Author Topic: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion  (Read 51976 times)

Muerto

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #15 on: November 17, 2012, 07:56:26 AM »
Great save!! And amazing hard work youre doing in bringing it back to life!!!! :spaceace:

muddymusic

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #16 on: November 17, 2012, 12:06:08 PM »
Fantastic work so far  8)
repro artwork supplier, visit www.arcadeartshop.com

ataritoobin

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #17 on: November 18, 2012, 09:10:52 AM »
Great save!! And amazing hard work youre doing in bringing it back to life!!!! :spaceace:

Fantastic work so far  8)

Thank you!!  :)

More scraping away on the inside with various wire brush drill attachements/sanding.  Starting to not look so scary!  Have to keep the shopvac going to pull all the rust dust out of the cabinet while grinding it down  :-X:



Began polishing the posts (right side) with a damp rag and "Bar Keepers Friend":

« Last Edit: November 18, 2012, 09:18:21 AM by ataritoobin »

ataritoobin

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #18 on: November 19, 2012, 12:30:34 AM »
More and more rust scraping! Afterwards, I put a coat of "Rust Converter" that is supposed to convert any residual rust into a primer.  The lumps are taped off wire twists:



Mounted the monitor frame:


Found this inside of the machine.  At first I thought it was foreign currency of some sort, but the material seems too flimsy.  I suspect it's a token.  Wonder if it came from this pachinko and slots place? http://www.p-world.co.jp/osaka/eight-one.htm

« Last Edit: November 19, 2012, 07:36:07 AM by ataritoobin »

ataritoobin

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #19 on: November 20, 2012, 07:39:44 AM »
Ok, all this rust stuff is getting boring!  Cleaned up the PCB cage and installed a new power supply.

Temporarily staged everything inside, measured the voltages:



With the monitor disconnected, powered on aaand...

LEDs on the PCBs started flickering.

Sounded like a relay was latching.

Went around front and coined it up.



Not a bad sign!  Pressed start.  Nothing much.  Start button to abort is flashing - pressed it again.



Also not a bad sign!  Yoke occasionally lighting up.

*GRDGRDGRGRD!*



Seat shaker and one flash still work!

I wiggled the volume knob a bit, and "located enemy flagship commander..."  :spaceace:


ataritoobin

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #20 on: November 20, 2012, 07:46:27 AM »
I figured at this point I'd try out the monitor repairs I'd done.

Powered it up the Nanao MS8 and the tube briefly crackled with static and then it shut down.  Hmm, didn't appear to blow the fuse which is good.  Sounds like HV shutdown perhaps?  Back to the drawing board.

Hmm.  The Nanao monitor in Pole Position has the same video connector, doesn't it?  Time to jumper a F1 race car to a UGSF issue space ship  :D:



And...



 :)



« Last Edit: November 21, 2012, 12:00:59 AM by ataritoobin »

ataritoobin

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #21 on: November 20, 2012, 07:50:46 AM »
Observations:

- Only one trigger works (oddly enough, right hand trigger).  Didn't someone pull apart a keyboard fairly recently for those Omron switches?  Anybody want to sell a few?
- Right hand Flashboy still works.  Might buy a couple of those neons to replace the one in the left hand flash if I can't find another.
- Only the rear speakers seem to work at the moment.  Front speakers seemed to be connected correctly.  Adjusting the knobs inside the coin door didn't seem to help.
- Service button has more or less seemed to fall apart internally.
- Starblade is incredible!
« Last Edit: November 20, 2012, 07:52:34 AM by ataritoobin »

Belike

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #22 on: November 20, 2012, 10:27:54 AM »
Hahaha, great solution, you really deserved it after this  mission impossible. :spaceace:

DarthNuno

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #23 on: November 20, 2012, 11:27:30 AM »
...and it works, wow  :-* :-* :-*! Congratulation.  :)

Regarding the Omron switches, I have original models for sale, I'll drop you a pm this evening.

Roger out!

 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

Etienne MacGyver

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #24 on: November 20, 2012, 11:55:56 AM »
...and it works, wow  :-* :-* :-*! Congratulation.  :)

Regarding the Omron switches, I have original models for sale, I'll drop you a pm this evening.

Roger out!

 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

let me know if this dont work out, i have still some keyboard switches left here  ;)
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=2583.msg43925#msg43925

ataritoobin

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #25 on: November 21, 2012, 06:16:57 AM »
Hahaha, great solution, you really deserved it after this  mission impossible. :spaceace:

Thanks, Béla!

...and it works, wow  :-* :-* :-*! Congratulation.  :)

Regarding the Omron switches, I have original models for sale, I'll drop you a pm this evening.

Roger out!

 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

Fantastic!  PM sent  :)!

let me know if this dont work out, i have still some keyboard switches left here  ;)
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=2583.msg43925#msg43925

MacGyver indeed!  Thanks!  :spaceace:
« Last Edit: November 21, 2012, 06:21:30 AM by ataritoobin »

ataritoobin

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #26 on: November 24, 2012, 07:51:30 AM »
I thought I'd take some time and re-visit the original Nanao MS8-25FAN3 monitor.  Nanao chassis are seemingly known for cold solder joints.  I went around and tidied up any that I found on the chassis and neckboard.

Plugged it in and:



Yuck!  But it works! :) :)  Made a few adjustments:


Set up a quick and dirty mirror so I could play my first game on this machine :spaceace:


Observations:

- There is some vertical jitter to the image which sounds familiar so I'll go consult various Nanao tech threads.  Really, I need to do a cap kit.

- Also, you can "hear" the HV, much like vector "chatter" that decreases/increases with the brightness.  I turned off the lights and didn't see any arcing, but I'll have to investigate this more.  :?

- Remote degauss button inside the coin door doesn't work. The cable is plugged into the chassis, so the switch may be shot, like the service button above it.

- There is some "interference" like noise in the image, which also occurred while plugged into the monitor in Pole Position.  I tried unplugging the fan, but the interference remained.

Non-Monitor: A spring seems to be missing from the yoke.  It tilts up when in resting position.  EDIT: Looking at pics, this may be as designed.  Still have yet to open it up.
« Last Edit: November 27, 2012, 10:53:25 PM by ataritoobin »

ataritoobin

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #27 on: November 24, 2012, 07:58:28 AM »
I poked around in the test menu and found out that the Left and Right triggers still work - neat!  There were two wires hacked into the harness and going up separately into the yoke - I'm assuming it was an incorrect attempt at a fix for the thumb buttons since everything else about the yoke works without the two added wires.

I also enabled the ADS menu.  I'm guessing this could be corrupt data after all this time, or perhaps only for the time it was enabled.  Judging from the screen burn, it's been on longer than that  ;):


Other observations: I beat the high scores but didn't get to put my name in?  The high score table appears to be the default scores.

Coin door as it arrived:


Straightened up the coin door a bit.  Still pretty tired looking:


A little sprucing up...and...still pretty tired looking  ;D :


I put in a ¥100 mech, but the spring for the red insert is missing.

Decided to try a bit of cleaning on the mat:


Is that the original color then?  :o  :D
« Last Edit: November 25, 2012, 01:40:12 AM by ataritoobin »

eurotronic

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #28 on: November 26, 2012, 02:21:08 PM »
Wow man!A japanese Starblade! This is huge! :o
Congrats for all the good work!
 :spaceace:
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Belike

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Re: Japanese STARBLADE Saved From Oblivion
« Reply #29 on: November 26, 2012, 03:44:16 PM »
Amazing work, seems like the baby starts to get alive. ;)