home and PLAY it :D
Of course I can now have a look at the power supply situation too (and compare with the Galaxian).
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With a little bit of luck I'll be able to check it out myself tonight because RR's Pac Man is also inside my house... ;D
What is the state of your monitor? Mine has servere burn-in :?
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Yep, see the picture of it above.
I've still got a NOS monitor in the box so it might go to this baby :D Not sure yet, want to see how much it hurts gameplay.
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Yes!!!! I'm very happy for you! I remember when I got mine! Jesus! This game is so hard to catch here! Even If I got an empty cab, I can tell you I was screaming "WAAAAAHHOOOOOOOOOOO" like you ;)
I can't wait to see all the 'Work In Progress" from all the new Ms Pac Man owners.... it'll give the motivation to start the work on mine ::)
Once again, happy to see you didn't miss the opportunity. Thanks for sharing pictures and story here, like always :-* :-* :-*
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/news/miss_pacman.jpg)
:spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace: :pac: :pac: :pac: :ghost: :ghost: :ghost: :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
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Nice catch!!! :D ;) :D ;) :D
Good work to restore this beauty!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Yep, see the picture of it above.
I've still got a NOS monitor in the box so it might go to this baby :D Not sure yet, want to see how much it hurts gameplay.
Ah, I missed that.
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Did this machine come imported from the United States? I see a penny in the bottom! :D
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What is the state of your monitor? Mine has servere burn-in :?
Most if not all ms. pac-mans at Paul's place have severe burn in. Mine does look the same as yours and André's. But you will not, or hardly, notice that during gameplay. Weird is that most Pac-man monitors at Paul's place didn't have burn in, although there was one with Joust engraved in it.
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Did this machine come imported from the United States? I see a penny in the bottom! :D
Yup ! Just like the rest of the lot ! :D
There's a couple of US coins in there :D
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What is the state of your monitor? Mine has servere burn-in :?
Most if not all ms. pac-mans at Paul's place have severe burn in. Mine does look the same as yours and André's. But you will not, or hardly, notice that during gameplay. Weird is that most Pac-man monitors at Paul's place didn't have burn in, although there was one with Joust engraved in it.
Yes, I saw that. Very strange when you consider that the Pac Man is even older
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I'm hijacking your topic a little but I'm sure you won't mind. I just got the converter today and after installing a new set of fuses the cabinet WORKED! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
The picture is clear and bright, the burn-in isn't noticeable and the joystick works fine.
The only problem is this f*%#ing speed chip, but that's all.
I hope you'll will be able to play yours soon, I still can't believe that we all got a Pac Man cab :o
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I'm hijacking your topic a little but I'm sure you won't mind. I just got the converter today and after installing a new set of fuses the cabinet WORKED! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
The picture is clear and bright, the burn-in isn't noticeable and the joystick works fine.
The only problem is this f*%#ing speed chip, but that's all.
I hope you'll will be able to play yours soon, I still can't believe that we all got a Pac Man cab :o
:spaceace: :spaceace:
great, I'm very happy for you. My Ms. Pac-man is working also :D :D I didn't test my Pac-Man and Galaga yet, they are in storage.
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by the looks of it, it seems like al the machines are working???!!! - cant wait to get mine!!! :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
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great, I'm very happy for you. My Ms. Pac-man is working also :D :D I didn't test my Pac-Man and Galaga yet, they are in storage.
Great news, big chance your other 2 cab's and muerto's one will also work. What a wonderful deal, thanks again for making this happen.
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Is it public what was the deal for a Ms. Pac cabinet? ;)
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no
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I'm hijacking your topic a little but I'm sure you won't mind. I just got the converter today and after installing a new set of fuses the cabinet WORKED! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
The picture is clear and bright, the burn-in isn't noticeable and the joystick works fine.
The only problem is this f*%#ing speed chip, but that's all.
