Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle

General Chat => Arcade Lifestyle => Topic started by: Ronald Reagan on April 23, 2013, 04:42:44 PM

Title: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Ronald Reagan on April 23, 2013, 04:42:44 PM
 :twisted: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :twisted: :evil: :evil:

for in the Marktplaats topic, I seem to be unable to post there

http://www.marktplaats.nl/a/verzamelen/automaten-overige/m669821379-originele-ms-pacman-man-arcadekast.html?c=efb2ef4dc323389c4f92ed10afa33e3a&previousPage=lr

Ms PacMan 500 euro

Title name edited
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: Belike on April 23, 2013, 08:20:58 PM
Namco Galaxian stands next to it.
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: level42 on April 23, 2013, 08:28:08 PM
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG HOLLY F.........that is the first JAPANESE Namco Galaxian I've seen outside of Japan !!!!

And it is HERE IN THIS COUNTRY !!!

Just sent the guy an e-mail !!!!!! Move on people, nothing of interest to see here, move along, thank you !!!  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: Belike on April 23, 2013, 09:37:01 PM
Good luck! ;D
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: ataritoobin on April 23, 2013, 11:44:47 PM
Nice :) !
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: Luigi on April 24, 2013, 06:22:52 AM
Good luck, André, fingers crossed!! :)
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: Laszo on April 24, 2013, 07:39:36 AM
Interesting go for it André
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: Superully on April 24, 2013, 01:00:45 PM
good luck, andré, go for it. i'd take your "normal" galaxian then ... 8)
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: level42 on April 26, 2013, 04:04:53 PM
something in my car right now. .......
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: anunaki on April 26, 2013, 04:12:27 PM
yessss, that's really great Andre

 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: Ronald Reagan on April 26, 2013, 04:23:40 PM
Yesterday I wanted to ask you if you made a deal for a good price? Did he own more cabs?
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: gyruss on April 26, 2013, 04:29:45 PM
something in my car right now. .......

I HATE YOU!!!  :o >:( ;)
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: Robinholland on April 26, 2013, 05:01:23 PM
It can stay in my garage (for the next 40 years)  ;D
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: Q*ris on April 26, 2013, 05:01:46 PM
Thank you for picking it up for me.
EOADS rules!
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: Muerto on April 26, 2013, 05:18:04 PM
Thats pretty amazing!!!!!
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: jcp on April 26, 2013, 05:23:54 PM
Congrats André and more pics asap please  :).
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: ckong on April 26, 2013, 05:25:36 PM
very nice, congratulations.  :)

Your first real Japanese cab, which makes it even better.  :)

And bringing such a rare game from 020 to 010 ......  Boy, you must feel great.  :spaceace:
Title: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: DarthNuno on April 26, 2013, 06:23:57 PM
something in my car right now. .......

Awesome! Congratulation André... Galaxian rules in every way!  ;)

 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

oh, stupid initial title "Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago" modified in respect of Galaxian!  ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on April 26, 2013, 07:34:52 PM
I knew it !

Congrats mate !

Will investigate it some saturday soon  ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 26, 2013, 07:45:28 PM
Thanks guys, it's safe in the gameroom !!!

First of all I feel like kissing Béla right now because he was the one to _really_ put me on track of this !
(If Béla will not receive my kisses I will give them to Zita so she can pass them on  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D)

I had actually also seen the ad on Marktplaats about the Ms.Pac Man cab too (still thanks a lot for posting it RonaldReadan, without you I would have missed this !!!! ) but I skipped over it because I already have one of course....I didn't pay enough attention to see what was standing next to it but thanks to RonaldReagon's posting of the ad here and Béla who noticed I had a second look and I could not believe my eyes.....

This was a Namco Galaxian, and not the Italian Bertolline version but the REAL JAPANESE GALAXIAN !!!!!!!!!

My jaw dropped to the floor, realizing there are only two of these cabinets that I am aware of.

One is at Namco Headquarters in Japan, the other at the Japanese arcade museum
(which Gyruss visited, see here: https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=1975.0 )

I have never seen anyone else owning one, I might be wrong of course. I did play a cabinet like this in the UK but that was a Tank Battalion.

SOOOOOO after recovering a bit from my amazement I hit the "send e-mail" button and asked if the Galaxian was for sale too...
Next day I actually missed the seller's phone call but he sent me an e-mail in return saying he was amazed that I recognized the (well not I really ;)) Galaxian from just such a small part on the picture and that he indeed wanted to sell it too.

He asked a price on which I didn't need to bargain on.............

However, I could not immediately go pick it up.

For the second time, one of the more amazing game finds in my life was located in a place I usually refer to as 020, but I may have to change my opinion about this city a bit because it has been so good for me with regards to this hobby  ;D ;D ;D
(It is Amsterdam :) )

I spent a couple of days in rather nervous condition because I feared that maybe someone else (not forum members but you know, there are also a lot of lurkers here) might have e-mailed the guy too....
Although I would be working in Amsterdam next week again, it is a long weekend here because of the crowning of our new King (yes Ully, I know King's should be a thing of the past....) and the last "Queen's day" next tuesday so I didn't want to wait any longer and grabbed my afternoon off (after working at night) to go get it !

To be continued....

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 26, 2013, 07:48:41 PM
The pictures of the ad:

It's the rectangular P1 and P2 buttons that gave away that it was the Japanese one...

The seller told me he bought it a LOT of years ago from...........you're going to guess it => Belgium !

It had been working all along only after he moved it to his business it stopped working....well we'll see about that, it wasn't all that important to me :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: anunaki on April 26, 2013, 10:38:29 PM
The PCB pictured on KLOV looks like yours if I remember right

(http://www.arcade-museum.com/images/118/118124211019.jpg)

doesn't it?

it only doens't have the small extra board on top
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Laszo on April 26, 2013, 11:48:04 PM
Hey André,

Nice score man. Really cool.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 01:47:10 AM
So it was finally the moment to go grab this piece of arcade history !!

I had spent the last days in pretty nervous state. Although the communication with the seller was excellent (we phoned and I already said I agreed with the price) you never know if someone else would notice from the Marktplaats ad, or maybe a lurker here would try to go for it....

It was a bad time to go pick it up though. I had been working the last two nights and after sleeping out I had the afternoon off to go get it but it was the start of a 2 week school holiday here and our new King will be installed next tuesday (the last Queen's day, from now it will be King's day and moved to 27 april, W.A.'s birthday) so a lot of people (like me) took the monday off to have a nice long weekend .....anyway that meant very busy roads already in the early afternoon with lots of traffic jams. It was also raining and this never helps on Dutch roads as most drivers seem to think cars can only go 80 km/h when there are three drops of rain falling....

OK a short trip in km's, but I'll have to do some re-routing to avoid the worst traffic jams:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8125/8683809713_d0ef35fee9_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683809713/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683809713/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Yep, traffic jams on the other side already...

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8114/8685627694_de67a09c7b_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685627694/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685627694/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

...and of course, no road trip is complete without....

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8124/8684510045_ef61fff082_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684510045/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684510045/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

My re-routing works relatively well and soon enough I get near Schiphol airport

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8404/8685628026_1aa6f351a8_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685628026/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685628026/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr


Now it gets interesting, driving on a brand new piece of highway near Amsterdam. Doesn't happen to me every day I drive a highway I have never driven. It is also not totally completed, the final connection to a new tunnel is missing still so the road is very quite

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8403/8684510403_277a92885e_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684510403/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684510403/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Yes, new road indeed, my navigation thinks I'm driving through the polders:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8117/8685628354_390e0c3670_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685628354/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685628354/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

....almost there....

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8521/8685628484_c59e10978e_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685628484/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685628484/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Hey this reminds me of my Funspot visits...I am very sure the price tags are "somewhat" higher here....

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8256/8685628606_dc87c4ca8e_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685628606/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685628606/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Yes nice modern company buildings...getting close !

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8399/8684510857_40cf7ec764_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684510857/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684510857/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Here it is ! Buildings with small business units for small companies...

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8406/8684511033_5f11db5c74_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684511033/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684511033/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 02:06:53 AM
So I enter the seller's business, he's already outside and has the overhead door open so I immediately see the cabs :)

The seller owns a business in ......printing banners, flags and other promotional stuff so maybe there is a nice new contact made for the future ;) ;) ;)

We talk a bit. He had bought the cab from Belgium a lot of years ago he says. He used to have a game room but then het got children and had to made room and get rid of most of his machines (including pinballs). The Ms.Pac and the Galaxian were the only one's left and he moved them to his business.

He imported the Ms.Pac himself from the US so he paid a lot for shipping (by air). I told him about Paul's 50's container and that this made his Ms.Pac a lot less wanted, I know I would have been all over the Ms.Pac too if that container (and Erik's awesome deal :) ) never had happened....

Anyway there it was.....the Galaxian I have wanted since......well since I learned about it's existence really :)
I never remembered the original cabinets I used to play BITD. I do remember playing a button controlled version (likely the Bertollini version) which I totally hated so when I had to chance to buy one of those many years ago in Germany I passed on it (also because it was in really poor shape). This was at world of arcade IIRC...

Anyway: here it was !!!

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8400/8684511289_ace826d309_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684511289/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684511289/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8126/8684511161_f6d6b682ed_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684511161/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684511161/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

I almost did a little dance again but was able to control myself...because we had agreed on a price already I explained a little bit about the cab and it's rarity and the seller jokingly replied "so I asked too little for it" but he immediately said he liked that it was going to someone who was really fanatical about it so he  kept to his deal. In fact in the very start I think he would have taken a bit lower price because he asked "well do you think it is something for you ?" but really I payed a fair price for something so rare so I said yeah sure :)

Nice thing: Japanese Galaxian cabs have WHEELS on the backside so it was easy to load, put the car right in front of the loading area and soon enough I was on my way home....

Passing Schiphol again (waving at the air traffic controllers, my family was lucky enough to visit that tower, which is extremely rare to happen...)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8399/8684511433_aa8d50ddf0_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684511433/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684511433/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

I back-track almost the same route to avoid even more traffic jams and it works pretty well. Only near Rotterdam there are some light problems, but nothing seriously:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8395/8685629410_077e7a84c4_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685629410/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685629410/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Crossing the Brienenoord bridge and I'm almost home:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8257/8685629536_08302b627e_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685629536/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8685629536/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

So, I unloaded the cab and grabbed my proper camera to take some serious shots:

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE that marquee it is miles better than the Bally version imho (and I already like that one a lot !!! :))
I also like the "artwork" on the top retainer which is huge. This type of cabinet was used for Tank Batallion, Galaxian, Puckman and Galaga and all of them have this same "artwork" but the colors differ for every game.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8124/8683810681_7f8c71a6f9_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683810681/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683810681/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

The top is rather oddly constructed compared to the US version. The top is flat and the marquee retainer is "hold up". You also see two bloks to which metal handles were installed, I noticed them on Pieter's pictures from the Japanese arcade museum. They remind me of the metal pieces that Japanese Taito cabs have. I assume these were used to lift the cabs with some crane of sorts ? If so the wooden construction will have to be pretty strong....

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8403/8684899726_052785fbf8_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684899726/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684899726/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

The front. Love the colors, love the artwork:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8121/8684928004_a51e8f130d_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684928004/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684928004/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

The famous bezel and CP integrated plexi. Alas it is broken on one side. I'm not too worried about that as Etienne already has the Euro version file, we should be able to easily adapt that with this original at hands :).

I am also lucky because the fire button and even the joystick are the original (the one at the Japanese museum has a black stick, but the flyer shows a red one...)

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8389/8683786335_ce8c8f4f8d_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683786335/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683786335/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Here's the crack on the plexi, too bad....

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8122/8683786895_2774a5068d_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683786895/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683786895/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

I am also a little less lucky with regards to the famous Namco P1 and P2 buttons. Did I ever mention I hate smokers...well at least those who thought CP's/buttons were the ideal place to rest their cigarettes on.... :twisted: :twisted: :evil: :evil: :twisted: :twisted:

P2 is relatively OK:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8546/8684904450_b46f9071da_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684904450/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684904450/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

But P1.....:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8265/8684904302_256f6a65f3_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684904302/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684904302/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Sigh.....it is also installed upside down for some reason...

I think there is very little I can do about these and finding replacements is close to impossible AFAIK....if anybody has a set for me PLEASE let me know...
Maybe we can 3D print these one day ??

Now...this must be the weirdest hack I've seen on any CP so far.....
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8396/8684904848_c1d5bb5580_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684904848/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684904848/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

I guess it's a power led ??

The instruction inlay has also seen better days. Red is not the ideal color to last very long....I'm having some hopes that combined with Gyruss' pictures we might be able to reconstruct this (Etienne ?? ;) ;) ;))







Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: gyruss on April 27, 2013, 10:51:44 AM
So cool, congratulations with this awesome find!! One of the best looking cab ever imo.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 10:59:21 AM
OK, so let's have a look at the sides:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8539/8684899976_63fb57a835_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684899976/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684899976/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

VERY happy about this. The colors are still very strong and the artwork is simply amazing IMHO....
Yes there are the usual scraps and small bumps but nothing serious. The dirty area is just that, dirt and will be solved with those wonderful magic erasers for sure !

Notice how much the artwork "fills" the side to the edges. It also seems to "sit higher" compared to what we are use to on the US cabs...
Strangely, there is about the same area of dirt on this side too...it looks like something has been covering the sides partially for a very very long time....

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8546/8684900222_95eaf9813a_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684900222/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684900222/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

On the back, the details we all love so very much....

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8540/8684900428_1361c27128_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684900428/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684900428/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

I guess NGL means Namco Galaxian. The serial nr. starts with 79 which is of course the production year !!!! Definitely older than any US Galaxians I bet...

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8544/8683782875_61147ca3d0_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683782875/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683782875/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Some kick plate area shots:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8683810089_6bc2a26d85_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683810089/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683810089/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Coin door is in great condition, I expect it only needs some good cleaning.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8684928450_48b23b8403_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684928450/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684928450/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

The coin mech is the same one as on the Puckman at the Japenese arcade museum......

I really love this piece:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8391/8683810489_e354ca2194_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683810489/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683810489/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Notice the black stripes on the right side: that is where the speaker is !!! This is a bit sad IMHO because it means it will not sound as nice as the US version. This will produce a lot less bass sound and it is also not appearing to come from the screen. The US speaker setup in the marquee area is really brilliant that way because the sound reflects off the bezel towards the player.

This set-up reminds me of Nintendo's cabs, also not exactly know for their great sound.... :S

The backdoor was there, but as I entered it was not on the cab and it looks like the floor has been cleaned a couple of times, water crawled into it... :( It doesn't seem to be rotten or swollen though...strange...

