Jump to content
Due to a large amount of spamers, accounts will now have to be approved by the Admins so please be patient. ×
IGNORED

Attempting my holy grail repair. Sprint 2


Recommended Posts

This game board is my whole grail. If I repair and get this one going that could spell the end to my search and passion...but probably not. :lol

 

Years ago I bought these bronze age video game boards, (black and white), in the hope that I might one day get a couple going. Well, I didn't know enough back then and it did my head in.

 

But that was years ago and my skills have developed since then. So I made a start the other night.

 

20171212_145846.jpg

 

GARBAGE!!!!

 

Yeah, I love garbage on screen. It means that I don't have to muck around in the video section.

 

Brilliant start!!!

 

It's powered by a 6502 cpu which is used in games like centipede and bump n jump, as well as the Atari 2600 and the Commodore 64.

 

Like all Atari games of this era it has a kickass manual.

 

15131287447731546935533.jpg

15131289036281445076929.jpg

1513129065187-1092773209.jpg

Edited by taito
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Details (photos, explanations) of the repairs, steps, photos, tests, parts, tools ...

Would be appreciated, I'll need to get my board working (one day).

 

Regs,

Red

We can all gleen useful stuff from these posts. I'm not about to give a tutorial, thats quite an undertaking. It's just going to be a record of my journey.

 

Just ordered a 6502 cpu. The ones I have are doing stuff but it's good to have a NOS, just in case.

 

Another board I have is scrolling numbers. That looks promising.

 

1513303435082592995729.jpg

Edited by taito
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Id like to say things are going well in the Sprint 2 pcb repair camp...but they're not. :(

 

Although Ive had some little wins, the Sprint 2 board repair has hit some hurdles. The major hurdle being...I don't know what's wrong with it.

 

I remembered I had a sprint 1 going at one stage before it flaked. Its a lot closer to being repaired so I started work on that.

 

20180103_005819.jpg

 

Funny thing happen. The board was showing the track which was exciting but then it wigged out scrolling game over! I thought maybe that was a sign.

 

 

20180103_000636.jpg

 

20180103_000640.jpg

 

20180103_000656.jpg

 

20180103_005838.jpg

 

20180103_005819.jpg

 

I've got a decent starting point now.

 

20180103_020742.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a working sprint 2 and a few complete machines if anything could help anyone. I also could use some help on a sprint 4. I just got it and working on getting it restored. My repair guy got the board to work and it had a good picture and played. It then died. He since has gotten it back up and running but the track doesn't show up. It recognizes the track and when you play and hit the side you crash but you can't see it. He doesn't know which chip does the track graphics. Does anyone? I do have a manual for it as well. Awesome game. I would love to get it going
Link to comment
Share on other sites

After discovering a bunch of folded pins under the Sprint 1 pcb...I booted the pcb and hooray...the litle cars were driving around!!!!

20180106_014959.jpg

 

I was so excited. The game would coin up but not start. :(

20180106_014657.jpg

 

20180106_014642.jpg

 

 

I couldn't work out why a nand gate wasn't going high. I tracked the problem to some messy soldering I did years ago. The solder had just managed to jump a track and was pulling the ouput low.

 

I cleaned that up and woopie!!! It now starts. :)

 

Next to sort out the sound. Plus I have to fix the text. Its a bit mangled.

 

Update:

Sounds works! :D I'm very happy with the progress made in the last 24 hours.

Edited by taito
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well there's been some huge developments in the Sprint repair workshop.

 

I was attempting to repair the text. It was a bit garbled. I replaced a counter, a buffer and a character prom and I was surprise as the third car appeared!!!!

 

20180107_215658.jpg

 

Now I ask you....Doesn't that look sweeeeet!!! :cool:

Edited by taito
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I set up a make shift test rig. The game is in 4th gear by default. The pad for the accelerator has lifted so I wired that on, so go till you stack! Still I managed to get some test driving in.

 

20180108_152301.jpg

 

20180108_152350.jpg

 

20180108_152334.jpg

 

20180108_151442.jpg

 

20180108_131725.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that I have a fully working Sprint 1, it's onto the Sprint 2 pcb.

 

I've managed to find two 7408 that had gone bad. And there's something on screen but not what I wanted to see.

 

20180110_033252.jpg

 

Not an easy fix. :o

 

Update: I've spent a lot of time on the Sprint 2 with sadly no sucess. Time to take a step back for a while.:cry

 

I wanted so much to get this old one going. I think obsession wouldn't be a understatement.:(

 

20180112_151256.jpg

 

Though I was getting somewhere but sigh....

Edited by taito
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

A big thanks to @JimmyD for the encouragment!! Cheers brother!! :)

 

A few months back I was done!! Walked away from my dream.