I hope you'll will be able to play yours soon, I still can't believe that we all got a Pac Man cab :o
I forgot: pics, or it didn't happen! ;)
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I got some real shitty pictures taken with a low-res cam phone, I'll post them tomorrow...
I have been playing the game for a hour or two, the speed hack and strange layout of levels suck monkey d@#k, but it's still a very fun game to play.
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So, am I correct that we only have to change the EPROMs to get a normal Ms.Pac or is there more to it ?
I haven't delved too deep into it yet.
I'm currently working on a Gravitar PCB and man it's hell !
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So, am I correct that we only have to change the EPROMs to get a normal Ms.Pac or is there more to it ?
I haven't delved too deep into it yet.
I'm currently working on a Gravitar PCB and man it's hell !
It's just an EPROM swap. I already have a ms. PAC-man and Pac-man PCB, so for me it's easy, I will just swap the PCB's and sell the ones with the speedhack. :)
About Gravitar, I know that you like a challenge. ;D
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I may very well have a look at a multi-pac.
I'd like to play Pac and Ms.Pac on the machine. Not looking for the speed-hacks though....
Gravitar: Believe it or not, I just completed the maze planet at the second level !!! I was jumping because I thought I'd now have a score like somewhere in the 80000 but no ! I actually scored one place behind my current hi-score (somewhere in the 38000).
Of course, it was just a test-play and then I managed to fly through all the turrets firing at me.
Of course went to the maze planet on the 3rd level right away, but now the turrets are already there to start with. And from what I hear, the maze will become invisible after you hit the reactor (IF you ever arrive at the reactor)......
It's crazy. The designers of this game were nuts I tell you ! :D
Sorry for off -topic. I'm replacing the pots, I figured it would be a no-brainer, but because two of the three legs are connected to a huge GND area (=lots of metal that eats the heat of my soldering iron) it's very hard to get the holes open ! But I'm slowly managing....
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STOP PLAYING, GO TO WORK !!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Yes my master !
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It's just an EPROM swap. I already have a ms. PAC-man and Pac-man PCB, so for me it's easy, I will just swap the PCB's and sell the ones with the speedhack. :)
Is it hard to swap these roms? I mean is it possible for a noob like me with no technical skills at all?
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It's just an EPROM swap. I already have a ms. PAC-man and Pac-man PCB, so for me it's easy, I will just swap the PCB's and sell the ones with the speedhack. :)
Is it hard to swap these roms? I mean is it possible for a noob like me with no technical skills at all?
Yes, very easy. Just 'wiggle' them very gently out with a tiny screwdriver. dot it from both sides, so the pins don't get bent too much. don't worry if they are bent a bit, you can straighten them gently again.
Then insert the new Eproms with equal pressure on both sides of the eprom surface. But be sure that you insert them in the the right direction, just watch out for the marks on the board and the mark on the eprom, they have to be on the same side.
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nice! And do you know where I can order these roms?
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nice! And do you know where I can order these roms?
http://www.hobbyroms.com/
I have ordered there quite some roms in the past. There is an e-mail button. I would just mention that you have a ms. pac-man board board with a speed chip and alternate maze hack, but that you want the original programmed Eproms back. Stephan will know what you mean.
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Thanks, I emailed him..
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Yes, very easy. Just 'wiggle' them very gently out with a tiny screwdriver. dot it from both sides, so the pins don't get bent too much. don't worry if they are bent a bit, you can straighten them gently again.
Then insert the new Eproms with equal pressure on both sides of the eprom surface. But be sure that you insert them in the the right direction, just watch out for the marks on the board and the mark on the eprom, they have to be on the same side.
be very gentle with a screwdriver...
i always use this to remove IC's:
(http://dev.phoenix-consultancy.nl/auto/HVAC_Lampjes/12_IC_Trekker.jpg)
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I don't like that tool, in my opinion you have much more control and 'feeling' over what you do when you use a small screwdriver.
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I don't like that tool, in my opinion you have much more control and 'feeling' over what you do when you use a small screwdriver.