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8540/8683785855_8f99ffd806_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683785855/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683785855/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

...and it has an instruction sheet...yeahhhh (although I don't understand a thing about it :))

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8524/8683786007_458d36f811_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683786007/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683786007/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

So....the next step was looking inside. I have never seen any pictures of the inside of such a cab so this is going to be one big surprise. Here we go:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8399/8683783207_055b3f14bc_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683783207/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683783207/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

After some looing around I realize that there are two monitor chassis ! On the left the original Toei chassis, on the right a familiar Hantarex !!

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8684901052_509e32b473_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684901052/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684901052/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Very nice of them to leave the original (apparantly defective) chassis in there ;)

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8116/8683783071_d894dea023_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683783071/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683783071/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8683785291_ce7eb7f532_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683785291/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683785291/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Removed HV cup of the original chassis:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8381/8684902420_b9cf36121c_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684902420/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684902420/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Hantarex chassis:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8405/8683785073_6da7f13709_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683785073/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683785073/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

With it's familiar (dreaded) HV cup:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8542/8684902636_48f152c87f_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684902636/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684902636/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

However, there has been more hacking going on...

This looks to be the 230V to 100VAC transformer, installed rather amateurishly to the side of the cab...still very happy it is in there, this means that I don't need to find one or use/buy an external one. I think I will move it to the bottom though...

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8398/8684902240_bf5b1787a1_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684902240/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684902240/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr


Original power set-up. Look at that cool Namco sticker on the transformer :)

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8398/8684901834_e48ac5200f_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684901834/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684901834/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

...but here's a typical "modern" switcher PSU hacked in:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8114/8683783971_f5b272962a_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683783971/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683783971/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

The PCB set was hacked too. Of course firstly to have it run on DC instead of AC, but more interestingly, there was a hacked-on top board containing just EPROMs. There is also this ugly adapter soldered to the edge connector which I find rather strange...

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8118/8684901486_28a128c20a_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684901486/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684901486/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

For a moment I feared there was a completely different game PCB in there:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8383/8683783585_3e71cc5027_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683783585/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683783585/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Another nice instruction sticker:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8544/8684902042_6412d02751_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684902042/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684902042/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

So I had to put the cab away because it started raining again but I quickly removed the PCB for further investigation...




Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 11:12:37 AM
The PCB (set):

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8126/8683787565_b9e398fd55_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683787565/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683787565/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Some addes instructions for DIP switches. Scoring set-up looks familiar (4K,5K, 7K). One of the settings is marked "Geen" which is Dutch for None so I guess the cab spent it's life in Flanders...

Some markings on the extra board...not very clear. The blue says something like Gala.... but I'm really not sure.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8521/8683787743_07479dc167_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683787743/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683787743/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

My guess is that this might be some Galaxian upgrade hack. I will read some of the EPROMs to see if I can ID it but at least it looks like it should be possible to convert it back to Galaxian.

Does anybody know if original Namco Galaxian boards are without any markings ? I can't find any Namco sign or name....

All in all, the cab is in nice condition. It's not as good as the one at the Japanese museum but hey, I had little choice.

The rareness of this cab is of course both a blessing and a curse. The curse is that there is nothing available for them. The T-molding looks a lot like the flat Nintendo T-molding but hey, where am I going to get it in green ? The green color also looks different from the US green color and it is damaged at some places.

The P1 & P2 buttons are the other "big things" of course...

I am really really really happy with it...a unique chance to get this !!!!

BIG thanks too RonaldReagan and Belike, without you guys I wouldn't have had this now !!! (Sorry Gyruss, I hope you and RonaldReagan will remain friends now ;) ;) ;)

I'll see if I can power it up today because the seller told me it only stopped working after he moved it to his business.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: DarthNuno on April 27, 2013, 11:15:33 AM
Awesome catch, congratulation!  :P
What? That game was originally located in Belgium? Damn it!
I'm wondering how a Galaxian Japanese model landed there...
Anyway, it's now in really good hands! So, yeah... shoot a max of pictures and take care of ... 'her'  8)
I'm officially jaleous! That Japanase Galaxian would be perfect close to my Japanese Galaxian3  ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 11:23:29 AM
Thanks Bruno !

Yeah Belgium seems to have been really  a "hot spot" for classic arcade games ! It must have been imported there by some company BITD, my guess is that it was before Bally-Midway came out with it...

Alpha1 mentioned (on Facebook) that he had seen one for sale in Belgium many years ago so maybe this was the one ?

Anyway, I just wanted to post the flyer here, my machine looks exactly the same including joystick and coin-mech. Looks like I'm missing the yen coin door sticker though ;)

(http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/namco/21004501.jpg)

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 11:26:57 AM
Hmmm, this green colored T-molding looks closer than the US green Galaxian T-molding:

(http://www.t-molding.com/store/image.php?type=D&id=100)


Galaxian US:
(http://www.t-molding.com/store/image.php?type=D&id=64)

However, it's not flat and it's US sized where I am sure the Japanese is metric sized..

Does anybody have a scrap part of this dark green T-molding ?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: funkycochise on April 27, 2013, 12:24:24 PM
truely a beautiful cab.
as you said, artworks are still bright and clear, love it.

nice to see such things in that state.  :-*
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 01:10:55 PM
OK just read the EPROMS, nr. 1 I took from the motherboard (one on the far end from the edge connector).
This one failed to ID (strange) on http://romident.coinopflorida.com

The other one I took from the add-on board and this IDed as follows.

At least it looks like it's still close to Galaxian....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on April 27, 2013, 02:03:14 PM
Its great !

I think with some TLC and tips from Robin, you can get the sig burn out very far (look at his vanguard cpo)

The instructions are at coinopart :

(http://www.coinopart.com/image.php?d=811)

so it must be also on your harddrive  ;)

anyway, i think i can vector this pretty fast.

i am more worried about the nice gradiënt in the CP done in (yes you can guess it) halftone  :-\

but never the less, a great catch !

would it not be fantastic if Aart sets his new to achieve world record on a japanese galaxian  :P  :spaceace:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on April 27, 2013, 05:17:11 PM
Congrats!   ;D  Great pickup!  :spaceace: :spaceace:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8403/8684899726_052785fbf8_b.jpg)

Yep, those were rope hooks to anchor games to the ground/wall should they be in an area of heavy vibration (boat, near train).

I would highly recommend against using Magic Erasers on that cabinet/coin door if possible, the materials are quite delicate.  Start with the softest/most diluted cleaning solution first.

I suspect if you remove that daughter board on the PCB, you'll find a large Namco logo in green.

I kind of suspect flat metric T-molding must be available in Japan, since Namco used it well into the 90s, if it isn't still used now.

Congrats again :) !

(BTW, I recreated that sticker for the coin door on my Pole Position project!  I can make one up for you.)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Luigi on April 27, 2013, 05:38:52 PM
Congrats André! Great piece of arcade history! :)

As for the square Player-buttons you know: Don't stop believing! ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 07:59:12 PM
Congrats André! Great piece of arcade history! :)

As for the square Player-buttons you know: Don't stop believing! ;)

LOL :) Thanks my friend ! :)

I just removed the hacked on board and regretfully there is no Namco logo on the main board......also it doesn't look like the AC to DC converting parts were ever installed on the board, which is pretty common for bootlegs......

It should look like this:

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_-UA8BV99Des/TYojl5wGWwI/AAAAAAAACnY/P6aRgFUkPwc/s800/Galaxian%20pcbs%20006.jpg)

So, the conclusion is that probably the board failed at one point in time, they put in a bootleg board, made the adapter for it  and hacked in a switching PSU to power it....

Bit sad, I'd love to have an original Namco PCB in the place where it belongs  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Belike on April 27, 2013, 08:22:16 PM
Yessssss, great catch, and japanese cab in Europe..........unbelievable. ;D
Namco Galaxian pcbs are not so rare, they pop up on jamma+ time to time for around 100 gbp and I also saw one for sale on ebay.de last year. ;)
There was a Midway pcb in mine, bought a nice bulletproof one from Alpha a few years back.
I also have a t-molding from Bruno for this cab, will make some pics soon. ;)
Can't wait for my kisses, you can also give one to Zita, but only one. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 09:21:27 PM
I also have a t-molding from Bruno for this cab, will make some pics soon. ;)

Can't wait !

Can't wait for my kisses, you can also give one to Zita, but only one. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Can't wait !




 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 09:23:15 PM
I was thinking (and reading back) some things but....do we actually KNOW there is Galaxian @ Namco headquarters ? I seem to remember it was only a Puckman there.....anyone ?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 09:49:38 PM
O wow, this is nicely done:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,40763.msg1083829.html#msg1083829

Not sure if I could do that though....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on April 27, 2013, 11:34:49 PM
Sure you (we) can  ;D ;)

Are you having plans tomorow ?   ::)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 27, 2013, 11:38:47 PM
Sure you (we) can  ;D ;)

Are you having plans tomorow ?   ::)
Yes we do sorry....

No rush ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Alpha1 on April 28, 2013, 12:00:14 AM
Nice catch!

You'll find a Namco PCB, just hold out for a minty one.

Pretty sure this is the one I saw on Belgian eBay 10+ years ago!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 28, 2013, 07:49:44 PM
Must be :)

So what is the "cab count" on this one ? Any more in Japan known to exist ?

I just did some first cleaning. I used the trusty "magic erasers" and with great succes. No need to worry about the inks at all, there seems to be some kind of plastic like transparent cover over the artwork because (contrary to other games) I have seen absolutely NO paint colors on the magic erasers.

The dirty area is completely gone as I expected and overall the artwork is much fresher, there was a lot of brown dirt all over the sides:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8396/8688892863_cfe1526776_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8688892863/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8688892863/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

(Sorry about the shadow....but I just wanted to show the lower part.)


I just shot some nice pictures in the evening sun, so the colors are a bit on the warm side....

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8543/8690010802_961b311b2a_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690010802/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690010802/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7048/8690011790_5062e090ee_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690011790/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690011790/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Not yet completely done with the cleaning and sure enough this cab shows it's age, it has a fair amount of scratches and scuffs, but I love it :)

Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: level42 on April 28, 2013, 08:13:08 PM
It can stay in my garage (for the next 40 years)  ;D
No buddy, you were out of space ;) ;) ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Superully on April 28, 2013, 08:19:23 PM
fabulous, andré, gotta love the artwork!!! i've been thinking about that damaged button, i have the same problem on my deco cab where the buttons were horribly damaged by cigarettes. i've bought some stuff which allows you to reconstruct plastic pieces, but i haven't tried it yet. perhaps that would be an option ...

oh, one more thing, what's up with the "untitled" under each of your pics? i'm using flickr as well and mine are not untitled ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 28, 2013, 08:22:25 PM
Mmm, I'm too lazy to name them :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: DarthNuno on April 28, 2013, 08:27:08 PM
Rhhâââââ! I'm so in love, this cab' is simply perfect!

I also vote for a world record attempt on this Japanese baby at the next 'cade meeting!  :P

 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

(topic moved to the right section)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 28, 2013, 08:28:27 PM
Well maybe, in the future, but not in 2013.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: DarthNuno on April 28, 2013, 08:30:46 PM
Well maybe, in the future, but not in 2013.

Aart not available, or not sure to fix that cab before the meeting?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Superully on April 28, 2013, 08:32:23 PM
Mmm, I'm too lazy to name them :)

your pictures must have a name, at least a number. i don't name my pictures either, i'm crazy, but not stupid! ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 28, 2013, 08:33:46 PM
Regretfully Aart can't make it this time at least not for a WR attempt...we do hope very much that he can make it as our guest though !
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Belike on April 28, 2013, 09:52:28 PM
Really nice, can't wait to see it running with a Namco pcb. :D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: anunaki on April 28, 2013, 09:58:02 PM
I am in love with this piece of artwork

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8543/8690010802_961b311b2a.jpg)

I want a poster of this or something.... it absolutely amazing
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 28, 2013, 10:18:39 PM
I think I know someone who has a great scanner ........ ;D ;D ;D ;D

We owe it to arcade history to save this artwork !

Well...I figured I'd try to fire the baby up....and let's see what I got....

Poor P1 button....I actually think this isn't a cigarette burn, it looks like there was some acid thrown over it !!!

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8544/8689390795_e6e90e135e_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8689390795/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8689390795/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

The P2 button looks better already....I really like the back-lit effect.....and the Japanese characters ! :

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7051/8690511822_41800b65e7_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690511822/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690511822/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Well at least those work :)

When I looked at the screen I saw a lot of garble....I powered it down and up again and next I adjusted the sync a bit on the monitor and:

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7050/8690510120_c486e436f1_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690510120/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690510120/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Not bad, not bad....there is some life in this baby !

Some obvious graphics errors so I check the +5V. It's too low. Way too low so I adjust it up and things improve a bit.

When I push the P2 button I get credits, then I push P1 the game starts...nice hack ;)

I still have graphics errors.

One of them is no visible shots from my ship.

I re-seat all EPROMS and all the other chips that are socketed and the external board. It helps a bit:

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7052/8689389707_cb70f27edf_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8689389707/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8689389707/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Well at least the board(set) is running !
 
The sound is non present, I only here a lot of steady noise from the speaker.

I am also able to ID this game now.... it seems to be Galaxy X

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/8689391615_cd335d6c76_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8689391615/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8689391615/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7055/8689391199_7efd488d3f_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8689391199/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8689391199/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

I made a short video which I'm uploading right now...

More good news: the marquee lighting works :)

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7044/8690510516_1c28bb04ab_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690510516/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690510516/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7044/8690510516_1c28bb04ab_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690510516/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8690510516/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr




I freaking LOVE it :)



Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: DarthNuno on April 28, 2013, 10:40:05 PM
GalaxiaN Rulez... in every way!  :-*
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ckong on April 28, 2013, 10:43:48 PM
I am in love with this piece of artwork

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8543/8690010802_961b311b2a.jpg)

I want a poster of this or something.... it absolutely amazing


There is some artwork available at vectorlib. Don´t know about the quality level though.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 28, 2013, 11:02:43 PM
Yes but there are plenty of differences.

compare:

(http://vectorlib.free.fr/Galaxian_Namco/jpg/Galaxian_Namco_Bertolino_Sideart_left.jpg)

- Colors are different (this is a difference between the original Italian and Japanese, probably not a fault in the art)
- Wings have light green color instead of white
- the Bertolino text under the NAMCO logo

Also, the artwork of the Japanese marquee is incorrect. This was scanned from Bela's marquee (see file name) but Bela mentioned it was a repro. The most important error is that the black needs to be dark blue (see my picture).

Last, the kick plate art has the "hole" for the Euro coin door which is much wider than the Japanese one.