 

I was completely over it, I thought anyway, until a Sprint 2 cab came up for sale on the forum.

 

attachment-6-1-1-1-1.jpg

 

What followed was a month of rethinking, negotiation and finally a machine at my place! :)

 

20180326_202144.jpg

Thanks goes out to @gingerbreadman and @iseefreely.

 

I got it at a good price. Still there was a stack of work to be done so I got busy.

 

Days later I now have a machine wired for Sprint 2.

 

Replaced practically all the control panel parts with spares I'd been collecting for such a rebuild. (Bar the push button LEDs. Discontinued part. Don't know if I can use original).

20180330_101223.jpg

 

 

The cab was mostly a pile of timber so it took a while to work out what went where. Think Ikea without instructions.

 

Then I gave each part of the cabinet a good clean.

 

The ac transformer was all smashed upforcing me to go switcher for power.

 

The connector was grubby and the copper taps green in places from age. So I cleaned each one individually, popping each amp pin and replacing.

 

Sorted out the wiring harness separating out the ac wiring.

 

Sorted out coin door connector.

 

Loosely arranged into cab.

 

20180330_101313.jpg

 

 

Phew!

 

Then connected up my sprint 1 pcb. And had some games. I felt this was an important mile stone. It was on my tv, but still was good to get it functioning.

20180330_211107.jpg

The cabs now ready to take the Sprint 2 pcb. I just have to fix it! Thanks to @darkjedi, I have a couple of pcb on way so I'm hoping one if those boards will take me closer to the finish line. Fingers crossed.

 

I still have some ugly issues to sort out but wheres theres a will theres a way.

 

Patch the sides.

1522478290118-490682498.jpg

 

 

Rebuild the gas pedals.

1522478449892-2018536271.jpg

 

Clean up the cigarette damaged bezel.1522478514594-523260356.jpg

 

Repair the 7cm of water damage to the bottom of the cab. Not bad though.

1522478692557-1755665395.jpg

Edited by taito
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Still hard at it. Waiting for two long lever micro switches to arrive for the foot pedals. Need to get to Bunnings to get some wet/dry sanding paper. The game board is not working but showing signs of life. Awaiting on some parts and a delivery. Wrecked my desoldering iron but got a replacement heater today so that should be back in action soon. Still have to patch the cabinet. But I'm using a pc monitor at the moment. Looks quite flat in comparison to a 15k arcade monitor but will do. Hard rubbish may provide an old b&w TV. Might! Lol.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok.. so things have been comming along in strides.

 

Desoldering station repaired. Just got word that the pcbs are on way. Big thanks to JimmyD burning me the EPROMS.

 

20180411_174442.jpg

 

So excited!!

 

20180411_181920.jpg

 

This is a far down the road as I have ever got with this sprint 2 pcb.

 

The first track loads and all the cars appear, but no movement. The message that apears at bottom of screen is also garbled. An hour later I was stumped??

 

I'm hoping to get some time to work on

it this weekend ;)

 

Update: The board went into several different modes, including demo and start, while I was messing around. None response to inputs.

 

Just good to know the motion circuit it all good. Now to find the culprit!

Edited by taito
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Break through on Sprint 2 at 2AM :)

 

My constant obsession and hard work has finally paid off.

 

It's not 100% ready to play, awaiting on some pedal switches, but the hardest part is done.

 

I'm wrapped!

 

20180414_015856.jpg

 

20180414_015904.jpg

 

20180414_021555.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that the game boots, I hooked up the audio power. At first I thought Id be shopping for new audio amps but both cars move off and make a big crash noise when they hit the barrier. No motor sound though.

 

Thankfully that circit is pretty straight forward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This machine made really good money in it's day. I'd hate to think how many steering wheel optos and pedal assemblies I have worked on for these things.

Sprint 2 was by far the most popular but they made a 4 and 8 car version as well.

 

This is the 8 car version. I only ever saw one of these...

 

sprint-8.jpg

 

We had a couple of the 4 car versions however I can't find any exactly the same model we had.

 

It had two players per side like the 8 car version but only on two sides and it has a globe shaped header suspended over the screen by 4 corner posts with Sprint 4 written on it.

 

I remember this distinctly because it was an arse to replace the 110 volt bulb inside it and the bulb died quickly.

 

Don't quote me but I think Super Sprint wheel parts may be compatible and in later times we had heaps of those that also earned good money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The sound circuit had both white and black car counters out for the motor sound. Black steering wheel didn't work. Replaced the steering wheel board and now everything works. I locked both gas pedals on, (awaiting on pedal switches), had some games!

 

Loving it!

 

Just now have do all the cabinet rebuild.

 

20180414_200050-1-1.jpg

 

 

 

20180414_021552.jpg

Edited by taito
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This machine made really good money in it's day. I'd hate to think how many steering wheel optos and pedal assemblies I have worked on for these things.