+1 and I'm a pro ;)
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I alway use a flat screwdriver.
I can remove IC with scissor, knife or any other flat item, but NOT with the right tool. I've tested it and trash it :P
The top was with a pencil once, but the socket helped in that case
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Sorry Etienne, I'll follow the pro's with this one ;)
The Roms are ordered, thanks for the advice guys :) :)
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Oh, if anyone of the guys who bought a Pac Man with a Ms.Pac Man marquee will replace that marquee with a Pac Man marquee I could be interested in your Ms. Pac Man marquee......(do we all still follow this ? ;) )
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yes I will keep that in mind
:pac: :ghost: :ghost:
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Sorry Etienne, I'll follow the pro's with this one ;)
The Roms are ordered, thanks for the advice guys :) :)
you dont need to be sorry my friend, its just that i have destroyed an IC with a screwdriver, and thats why i sayd , be very gentle.
anybody is free to do it his or her way 8)
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A bit offtopic, but you will like this :D:
A pinball backglass from 1982 that I bought for decoration:
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_-UA8BV99Des/S5ywsBfwTiI/AAAAAAAAAl8/AkH5ujHPm9Y/s800/pacman%20001.jpg)
Take a look at that mousie ;D
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_-UA8BV99Des/S5yxB3_B_5I/AAAAAAAAAmY/yeaS2WWrU_o/s800/pacman%20002.jpg)
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Congratulations Andre!!!
I don't know if it matters much to you, probably not much at all..... but just so you have all the relevant information about your new machine....that control panel overlay is not original, it's one of the TWOBIT's reproductions. Not surprising since the machine came from the US, many ops did that to replace the beat up original.
You can see a comparison between that one you have and the original version here (http://www.rotheblog.com/2008/05/arcade/artwork/two-bits-ms-pac-man-control-panel-overlay-artwork-inaccurate/).
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF4969/web.jpg?ver=12680863310001)
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puh, if you compare them side by side you can see that the reproduction really is CRAP - have a look at those inaccurate ms pac-man characters :'(!
i guess the chances of finding an original cpo are slim, but i'll give it a try on klov ...
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Damn ! You ruined my day Wunder ;)
No wonder that it still is in this condition.....
It feels dirty to have the Ms. wear TwoBits stuff......will definitely need to fix that !
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Yes André, too bad that yours CPO is a f...ing TwoBit. I noticed the comparising picture on Jeff rothe's blog this aftrernoon, and I studied and compared it with the CPO on my cab. Strange thing is that the right side looks original (surely not the TwoBit repro), but the left side doesn't look right.
See for yourself (both pictures are from my CPO):
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/ckong65/ms%20pacman/uitsnede1.jpg)
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/ckong65/ms%20pacman/uitsnede2.jpg)
What do you guys think?
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I think you've got the wrong color buttons.
;D ;D ;D ;D
Not sure about the CPO...
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You mean that the buttons are not original!!!!!! OMG, I have to repaint them :lol:
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You mean that the buttons are not original!!!!!! OMG, I have to repaint them :lol:
In fact, I suspect them to be very poor TwoBits repro's !
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Yes André, too bad that yours CPO is a f...ing TwoBit. I noticed the comparising picture on Jeff rothe's blog this aftrernoon, and I studied and compared it with the CPO on my cab. Strange thing is that the right side looks original (surely not the TwoBit repro), but the left side doesn't look right.
See for yourself (both pictures are from my CPO):
What do you guys think?
comparing to the pics on rotheblog i would suspect it to be a repro too..
the outer black line is very "thick" and the detail in the eyes of mrs. dont look like the original shown on that website.
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Sorry guys, but I thought you'd like to know it sooner than later.
About 3 years ago I found a stash of 4 NOS CPO's at an old Ops liquidation, I think you remember that thread Andre, over on BYOAC. Anyways, I sold three and have only one left which is for my restoration. They are hard to come by but they do pop on eBay now and then, but you have to have a keen eye to catch them.
