Author Topic: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)  (Read 73330 times)

DarthNuno

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #15 on: December 21, 2011, 03:22:03 PM »
Quote
[...] Impossible not having it for my kind of 'arcade-museum-concept' to come [...]

This phrase can not go unnoticed  ;D

Tell us more ...

Well, it's just something I have in my head. I'll wait to have the game room v3 completed first, and then I'll start to figure out what I'll do to 'share' the ALS experience  ;)

DarthNuno

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #16 on: December 22, 2011, 09:59:41 AM »
Unloading the 'beast'... but not more space inside 'any' Lair, so that one will join my living room, yes... once more  :P

I'll have to unload that monster alone. No problem, as usual here's my Sith technique to do it. I drive back until the entrance on the kitchen...



...which is almost on the same level than the car...



...and I have to do now is pushing it...



...it's in. Hopefully my wife is not here atm. No more roam in the kitchen  ;D  :arrow:



...and voilĂ , on 'location'  8)  :arrow:



Thanks again to ChrisChris to provide me my dose of Dr Pepper ZERO!  :-*



My 'collector' version of International Karate  :P  :arrow:



I told you that Wacko is an 'oversized' cabinet... see the difference with that Burger Time for example  :shock:  :arrow:



This is it... ready for the WIP...



Next step, plug the game and see what's wrong... Stay Tuned  :P

Belike

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #17 on: December 22, 2011, 10:09:11 AM »
Nice cab, don't put your glass of beer on the control panel tho. ;D

gyruss

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #18 on: December 22, 2011, 10:10:07 AM »
it looks even more wacky standing next to a 'normal' cab!

DarthNuno

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #19 on: December 22, 2011, 12:37:49 PM »
 ;D

Let's check that beast a little bit closer...



A special view for Etienne  ;)  :arrow:



The serial number is engraved into the wood : 377 I wonder how many Wacko were built? :



The SN is also written here and there on the cabinet. Damn... the shape of this cabinet was also a problem for the coins?!  ;D  :arrow:



Serial also written here :



Usual switch settings sheet :



Overall view from the backdoor :



Found that inside... to keep of course.   :arrow:



The components...





Hey? What's inside that plastic back on the back door?  :arrow:



It's for ordering the dedicated WACKO manual operator...



...not included.



Which is correct. The manual included here ...



...is a generic one. It includes schematics for Wacko but no mention to the settings/game play specific to Wacko.

OK, next step plug the game and see what's wrong...

Etienne MacGyver

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #20 on: December 22, 2011, 01:00:29 PM »
A special view for Etienne  ;)  :arrow:



hehehe cool !  ;D

DarthNuno

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #21 on: December 22, 2011, 04:35:14 PM »
An other interesting fact about Wacko (thanks Oliver  ;)) : the main personage's named Kapt. Krooz'r and he's also the main character in the game Kozmik Krooz'r
Kozmik Krooz'r may have actually been co-released with Wacko, so Wacko might not actually be a true prequel. Here's the cabinet  :arrow:



Kozmik Krooz'r is housed in a huge purple cabinet with artwork of Kapt. Krooz'r in his flying saucer on both sides. There is also artwork of Kapt. Krooz'r flying in his spaceship and/or zapping enemies on the marquee, the bezel, and the front of the control panel. The monitor is mounted so that it is slightly tilted away from the player, to give some perspective of depth. A yellow plastic spaceship -- the mothership that Kapt. Krooz'r must enter during the game -- constantly spins around. A red LED on the mothership illuminates when it sends out the tractor beam onto the screen. The mothership also has a sticker that says "5000 bonus points" on it.

The control panel is blue with a picure of Kapt. Kroozr near the middle on the top surface of the control panel. The controls are labeled in yellow and red and are "Aim" (the encoder wheel), "Shield" (pressing down the encoder wheel), "Zap" (the trigger on the joystick) and "Krooz" (moving the joystick). A blacklight illuminates the control panel so it appears to glow fluorescent blue, fluorescent red, and fluorescent yellow. A starfield is also illuminated by a blacklight and reflected in front of the monitor onto a transparent mirror. (klov info)

level42

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #22 on: December 22, 2011, 07:17:00 PM »
Yup, I played Kroozer this summer at Funspot! Cool game and artwork!

Alpha1

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #23 on: December 22, 2011, 09:19:34 PM »
Bruno,

If the pcb has issues, Guddler on UKVAC can fix MCR pcbs!

baritonomarchetto

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #24 on: December 23, 2011, 11:46:44 AM »
C'mon Bruno, turn the cab on!
"A true Gentleman leaves no puzzle unsolved"

DarthNuno

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #25 on: December 23, 2011, 02:24:40 PM »
OK, OK... let's plug the lady  8) As expected  :-\  :arrow:



Graphics garbag on boot!