So, all in all a good basis to work with, but still plenty of reasons to scan this baby :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 28, 2013, 11:09:50 PM
...
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 28, 2013, 11:19:39 PM
Ully about the buttons:

I have all kinds of crazy ideas in my mind to "fix" these....

First thing to do would be the bezels around the actual buttons. With a lot of measuring it should be possible to recreate them in a 3D cad file. I'm not saying I could do that, I'm saying it should be possible. The Namco logo is readily available as vector file and the shape isn't that complex.

The next thing would be finding a "compatible" button. I have some weird hope that there maybe "fruitmachine" buttons that may work/fit.

The size of the actual button is 21 x 37 mm.

Oh, by the way the thickness of the sides of the cabinet is 15 mm and so is the T-molding. This stuff has turned SO brittle that a small part broke off when I tried to lift a part out of the groove to see it's shape.

However this "brittleness" totally reminds me of the original white T-molding that Nintendo used on the Japanese cabs. Pretty sure it's the same stuff with just a different color...
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 12:05:21 AM
Video, better turn down your sound ! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLbaUhe4mZc&feature=youtu.be
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Digimon on April 29, 2013, 12:10:41 AM
With a lot of measuring it should be possible to recreate them in a 3D cad file. I'm not saying I could do that, I'm saying it should be possible. The Namco logo is readily available as vector file and the shape isn't that complex.

I can do the job of 3D modeling, I am professional CAD Consultant :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 01:14:58 AM
GREAT !! :)

I guess the hardest part is measuring everything accurately....


Did some research...looks to me like there is NO Galaxian @ Namco Bandai HQ (shame on them !)

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8401923&publicUserId=5379721#addComment

http://www.gamespot.com/news/namco-bandais-tokyo-offices-6235573

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4lcCTo6klU&feature=player_embedded#!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4lcCTo6klU&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey5zJFxQAew


Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 01:23:18 AM
Some pics of the buttons: http://edeveaud.free.fr/namco_buttons/index.html

(The thumbnails don't work, but click around the pictures are still there)...
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on April 29, 2013, 06:29:27 AM
Time to watch the video adam did on galaxian repair  ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFQ9pEk5ANU

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 09:26:21 AM
Hah, that looks very similar. Yes I was already suspecting the characters ROMS.

In fact I read all of the EPROMS and only 2 ID succesfully on ROMident so I have a feeling there may even be more problems with them, however the game runs so the program ROMs should be fine even though they don't ID.

In that video he didn't completely fix the board though because it doesn't show any bullets ! Same as mine again :)

Trying the ROMs I read in MAME would be a fun idea :)

However gotta put my time in something else now.......

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on April 29, 2013, 10:16:45 AM
let me guess, sanding ?  ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 10:27:15 AM
let me guess, sanding ?  ;D
...well redoing some bondo and indeed sanding those parts. Then painting the inside and blue parts. But first have to do my backyard with the high-pressure water jet (or whoever they are called in English) .....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on April 29, 2013, 11:00:36 AM
Did that last week in the front garden, use a rainsuit and rubber boots  ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: muddymusic on April 29, 2013, 01:25:00 PM
Beautiful cab, what an amazing find!  :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on April 29, 2013, 01:39:53 PM
I agree, I think this is "THE" find of 2013  :spaceace:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Alpha1 on April 29, 2013, 03:57:50 PM
I agree, I think this is "THE" find of 2013  :spaceace:

I have to agree!
Title: Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 04:18:20 PM

Your first real Japanese cab, which makes it even better.  :)
Yes this is from when the Japanese still made.....ah no, let's not go that route.

However, it is not my first real Japanese cab. My red RS/MB Nintendo was my first real Japanese cab :)

And bringing such a rare game from 020 to 010 ......  Boy, you must feel great.  :spaceace:
I would be lying if I would say that that thought never crossed my mind !  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: gyruss on April 29, 2013, 04:53:40 PM
How many games did you find in Rotterdam?  ;D ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on April 29, 2013, 05:03:05 PM
Found a picture of its brand new brothers and sisters at a Japanese trade show in a book I have (http://tinyurl.com/d8t4p4s):

(http://flashpass.redirectme.net/steve/ArcadePics/TradeShowSmall.jpg)

I think there may be two more (still on location!) in Japan.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on April 29, 2013, 05:14:54 PM
Found a picture of its brand new brothers and sisters at a Japanese trade show in a book I have (http://tinyurl.com/d8t4p4s):

(http://flashpass.redirectme.net/steve/ArcadePics/TradeShowSmall.jpg)

I think there may be two more (still on location!) in Japan.

Hehe! yep - thats the only 2 we know of atm!!!  ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 05:19:31 PM
How many games did you find in Rotterdam?  ;D ;)
Uhh.......uhhh..... ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 05:26:05 PM
Found a picture of its brand new brothers and sisters at a Japanese trade show in a book I have (http://tinyurl.com/d8t4p4s):

(http://flashpass.redirectme.net/steve/ArcadePics/TradeShowSmall.jpg)

I think there may be two more (still on location!) in Japan.
Wow very cool !!!

Yeah I'm sure there must be more in Japan still....it's a shame we hear so little from that country about this hobby....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on April 29, 2013, 05:26:38 PM
Found a picture of its brand new brothers and sisters at a Japanese trade show in a book I have (http://tinyurl.com/d8t4p4s):

(http://flashpass.redirectme.net/steve/ArcadePics/TradeShowSmall.jpg)

I think there may be two more (still on location!) in Japan.

Hehe! yep - thats the only 2 we know of atm!!!  ;D

Shit!!! theres 3 of them in the picture!!!
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/muerto/arc/galaxians.jpg)

Soh.... one is hidden.... still....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Alpha1 on April 29, 2013, 07:33:10 PM
ataritoobin.. We need some good pix of a Namco Galaga now!!!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on April 29, 2013, 07:55:22 PM
ataritoobin.. We need some good pix of a Namco Galaga now!!!

I know, I'm lame!!  All my games are currently stored now  :-[

(http://flashpass.redirectme.net/steve/ArcadePics/MyGalaga1.JPG)

(http://flashpass.redirectme.net/steve/ArcadePics/MyGalaga2.JPG)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on April 29, 2013, 08:22:51 PM
ataritoobin.. We need some good pix of a Namco Galaga now!!!

I know, I'm lame!!  All my games are currently stored now  :-[

(http://flashpass.redirectme.net/steve/ArcadePics/MyGalaga1.JPG)

(http://flashpass.redirectme.net/steve/ArcadePics/MyGalaga2.JPG)


So, all 3 are found, though, ataritoobins has different side art, and way cooler Marquee!!!!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 11:30:12 PM
Does it surprise you I don't agree ?

What he doesn't tell you is that he repainted the coin door a different color to get rid of the gayest part of that cab ! =>

(http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/namco/21023903.jpg)


All of a suddon it becomes much clearer why I don't like that game.....

I guess they colored it sissy style to warn players that it was for sissy's only..... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 11:38:35 PM
All kidding aside, that is some awesome cabinet you've got there AtariToobin (assuming it is yours ??) !!!

I wonder why we didn't know earlier ! ;)

Seriously, it would be cool to make a separate thread of owners of this style of cab, including the Italian Bertolino's.

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on April 29, 2013, 11:42:22 PM
Hah!  ;D

The Galaga is mine.  I think I must've posted something about it in the past? ???  The picture on the flyer is actually a cardboard model.  Not sure if any were actually made with a pink coin door.  Notice there's no bolts/speaker grille and the sideart looks really thick.  The other one I've seen a picture of had a black coin door.

The cardboard models were on display in Japan for the Pac-Man 30th anniversary:
(http://flashpass.redirectme.net/steve/ArcadePics/Model.jpg)

Mine's also missing the clear "lid" on the 2P button, so if you repro those I'd be interested in one! :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 11:44:41 PM
Looking at that trade fair picture again: That machine on the right is a Bomb Bee. Never knew about it but it is in the same cab as Gee Bee and I found the Bomb Bee flyer of the cocktail here:

http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/namco/21005701.jpg

So is this the same game with a different name ? The screenshots like very much alike.
I am assuming that "Bomb" may have been a bit too aggressive for some markets ?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 29, 2013, 11:48:56 PM
Hah!  ;D

The Galaga is mine.  I think I must've posted something about it in the past? ???  The picture on the flyer is actually a cardboard model.  Not sure if any were actually made with a pink coin door.  Notice there's no bolts/speaker grille and the sideart looks really thick.  The other one I've seen a picture of had a black coin door.

The cardboard models were on display in Japan for the Pac-Man 30th anniversary:
(http://flashpass.redirectme.net/steve/ArcadePics/Model.jpg)

Mine's also missing the clear "lid" on the 2P button, so if you repro those I'd be interested in one! :)

LOL, I was about to post my doubts about the reality of that cab on the flyer.
If you zoom in you notice that the horizontal lines of the CP and coin door are not aligned and indeed I noticed the poorly cut-out side-art (and thickness).

I'd love to read about that Galaga ! Seriously !

About the "lid" on the 2P button: is that a separate part or is the entire thing one part ?

I was thinking about asking my local plexi supplier if he could be of help. They got loads of tools to manipulate plexi and did a great job on the SW cockpit plexi's.
Going to need them for the bezel/CP anyway :)

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on April 30, 2013, 12:05:07 AM
I bought the Galaga from the son of the former VP of Namco-America.  As I understand it, when Namco bought a large percentage of Atari Games in the 80s, Namco-America then became integrated with Atari and the president of Namco-America told him to keep a few games!  So it probably only went to trade shows, been in Namco's lobby, and home-owned.  The instructions and back door sheet are in Japanese, but the start buttons are in English like Zorg's buttons, and the coin-mech is US 25 cents.

There's still some damage to the cabinet (and I think a soft drink exploded near it  :lol:) but the protective coating is still on the side art.  It came with a Japanese-language manual for the Namco cocktail.  A few caps needed to be replaced on the monitor, and the joystick was a bit loose.  Other than that, I didn't want to touch it a bit.

I bought this and a prototype Libble Rabble cocktail that I assume was used to test the game in the U.S. (it was never released here) from him.  This particular version is partially translated into English, and the instruction cards are hand-cut with some erased pencil notes and some hand-coloring.  Unfortunately, the original 18" Toei monitor must have gone out at some point and was replaced with a 19" Wells-Gardner :(

Thankfully they did a clean job replacing it, and if I can find a 18" tube/yoke, I can more-or-less bring it back to its original state.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 30, 2013, 12:13:09 AM
Wow, very cool story, thanks ! Even I would have bought that Galaga without blinking my eye..... ;D

Does that manual have any drawings or pictures from the inside of the cab, i mean the PSU, how the wiring ran etc. (At least something I will understand ;))

That would be a great help for my restoration. I hope to bring everything back in original condition, well as much as possible.....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on April 30, 2013, 12:40:00 AM
Wow, very cool story, thanks ! Even I would have bought that Galaga without blinking my eye..... ;D

Does that manual have any drawings or pictures from the inside of the cab, i mean the PSU, how the wiring ran etc. (At least something I will understand ;))

That would be a great help for my restoration. I hope to bring everything back in original condition, well as much as possible.....

I'll take a look again, I'm not sure how useful manual would be since it's for the cocktail and I recall it being pretty sparse.  For sure it's just drawings, no pics.

One interesting thing about the Galaga (and I'm not sure if Galaxian was the same) cabinet is that there's a built-in edge connector junction where the main cabinet harness goes, much like in a Sega Aero City cabinet.  IIRC, this is mounted to a plate on the wall under the PCB, so in theory you could make an adapter to whichever PCB to go to the main cabinet harness.

Actually, not unlike what is seen here (except the PCB side would have an edge connector):

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8118/8684901486_28a128c20a_b.jpg)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on May 01, 2013, 04:36:26 PM
Dont know if this could be of any use...
Original size 1420, so save the pic to see it in 100p
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/muerto/arc/ngal1.jpg)

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/muerto/arc/ngal2.jpg)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 06, 2013, 08:42:18 PM
Great ! Anyway to get the full res files ?

I guess this is the manual for the monitor:

http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Monitors/Toei%2019in%20CMA20HC%20Manual.pdf

It says CM-A20HC where mine says CM-A20GL. I guess GL stands for Galaxian. Wonder if there are any changes per game or if this is just an indication...guess the basic stuff is the same so at least some docs for the old chassis.

I'm hoping that the tube got really burnt and that they only put in the Hanti for that reason.....so maybe the old chassis still works...
Anyway, not the most important thing...I'm not that anal about monitor originality, I prefer a good picture....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on May 07, 2013, 06:14:57 AM
Ill take better ones later today, and up them....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 03, 2013, 10:39:15 PM
Did you find some time Michael ? :)

I may have found a solution for the buttons.....

http://www.modelbrouwers.nl/shop/catalog/giethars-glashelder-crystal-clear-2-x-250ml-p-2317.html

However, I wonder how "hard" that material is after drying. Would be fun to try at least  ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 03, 2013, 11:06:20 PM
Need some parts for the coin-mech for sure. Currently investigating options.

Alternatively, I could use this Chinese look-a-like (pretty funny they copied that ancient design):
(http://www.twistedquarter.com/images/hs-02cs.jpg)

No of course I wouldn't do that.... ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 03, 2013, 11:08:40 PM
Did you find some time Michael ? :)

I may have found a solution for the buttons.....

http://www.modelbrouwers.nl/shop/catalog/giethars-glashelder-crystal-clear-2-x-250ml-p-2317.html

However, I wonder how "hard" that material is after drying. Would be fun to try at least  ;D

Shit! Forgot that - a vacation got in the way... Do you still need them?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on June 03, 2013, 11:32:13 PM
What Asahi Seiko parts are you needing, André?  I think I have a few spare parts left over.  I THINK I have the bolts and maybe a reject lever or two, but I'd need to check to confirm.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 03, 2013, 11:43:09 PM
Did you find some time Michael ? :)

I may have found a solution for the buttons.....

http://www.modelbrouwers.nl/shop/catalog/giethars-glashelder-crystal-clear-2-x-250ml-p-2317.html

However, I wonder how "hard" that material is after drying. Would be fun to try at least  ;D

Shit! Forgot that - a vacation got in the way... Do you still need them?

Always welcome :) But no hurry ! :)

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 03, 2013, 11:48:09 PM
What Asahi Seiko parts are you needing, André?  I think I have a few spare parts left over.  I THINK I have the bolts and maybe a reject lever or two, but I'd need to check to confirm.

I've just been checking again on my old Mario Bros thread on BYOAC forums and it turns out that the bolts used for the coin-mech have completely flat heads.


However, if I check my coin-door picture, it looks like they are round-topped (like the one's on the DK CP)....

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8684928450_48b23b8403_b.jpg)

I may be mistaken though....I'll have to check in "real life" tomorrow.

