Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle
General Chat => Galaxian Theater => Topic started by: guruguys on November 05, 2011, 03:49:28 AM
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I've had the Starblade a couple of months now after asking you guys if it was a wise decision to buy and deciding on the purchase. Upon getting it I realized that only one of the trigger switches worked and it felt so loose it was almost falling out. I am hoping to find a replacement conrtol at some point, but that didn't stop me from trying to fix the switches in the meantime.
Someone had already taken the switches out and one of them was modified for an aftermarket switch of a slightly different shape so the trigger harness had to be modified. This is unfortunate because I was given all the original microswitches and found that you can open them up, clean them real good and bend the contacts just a bit so they get better contract and they are now working good as new! I did this to three of the switches and reinstalled but unfortunately the modification of the control harness/grip, where the switches fit in, was messed up to the point I had to use the aftermarket switch. The aftermarket switch feels just a bit harder to press than the original switches, but it works and the original red button fits in it so they all match externally. All the switches feel a bit loose, but from what I recall this is pretty normal from a Starblade machine.
I tried to find replacement strobes, DarthNuno has some NOS but they are way too expensive for me at this point in time. Fortunately I found a thread on KLOV (see end of post) which explained how to rebuild the Starblade strobes. I ordered the replacement Xenon bulbs and when they came in it took no more than 15 minutes each to dremel open the strobe dome, de-sauder the old lights and sauder the new ones in. After putting the strobes back in the game they still didn't work but I found a fuse that was disconnected and after reconnecting it they both work great!
The reflection dome was cracked on the bottom right of my unit but fortunately it is an area that the monitor doesn't reflect (otherwise I would have never bought the game.) I got lucky and a few weeks after I bought it the person I bought it from found the part that had cracked off (all in one piece). I was able to have a guy that works with plexi 'weld' it back on from the back side and unless you know where to look at you would never notice it was cracked and repaired! I'm so happy about this as the reflector mirror replacement seems impossible to find!
I am having an issue with the sound, for some reason the sound is biased on the right side. When I go into the sound test menu it says 'Right' and the sound comes out of the right (front and rear), then it says 'Left' and the sound STILL come out of the right. During gameplay, sound comes out of all four speakers but the right speakers are very dominant (especially the right rear). I have checked the wiring harness near the monitor and it all matches up, I will get behind the game and check the wires from that point on. Is there anything else I should look for that would cause this problem?
I need to do some cleaning up of the machine and tightening of bolts here and there. I also need to find a replacement for the red plexi that goes over the light on the gun as this part has been cracked on mine and since it is front and center it looks really bad! If anyone has this part or an entire control panel that is in good shape PLEASE let me know.
Here is the link on how to repair the Flashboy Strobes at KLOV:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showpost.php?s=c318e999bb2601e7dfe88975d7e36f20&p=1394576&postcount=10 (http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showpost.php?s=c318e999bb2601e7dfe88975d7e36f20&p=1394576&postcount=10)
I used white electrical tape to seal up / reattach the dome once done. Attached is a pic of my Flashboy after I cut it open with a dremel tool.
Once I get the machine looking better I will take more pictures of it all.
Thanks for the help those of you have giving me here (public and privately). At least one more StarBlade has been saved for now!
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We want pics of the machine !!
Starblade.....if only I had the space....I even know one for sale...
Aboout the flash boys: I already thought that that would be the cheapest way to fix them.
What I find interesting is that it has 4 wires. Does that mean that the game controls the flashes ? A regular xenon flasher (like we use in my work for fire alarms) has a fixed flash rate of f.i. 1 flash per second.) I can imagine the extra wires provide some control over when it flashes.
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Thanks for the tip, Guruguys :)
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Dude - Im glad my strobe rebuild thread came in handy.
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Can someone make a video of those strobes in action ?? Want to see how they flash...
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Can someone make a video of those strobes in action ?? Want to see how they flash...
They are quite bright, alot like a camera flash.
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Frequency ? 1 flash per second or does the software control the flash rate ?
Basically it's nothing but a standard Xeon flash bulb just like uses in flashers we use on fire alarm systems....
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My Starblade will be at SCS - check for yourself then Andre :spaceace:
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COOOOOOOOOOOOL !!!
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Very exciting cockpit, "StartBlade"! I remember very well when it arrives to Madrid (Spain). I love the shot sound.
Regards
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Regarding that sound issue, if you haven't already solved it, it seems at first as a sort of hack or pot trouble (as the pots aren't very expenseive type). I would check all the wiring between the game board and the audio-board, and the audio-board and the pots, all the way to the speakers. And disconnecting to isolate the channels.
Also check the audioboard in particular, as it isn't any normal amplifier, but also a frequency devider which splits the two channels from the mainboard to four individual channels. There may be a bad capacitor, or worse.
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I'm thinking about getting another Starblade that is for sale near me to use for spare parts. I might try swapping the audio board if I do this. I've tried just about everything else.