I wish I still had the extras as I would definitely send them to my fellow arcade brothers in Europe!!!
But hey, don't be too sad, you got the cabs!!!!
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I have got an original one, to bad it has a piece missing in the corner.
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But hey, don't be too sad, you got the cabs!!!!
Thats the most important i would say ! :spaceace:
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Soooooo, it was time to wake the Ms. from her winter sleep !
Yesterday Erik came over for a general "arcade" visit. Since he'd bought a NOS Pac Man marquee from Robin (who lives in the same town as I do) and since Robin contacted me that he had a great 220V->110V transformer for me I of course invited Robin to come over too. I would have loved to invite some more guys here, but the realitiy is that at this moment there's very little room in my gameroom and I hope to do a proper opening this summer so keep your eye out for that :D
Here's the transformer that Robin brought (thanks VERY much Robin !!!)
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCN7789/web.jpg?ver=12697335970001)
Excellent Dutch quality !! Robin, thank you _VERY_ much for the transformer !!! :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
I had already picked up the Ms.Pac from the storage and exchanged it with the Meteor which is waiting for it's trip to Denmark now....
After some nice chatting and working on Gravitar and esp. the WG6100 monitor we headed fort the game room because we all wanted to get the Ms. Pac up and running.
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5020/web.jpg?ver=12697335820001)
I quickly (temporarely) installed the transformer. Checked the output voltage and it was 120VAC. Checked the voltage setting on the Ms.Pac and it was connected to the 117 VAC lug, so that was close enough.
Hooked it all up and:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5023/web.jpg?ver=12697336120001)
YESSSSS, it still worked FINE ! :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
But that faded marquee......or is it really faded. We discussed the possibility that this may actually have been a running that was simply missing the pink color. Who knows what all happened at the factories at that time ?
Anyway, I prefer the one that includes the pink because it looks much better and Erik was _VERY_ kind to offer his Ms. Pac Marquee (that came from his Pac Man) for my cabinet. Thanks very much for that kind donation Erik !!!! :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
So you already see me removing the top retainer there....
Installed the one from Erik. We examined it and concluded it well may be a repro, but if so it looks a TON better than two-shit's version !!!
In fact there's not a single scratch or other defect on it and looks NEW !:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5030/web.jpg?ver=12697336840001)
Robin had a request, he wanted the sizes of the cabinet for some future repro plans for some weird game that happens to be in the same cabinet (the guys mentioned it's name, but somehow I just keep forgetting it...... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D)
Of course, how could I refuse after his kind donation ? ;D ;D
So we rolled out the Ms. and carefully put it on it's side on some cardboard pieces that Robin brought:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5032/web.jpg?ver=12697336870001)
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5033/web.jpg?ver=12697336910001)
ANOTHER extremely kind donation was done by Oliver and since the cab was now already on it's side, it was the perfect time to install them:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5031/web.jpg?ver=12697336890001)
Gotta love those Teflon feet, I'm going to have to order a good number of them !
Oliver, thanks !!!! :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
Funny to have parts from 3 fellow collectors on the machine, you all earned life-long free-play on the Ms. ;D ;D ;D ;D
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5034/web.jpg?ver=12697336860001)
One last "outside" shot (for now):
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5040/web.jpg?ver=12697337040001)
Although I may not have shown it, I was loving every second the day :)
A machine I never dreamed to own, one I played the most in my youth (probably on some generic cab though, I don't remember !) here, working and well in my gameroom ! I'm in love ;D ;D ;D ;D
Back in the gameroom:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5049/web.jpg?ver=12697337190001)
The machine is running a variation of Ms. Pac (probably Ms.Pac Attack. Of course I want to be able to play the REAL game so I will exchange the EPROMS OR I may go for a multi-kit. I definitely want a high-score saver on it .
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5047/web.jpg?ver=12697337200001)
The joystick works VERY well. I LOOOOVEEEEE the Pac joystick, IMHO the best EVER !