Nerdtendo from KLOV just kindly offered me to send a bugle in a bubble envelope so that is the most important part.

If you still have a lever I'd sure like that Toobin !
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 03, 2013, 11:56:43 PM
Looking again I'm pretty confident these are not the "flat top" one's because these "level" with the front plate on a Nintendo cab....

So...these might be like DK's CP bolts....i'll check in reality tomorrow...
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on June 04, 2013, 12:06:24 AM
What Asahi Seiko parts are you needing, André?  I think I have a few spare parts left over.  I THINK I have the bolts and maybe a reject lever or two, but I'd need to check to confirm.

I've just been checking again on my old Mario Bros thread on BYOAC forums and it turns out that the bolts used for the coin-mech have completely flat heads.


However, if I check my coin-door picture, it looks like they are round-topped (like the one's on the DK CP)....

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8684928450_48b23b8403_b.jpg)

I may be mistaken though....I'll have to check in "real life" tomorrow.

Nerdtendo from KLOV just kindly offered me to send a bugle in a bubble envelope so that is the most important part.

If you still have a lever I'd sure like that Toobin !

Cool, I'll take a look soon to see what I have.  Ping me if I forget.

I'm pretty certain the Asahi bolts (at least the ones I have) have rounded tops.  I vaguely remember them being smaller than the Nintendo CP bolts, but don't hold me to that ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 07, 2013, 11:29:17 AM
Sorry for the delay:

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/muerto/arc/galaxians01.jpg)

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/muerto/arc/galaxians02.jpg)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 07, 2013, 05:16:49 PM
OK, how much ?





 ;D

Muchas Gracias amigo !
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 12, 2013, 09:19:21 AM
I received a Namco Galaxian board from Alpha1 (thanks my friend !!)  that seems hacked to something else. I just checked one of the EPROMS and although I can't ID it here on the job, I saw the following texts:

TAZZ ROOM
THE SUPER HOPPER ROOM
SUPER MIXED ROOM

enough info, put TAZZ in the search field of KLOV and sure enough it must be this:

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10040

Tazz Mania.

It's amazing how many games have been hacked onto the Galaxian hardware BITD.

Problem now is, how to reconvert it.....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 12, 2013, 10:14:41 AM
Instead of shipping the board directly to you, he should have let IronGiant "convert" it back - have had 3 PCBs fixed by him and they work great!!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 12, 2013, 03:02:48 PM
I was taught never to complain when receiving a gift....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 12, 2013, 03:26:01 PM
I was taught never to complain when receiving a gift....

Meh, and now you tell us? Well, send it to IrinGiant now then....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 12, 2013, 04:17:03 PM
Well, I could of course give it a try myself  ;D And I've got a great PCB repair guy almost literally around the corner in this wonderful European arcade capital.......;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on June 12, 2013, 04:55:07 PM
Well, I could of course give it a try myself  ;D And I've got a great PCB repair guy almost literally around the corner in this wonderful European arcade capital.......;D

I am sure he can get it up and running..

is it not simply burning the correct roms ?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 12, 2013, 05:04:21 PM
Nope, there are some extra boards that need to be removed, lot's of added wires to get rid off and there are even some chips piggy-backed....
Also, (worst) there seem to be some chips removed.

If this was ROM only it would have mean the game would probably be on Macro's multi-Galaxian kit. There are lots of bootleg hacks on Galaxian hardware...
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on June 12, 2013, 05:28:54 PM
thats right, i remember Tighe over at KLOV having a galaxian-kong  ;D

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=190881
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Laszo on June 14, 2013, 07:44:36 AM
Hé André,

You came this, I'm sure you can do it. When in need just call us on this great forum  :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2013, 09:34:52 PM
I think everyone was waiting for these shots.....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2013, 09:35:51 PM
I'll see if I can make some better one's with my real camera....

What struck me was that the cabs are actually more similar than I'd thought before. The outlines almost match (except for the top). The set-up of the controls is almost 100% identical. Even the height where the marquee begins is exactly the same and the control panels are almost at the same level... anyway, they are a beautiful pair. Would be cool to put an Italian Bertolini Galaxian on the right side to make the trio complete, Japan, US and Europe
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: scr33n on June 22, 2013, 10:09:40 PM
Great pic  :-* thanks andre
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: DarthNuno on June 22, 2013, 11:18:14 PM
Nice, but your group picture cannot be complete without a Galaxian3 to show 'all the family'  ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2013, 11:30:28 PM
LOL :) Maybe one day the cousins will all come together for a family reunion !  ;D

Black sheep of the family not wanted though.... ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Superully on June 23, 2013, 07:25:39 AM
not bad, andré, but have i missed something? how did you get it up and running?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 23, 2013, 01:08:53 PM
By putting the plug into a socket  ;D

It's not running OK though. The bootleg board puts out just some loud continious noise and the graphics have errors. Works otherwise though, scroll back a few pages I powered it up not long after I got it...

P.S. does your e-mail still work ? I think you did not receive my last e-mail of some weeks ago...
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: jcp on June 23, 2013, 10:38:18 PM
I had to modify Bruno's answer :

Nice, but your group picture cannot be complete without the cocktail table and the cabaret version to show 'all the family'  ;D
:spaceace:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on November 26, 2013, 11:02:28 PM
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaahhhhhhhh, I FINALLY found 15 mm wide GREEN T-molding.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Every-Good-Quality-T-mould-for-Arcade-Game-Machine-Arcade-Parts/472418018.html

It looks a bit bright on some of the pics, but darker on the other.....

The price and or length of the stuff I don't really care much about.....but that shipping price is a bit steep.....

Sent them a message to ask if they can send a sample and if they can ship through regular mail.

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on November 28, 2013, 08:31:10 PM
CRAP, they "do not ship regular mail".....I'm going to nag them some more for a sample of 20 foot....going to pretend I'm in the market to order a 20' container full of this stuff.....I don't care, everything is allowed in war, love and Japanese arcade cab restoration !
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: anunaki on November 28, 2013, 09:20:11 PM
Yeah go get them dre ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on November 28, 2013, 09:24:15 PM
Told them I need a 20 foot sample and that if "my customer" likes it I am going to need at least 1500 foot for a custom project for some local casinos..... ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: anunaki on November 28, 2013, 09:28:05 PM
Nice
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: rinus711 on December 08, 2013, 12:07:57 AM
Very beautifull, love the Galaxian cab!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: johnsarcade on February 28, 2014, 12:21:53 AM
I think everyone was waiting for these shots.....



WOW! WOW! WOW! I Loooooove those Namco cabinets. I want that! LOL! :) Someday I'll get a NAMCO Galaxian and Puck-Man.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on February 28, 2014, 12:55:49 AM
I'll trade it for your Mad Planets..... ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on April 11, 2014, 07:17:24 PM
Since Etienne had to drop by anyway we decided to remove the CP/bezel from the beautiful machine....it was about as bad as I feared.

Of course the bezel is also the control panel on the Jap Namco machines. This is not a smart construction, although it looks totally awesome IMHO.
Removing it itself is not that terrible. You open the top door of the coin door and you can reach the regular clamps on the left and right side that keep the CP part down. Next you can lift up the entire bezel. Under the controls area there actually is a metal control panel. On the front there is a separate metal part with some wood under it.

The wiring to the CP had been completely hacked in/soldered directly to joystick etc.

I cut off the wires to the two hacked in LEDs (yughh). I was able to remove the buttons pretty easily but i cut off the joystick wiring as they were soldered directly to the joystick while they can be connected with regular AMP connectors....

My biggest worry was also true: How in heaven's name do you remove the joystick ?

I tried turning the ball....no dice ! Absolutely no way. From the construction on the joystick side it definitely didn't look like it was supposed to be loosened there either so we were completely puzzled and didn't know what to do....

We decided to sacrifice the ball top and used the dremel to cut it open...we then planned on using a screwdriver to break it open but before we knew it the metal rod snapped off near the bottom of the joystick !

Anyway, the bezel was now free so Etienne can scan it. He also took the metal part and will try to drill out (he has a standing drill) the rod and see if there is some thread in there that I hopefully can screw a new shaft and ball-top in......but that's of later concern.

The scanning will be a bit of a challenge because the bezel wasn't exactly flat and of course it has a big break. Luckily Etienne also did the Bertolini version of this bezel so he'll have a good basis to work from.

Etienne, thanks for the help !!!


Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on June 14, 2014, 09:14:02 PM
Back on this,

I have looked again and again.

the leftovers clearly indicate that the shaft is inserted in the base, and the threads indicate that a nut was planned there to tighten it.

so i thought what if i squeez it in the vise, extend the lever a bit for more torque and give it a shot..

i inserted two bolts in the screwholes next to the center hole to give it some clearance in the middle, after that i screwed a nut on the thread that is on the leftover of the joystick shaft.

Then i used some brute force on the vice and out it came  ;D

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/galaxian/joy1.jpg)

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/galaxian/joy2.jpg)

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/galaxian/joy3.jpg)

so its out without drilling.

I know you said you did not care since you wanted to change the joystick anyway, but maybe you want to reconsider because of originality reasons.

(at least make the stick complete and just leave it in the bottom of the cabinet or something)

If you have the old shaft part for me, a new shaft with the same diameter, same length (or longer) i think i have a source that can turn it and make the new shaft like the Original.

as you can see i have the bottom part here so the length i can copy from this part and the part that you have.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Laszo on June 15, 2014, 07:48:09 AM
Guys,

I can see you used brute force on this poor stick  :P Did you try to use penetrating oil ??? Or heating or freezing the thing and then using a temperature shock? Even better both.

http://www.henkelna.com/loctite-freeze-release-7008.htm (http://www.henkelna.com/loctite-freeze-release-7008.htm)


Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 15, 2014, 06:52:19 PM
Awesome work Etienne. We didnt do any of that Laszo.....it happened before we knew it.....

Yes I'd like that if possible for originality reasons indeed. Good to have two options anyway. Thanks !!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Laszo on June 16, 2014, 08:17:50 PM
 :D :D The stick must have  seen a lot of action through the years... How many games on the counter?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 01, 2014, 10:17:57 PM

The top is rather oddly constructed compared to the US version. The top is flat and the marquee retainer is "hold up". You also see two bloks to which metal handles were installed, I noticed them on Pieter's pictures from the Japanese arcade museum. They remind me of the metal pieces that Japanese Taito cabs have. I assume these were used to lift the cabs with some crane of sorts ? If so the wooden construction will have to be pretty strong....
o easily adapt that with this original at hands :).


Now that you say it (the Galaxian is still in my friends van, so I could´nt inspect it yet) I also remember those 2 blocks and I HAVE those two metal-constructions and I was shocked by seeing them and thought to myself "WERE THEY INTENDED TO LIFT THE CAB ON THOSE????"


I am also lucky because the fire button and even the joystick are the original (the one at the Japanese museum has a black stick, but the flyer shows a red one...)



I dont seem to have the original button but my stick is also red
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 01, 2014, 10:39:31 PM
Nice. The real fun is getting the bezel/CPO como removed without damaging the joystick....for me not so important. There is a Bally-Midway stick on it's way from the US. I want leaf joysticks if possible and I don't think I could get used to the Japanese micro-switch construction which looked and felt pretty "sloppy"....reminded me of Nintendo joysticks.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 01, 2014, 10:49:11 PM

Here's the crack on the plexi, too bad....


There must be something....its the exact place where my Galaxian´s screen-plexi is bent upwards in a horrible way...

I will show it as soon as I have it in my hands....



I am also a little less lucky with regards to the famous Namco P1 and P2 buttons. Did I ever mention I hate smokers...well at least those who thought CP's/buttons were the ideal place to rest their cigarettes on.... :twisted: :twisted: :evil: :evil: :twisted: :twisted:

P2 is relatively OK:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8546/8684904450_b46f9071da_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684904450/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684904450/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

But P1.....:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8265/8684904302_256f6a65f3_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684904302/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684904302/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

Sigh.....it is also installed upside down for some reason...

I think there is very little I can do about these and finding replacements is close to impossible AFAIK....if anybody has a set for me PLEASE let me know...
Maybe we can 3D print these one day ??


The day has arrived my friend.... I happens to be an industrian designer and to modelize such a button is nothing fancy for me. I attached a 360°-video-cam-helmet I designed for a company and it was in use at the famous liveball which made me very proud.I can make those buttons with ease, I have to talk to the 3D-printers how to print them in the best case....its up to the way you print it.



The instruction inlay has also seen better days. Red is not the ideal color to last very long....I'm having some hopes that combined with Gyruss' pictures we might be able to reconstruct this (Etienne ?? ;) ;) ;))



Lets see how good or bad my one is.....it might be helpful in any case I think.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 01, 2014, 11:41:29 PM
Nice. The real fun is getting the bezel/CPO como removed without damaging the joystick....for me not so important. There is a Bally-Midway stick on it's way from the US. I want leaf joysticks if possible and I don't think I could get used to the Japanese micro-switch construction which looked and felt pretty "sloppy"....reminded me of Nintendo joysticks.

Actually, if you know how its suposed to come apart, its not that bad..

Unscrew the nut at the bottom, and use a vice or a "poelietrekker" to squeeze the shaft out the block.

Poelietrekker:
(http://www.digisellers.nl/acatalog/4869147.jpg)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 01, 2014, 11:46:02 PM


I dont get that at all...

The joystick-shaft is pressed in that piece of metal that is the rotating joint????
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 01, 2014, 11:48:03 PM
Exactly, and the way out is shaft complete with ball
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 01, 2014, 11:50:54 PM
Ah that's what they use for steering wheels IIRC (old one's I guess ;))

Looks great Syno, looks like you made GoPro happy, how many cams are on there ? :)

I think the black part would be a good candidate for 3D printing but not the clear inner part.

As mentioned, Blanka has a complete button and promised to do the 3D scaling etc. but no harm if you give it a try too....no harm in comparing I guess.

My guess about the plexi bezel/CPO is simply that it was not up to European mistreatment. In Japan people seem to have (had?) more respect for the machines, or probably things from other people in general. Look at the flimsy coin-doors as used by Nintendo. Compared to the US and Euro coin-doors they are very thin and fragile and a breeze to break into. Yet in Japan they apparently were sufficient.

I guess it's the same with the bezel. I think in Europe people banged them and maybe even sat on them or at least lifted themselves with their hand on it....
Or maybe it was just sunlight ? I have no idea. I do know we'll have to replace them ;)

The hardest part, as I understand from Etienne is that it is very hard (impossible?) to have the silver bands printed.
And that is pretty sad because that is what it makes special compared to the Bertolino version, where the silver bands are simply white.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 02, 2014, 12:03:16 AM
About the plexi bezel/CPO....look how beautiful it still is on the one in the Japanese arcade museum that Gyruss visited:

https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=1975.msg22442#msg22442

HOWEVER, the Puckman seems to have a crack around the joystick.