Sprint 2 was by far the most popular but they made a 4 and 8 car version as well.

 

This is the 8 car version. I only ever saw one of these...

 

 

Thanks @Autosteve for picture of the cool 8 player sprint. This was a game I was chasing over 10 years back...I'm pretty sure this has a card/rack architecture. I gave up on the idea owing to their scarcity, cost..people wanted a fortune for them..hardware requirements...there's a lot of hardware...and most important...footprint. I realised that this machine was either to be opperated or warehoused.

 

Would have been an awesome party game. Im figuring Atari worked out 3 was probably the most they could squeeze into an oversized regular footprint game..such as super/championship sprint etc.. Still would have loved to have seen one. :)

 

Oh and I can imagine the amount of work you did keeping these games going..especially if they were getting a flogging. Rebuilding the gear shifter...not the most fun in the world is it! Lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This machine made really good money in it's day. I'd hate to think how many steering wheel optos and pedal assemblies I have worked on for these things.

Sprint 2 was by far the most popular but they made a 4 and 8 car version as well.

 

This is the 8 car version. I only ever saw one of these...

 

sprint-8.jpg

 

We had a couple of the 4 car versions however I can't find any exactly the same model we had.

 

It had two players per side like the 8 car version but only on two sides and it has a globe shaped header suspended over the screen by 4 corner posts with Sprint 4 written on it.

 

I remember this distinctly because it was an arse to replace the 110 volt bulb inside it and the bulb died quickly.

 

Don't quote me but I think Super Sprint wheel parts may be compatible and in later times we had heaps of those that also earned good money.

 

Wasn't that the same thing as Indy 4? Been looking at that, as we found a full kit (or what we think is a full kit anyway) here in a big lot I picked up a little bit back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wasn't that the same thing as Indy 4? Been looking at that, as we found a full kit (or what we think is a full kit anyway) here in a big lot I picked up a little bit back.

 

In a recent post I mentioned the Sprint 4 has a similar look board to the sprint 2.

 

Here's a picture I believe it to be a sprint 4.

 

 

s-l400-9 (1).jpg

 

 

If you have the sprint 8 it will be in a frame, with separate board inserts. I'm pretty sure of this. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never worked in the boards, that was the board tech's job. Main problems I had were cracked gear shifter housings and steering wheel housings.

 

Yes that big black housing cracks when abused. Steering wheel boards required opto changing but usually only when the housing was so worn the interrupter would hit it.

 

Biggest problem though was just dust on the optos that needed cleaning very regularly like all car opto setups. I was so glad when they all went to magnetic switch sensors for steering. The dust problem vanished and then the stupid pinball companies went opto.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The long lever micros arrived today so that prompted some action.

 

 

The gas pedals were out of action, one missing the spring, so I fashioned one out of a coat hanger.

 

20180418_195035.jpg

 

 

The micros were bigger than I thought so I made up some brackets.The original/smaller one can be seen in the picture.

 

20180418_192538.jpg

 

Just need some small nuts and bolts and we're good to go.

Edited by taito
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So from here on in it's cabinet work, getting a monitor, fixing the plexi then reassembly.

 

I initially thought fixing this game board could see the end of my obsession with these game machines, but that hasn't happened. I'm now looking into the opperation of my Le Mans pbcs and want to look into vector games. I figure asteroids is a good place to start since they are relatively plentiful and not not pricey to obtain. So my passion hasn't died surprisingly at all. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This machine made really good money in it's day. I'd hate to think how many steering wheel optos and pedal assemblies I have worked on for these things.

Sprint 2 was by far the most popular but they made a 4 and 8 car version as well.

 

This is the 8 car version. I only ever saw one of these...

 

sprint-8.jpg

 

We had a couple of the 4 car versions however I can't find any exactly the same model we had.

 

It had two players per side like the 8 car version but only on two sides and it has a globe shaped header suspended over the screen by 4 corner posts with Sprint 4 written on it.

 

I remember this distinctly because it was an arse to replace the 110 volt bulb inside it and the bulb died quickly.

 

Don't quote me but I think Super Sprint wheel parts may be compatible and in later times we had heaps of those that also earned good money.

 

Sprint 8 was sited in lower wa once

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update: Connected up the gas pedals.Plays properly now. I'm enjoying the game...around 40 years later, when I first saw the game in Rye, in a games shed in Victoria. Slot cars etc.

 

Update: the monitor shelf was sawn in half, so reglued that today and sanded out the cigarette burns. Most of it came out. Very happy.

 

20180424_161530.jpg

 

Came up much better than I expected.

 

Close up here...

 

https://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php/93442-Polishing-out-cigarette-burns-on-a-Marque

Edited by taito
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...