Well, let's to the basic controls : all the fuses are OK, check all the cables, boot with/without the test mode switch selected, hard reset switch pressed ... still the same graphic garbages on screen.
Mhhh, so the next step will be to control all the tension/voltage. The generic manual ?for some reason? doesn't include the schematic for the common 'power supply' 125V board.
Anyway, I know I have one or two of these somewhere in my attic.... probably not working but it worths a try...
Ok, got one, not exactly the same reference, but the components look similar. So I quickly put it in 'parallel' mode  ;) :arrow:



Holy shit!  :o :P  :arrow:



The game boot... after few seconds, it resets, and then it boots again... but interval between the reset and the boot seems to grow...



...and it gives me enough time to play it  ;D



Ok, now let's compare the two boards.

On the left, the original one named A082-90412-D000, on the right the one used for my test here, named A082-90412-C000



What would be the difference between these two 'revisions' ?

I suspect the original one not to work because of acid damages, see  :arrow:





Now, the funny thing... see the board I've used for this test  :arrow:



What it the purpose of that missing component (present on the original one) ? It's funny because the game is 'almost' working without that one?

Etienne MacGyver

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #26 on: December 23, 2011, 02:37:10 PM »
Looks like a battery pack, maybe for bookkeeping ?

edit

it is a battery pack,

maybe this link helps :

http://users.rcn.com/jenison/mars/trouble/part/powersupply/MCR/

on that site also says that bob roberts sells repair kits
« Last Edit: December 23, 2011, 02:48:37 PM by Etienne »

Alpha1

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #27 on: December 23, 2011, 03:53:39 PM »
Bruno,

You could re-cap and put new transistors in the Wacko power supply board. Or you could keep it there for originality but not use it. And instead bypass it with this kit.

http://www.arcadeshop.com/mcr/mcr.htm

The kit is VERY VERY GOOD. It puts a new switcher into the game and gives much better reliability.


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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #28 on: December 23, 2011, 04:11:55 PM »
Yes of course that's the battery ! Desolder it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to prevent further acid damage !!


DarthNuno

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Re: :: UK Road Trip #17 :: Midway WACKO ! (featuring guest stars)
« Reply #29 on: December 23, 2011, 05:04:45 PM »
Looks like a battery pack, maybe for bookkeeping ?

edit

it is a battery pack,

maybe this link helps :

http://users.rcn.com/jenison/mars/trouble/part/powersupply/MCR/

on that site also says that bob roberts sells repair kits


Thanks for the link. Yeps, it's the battery :

BATTERY SUPPLY: This supply is used to provide current to a "Bookkeeping"
RAM on the logic PCB when the line power fails or is turned off. Normally,
with the line power "ON", 15 VDC is supplied via the 0.22 microHenry
inductor; the 82 ohm voltage dropping resistor, and a blocking diode. The
voltage is regulated with a diode going to +5VDC. The Nickel-Cadmium
rechargeable battery is charged via the 270 ohm charge current limiting
resistor. When the line power is "OFF", the "Bookkeeping" RAM is supplied
with a "stand-by" voltage of 3.6VDC to a 4.2VDC for a duration of at least 30
days.


I can skip that part for now.

OK, following that schematic  :arrow:



I can check the voltage.  8)

- between A and B, I should have 5V... and I have between 6,00 and 6,12V. The VR102 pot has not effect  :-\
- between A and C, I should have 12V... and I had 11,40V... Fortunately the VR101 pot help me to reach the 12V (but it's on its maximum! Yeah that board deserves a capkit...)

Let's plug the game ... same problem... it reboots several times... and then ... I can credit it ... but reboot, reboot, reboot ... and then ... everything switched off!!! (monitor, marquee lamp, game... everything!). It must be a fuse!? Let's check them... no problem on that level! So let's go one step forward : my 220V to 110V step down converter?
Damn! No more 110V  :-\ Well I presume 100W is not enough for that game... (I used that same converter for playing my US Popeye for example) ... Do these old Midway games are so greedy?! Obviously yes!  :-\

So who is the real guilty for the reboot problem : the power supply board (6V instead 5V?) and/or the stepdown converter?

Bruno,
You could re-cap and put new transistors in the Wacko power supply board. Or you could keep it there for originality but not use it. And instead bypass it with this kit.
http://www.arcadeshop.com/mcr/mcr.htm
The kit is VERY VERY GOOD. It puts a new switcher into the game and gives much better reliability.

Yeps Oliver, I guess I'll go that way... how to order to www.arcadeshop.com? only by phone or mail? It doesn't look secure at first sight?...

Oh, and I've already ordered a new stepdown converter... 200W this time  :P