Side Art Applied
I put the sides on last night and cleaned more stuff off the front. I love the Magic Eraser, thanks to Jeff F. This unit is ready for sale.
Looking Good: New Sides
Looking Good: New Sides
Overlay
I just got the ArcadeShop overlay. it is a scan, not a vector but it is bright and complete. Looks much better then the torn and worn original.
Photos: Frogger
Monitor Short
We did our best with the cap kit and adjustments but the play testing revealed a monitor flare. The kind that results from a short in one or more of the guns. It was time to roll out the rejuvenator. This device essentially pump too much voltage into the guns to try and burn off a short created by dust or other airborne particles that can collect in the (relative) vacuum of the picture tube.
It is not without risk. You can destroy your tube if you push too hard but it can bring a dying tube back to useful condition. If you are losing it anyway, it is worth a shot.
This time it did not pay off. We clear a short on the Blue gun, but the Green short remained. We just could not save this one. Fortunately a spare tube was available and we swapped it in on that newly recapped chassis. Frogger is bright and colorful again.
It is not without risk. You can destroy your tube if you push too hard but it can bring a dying tube back to useful condition. If you are losing it anyway, it is worth a shot.
This time it did not pay off. We clear a short on the Blue gun, but the Green short remained. We just could not save this one. Fortunately a spare tube was available and we swapped it in on that newly recapped chassis. Frogger is bright and colorful again.
After ZZZOT!
After the shock of the burning ballast we returned to the shop. The Frogger Monitor needed adjustment. David was elbows deep in the cabinet spinning pots until the picture was looking good.
Recap
Frogger has a Wells Gardner 4600 and this one needed a cap kit. We pulled the monitor and cleaned it. Discharged and pulled the chassis while heating the irons. David pulled and soldered the usual suspects.
We checked some other suspect with this ESR meter but they seemed OK. We put it all back together and slid it in place. When we turned it on a 50 year old florescent light fixture over head decided it was time to die. So it made a loud ZZZOT! and threw smoke in the room. Remember this is simultaneous to the firing up of the newly capped monitor.
I have never seen David play racquetball, but now I understand his other hobby. He jumped from behind that cabinet sideways. He looked like something out of the Matrix, but he didn’t have the wires and harness!
The monitor is fine. It really was just coincidence that the light died at that moment. It was, however omen enough. We powered down, cleaned up and declared an end to the night.
Power Fix
One problem with this project is the power supply. Konami was on the Switching Power Supply band wagon early. This 1981has a switcher, not the usual linear power supply.
It is also a Z80 based game so this switcher has +5 VDC but nothing more. The 8080 based games of the era needed +5, -5 and +12 to operate.
Competitive advantage for the Z80, but not a common power supply for me 30 years later. It was reading 2.3 VDC instead of +5. Not enough to start the board. We swapped in a standard switcher and the board started up!
A second problem with this project is the monitor. The vertical mount Wells Gardner 4600 is curling over and weak on colors. Time for a cap kit.
We hooked up a recently rebuilt G07 and the game worked perfectly.
The replacement power supply is in place and screwed down. We need to pull the monitor and recap next.
Winter Is Coming
Frost on the windshield in the morning means it is time to move the projects out of the garage. Frogger’s back panel was only tenuously connected before the move.
After the move it fell off. We poured the glue and clamped. We fired up the compressor and stapled that piece in place.
It did expose a nice cache of mouse droppings, though. A full and careful cleaning cleared that up.
After the move it fell off. We poured the glue and clamped. We fired up the compressor and stapled that piece in place.
It did expose a nice cache of mouse droppings, though. A full and careful cleaning cleared that up.
Acquisition
My uncle called me up and said he found a Froggy for $50. I puzzled for a moment. He continued, “It looks good but isn’t working.”
Not being a re-animation specialist, I assumed he was talking about a Frogger.
“Frog, er?” he asked. “Well, whatever, $50 if you pick it up today.”
So I made the trip. At $50 I was think I would encounter a home console game or just the marquee or some other weirdness that could only come form a Craig’s List deal.
I was surprised. It was an upright Frogger in decent cosmetic shape. Not working, as described but complete. I paid happily, loaded up and drove away.
Not being a re-animation specialist, I assumed he was talking about a Frogger.
“Frog, er?” he asked. “Well, whatever, $50 if you pick it up today.”
So I made the trip. At $50 I was think I would encounter a home console game or just the marquee or some other weirdness that could only come form a Craig’s List deal.
I was surprised. It was an upright Frogger in decent cosmetic shape. Not working, as described but complete. I paid happily, loaded up and drove away.