One of the reasons for selecting this cab from the three was that the joystick was feeling the best, the others were WAY worse.....
Anyway, it was a fun day, and as always, there was WAY too few time to do all we wanted that day, but it won't be the last time we see eachother !
THANKS FRIENDS !!!! YOU GUYS ROCK !!!!
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She looks beautiful, she really does.
By the way, the name of the game is GALAGA. Do you copy that, André: GALAGA. Do I have to repeat it? GALAGA Imho a much better game than Galaxian. ;D
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She looks beautiful, she really does.
By the way, the name of the game is GALAGA. Do you copy that, André: GALAGA. Do I have to repeat it? GALAGA Imho a much better game than Galaxian. ;D
See, that's how adult people can be friends and still differ in opinion. We can exchange our views in a mature and dignified way. Some like this. Others like that....
GALAGA SUCKS !!!!!
Galaxian rules
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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.... both games rules - in their own way!
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I was just teasing. I was teasing Robin & Erik about Ga-ga-ga-la-ga (heard to write it ;) ) when they were over here last saturday .....it was sort of a running joke ;)
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Pleiads rulezzz ;D
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hehe i know, don´t worry, but again, both games are great in their own way :)
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ANOTHER extremely kind donation was done by Oliver and since the cab was now already on it's side, it was the perfect time to install those Teflon feet
@andré: any idea where oliver got them from? i bought mine from a guy in the usa, but i got the last couple of sets he had, that's why i'm looking for a new source ;)
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@Ully: Check here:
http://www.quarterarcade.com/Game.aspx/8166
and bag of 24 pieces:
http://www.quarterarcade.com/Game.aspx/8167
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thx scr33n, i've seen those on one of your games already. they are different from the ones i have , but i'd take them if i couldn't find "my brand"!
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ANOTHER extremely kind donation was done by Oliver and since the cab was now already on it's side, it was the perfect time to install those Teflon feet
@andré: any idea where oliver got them from? i bought mine from a guy in the usa, but i got the last couple of sets he had, that's why i'm looking for a new source ;)
No idea ! Drop him a PM ! :D
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André, this marquee looks the same like yours, also without the pink. Could be very well original, they just ran out of pink color at the time at that day.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ms-Pacman-Galaga-60-in-1-multicade-arcade-machine_W0QQitemZ190382938607QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c53b519ef
By the way, if I check out those cab prices on ebay.com then it is obvious that we really had a great deal at Paul's. :lol: :lol:
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A brilliant deal !!!!!!!! I am SO glad I grabbed my last chance.....
So are all the machines gone now ?
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So are all the machines gone now ?
Why? Do you want a spare one?
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Just curious. And I just filled out my tax declaration, and let's say I was pleasantly surprised. Very pleasantly !
O and maybe Robin wants one....
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hehe i know, don´t worry, but again, both games are great in their own way :)
Uhhhhhhmmm.......no.
I was just thinking this: How can it be that there are relatively many Galaxian cabs in Europe and almost NO Ga-ga-ga, fuck it's hard to say: Ga-la-ga....... Mmmmmmm, now....well, how can that be..... ? I know: The Galaxians survived because it was such a great game. The trash was taken out I'm afraid ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Yes i want a ms-pacman (for a nice price) ;D
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Yesterday the Ms. was made ready for what she was designed and built for:
Earn money and give joy !
We are having a "Rommelmarkt" (2nd hand stuff market) at the clubhouse of the marching band that I'm a member off. (www.harmonieslikkerveer.nl)
We get used "junk" from people and sell it at this market. The proceeds of course are for the club so we can maintain our clubhouse, buy new music, instruments etc.
To earn a little extra I put the Ms. in the bar of our clubhouse.
