[Restoration] Paperboy - delivering papers ... again!

[level42]

Well, actually these checks are very basic and should be performed on any cab you get, working or not. F.I. a game could be working but the voltages could be "just" right.(let's say, 4,75V) That is probably enough to keep the game running OK, but it's operating on the (lower) edge of what will work. It takes very little to make the game crash f.i.

I'm not a PCB repair wizard. I can do some basic stuff, but I struggle with it too mostly. I understand the basics but I lack a good test-bench (yet) and some equipment. If it's basic stuff, open a thread in the Technical area about it.

[Etienne MacGyver]

maybe, just a idea, to make a dedicated sticky topic in the technical area ?

[Superully]

ok, checked for ac and dc voltages on the boards - have a look 





the 4.90 is well within tolerable level, all the other voltages (-5, -15, +15) checked out ok as well (hope i didn't forget any).

i've also checked the connections of the ics and the soldering islands: BEEP everywhere! haven't followed the tracks yet though. i'll also try replacing the rams with new ones - found a private person in germany who is going to sell me his spare rams. this solution was suggested by someone on the klov forum. i'll fix this eventually 

[Superully]

oh wait, just got an idea: why not take the rams from my championship sprint and put them on the paperboy board. CS is working, so those rams should be fine. if it doesn't work, i at least save some money, if it DOES work, i can buy the replacement rams after all  man, i'm so freaking' smart

[Etienne MacGyver]

Your getting better every day ully ! 

[Superully]

nice to hear the words "you have a friend in the paper business" for the first time 

"what the heck is he talking about?", you must be thinking. well, let me start from the beginning ...

i went to patrik's place to get the championship sprint boards (from the greenhouse). the first thing i did was exchange ALL the rams type 6116 between the two boards.

RESULTS: RAM ERROR AT 3B     this means that the rams are ok, because the CS board is working nicely

next thing i did was take the CS sprint board (which already has the PB rams installed now) and change the CS roms with the PB roms. i now have an ex-CS-board which has both the rams and the roms from the PB-board installed. time to plug it in and turn the machine on!

RESULTS: board passes the ram / rom tests, continues with the sound chip test and ends this with the words "you have a friend in the paper business" for a test of the speech function!

YEAH - I HAVE A WORKING PAPERBOY BOARD!!! 

i guess from this i can draw the following conclusion: paperboy rams and roms are ok, there has to be some kind of defect on the board itself!

now a question for the experts: where would you start looking, is that something that i can fix myself, should i simply try to get a replacement board, ...

OPINIONS PLEASE 

[level42]

I think it should either be a bad track or a buffer IC. Those ICs are between the CPU (processor) and the RAM chips.


Edit: Where did you measure that 5.01 V and where the 4.90 V ? I suggest raising the voltage a _little_ bit. Set the 5.01 to 5.05 and the 4.90 to 4.95. You have a better margin by doing so.

Usually I measure the 5 Volts also close to the end of the board. You will see that it has a bit lower value on the end then at the entry point (near the connector).

[Superully]

Where did you measure that 5.01 V and where the 4.90 V ? I suggest raising the voltage a _little_ bit. Set the 5.01 to 5.05 and the 4.90 to 4.95. You have a better margin by doing so.

i measured the 5 volts on the video pcb and the 4.9 volts on the cpu pcb directly at the test points that you pointed me at. i know how to raise voltages on a switching power supply, but how is this done with the power supply used in my paperboy? 

[level42]

You can't regulate it there, that's for sure !

Does it have an AR-II board ? If so there should be a potmeter there...

[Etienne MacGyver]

I almost suggested that he should increase the primary voltage  like 260 Volts instead of 240 

[Superully]

come on guys, let's do some noob bashing! 

GIVE IT TO ME - I'M SO READY!!! 

[level42]

OK, you asked for it !

The AR-III (AR stands for Audio-Regulator (hey, ding-ding-ding !) is on the back-door of the cab on the lowest part of it.

There should be a potmeter on there somewhere. What is a potmeter I hear you say.

Well, let me Google that for you: http://tinyurl.com/yc8rbqk

If there are MORE than 1 potmeter, check the schematics. I am not familiar with the AR-III (I _am_ familiar with the AR-II, but that one's a bit different).

 

Seriously:
In doubt DON'T adjust it. And if you do it move only VERY tiny bits !!!

[Etienne MacGyver]

come on guys, let's do some noob bashing! 

GIVE IT TO ME - I'M SO READY!!! 

Just kidding you my friend 
i have great respect for your work 

[Superully]

Well, let me Google that for you ...

haha, let me google that for you - that's classy!  still laughing ...

and don't worry about bashing me, i'm getting so many compliments from you guys, i can take whatever you throw at me as long as you don't insult my cats no hard feelings whatsoever, i've been talking and joking with you guys for such a long time now, i'm sure we all know by now how to take comments from the others.

GAME ON!!!

[Superully]

the restoration continues ...

i switched the roms and rams between the video pcbs of paperboy and championship sprint - paperboy is up and running now. however, this is only a temporary solution, because i need to find a working system 2 video pcb (or fix the exisiting one) in order to run championship sprint later on. for now, i'm happy to be able to deliver some papers!  



in order to give the control panel even more stability, the panel was originally screwed to the front. that's why i'm drilling two holes to add this extra support. since the holes are for "square screws", i'm using a chisel to make the holes square.



now on to the fun part: removing the protective layer of the sidearts



looking very good underneath



fantastic ! the two airbubbles that can be seen on the photo have been removed in the meantime! die, you b****es  



checklist please:

- fix the pcb (or get a working one)
- drill supporting holes for the control panel on the front of the cabinet
- fix the player controls to the control panel
- remove the protective layer from the sidearts  
- move it next to the other machines

looks like i'm done with everything, so here's a couple of more pictures  







battle of the systems: system 2 vs. system 1  



my printer is having some color issues, that's why the mandatory keyring is still missing. however, this doesn't keep be from writing the following words:

THIS RESTORATION IS OFFICIALLY DONE!!!

thx a lot for your support and all the positive feedback you're giving me.  

be seeing you!