Gyruss....I know you don't have the time now, but I would LOVE to have the full resolution version of this picture for the card insert:

(http://a.imageshack.us/img839/4958/imag1927.jpg)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 02, 2014, 12:09:56 AM
Why? I have yours her ready for repro   ;), but it does not hurt i guess  :D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 02, 2014, 12:38:38 AM
Ah that's what they use for steering wheels IIRC (old one's I guess ;))

Looks great Syno

Hahahaha, I always have to smile for no reason when you type "Syno"  ;D


Ah that's what they use for steering wheels IIRC (old one's I guess ;))
....how many cams are on there ? :)

I designed it as a modul-system, at the Liveball it should have been 9 or 10 but its possible up to at least 20.



I think the black part would be a good candidate for 3D printing but not the clear inner part.

They have showed me a lot in the printershop....even stuff that is elastic like gum....I will let them inform me


The hardest part, as I understand from Etienne is that it is very hard (impossible?) to have the silver bands printed.
And that is pretty sad because that is what it makes special compared to the Bertolino version, where the silver bands are simply white.

At the moments I dont see silver (you have to tell where I should see it) but I know that silver and gold is possible to print with something called (since you guys are from the Netherlands you most probably will understand it) "Schmuckfarbe"



Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 02, 2014, 12:41:33 AM
About the plexi bezel/CPO....look how beautiful it still is on the one in the Japanese arcade museum that Gyruss visited:

https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=1975.msg22442#msg22442

HOWEVER, the Puckman seems to have a crack around the joystick.

Gyruss....I know you don't have the time now, but I would LOVE to have the full resolution version of this picture for the card insert:

(http://a.imageshack.us/img839/4958/imag1927.jpg)

And also I can scan mine for Etienne......

If I guess right the machines from that operator are in quite good cosmetic and technical conditions....you wanted to co-operate with me....so let us start to do that, there are not only bad sides in not having the only one japanese Galaxian anymore  ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 02, 2014, 07:02:43 AM
Ah that would be great. Does yours have the Japanese text ? That would be awesome. My card is very very bad condition.

The silver lines are the one's surrounding the green line which goes around the P1 and P2 section and the "score card" section and also around the entire monitor bezel area.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 02, 2014, 02:03:55 PM


I still dont see any reflective effect but it might be due to the photography

It IS indeed possible to print reflective content, here is an example:

http://blog.printzessin.ch/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/neon_metallic_v2.jpg

and it is even possible up to a chrom- or gold-finish.

People very often use it on there wedding-flyers.

I checked my pictures and I fear the CP is just to dusty to recognize anything but I would count on it that it is the japanese version....I see no reason why not.

For the moment I just can give you that picture, maybe you can read something out of it....but more pictures to come.

I also just noticed that my T-Molding is in horrible shape and not even die-hard original-keepers could live with it....so we order a roll of molding for sure.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 02, 2014, 02:36:40 PM
Scan or straight highres pic of those labels and measurements please  ;) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 02, 2014, 03:41:02 PM
Scan or straight highres pic of those labels and measurements please  ;) 8) 8)

You name it, I make it.

Did´nt we do it also with the SEGA sticker...the reflective one?

Always count on me as a source :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 02, 2014, 03:45:53 PM


If you give me a list I will make it all at the next scansession....also the Hang-On-gauges...and I plan to buy NOS-Artwork for the Hang-On bike, I will scan it too....or does it already exist?

What about the DPI? 300...600?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 02, 2014, 04:07:57 PM
600 is perfect, 300 is also cool, its just as a template, i trace by hand for maximum accuracy anyway.

as long as i have a straight clear shot or scan with measurements in mm. i am very happy.

other art for hangon ?  dont know, there is some at vectorlib:

http://vectorlib.free.fr/HangOn/
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 02, 2014, 05:47:18 PM
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8122/8683786895_d542f56815_o.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683786895/)
Untitled (https://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683786895/) by Level_42 (https://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr


See it now ? If not, go to optometrist  ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 02, 2014, 05:55:05 PM
Also, I just compared the tag plates and woooooohooooo...

(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8544/8683782875_61147ca3d0.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683782875/)
Untitled (https://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8683782875/) by Level_42 (https://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr

(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4454.0;attach=7384;image)


I got
- the oldest of the two judging by the serial number
- mine was meant for Japan and yours was meant for Europe.....judging mine has a 100V indication and yours 220V.

IMHO it is pretty interesting that yours has 220V......maybe this was just before the license deal with Bertolino ?
Or it was the one they sent to Bertolino so they could copy it ;);)
Or it was not aimed for Europe but other 220V area ?

Anyway, love those little details :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 02, 2014, 07:01:21 PM
Trying to figure out the serial numbering they used. Surely 79 and 80 represent the year of manufacture and the next two digits are the month I bet. So....I guess the next three numbers are the number of cabs they had made in that month.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on September 02, 2014, 07:45:19 PM
Interesting, does your cab have a plate on the front of the cabinet, to the left, right under the CP?

It'll say "NAMCO LIMITED" and has a few kanji characters in red.

If not, then I think at some point by 1980 or so they went away from the numbering system above and just went to these plates with sequential numbers, regardless of the model.

I might be mistaken, but IIRC, none of the cabs I have have the serial number like that on the rear of the cab!

Also, is there a Namco paper tag on the inside rear of the coin door?  It'll have the production date/inspection date/ or some such stamped on it in Japanese format.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 02, 2014, 08:05:44 PM
No doesnt have that.  Go back to the first couple of pages of this thread for all the inside tags/papers on my machine :)

https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=4454.msg64951#msg64951

Notice the "Made in Japan" label on Syno's machine, this is another hint it was meant for export and also the symbol tags that are on mine seem to be totally aimed at the Japanese market:

(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8540/8684900428_1361c27128_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684900428/)
Untitled (https://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/8684900428/) by Level_42 (https://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr


About the t-molding Synonym9: I may have also found a source in the US AND HE -can- provide a sample so let's see how that looks.

Would like to see a picture showing the entire backside of your cab, I am very sure the power switch on mine is a hack and I'd like to see the original situation :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: gyruss on September 02, 2014, 08:21:17 PM
About the plexi bezel/CPO....look how beautiful it still is on the one in the Japanese arcade museum that Gyruss visited:

https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=1975.msg22442#msg22442

HOWEVER, the Puckman seems to have a crack around the joystick.

Gyruss....I know you don't have the time now, but I would LOVE to have the full resolution version of this picture for the card insert:

(http://a.imageshack.us/img839/4958/imag1927.jpg)

Sorry Guys, i don't have the pictures anymore, my hd crashed long time ago :(
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 02, 2014, 08:25:11 PM
Argghhh....now you must go back and make a better picture.....or better, I must go there and take a better picture ;);)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 02, 2014, 09:43:38 PM
or even better, go there and collect that machine  ;D

by the way, is your tmoulding just dirty, or is the other just a lighter variant or replaced before  ???
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: gyruss on September 02, 2014, 09:47:12 PM
Argghhh....now you must go back and make a better picture.....or better, I must go there and take a better picture ;);)

Maybe you can contact the owner, he used to be a member here? Btw would love to go back, what a Great country!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 02, 2014, 10:21:32 PM


OK, here are something to wonder about, maybe this model was meant to be exported....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 02, 2014, 10:25:42 PM


Seems like my Baby also have got enough nikotin for 2 lives...  :evil:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 02, 2014, 11:12:51 PM
Yeah already expected that yours had an English insert card. I am still hoping for a Japanese one :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 02, 2014, 11:37:48 PM
Yeah already expected that yours had an English insert card. I am still hoping for a Japanese one :)

You have an japanese one, right?

Since it is original I am happy with the english....instruction cards are meant to be read...
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on September 02, 2014, 11:56:42 PM
This may hopefully help:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 03, 2014, 12:44:43 AM
Great, thanks !!!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 03, 2014, 07:04:09 AM
one helps the other, now we can use the english in the translator and see the other it the characters mach  ;)  ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 03, 2014, 10:28:38 PM

Sir´s,

what all do you want to photographed? I was at my friends house where the Galaxian is and we decided to unwrap it.

Since he is a professional photographer he can make images of everything you want to see.

BTW...where is the On/Off-switch on that cab????
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 03, 2014, 10:40:34 PM
I would like straight pictures of decals to add to my webstore in arcade decals, so pics with dimentions would be super.

Thanks  8)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ataritoobin on September 03, 2014, 11:29:43 PM
The on/off switch is inside the cabinet on the board with the transformer/fuses.  Why?  No idea  :lol:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 03, 2014, 11:35:13 PM
The on/off switch is inside the cabinet on the board with the transformer/fuses.  Why?  No idea  :lol:

I actually expected that to be so since I do remember I saw a switch there. Fine with me, I never use the "external" switches on my cabs anyway...I got central switches in my game room :)

So I can move the ugly one from mine they hacked in :)

Yes we need pictures of -everything- Synonym9....we are picture horny guys and .....mine is pretty damn hacked. It even has two monitor chassis inside !
I hope yours is in (more) original condition so I can use them as a guid for my restoration when I start that as soon as I become a pensioner..... ;)



Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 18, 2014, 11:32:36 PM
So...that box that was sent by my aunt also contained two rolls of green T-molding.

Since I had no idea which color would "work out" I ordered two colors of green....

To be 100% clear: the original is on the left side.
Pretty clear that the one on the right is not the right color. The other might not be 100% prefect but it's pretty damn freaking close, and the old stuff is....well old....so...

Of course neither are flat. This is a big point, but the chance on flat T-molding (like happened with the Donkey Kong stuff) in green is probably less then winning the lottery I think I'll have to live with it.

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on September 18, 2014, 11:36:52 PM
Size difference: original (15mm, or 5/8") on top, 3/4" below.

The GOOD news is that the 3/4" barb actually (easily) fits in the groove. It wouldn't even surprise me if I have to use some glue to keep it in....but I'm already happy that I won't have to router anything (something I've never done yet).

By the way, it looks like the original T-molding is glued...impossible to get it out now....gonna be fun.... ::)

I heard that Etienne McGyver had a great tool to cut-off any excess T-molding so I'd love to give that a try :):):)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on September 18, 2014, 11:53:14 PM
The on/off switch is inside the cabinet on the board with the transformer/fuses.  Why?  No idea  :lol:

I actually expected that to be so since I do remember I saw a switch there. Fine with me, I never use the "external" switches on my cabs anyway...I got central switches in my game room :)

So I can move the ugly one from mine they hacked in :)

Yes we need pictures of -everything- Synonym9....we are picture horny guys and .....mine is pretty damn hacked. It even has two monitor chassis inside !
I hope yours is in (more) original condition so I can use them as a guid for my restoration when I start that as soon as I become a pensioner..... ;)



Andre

you get ANY information you want/need. I am sure that my Cab is totally stock condition as there are only 3 hacked games and you recognize them on the gambling-related squared buttons.

No matter if it was

Atari Asteroids

Stern´s Berzerk

or Zaccaria Astro Wars

, they always used that squared buttons.

I think they have got lots of that Novomatic Star-Line-cabinets, so they stopped hacking dedicated cabinets. Also they  started in the gambling-business....so it looks like they did not care for the arcade games anylonger.

My e-mail is hannes.slanec@gmail.com and you find me by Hannes Slanec on Facebook.

drop me a line for what ever you want to see and I will deliver. Images, inside-vidoes....you name it - I make it.

The only thing is: It is at my friends Thomas garage and will stay there until I have picked every single game from the vendor up to the EM-machines and the Hang-On Bike....but after that my time is yours!  ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Luigi on September 19, 2014, 06:49:16 AM
That green in the middle is damn close to the original. The replacement molding for the Journey is more like the green on the right  :-\
But there is no other.

Install it and be happy! :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 19, 2014, 08:19:35 AM
When i saw both colors at EC14, i already saw that the poison green was the one that was the closest match.

the other is darker and looks dull.

anyway, i'll drop that tool soon at your place, and try it on a scrap piece of t-moulding before cutting the real stuff  ;)

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/minipong/141.jpg)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on February 17, 2015, 12:42:28 AM
Had to take some pics of the original joystick.....well what's left of it or....the pars that I still have here...Etienne has the rest as you've seen :)

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on February 17, 2015, 12:43:01 AM
2nd pic is the Bally-Midway 2-way Galaxian joystick for comparison.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on February 17, 2015, 12:44:36 AM
Button. I think it's the same shape as Nintendo buttons.

The original joystick ball top did not survive....and it is clear where it broke....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on February 17, 2015, 10:07:30 AM
I gave you the "swivelblock" and extracted broken piece back during EC14  ;)

I only have your Bezel here.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on February 17, 2015, 11:58:04 AM
AH.......uhhh......pffff....o well, Bally-Midway is going in anyway :)

During RGE/Eurocade people really shoudn't give me tiny parts when I'm in a hotel for 4 days and in a public/semi-public building trying to get/keep the show running....but that's just disorganised me I guess.... ;D

I lost an iPad charger too in those days....

Hopefully the joystick part is still in some box somewhere here.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on March 22, 2015, 09:12:05 PM
Did some scanning today..

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/galaxscan.jpg)

While i was doing that i had an idea for the silverisch border, and started an experiment:

(http://img.youtube.com/vi/rKO0jwEI3dI/0.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKO0jwEI3dI)
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/player.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKO0jwEI3dI)

Here some detail pics, a bit blurry, but its dificult to photograph through glass..

backside:
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/galaxdetail2.jpg)

frontside:
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/galaxdetail1.jpg)

not too bad, but i don't know if its worth the trouble on a complete bezel..

Maybe better just use some grayscale in there..  or....

cutout the vinyl, mask the monitor part and spray it with "Action silver paint"  :D

The scanning through glass is not succesfull as i already expected..

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/galaxdetail3.jpg)

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/galaxdetail4.jpg)

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/galaxdetail5.jpg)

Some parts are worse than others due to the fact that this bezel has damage in the form of bended and cracked plexi.
thats why i could not "flat scan" some parts.

Its not the scanner, its scanning through plexi / glass.

I scanned some other work today, and thats just fine, no "jailbars" :

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/hpdetail.jpg)

Anyway, i have the physical bezel here so i can measure and build it up like i did with the Monaco gp steeringwheel decal.

(http://img.youtube.com/vi/hLB8jnBVbAU/0.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLB8jnBVbAU)
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/player.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLB8jnBVbAU)

its going to take a while, but the start is made  ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on March 22, 2015, 09:35:38 PM
You ROCK !!!!