Before that she had to be finished for operation:
- mounted the 220V->110V transformer on the "transformer plank". Plenty of space and it looks like it belongs there already ;)
- mounted the pot-controls in the coindoor area
- installed a working €0,20 coin-mech and set the board up for 2 coins per credit. The plan was to install a coin-comparitor mech and ask €0,50. Although I got it working fine in the cab, the mech did not fit the flat-mounted coin door :evil:
So I had to use a mechanical mech that I still had around....hope the 2x coin doesn't hurt the number of plays...
- thanks to Robin, installed the freshly burnt EPROMS so the Ms. was good old original Ms. Pac Man again ! Installed them and they worked great right away.It was GREAT to finally play the original game again !!!
This happened about 2 seconds after I had rolled it in and plugged it in:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5147/web.jpg?ver=12739015160001)
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5149/web.jpg?ver=12739015170001)
The last guy got really hooked and played a series of games.
I'm very curious how much it will earn today ! Every bit helps ;)
I know some people wouldn't probably put a machine up for semi-public use like that, but for me there is nothing better than seeing people enjoy the machine. The machine is under constant supervision so I'm not worried about abuse. And it's not restored yet, so even if it takes a small hit, I suppose it has seen plenty more the last 30 years ! :)
Oh, and I put a "NOT FOR SALE" sign up ;)
If you want to play, the address is Prinsenstraat 76, Ridderkerk, The Netherlands. Open all day.
We also still have some 51 cm. TV's that can be used as 19" monitor ;)
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I know some people wouldn't probably put a machine up for semi-public use like that, but for me there is nothing better than seeing people enjoy the machine. The machine is under constant supervision so I'm not worried about abuse. And it's not restored yet, so even if it takes a small hit, I suppose it has seen plenty more the last 30 years ! :)
I totally agree with you! :)
It's good to see our old games, played like back in the days... by 'strangers' 8)
I love this kind of story :-*
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thx for sharing, andré! good to see the machine back on location. do you have any pics from the inside? would like to see where you put the transformer ...
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Great story! :D
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Thanks André :spaceace: nice pics :-* :-*
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It will be interesting to see how much play it will get throughout the day. I'm guessing quite a lot.
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That is really nice. It's also a good test case for you to see how the cab will function when it is plugged in for a whole day. Have fun.
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haha great story and pics. Must have been really nice for those people to see a really old arcade cabinet and be able to play it.
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Well, I have to say the machine wasn't as big a succes as I had imagined, and there is one big simple reason for it. It was on the wrong spot.
Of all the hundreds of people that visited, very few of them visited the bar area to get a drink or so. Even fewer kids would go up there. The problem with our building is that the ground around it has inclined very much over the years, (a common thing to happen in the west of The Netherlands) and so, to enter the building, you have to take a improvised step. This makes it that people don't walk in there "just like that". We will be raising the ground area around the building this year so that will be solved at least ;)
The total in the coin bucket was a meager €4,80
Counting for 12 plays ::) ::) ::) ::)
I thought about moving it outside where the herds of people were, but there simply was no room for it anywhere.
I also think the 2x €0,20 set-up hindered people to play because it's more common to have a 1 €0,50 coin around then 2 €0,20
Definitely not worth dragging it up there and back.....although we had some good fun (at free play games) during the early night ours (some guys had to keep awake during half the night to watch over all the stuff outside).
The machine however performed without a single problem, which is good to know.
I'm not giving up easy and next year I hope to get maybe 2 or 3 machines up there and give it a good (dry and darkish) spot outside where EVERYONE walks by.....
Will post pics of the transformer today Ully.
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Great to see the cabinet in use again, to bad it didnt make much money. Offtopic: I came across some super mario toys but the are expensive!! I guess 50 euro is too much for one??
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Great to see the cabinet in use again, to bad it didnt make much money. Offtopic: I came across some super mario toys but the are expensive!! I guess 50 euro is too much for one??
