Pong TV game - A Scratch build Scale project

[scr33n]

 

[Etienne MacGyver]

Time to do some practice on the vinyl apply-ing, as i only have one yellow "bezel"
I dont want to screw that up..  

I have some leftover from the printing so that is good practice stuff.
Also i bought some nice Woodgrain vinyl for the other parts..




Cut a piece from the roll and started to appy it..




Not too bad for a first time, but i need to practice again...  






Then i mounted the monitor and chassis in place, and of course i could not resist to turn it on to check if everything is in working order....


drumroll...





drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.








YES !!!! we have neckglow !  


But then i looked at the screen....

.............

.........

....


My worst nightmare happened !!  






Indeed ! Vertical collapse !

F.....CKKKKKKKKKKKK !!!  


So now what  ?
I tried some basics, like fiddling with various wires and connectors, but all it did was frustrate me more..



So i emailed a very knowlegde-able man, and explained what happened, and that i really need help because i have a deadline..

ofcourse i received a very calming reply from my Shrink  




He advised me not to panic and if i had analysed this and analysed that  



anyway, the day after, in all rest i started with removing the chassis from the cabinet and inspect it as best as i could.

Measured the basics (diodes, transistors, suspicious print tracks, etc)
but all measured good..

Damn!   now what...
Well i did noticed that there was almost no tin on the joints from the bath that it took in the factory.

With those two knowledges, i returned to basics, and started to resolder every solderjoint i could find on the PCB.
After one hour of soldering i connected the pcb to the tube and gave it a try.

See for yourself where we stand now...




I hope it is now fixed permanently..
Ahh  sure it will be, Trust me, i am an Engineer ! 

Now its time to move on with the rest !

I am glad that is behind me....

[ckong]

Pfoe, fortune is with us. For a moment I was afraid that we had to cancel Eurocade!! 

Great work Etiènne.

[Etienne MacGyver]

Today i mounted a line filter / euroconnector combi
after that i installed a 2way walloutlet, 1 for the TV and one for the 9V adapter for the pong PCB




Then i turned the unit on to check the power......
F#CK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 




Played a bit with the chassis (carefully bending and tapping with the back of a screwdriver) and a bit of image is back..




Played a bit more , and the image changes again..




And finally after holding the board in a certain position it stays like it should..



I guess i need to re-check the chassis again for broken traces / bad solderjoints..
I thought i had them all last time, but i think i need to use some wire bridges here and there 

Another day though, i am not in a mood to focus and concentrate good ATM... 

I do have a backup plan, but i really would like this setup to be functional at Eurocade 2012 !

[Etienne MacGyver]

I removed the chassis for repair later, and prepared the cab for a session of vinyl  

After all there is a deadline, so i decided that the TV fix can wait and continue with the cosmetic side of this project.




A piece of vinyl cut roughly to size..




On the back of the vinyl, there is a grid printed so i lined that up with the back of the cabinet and clamped it down.
This way i am sure that i apply it as straight as i can..  
First one little piece, then removed the clamps and did the rest.




One side done !






I folded the vinyl into the back, so it will look like one piece once the backdoor is in place..




After a little break, time for side #2..

A gardenchair pillow is exactly the correct size to give the first side maximum protection...

actually, it was the first thing whitin reach




Almost there !




i pressed the edge of the vinyl and created a nice little bend to have the corner stick good, and its an excelent guide to see the point where i need to cut it later..  






By now the sun was down and i was done for today..





I am very satisfied with the result !  

[Belike]

Starts to look like a Pong, nice job!

[level42]

Looking great

Gotta love the TV for playing its role as old uhhhhh.....arcade TV/monitor so well by showing these problems

You will find the problem. I know you will. Take a deep breath...........1........2...........3........4.......5 yesssss.....

[Etienne MacGyver]

Looking great

Gotta love the TV for playing its role as old uhhhhh.....arcade TV/monitor so well by showing these problems

You will find the problem. I know you will. Take a deep breath...........1........2...........3........4.......5 yesssss.....

Thanks again my Shrink !  



Seriously, it does have its charm indeed that the old hardware is quitting on us...
Will do my best, but you may expect some PM's / phonecalls / visits if i don't succeed  

Or i could call in the help from Horace Pinker, he's a TV repair guy 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRRM4KGgJgs

[level42]

that drawing is serious LOL

It's a bit outdated though, I changed my glasses for contacts and shaved my beard quite some years ago

I just checked with my secretary and you have another appointment for your next session in the second half of next week. Exact date and time will be agreed with you by Wednesday

[Etienne MacGyver]

 

Don't know when i can have my session, i will be leaving for holidays next week..

Anyway, will first finish the rest, tv can be fixed later,

Or ..


Swapped 

[level42]

All this messing with B/W tubes etc. made me get another crazy idea: wouldn't it be cute to have a tiny vector monitor like that ? "All" that is needed is rewinding the yoke and a vector chassis... would love to have a test monitor like that.

I've seen Jrok winding a yoke for a color vector so it can be done. We do need to know HOW to rewind it though (nr. of windings).....but I am derailing...

[Etienne MacGyver]

That would be handy for next years piggybank... 

a 2:1 scale model Starwars Cockpit 

 

[polaris]

This is coming along really well Etienne, you're inspiring me to do a few mini projects i've had in mind for a while 

[Etienne MacGyver]

Thanks Polaris,

And please turn the inspiration to reality and make alot of pics in the progress 

[Etienne MacGyver]

Today was "Disasterday"  

Oh well, lets call it "setbackday" that fits better, because what happened can be fixed..
Anyway, i was trying to make the inner sides, and as you can see they have some diagonals, and to make it look right i need to apply the vinyl "straight"
so i made a template out or cardboard;




then trace it on the vinyl..




And then cut those out twice because there is a small chance that i screw up  




Then i applied the first one, and returned to the otherside of the garden to get the other part of vinyl
While i was with my back to the cab, i heard a loud bang behind me!

The cabinet has fallen from the table...  
Damage to the edges and points where it landed on was the result..

Lesson learned; Don't place the cabinet straight up on the gardenchair pillow.... but place it on a nice stabile surface...

So i looked good at the vinyl, and it was beyond my limit of damage that i could live with..
I went to the store and bought new vinyl




Then i removed the old vinyl, and i must say that it has a very good adhesive...




It ripped out alot of splinters from the wood while removing..






Time to bodo it again  




Corner fixed and ready for sanding..




Did the rest after the first side was dry, and now its time to let it sit overnight and then i can do my favorite job again....

Sanding everything down again  




Like i said, when it happened it felt like a disaster, but its repairable, so now i can see it as a setback.
one profit though, i had a practice round of apply-ing the vinyl, so next time it will go more easy