By the way, I found back the "missing" part of the original joystick.  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on March 22, 2015, 10:19:27 PM
I knew that i gave it back to you, Happy you found it !  :D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on March 23, 2015, 09:26:16 PM


While i was doing that i had an idea for the silverisch border, and started an experiment:




As I stated before (also supported a link) silver, gold and chrom CAN be printed.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on April 11, 2015, 11:30:52 PM
A little tribute to Galaxian  ;)

(http://img.youtube.com/vi/JkhH6Ip0AAo/0.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkhH6Ip0AAo)
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/player.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkhH6Ip0AAo)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Franzy21 on April 11, 2015, 11:41:55 PM
Ah ah!!!
I love it!!  ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: synonym9 on May 02, 2015, 10:56:09 PM


Whats new in that project, Andre and Etienne?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on May 03, 2015, 11:26:32 AM
I have scanned the bezel, now i need to find time to vector it, but i would still investigate the option to restore the original bezel.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 04, 2015, 10:53:05 AM
Awesome !!

Yes I agree about trying to give it a go !

In fact: Maybe you remember I posted the "order of restoration" for my cabs and when Q*bert is finished the MB/DK conversion would be next, but for some quite exciting reason I moved the Namco Galaxian to that spot.

I want that baby on Eurocade  ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 21, 2015, 06:18:54 PM
While waiting for Q*bert parts to arrive/be done....I decided to do some prescanning of the Namco Galaxian PCB that was so kindly donated by Alpha1 (Thanks Oll, I'll buy you a good number of beers at the bar ;) )

This baby was converted to.........uhmmmm, I forgot :) I did read one of the EPROMs and found out what game it was but I just forgot :)

Sadly the conversion took quite a few hardware hacks and we're going to have to reverse all that shit :)

It may actually look worse than it is.

The one thing that bugs me though: should I already undo all the obvious things (remove piggy-backend chips, remove all The extra wires, repair The old connections, reprogram the (correct) ROMs etc.

orrrrrrrrr

Should we check If inthe board works like it is now first ?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 21, 2015, 06:35:58 PM
So let's see:

1)
Here's the whole PCB. By the way Erik, I'd love to have a high-res picture of your's. The one's I can find on-line or either Midway or bad quality or also converted...

2)
Spots 4F and 5F are empty. Schematics say 2101 RAMs need to go here. Hope I have some. 9101 should be the same.

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 21, 2015, 06:45:03 PM
1)
This little extra board does not belong there...easy to remove, but have to put in the right chips in the sockets of course.

2)
and this large extra board does not belong there either. That's a nice thing, I'll have some extra EPROMs after the job is done ;)

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 21, 2015, 06:46:29 PM
1)
Some minor extra wiring

2)
Some major extra wiring and piggy-backed 74LSxxx chip



Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 21, 2015, 06:47:59 PM
1)
And some more piggy-backs and extra wires

2) and this seems a supply voltage mod or something (bridge ?)

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 21, 2015, 06:49:00 PM
Not too much hacks on the back side....one wire already loose...

Also: the pins look like this chip has been soldered, could be because of the piggy-backing but maybe they also changed the original chip. Not to obvious, but do have to check to make sure.

All in all this should surely be doable !


Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: PaulSwan on May 22, 2015, 06:34:32 PM
It looks like a reasonably standard mod to expand the ROM and RAM - hence the extra set of 2114's on top and a bunch of hacks on the address decode. Remove all the extra chips & wire hacks then repair all the track cuts and that should get you back to a base Galaxian. You're still missing the original ROM daughter board but you may be able to use the one you have already instead (if you're not going multi-game or single ROM).

The trick is spotting all the track cuts on both sides - when I did mine it took a couple of passes to spot them all.
Paul.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 22, 2015, 10:25:58 PM
Thanks Paul !

Crap I forgot about the daughterboard ! However, I don't need it as I want to install Macro's multi-Galaxian kit on it which I already had on my Bally-Midway machine.

Yes those track cuts are not going to be fun, I actually hardly noticed any but of course they must be there.

Another thing: did they remove the heat-sink on the top right corner ? Seems weird. It looks like they hacked the voltage input (to DC) though.

By the way, Macro's site has a load of great tips about Galaxian hardware and this one is really useful for this job:

Insert a test rom

Test roms exist for Galaxian and Pacman, and possibly others. They are useful, since they don't rely on the rom daughterboard working and these may have problems on their own. For a 2716 Galaxian memory test rom, click here, for a dedicated galaian tester, see the 'Test Board' information on the menu at the top of the page. Remember to make sure that you have galaxian graphics roms fitted, since the test roms may make little sense with other graphics roms. (They definately do not work with Moon Cresta graphics roms)


So, we should "get away" without a daughterboard.

Found this info on this page:
http://www.arcades.plus.com/galaxianfix.htm
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 22, 2015, 11:15:00 PM
1h and 1k are the graphics ROMs right ?

In that case, in what socket do I have to put the test-rom ?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 22, 2015, 11:32:24 PM
Did this before but I IDed the ROMs again and the game it's converted to is Tazz-Mania by Stern.

Anyone ever seen one of these ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV5qDopRGuc


Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: PaulSwan on May 22, 2015, 11:41:51 PM
Based on what Macro said, it's likely you can remove the daughter board and put the test ROM into one of the 2 program ROM sockets directly on the board. I've never used it myself as I added Galaxian to my Arduino ICT instead:
(http://www.zzzaccaria.com/images/Projects/SolarFoxRestoration/PV/DSCN1601.JPG)
I put Macros multi on that one as well :)
Is it running the Tazz OK? If not, it might be worth trying to fix it first and then reverting the hacks so you know you're starting with a good worker.
Paul.

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 24, 2015, 10:58:37 PM
I don't know, I've never powered it up.

But indeed, this is the plan :)

What is that arduino doing, providing various ROM sets ? Pretty cool !

Thanks to Jonhughes from UKVac I received some excellent pictures of the NAMCO version of the Galaxian PCB :)

I'll link them here, can't attach the full size one's, if anyone needs them let me know.

(http://www.ukvac.com/forum/uploads/1594/Gala1.jpg)

(http://www.ukvac.com/forum/uploads/1594/Gala2.jpg)

(http://www.ukvac.com/forum/uploads/1594/Gala3.jpg)

(http://www.ukvac.com/forum/uploads/1594/Gala4.jpg)

(http://www.ukvac.com/forum/uploads/1594/Gala5.jpg)

(http://www.ukvac.com/forum/uploads/1594/Gala6.jpg)

(http://www.ukvac.com/forum/uploads/1594/Gala7.jpg)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 25, 2015, 12:57:25 AM
Clearly, the heat-sink is missing on my board indeed.

I remembered I still had a heat-sink laying around. I think I might have bought this when I was still at school for some project but never used it  :shock: :shock: :o :o ::) ::)

It's a bit too big on the sides, but I should be able to saw two fins off on each side, then it fits. Also need to drill the holes of course :)

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: PaulSwan on May 25, 2015, 06:59:05 AM
Cool, BTW, that board has 5101 where the 2101's should be. I'm surprised 5101 would work here - they are pin compatible but 5101 are CMOS and very slow compared to NMOS 2101. The Arduino does RAM, ROM and IO tests etc., sort of a cut down Fluke.
Paul.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 25, 2015, 10:23:44 AM
Yeah I noticed they were 5101s but didn't realize that they were CMOS. I know I need 2101s or 9101s.
I'm pretty sure I should have some since I bought RAMs for Centipede before just have to find them ;)

I have no idea what speeds are going on on those RAMs so maybe the 5101s are still fast enough to keep up ?
I asked Jon on UKVac if the board works (trouble free).....

Further I need 3 74LS259 (or 74HC259, two are on Jon's board) for positions  9L,M,N where the extra daughter board is now.

If anyone has these laying around let me know ;)

I also noticed there is one heatsink missing on the chips on the far edge of the PCB but I still have some of those clip-on heatsinks I used for my Ms.Pac.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 25, 2015, 11:03:50 AM
BTW cool work on that Aduino.....any plans on making it available ?

Sounds like it does the most important tasks of the Flukes and I can imagine people would be interested.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 25, 2015, 05:06:46 PM
Heheh, I just had a mean little idea.....


There's a bootleg Galaxian board in the machine right now.....guess which RAMs there are on it ;D....and I'm pretty sure they're OK since the game works (with graphics problems yes but that's character ROMs for sure) sooooooo....why not "borrow" them (at least for now) ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: PaulSwan on May 25, 2015, 06:29:58 PM
The 2101 any speed will do, but the 5101 IIRC are very very slow. Keep those 5101 handy for battery backed RAM games :)
There should be 5 heat sinks on the 5 attack rams in the corner.
You mean 74HCT259. The HCT means CMOS but with TTL levels. However, LS series should still be commonly available if you want to go with the original part.
I did do a run of DIY kits on the Arduino widget but I have none left now. I posted about it a while ago, this thing: http://www.paulswan.me/Arcade/ArduinoMegaICT.htm (http://www.paulswan.me/Arcade/ArduinoMegaICT.htm)
Regards,
Paul.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 25, 2015, 09:39:06 PM
 :shock: Totally missed that, going to read that :)

I don't have any 5101's, they're on Jon's board remember ;)

Yeah I know they're HCT but the part number on the chip says 74HC259 :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 26, 2015, 12:45:37 PM
You mean 74HCT259. The HCT means CMOS but with TTL levels.

In fact....this kept bugging me and to be honest....you're wrong, and I was misled by you  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

From Wikipedia:


HC – High-speed CMOS, similar performance to LS, 12 ns. 2.0–6.0 V.
HCT – High speed, compatible logic levels to bipolar parts.

...


Many parts in the CMOS HC, AC, and FC families are also offered in "T" versions (HCT, ACT, and FCT) which have input thresholds that are compatible with both TTL and 3.3 V CMOS signals. The non-T parts have conventional CMOS input thresholds.
"

So, HC and HCT are different. Not much, but different.

In my own words:
HC= high speed CMOS, so faster then normal CMOS, but voltage levels still at CMOS levels
HCT = high speed CMOS , faster than normal CMOS _AND_ voltages at TTL level....in other words, they are drop-in replacements for LS.


On Jon's board there are HC's, not HCT. Again, I'm assuming these work.....

My local dealer has 74LS259 @ €1.50 each and 74HCT259 @ €1.00 each...


What I've always understood was that HCT can be used instead of TTL.


Interesting sidenote, the NXP datasheet talks about the 74HC259 and 74HCT259 in "one go".....the key difference they mention are clear:

Input levels:
- For 74HC259: CMOS level
- For 74HCT259: TTL level


http://www.nxp.com/documents/data_sheet/74HC_HCT259.pdf

Anyway.......I'm picking up a couple of 74HCT259's today :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 28, 2015, 02:29:52 PM
Robin and I had a quick look if there would be any life in the Tazz-Mania....

It booted to fixed garbage on the screen and we couldn't get much life in it.

The sockets are pretty bad (also because of the large pins of the daughter boards) so these will probably need replacing.

However first I undid all the mods. This was actually pretty easy. I snipped off all the legs of the piggy-backed chips close to the bodies. This made it much easier to remove them and the pins, using some new solder and my bad-ass Soldapult (love that thing).

Removed the small daughter board and inserted 3 "fresh" 74HCT259's (bought this week, but I noticed the Philips logo and Philips does not make chips anymore since YEARS (NXP is the company name now) and the date is from 94, so these have been waiting in the seller's drawers quite a bit ;););)

Anyway, removed the large EPROM daughter board and installed the test ROM, I have no idea if this is the correct spot. Can't seem to find info on where to put it online, only thing I found was someone who inserted it at the first position on the daughter board.....so I have no idea if it will work directly on the board.

Also installed the missing heat sink and of course the two 2101 RAMS, borrowed from the bootleg board.

I found 4 trace cuts so far and fixed them, but I need to go over it again a couple,of times, there's probably more. I put a bright (LED) light behind the PCB and look on the other side for cut traces. Then I measure them and fix them with some tiny wire and solder.

As soon as I complete the track cuts search but before replacing all the sockets I'd like to give it another spin to see if there is more life in this board...

It also need a good wash :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on May 28, 2015, 02:32:15 PM
Pics

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 04, 2015, 12:02:56 AM
OK it's washed and I fixed one more cut track that I could find....also replaced the character ROMs with the one's from the bootleg board and burned one (it showed bad during Romidenting it....I guess that's where the stripes came from on the bootleg board :))

So now I have this:


Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 04, 2015, 12:05:57 AM
The garbage is absolutely frozen. No response on the reset button. So I started some probing at the CPU. Clear enough the reset line was going up and down in a "nice" puls, so the watch-dog is barking. Shorted the watch-dog pad to stop the watch-dog...no change.

Started checking each pin at the CPU, this is what the read and write lines looked like:

Even if you don't know much about these kind of things, you are probably aware that digital stuff normally only has two states: high or low. So you expect to see nice block waves....but not this analogue looking kinda shit....

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 04, 2015, 12:06:51 AM
So I swapped the Z80 with the one from the bootleg board (known working) and now those lines looked like this:

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 04, 2015, 12:16:35 AM
Hurah, yes that's what we want to see !
So I fixed the first big thing on this board, one dead Z80 replaced....

However....the screen didn't change a tiny bit !!

I probed around at all adress and data lines on the CPU and all look active (some need a reset to give a couple of pulses and then go quite, but I figure that's OK).

Checked the buffers and every in and output looks OK.

Checked the 74LS245 and here I have a bit of doubt. The picture looks a bit "sawtoothy" on some pins, not sure if that's OK.......anyone ?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 04, 2015, 12:21:33 AM
Forgot to mention I had replaced the CPU socket too.

I need to do the other ROM sockets too (esp. the one's where the daughterboard with the big fat pins were in....) but I don't have any sockets at the moment, gotta order....

It might be easier to get a working Namco board (or even a Midway board, I know someone who WANTS a working Midway board so that I can get his Namco board :)....however, I see this as a good learning case.

I think I could really use the Fluke now. I have probed all over the board (well at a lot of important places) and there is activity everywhere....

However, the Fluke is in storage and I'm not too sure if it works 100%...

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 08, 2015, 11:53:10 AM
Hmmm, I found a track that I fixed but the schematics show that this should be going elsewhere....gotta puzzle this out...
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 09, 2015, 01:30:31 AM
Ok found two tracks that didn't connect right, fixed those.....still same frozen garbage.

Then I probed around with the oscilloscope on the 3 chips that had the most piggy backed legs and comparing it with the schematics. Soon enough I found another track to be cut that I had missed. Bridged that too and.....we have life !!!

https://youtu.be/wUO1fcP2WRc

This may look like garbage still, but at least it's moving garbage which actually seems to show the messages and patterns of the TEST ROM.