Wow yes, they are cheaper on internet !
http://cgi.ebay.com/Super-Mario-Bros-8-5-22cm-Mario-Vinyl-Figure-/160409590828?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_VideoGames_Merchandise_RL&hash=item2559281c2c
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Image as requested by Ully:
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5152/web.jpg?ver=12740427230001)
I still have to make the wiring more neat and I need to clean the complete inside still.
By the way, where was this originally inside the cab ?
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100723/DSCF5153/web.jpg?ver=12740427250001)
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looking good André!
Where did you buy it? and at what price? - ill be needing at least 4.....
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thx for the pic, andré. this converter really looks as if it were meant to be placed there ;). regarding the "sticker": don't know if it helps or if its the same, but the pac-man sticker with corresponding contents is placed on the monitor board. do you need pics?
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looking good André!
Where did you buy it? and at what price? - ill be needing at least 4.....
I got it from Robin. It's Dutch built. Erik contacted the factory about them for a groupbuy but I don't think it materialized:
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=1481.0
and here's more info about the one I got from Robin:
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=1428.msg15311#msg15311
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Erik contacted the factory about them for a groupbuy but I don't think it materialized
That is correct, total lack of interest. ??? But I know now where to get them, and one day I might order some for my cabs, probably around the time my gameroom is finished.
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Damn, the Ms. just "died in my arms tonight" !
Was playing great and suddenly a freeze and then complete darkness ! Yikes !
Not the monitor, just zero game responses....
No time to investigate now..... :evil:
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the horror!! :twisted: :evil: :evil: :evil:
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Probably not the infamous kill screen, is it. ;)
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If only.....
I just tried Arcadecollection's board (which I had loaned for a while, thanks Rob !) and it works fine. So power supply etc. is fine. I still checked all the fuses, no problems.
I checked out this site:
lawnmowerman.rotheblog.com (http://lawnmowerman.rotheblog.com)
which is a great source for Pac info. For a dead board there's only the suggestion of replacing 74LS74 at C8.
I measured and compared with Rob's working board and indeed I get some differences on the pins there.
Next I noticed that the crystals' legs were pretty much bent on my board. I also noticed that the top obviously had been soldered at one time, but was now loose. I checked on Rob's board and the case of the crystal definitly needs to be (really ?) soldered.
I find this pretty weird, I've never seen it before on other boards. So I figured to take a closer look and then, snap, one of the crystal's legs broke. The other one was on it's way down too, so I ripped it off.
Ordered a couple of new one's and some 74LS74's.....and now wait for delivery.....
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damn, sorry to hear that! i'm pretty sure you can get it back up and running though, but you're down to the worst part of it all: WAITING!!! good luck, andre
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Thanks ! Just noticed that the 3 chips around the crystal have already been socketed (and so probably replaced) before on Rob's board. So I'll add these chips to the order, they cost close to nothing anyway.
The waiting won't be too bad, with RSonline, stuff is usually here within a day or 2-3. I still can't understand that I can buy 2 crystals for a total sum of €0.88 INCL. tax and they can ship it to me and still make money ?!?!? I know they probably have a bulk contract with the shipper but still....
RS is also FAST. I just tried to add the LS chips to the order, but can't do it anymore, it's already ready to be shipped (I ordered a couple of minutes before !)
Anyway, another order, so another envelope, but what do I care, no shipping costs anyway !
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Let's hope you will fix your baby soon, i want to know your highscore ;D
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Tried following to get it running:
Put in a new crystal
Swapped processors
re-seated all EPROMs
Exchanged one EPROM from Rob's board (the other won't fit, Rob's board has a bootleg extension board with larger EPROMs)
Measured all the power supplies, fine
Measured the reset line at pin 26 of the CPU, behaves the same on both boards.....
I'll go and install the new chips around the clock circuit, but I have a feeling the problem is not there.
Not having a test-set up sucks....
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Well Andre, now for some good news.....to cheer you up.....
Darin (PhoenixArcade) just reproduced silk-screened Ms. Pac CPO's. The CPO looks good, but I need a closer picture to see how accurate to NOS they are. But they look way better than twobits. Anyway, here is the KLOV link...