Now Macros guide says that if you get this screen it's probably the RAMs at locations 3F and 3H or the buffer of those. I piggy backed the RAMS and saw some changes, cut out the most suspioucos one and put in socket and RAM from bootleg board.....some difference but not good. Maybe have to do the other too or replace the buffer.....but it's already way too late now :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 09, 2015, 07:23:37 AM
For comparison:here is what The test rom routine looks like:

http://youtu.be/vDT1D0-X2Kg


You can see the pattern of the blinking text, some fixed text and then the scanning of the VRAM on my board too, just garbled.

Need to order the buffer IC, 74LS245 and will order all the other already socketed TTLs too....they cost close to nothing so replacing them (and the sockets) will at least make it more reliable.....some of those chips have really weak and corroded looking pins.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Luigi on June 09, 2015, 08:27:08 AM
I can not help in any way here.....but keep going!! :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 09, 2015, 09:10:31 AM
I Will !!

Replaced both RAMs....no improvement......I was working too late obviously as I had put the single RAM in backwards  :shock:

Somehow it seems it didn't fry though as I have swapped both VRAMs with the program RAMs and the tests still run OK but same garbage. I guess it's the buffer IC then.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Franzy21 on June 09, 2015, 10:10:49 PM
For the info, I think there's one NAMCO GALAXIAN pcb on Yahoo! Auctions...

http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g153826591
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on June 09, 2015, 10:19:21 PM
I think its impressive and you are making progress.
you'll get it fixed, i am sure  :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 10, 2015, 09:16:57 AM
For the info, I think there's one NAMCO GALAXIAN pcb on Yahoo! Auctions...

http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g153826591

Thanks, great tip ! However 20000 yen is about 150 euro and that's without pretty expensive shipping I'm sure.

They sure did a thorough DC conversion on that one, they even removed the filter caps, which is OK, but it doesn't hurt to keep them there if they are OK.

I found some more TTLs I already had yesterday and swapped those, but no result. Also found some 2114s I had on stock and to be sure swapped those for the VRAM. Results look different but still garbage.

I also found a 74HCT245 so I removed the original buffer chip for the VRAM and installed this.....no joy.
The waveforms on this buffer look weird, maybe the other buffer is dead, I'll have to wait for the parts, they got shipped this morning from Germany (Reichelt).

I have a feeling it's time to get out the Fluke.

Also: having a working (loaned) board to compare things would be a great help.............anyone ?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ajhippel on June 10, 2015, 10:46:08 AM
we got a midway-galaxian board the last week (the seller said it works, but i did't check it yet)...i do not know how big the differences are but it nearly looks the same afair....

i will test it this week...
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ckong on June 10, 2015, 10:56:41 AM
Also: having a working (loaned) board to compare things would be a great help.............anyone ?

Like this one?

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/ckong65/Galaxian%20restoration/Namco%20GalaxianPCB%20-%20small_zpsky6e2e6b.jpg) (http://s50.photobucket.com/user/ckong65/media/Galaxian%20restoration/Namco%20GalaxianPCB%20-%20small_zpsky6e2e6b.jpg.html)

It's a 100% working Namco board that came with my Galaxian cab. Of course you can loan it, I can bring it with me the 28th and then you have some time to use it, until Eurocade for instance. I will play Galaga during that period!  :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 10, 2015, 01:22:08 PM
I love you !
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ckong on June 10, 2015, 02:15:08 PM
You change your mood fast! LOL
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 10, 2015, 02:20:38 PM
 ;D ;D ;D

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 11, 2015, 08:48:54 PM
I'm going to have a hard time to return that board my friend.....


Have you noticed anything.......special about it ?

No ?

Have a second look.....

Well....apart from the ROMs and CPU........NONE of the chips are socketed !!! This means that it has never had a repair !!!!!!
I see some small mods, but those look factory.

The fact that all the ROMs are on the board directly also says it's a very early board. Later boards (like mine) have only 3 ROM sockets for the program ROM and the daughterboard installed.

I like.

I can offer you a nice modern reliable 60in1 in return ! Just hack a 4 way joystick and some extra buttons in your CP and you can play 60 awesome classics in 1 cab !!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ckong on June 11, 2015, 09:27:13 PM
So I guess it's priceless?   :D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 01:25:29 AM
Nothing is priceless :)


Progress !!!!

Picked up my Fluke 9100 from storage to see if it could be of any help.

Thankfully, and despite some old notes on my iPad, the Z80 pod tested OK !

So I first tried to run the "unit under test" or in other words, let the Fluke emulate the Z80 processor. I got an error message about the reset line and I remembered you had to force something through set-up menu to prevent his message. Found out how and sure enough the board was running as before with the test rom patterns, but all garbled....
But I was already happy as this was a pretty good indication the pod was OK.

Next I dug up some memory map info (where is the RAM located) and ran some tests.

The video RAM tested OK, but when I tested RAM from address 4000 I got an error that address line A10 was stuck or open. So I probed pin 40 of the Z80 socket and sure enough no activity when running the test. This A10 line goes to a buffer IC and no activity on the inputs and output of that line, while the other three buffers in that chip showed activity for sure. Double checked it with the scope and indeed nothing.

I actually remembered I had already noticed this but thought the Test ROM might not be addressing that high so I kinda ignored it. Looking at it now I could have find this issue with just a logic probe or the scope, but anyway, the Fluke was helpful here.....

So now I need to get some 74LS367's....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 08:22:11 AM
Forgot some pics....

1) Z80 Fluke pod, as. You can see the board shows exactly the same when the Fluke is emulating a Z80 as when it was with a real processor.

2) the error message indicating Adress line 10 has a problem....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 08:24:58 AM
I wonder what it would cost to order every single type (well almost) of 74LS chip in one go.
I hate having to wait to get yet another 74LS every time......local electronics store is closed on Mondays and ordering one or two of these takes some days and relatively too high shipping costs....

Mmmm, let's see what I've already got and what I would still need....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 08:58:05 AM
Mmm, Reichelt has about 110 types of 74LS, Im guesstimatimg an average price of 50 cents each, that would be about 55 Euro's but.....
I think I already have about 20% of those types and maybe I can leave out any higher numbers say from above 400, no idea If higher than 400 were ever used in early 80s games ?

Also, are any common types missing in this list ?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 11:52:38 AM
Arrgghh...looks like I've been mislead. Adress line 10 only goes to the ROMs at 7F and 7J and not any RAM....weird.

I checked again and the buffer works OK, sigh.

Back to square 1
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 02:14:35 PM
BUT I WILL NOT GIVE UP GO(*&^$)&@^@#)^& !


 ;D ;D

OK, I remembered there was a lot of good info about using the Fluke here:

http://www.arcades.plus.com/galaxianfix.htm

So...I went by this guid step by step. Turns out that I used a wrong end-adress for checking the program RAM.
It has to be 4000-43FF, not 47FF as I was using. When I entered these numbers, the Fluke stayed silent, which means it was OK !

Great, so next let's do the video RAM (5000-53FF) , yup this passes without any problems too !

OK let's do Object RAM then and o-o...we found something:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 02:53:01 PM
Now Macro's site says this about Object RAM:

This is the sprite and colour ram. To write to this the CPU has to go through the first of the buffer chips (8F and 8H or 9B *). To read the contents back, it also uses additional buffer chips at  4L, 4M and 5M. This occupies memory from 5800 to 58FF. A failure in this will normally be down to the ram chips (4F and 5F) or the afore mentioned buffer chips.


Mmm, the Fluke says it can't WRITE to the RAM. I am actually NOT suspecting the RAM itself, it came from the working Bootleg board so I'm pretty sure they are good.
Now 4L,4M and 5M buffer ICs are only used when reading, OK let's do some reads only from some memory addresses in this range, get same data for all adresses (AF, sometimes other values) but no error message.
When I write a single address there's no error but when I read the same address still AF so it's not working clearly.

So I put the RAM test in LOOP (keeps repeating) and start probing around. Soon enough I find that the Write line of the RAMs stays high all the time. That can't be right, it should co low before and during a write operation. So I backtrack the signal to chip 8M pin 12 and sure enough a constant high there.
I suspected that chip 74LS138 but.....I've jumpered a trace before between the pin 20 of both RAMs and pin 12 of 8M, which is where the schematics say the signal comes from. There was no conductance between these pins so I suspect there was a cut made (remember, those two RAMs were not on the board when it was still a Tazz-Mania.

I wondered if there might be something else going on, so I desoldered the jumper wire and sure enough the output of 8M, pin 12 was happily toggling when running the RAM test.....mmmmm.

Could it be the RAMs after all then ? Well I simply removed them and tested again.....NOPE, still the Write signal staying high on the sockets....

I wonder if they somehow made some new connection anywhere for the conversion...gotta dig some more....yippie !  ::)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ckong on June 22, 2015, 03:07:32 PM
RESPECT!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 04:39:28 PM
Ok stupid me, looks like I "fixed" the existing track for write enable to the wrong pin (14) on 8M. Not with the jumper wire but while soldering some small repairs (gotta love converted boards....).

Ok so, the write enable line of the onbject Rams were connected to two outputs of 8M instead of one so I fixed this. (Pin 14 is unused here so it should not connect to anything). Now indeed I have very nice toggling on the write enable line when running the board !

However I  still have garbage, BUT there seems to be a bit of improvement. I can actually "read" some messages now (like ROM Ok) and f.i, this screen which should be saying
"TESTING RAM DON'T WORRY"

Also, the entire screen should be black. Now part is, but part is filled with B's. At least there seems to be some consistency here.... It feels like the test program is calling a certain character from the graphics ROM (a "blank") but every other line it seems to return a B instead....as if it's getting part of the info, but not all, like 1 bit missing....im thinking maybe one of the graphics EPROMs is not OK, but they do verify OK with Romident, but I've read that under high speed conditions an EPROM. Might behave different than on an EPROM reader....

OK apart form this the object RAM still produces errors while running a RAM test on the Fluke, although now it's simply a fact of that its writing 00's but it's reading AF all the time...well almost all the time, when I loop I sometimes get another value but usually AF, AF, AF.....and seems to happen on various memory addresses within the Object RAM range....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 08:07:43 PM
Mmmmm, found out that A2 (pin 2) on both 2101 RAMs is constantly low while all other address lines pulse.

This leads back to 74157 at position 5E. The corresponding inputs are grounded according to schematics (pin 10) and the other one (pin 11) pulses away happily.
All other outputs pulse.
I have a feeling this 74157 migt be dead.

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 08:10:47 PM
Found a nice overview for checking Galaxian PCBs here:

http://www.paladingrp.com/brianb/board_fixes/galaxian/galaxian_info.html#object-RAM-troubleshooting
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on June 22, 2015, 09:23:06 PM
You'll get it working i am sure  ;)

I like to folow your progress, its way beyond my knowledge, but still interesting to read.

Don't know if i linked this before, but Adam over at KLOV does some great repair vids, and one of them is a galaxian repair.

don't know if it helps you in this case, but i like them vids.

He also uses the fluke alot, so that can come in handy also  :)

(http://img.youtube.com/vi/fFQ9pEk5ANU/0.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFQ9pEk5ANU)
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/player.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFQ9pEk5ANU)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 22, 2015, 10:41:44 PM
Yes, great addition to the thread Etienne ! Indeed I watched it before and I really liked his drawing because it gives a nice overview how stuff interacts.

I also saw his (?) Punch Out videos using the Fluke, even if that's not the game I'm (or anyone) is working on, it is still very useful !

His Fluke is a 9010, I have a 9100. The 9100 is more advanced in about every way you can think (so advanced, you COULD program a script that would test a board from front to end in one go....but it would take YEARS to develop something like that.....this was only useful for factories. It can even "drive" a robot tester....

However, the 9010 is so much more used in this hobby that there is more info about that one available. Message returned by the 9100 are different (more clear text compared to abbreviations). It also does the tests better and faster AFAIK, but still....since "everyone" has a 9010 it's sometimes a bit confusing.

The 9010 is definitly already more than what you'd ever need for the hobby, the 9100 is 100x overkill and I use only the basic functions.

The probe is brilliant though, even though I could just as well use a 10 bucks one ;)

I am aware that it is hard to follow by texts only. You'd need to have at least the schematics in front _and_ understand a bit what everything does, but I'm also writing this for myself and hopefully some others can use it in the future.

I plan to make a video of how I work with the 9100A. It's a very cool device, especially for free  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 23, 2015, 01:29:41 AM
Just for fun I entered 74LS157 in youtube.....and look what I found.....

http://youtu.be/Z055lTbPPAg

Thats actually a pretty useful little program and I downloaded it :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 23, 2015, 06:05:55 PM
74LS157 replaced by 74HCT157 @ 5E (the only thing the shop near where I was working today had in stock).

The good news: Success !!!! The output (pin 9) is now pulsing now and then when running UUT, this definitely did NOT happen before.
The bad news: the goddamned screen still looks the same and RAM tests @5800-58FF still only return AF......

So I fixed something that wasn't even apparent yet because there's a bigger problem that hid this one .......


Out of frustration I replaced both graphics EPROM sockets, but I didn't suspect them although there were a bit loose....all signals seemed OK and indeed after replacing them no change (but it feels better to have the new sockets in ;))
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 24, 2015, 10:03:41 AM
I posted about my problems on KLOV and Brian Brzezicki posted a link to his AMAZING website:

http://www.arcade-cabinets.com/resources.shtml

His site has BRILLIANT walk throughs of how to work with a Fluke and explaining how the hardware works along the way.

This is a MUST read even if you don't have a Fluke, it will still give a good insight in ow everything works on a classic arcade PCB.

The Galaxian page I linked to earlier is actually a part of this site.

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: anunaki on June 24, 2015, 10:46:29 AM
great link
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Q*ris on June 24, 2015, 11:08:40 AM
great link
+1!!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ajhippel on June 24, 2015, 04:48:57 PM
are the namco schematics similar to the midways?

i want to have a look ;-)

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Laszo on June 24, 2015, 05:15:40 PM
Well no succes so far but really nice blog post. We are all with you on this one. Keep it up  :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 24, 2015, 05:45:57 PM
Actually, Muerto was so kind too send me the original Namco schematics. They are still somewhere between Denmark and The Netherlands though, but I plan to scan them hi-res. totally awesome gift from Michael, I love to have original docs with my machines !!!

One thing that is surely different is the audio output stages, and Andy from the UK discovered that Namco boards have different resistors in the video output stages which results in slightly different colors IIIRC.

Thanks Leo :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ajhippel on June 25, 2015, 01:57:15 PM
staring at the pic i think the following...

bit 1 (started counting from 0) is always high every 2nd line (or every 32 characters)
that means bit 1 (decimal 2) is always "set" to the "normal" char...

that means in the char-roms the address line a4 is high every 2nd line (or 32 characters).