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=137880
-Donnie
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A big, no huge thank you goes out to RobinHolland for rescuing my beloved Ms.Pac AND bootleg Puckman PCB's !!!
Ms. Pac fully working again, will have to replace some sockets on the Puckman board as per Robin's advice....
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Great to hear you can play ms-pacman again :ghost:
I will keep the games alive in ridderkerk ;D
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Wow, haven't updated this for quite some time....
Well some time ago, once again, the Ms.Pac died. This time it went completely dead so I assumed a fuse had been blown.. The cause was also pretty obvious: The marquee lighting had long died (was blinking/light at the ends only) and the game took revenge on me for not fixing it earlier on....
So, ffwd a lot of time and today I had some time to work on it (huray !)
Replaced the ballast (bought at http://www.cedermangameparts.be, excellent price) , the tube-holders. I even bought a fresh tube and when I installed everything I first had to get the machine running again of course. I had already put in a new starter a long time ago (first thing to try when you have a bad light from a fluorescent).
SOoooo, I wanted to have a quick look at what fuse I had to replace. The secondary fuses all "beeped through" and I was already expecting the mains fuse to have blown. So I removed the cover and measured the 2 fuses there. To my surprise both beeped !!!
I was totally puzzled. This was impossible !
So I put mains power on it. I had 230V input and 120 V output on the step-down. Checked the interlock switch, the top-switch all fine....
Checked the schematics again....went back and measured again....then I tried to measure the fuses OUT of their clamps and bingo, of course the mains fuse was blown !!!
SOooooo, HOW could I measure a short (or almost a short) across that fuse ??
The explanation is simple: Normally, when the plug would have been unplugged in the US, I would have found the open fuse. BUT, since I know have the secondary wiring of the step-down transformer hooked up on the 120V input, things are a bit different. I'm also measuring through the primary winding of the original transformer AND the secondary of the step-down !
For direct current (DC) coils are nothing more than a piece of wire SO it will give a "beep" (or a couple of ohms at most in resistance setting).
(http://gallery.me.com/andre.huijts/100675/Fuse/web.jpg?ver=12963786430001)
This _did_ get me confused in the beginning but I figured it out... :)
So, anyway after replacing the fuse the machine powered up just fine. However, I still had a bad marquee lighting (it was only on at the ends !!!) WFT ?!?!!?
Not sure why, but I removed the starter while the machine was still on and presto: we have a full functioning tube !!!! Put the starter back in: Only light at the ends.
Conclusion: back to the store for a new starter. Although I had replaced it before it probably went defective when things "blew up"....
New starter installed (another Made in Holland product, just like the tube, wow ! ;) ) and yes....finally a PERFECT lit marquee !!
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cool that you got it working and that it was indeed only a blown fuse!!!
Replaced the ballast (bought at http://www.cedermangameparts.be, excellent price)
is that (http://www.cedermangameparts.be/index.php?action=article&aid=877&lang=NL) it?
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Yeah, that would make me also go like "WTF!" but the stepdown transformer caused it
its oviouse that we are surprised by that because we are get used to just unplug it and measure it.
another valuable lesson for everyone, when testing fuses, do it "out of cirquit"
Thanks for todays lesson ! ;D
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Yes Ully, that's it. Original US 120V ballasts....I think he sources them from Suzo.
But when I bought it it was only €6,20
Don't use the webshop, send Carl an e-mail through the link on this page:http://www.cedermangameparts.be/index.php?action=extra&extra=A_contact&lang=NL
The webshop doesn't cover 10% of what he sells AFAIK and I'm not too sure if those prices are the actual prices at this moment. Esp. pinball parts you have to ask and he usually has it !
@Etienne: Yeah....that's how "habits" can put you "on the wrong leg" as we say here...
Normally it's best to test fuses in the holder, and this is a very unusual situation, but again it indicates sometimes you have to think "further as your nose is long".... ;)