(the address line a0-a2 are the 8 bytes for the charlines, a3=ok,a4 is high)

going more "backwards" in the schematics -> that could mean: whenever the VRA5 is high, the VRAM1 is high as well

it still can be a lot...

but try checking this:
3k 74157 mux
check for a short on 1a(pint2) /1b (pin 3)  (should be open) - but it seems that this one's working

3h Ram 2114
check for a short on VRA5 (pin2) and VRAM1 (Pin12) (should be open)

on a lot of old boards, the 2114 die... in a strange way

if you didn't replace this 2114 yet...try this one...


the prob could (and should) be around this section (3h,3k,4k)


[edit]
It could also be, that the cpu can not write into the char-ram properly...
check also 5j Ls245 (pin 4)
 
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ckong on June 25, 2015, 02:18:43 PM
My thoughts exactly.  LOL
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 25, 2015, 06:48:45 PM
My thoughts exactly.  LOL
Now he tells me  ;D ;D ;D

Awesome info Jochen.....I must say it drove me pretty mad yesterday evening...

The good news is that Marco's board arrived, waahoo !

And also a strange envelope from Denmark with some handwritten nonsens on it.....mmm.... I wonder if this is delivered correctly :D

I'll put up a pic later :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 25, 2015, 06:52:22 PM
Hehe, glad it caught your attention  ;) :D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 25, 2015, 07:03:46 PM
LOL :D

Loved to see that Michael and thanks, AWESOME feeling to have these factory drawings in hand, love them !

The PCB that Marco sent me looks very very nice !!! very original too....which also means it's expecting AC and no I'm not going to DC mod it....so I need to find a transformer that will do......didn't think about that ....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 25, 2015, 07:10:15 PM
I´m glad they are in the right hands, and being used!!  :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 25, 2015, 08:10:10 PM
How did you get them if I may ask, always interested in such things :)

I just noticed on the schematics that it needs both 7 VAC and 12 VAC to work....yiha....I have a 12VAC transformer but 7.....mmmmm
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 25, 2015, 08:24:12 PM
They where in the bottom of the Galaxian cab I bought, and now I come to think about it, I think the PCB in it might a NAMCO too.. Have to unwrap it again to find out.... Interesting!!!  :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on June 25, 2015, 11:04:32 PM
They where in the bottom of the Galaxian cab I bought, and now I come to think about it, I think the PCB in it might a NAMCO too.. Have to unwrap it again to find out.... Interesting!!!  :)

Ofcourse it is, you have the Namco - bertolino version.

why would there be a midway in there if its a "Namco-Berolino" cabinet  ::) ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 25, 2015, 11:49:05 PM
Exactly.....Namco probably sent the boards and schematics and Berolini made the cabs :)

That also explains why there are relatively many Namco boards in Europe I guess.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 26, 2015, 01:00:22 AM
But....but............wait a minute that means you parted original documentation from your Namco Galaxian cab !!! ow man......I feel guilty !!!!
 :oops: :oops: :oops:


Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 26, 2015, 09:29:56 AM
But....but............wait a minute that means you parted original documentation from your Namco Galaxian cab !!! ow man......I feel guilty !!!!
 :oops: :oops: :oops:

No worries, I'm fine with that, besides, I have Galaga which is a much better game
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on June 26, 2015, 09:32:47 AM
But....but............wait a minute that means you parted original documentation from your Namco Galaxian cab !!! ow man......I feel guilty !!!!
 :oops: :oops: :oops:

No worries, I'm fine with that, besides, I have Galaga which is a much better game

I have to agree with that  ;D ;) ;D

And dont forget Gaplus, thats also cool !
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: anunaki on June 26, 2015, 09:35:55 AM
yup, I also agree

but the Japanese Galaxian sideart is way cooler then Galaga ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 26, 2015, 01:52:30 PM
yup, I also agree

but the Japanese Galaxian sideart is way cooler then Galaga ;D

Thats right! - but you cant play sideart ;) :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 26, 2015, 05:00:11 PM
Will you guys please stop polluting my thread ?








 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 26, 2015, 11:00:24 PM
Sorry, back to André answering André :D :D :D  ;)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 27, 2015, 12:27:26 AM
Waaaahahahaha....yes let me talk to myself again....LOL
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 28, 2015, 10:36:42 AM
I did the fastest CPO replacement in my history of restoring last Friday evening and yesterday. I love quick drying paint and good weather to help with that :)

I first tore away the cracking top layer with left me with hard to remove plastic stuff....the electric heat paint stripper and a scraper helped.....finished the job with he powerful belt-sander and then some light hand sanding.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 28, 2015, 10:37:57 AM
Of course I was doing the marquee retainer too now.

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 28, 2015, 10:41:38 AM
Man something small and simple like a bent piece of metal with some holes make a HUGE difference in looks....

The CPO material is much thinner than the one from arcadeshop. Maybe this was not OK for an arcade environment but it is just fine for our hobby, the look of the material is identical (structure on top).

It also makes installing it WAY easier, it is much more flexible but this also means you really have to use a rake to prevent bubbles. I got two or three still....hope they will disappear, this sometimes happens.

There was no need to apply heat for the bends.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 28, 2015, 10:44:40 AM
And installed !!!! Mounted fresh carriage bolts and finally the CP is done and will stay !

The CPO looks really nice. The only obvious difference is that the blue is darker. Howeve, I recently saw an ad with a NOS CPO and I honestly think the Blues were a bit darker too.....but I'm. Past that kind of anal levels....the P1 and P2 men are a little bit close to the button but I really needed to center the area around the joystick.

All,in all really happy with it and I'll be ordering from Olly again for sure !
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: anunaki on June 28, 2015, 10:54:24 AM
great result  Andfre, but you know this is your Galaxian thread ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Thwocker on June 28, 2015, 11:58:10 AM
LOL   ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on June 28, 2015, 06:43:37 PM
Hihiiii, what´s with the Q*bert stuff in the Galaga Galaxian thread??  :D :D
Anyways, grapped my Galaxian PCP from storage today so I could have a look at it:

(http://www.opdenkelder.com/muerto/arc/galaxianpcbs.jpg) (http://www.opdenkelder.com/muerto/arc/galaxianpcbl.jpg)

Though it dosen´t say NAMCO on it, it´s the same(?) layout...

The NANCO from earlier in this thread:
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/ckong65/Galaxian%20restoration/Namco%20GalaxianPCB%20-%20small_zpsky6e2e6b.jpg)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on June 28, 2015, 08:51:01 PM
Crap, wrong thread LOL !!!

Mmmmmmm, maybe they did make PCBs in Italy after all ??
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 01, 2015, 07:35:08 PM
Pffffff. Way too hot to do ANYTHING....but sit in my Intex pool......

However...I now have two Galaxian boards here, one from Marco which is untested but looking great, the other from Erik which looks just as great and is known working.

However, I didnt have the proper AC voltages to power them and I was SURE not going to mod them !!

Now, In theory I should have the correct power supply in the Galaxian cab, but I was definitely not planning on taking it out (for now) and hacking the harness.....

I needed a seperate suitable transformer so let's see what these cost....can't go cheapest because it needs to be able to deliver quite a bit of current...

http://www.reichelt.nl/TRAFO-TE-137/3/index.html?&ACTION=3&LA=446&ARTICLE=31034&artnr=TRAFO+TE+137&SEARCH=Transformer+6v+12v

Mmm, that's not a bad price but.....just for testing.....let's check ye'olde Marktplaats....

BINGO, a transformer with lots of voltages and 2A for less than 12 Euro shipped :):):)

Arrived today....this will be nice for any future AC requirements too :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 01, 2015, 08:34:41 PM
Hope the 6 V will be enough, has to be 7 officially....that and 12 is needed to power a Galaxian VAC style....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ajhippel on July 02, 2015, 09:38:42 AM
i used the dc-wiring like here:

https://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/spies.cgi?action=url&type=pinout&page=Pac.html

it worked well for testing purposes without hacking the board.



Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 03, 2015, 08:59:17 AM
Right........if only I had known earlier LOL.......no,seriously, these are boards from friends in the hobby and I would feel extremely bad if it _would_ damage something in some way.....
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on July 03, 2015, 04:04:33 PM
Come to think of; Does the schematics I send you match the original NAMCO PCB?, I mean (not that I want them back or anything) they probably match my "NAMCO" Galaxian PCB which is a bit different than the original...
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Thwocker on July 04, 2015, 11:13:57 AM
Right........if only I had known earlier LOL.......no,seriously, these are boards from friends in the hobby and I would feel extremely bad if it _would_ damage something in some way.....

don't worry Andre, you can work on the board I sent you as much as you want - go go go! (if the heat doesn't make you want to do nothing, pfffff... too hot!)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 05, 2015, 02:22:39 AM
@Michael: I would be just as happy with printed repro's my friend so I would have zero problems sending them back, they belong to your machine, I simply and honestly forgot you had the Bertolino Namco one :)

I scanned them in 2400dpi format, just need to stich them (anyone know a good OS X tool for that ?) and convert into a reasonable size.
I'd need to check some parts and values, in general,lines the Midway and Namco are the same, but I guess you mean there might be any differences between Europe produced PCBs  and Japanese one's.

@Marco: exactly....been very busy this weekend and with the heat I have very little motivation to do anything on top....

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Q*ris on July 05, 2015, 09:50:09 AM
I scanned them in 2400dpi format, just need to stich them (anyone know a good OS X tool for that ?) and convert into a reasonable size.
Do you have photoshop?
 :arrow: Files/automate/photomerge
I can sure do that for you.
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 05, 2015, 09:44:48 PM
That was an excellent tip Chris, Downloaded Photoshop and that function works magically !!!!

Now trying to get the whites whiter and the blacks blacker to get more contrast....the brightness/contrast function works but not enough for my taste...

On the other side:
I was wiring up the transformer I bought and checked the schematics and realize I need center tapped voltages and this transformer does not provide that....any way I can hook it up still ? I don't think so... :(

Jochen, does hooking up DC to an unmodified board not damage any of the voltage regulating components ?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 06, 2015, 12:37:29 AM
OK I had another look at the schematics and can't find a reason why any component would "die" from applying the DC voltages as described on mikes arcade.com so I went for it. First hooked up Marco's board and for half a second I saw the usual boot up garbage and then a black screen followed by the boot up garbage again etc. etc.
So it was constantly resetting/watchdogging but I could also make out a very short Bad RAM 2.

So next I tried Erik's board and that one went up in flames and smoke right away !!!!















Well just kidding of course......it looked pretty great actually:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 06, 2015, 12:42:33 AM
I think the green is missing but that's just a bad wire or so on my adapter I guess.

Now I went back to Marco's board and hooked it up to the Fluke.

The short story is that the Fluke says Program RAM and Object RAM are fine but Video RAM has a defect and its on the 2114 at 3H.

That is the short version. I made a video demonstrating how the Fluke 9100A's basics work which I'll post ASAP.

So....I'll need to replace that RAM Erik. I could solder it to the board directly but using a socket will make it easier to replace in the future. Would you still accept that board as a trade for your Namco one with that upgrade ? ;)

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ckong on July 06, 2015, 08:59:38 AM
Wow,  bad joke.  You had me for a second.

Yes,  you can use a socket.  Just make Marco's board 100% working,  place the missing cooler and test the board thoroughly.  Then the very rare,  very special and very desirable Namco board is yours.  :)
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: anunaki on July 06, 2015, 09:14:29 AM
I heard about the ultimate repair for a Galaxian PCB: This let's you play Galaga on it :spaceace:

 :lol:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 06, 2015, 11:30:07 AM
Wow,  bad joke.  You had me for a second.

Yes,  you can use a socket.  Just make Marco's board 100% working,  place the missing cooler and test the board thoroughly.  Then the very rare,  very special and very desirable Namco board is yours.  :)
Waahaha LOL.....sorry my friend, couldnt resist.....

Honestly: when I hooked up your board (not using the Fluke yet) I only got frozen garbage so I had a small heart-attack because I knew your board is/was working fine. So I went....WTF ?!?!?! and powered down right away. Luckily I saw the problem right away too: the processor had half come out of the socket. That is one extremely loose socket and I can hardly blame it, it is one of those ultra rare ancient white sockets....it's a miracle the thing actually works.

Pushed back the processor powered up and working ......pfffffoeeeee...

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ckong on July 06, 2015, 03:00:56 PM
Wow,  bad joke.  You had me for a second.

Yes,  you can use a socket.  Just make Marco's board 100% working,  place the missing cooler and test the board thoroughly.  Then the very rare,  very special and very desirable Namco board is yours.  :)
Waahaha LOL.....sorry my friend, couldnt resist.....

..... so I had a small heart-attack .......

 :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:   ;) ;)   ;D ;D
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Muerto on July 06, 2015, 03:54:48 PM
@Michael: I would be just as happy with printed repro's my friend so I would have zero problems sending them back, they belong to your machine, I simply and honestly forgot you had the Bertolino Namco one :)

I scanned them in 2400dpi format, just need to stich them (anyone know a good OS X tool for that ?) and convert into a reasonable size.
I'd need to check some parts and values, in general,lines the Midway and Namco are the same, but I guess you mean there might be any differences between Europe produced PCBs  and Japanese one's.

Please keep them, or frame them above the game  :)
If I can get a copy of the finished scan, it would be great!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 06, 2015, 05:21:50 PM
Quick "live" look at the "workplace":

Had to replace both RAMs, Erik be happy, a breeze to replace them in the future....if needed.




And...............yessssssssss board runs !!!!

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 06, 2015, 09:37:22 PM
Green fixed, looks much nicer. I credited the game,started a game  could move the player and shoot and I measure sound on the speaker outputs.....this is good to go !!!, WOOHOOO !

On top of everything, Marco today messaged me that he donated this board for the good cause, so now this board will go into Erik's cab and I can keep Erik's Namco board...


This forum is full of fantastic people  :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace: I owe you guys some beers at Eurocade !!!!!!
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ckong on July 06, 2015, 09:48:23 PM
 :spaceace:
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: Laszo on July 06, 2015, 11:56:31 PM
👍 well done, great repair, great people?
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 08, 2015, 11:21:17 PM
For those who are interested .....half an hour of me blabbing about the 9100A:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwB4_CDSS2w&feature=youtu.be
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: nilfisk on July 09, 2015, 06:57:56 AM
Cool, I just watched it.

Also good to see you're on the Techtoolslist as well! :)


For those who are interested .....half an hour of me blabbing about the 9100A:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwB4_CDSS2w&feature=youtu.be

Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: level42 on July 09, 2015, 10:13:31 AM
Hah yeah been there for a while, like it :)

Thanks !
Title: Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
Post by: ckong on July 09, 2015, 06:36:30 PM
Indeed interesting. I'm glad that you know how to operate those machines.  :)