Atari Audio / Regulator


Tech Tour


smAR
Link: Full Size Image (2 mB)

I orient the board as above so I can read the labels printed on the board. Usually the board is mounted in the cabinet "upside down" from the perspective of the labels. It is put in the cabinet heat sink first and connectors nearest the opening for the back door.

The "big thing" on the AR is the Heat sink. It takes up half the board and rises 2 inches off the surface. It's large but we ignore it. It is a chunk of metal we can't repair.

The AR has 3 Connectors, called J6, J7 and J8. J6 is focused on the 10.3 voltage, J7 is about the +5V and J8 is the Audio connection.

J8


This connector has 4 pins umber 1 down to 4 as viewed in the photograph above.
Pin Connection
1 GND (Ground)
2 GND
3 SPKR2 (Speaker 2 Signal)
4 SPKR1 (Speaker 1 Signal)

The board pictured was damaged while moving up a steep stair. Pin 4 snapped at the board. The sound circuit for Channel 1 (SPKR1) was open and the game had no sound.

J6


This connector is 6 pins and completes a 10.3 VDC circuit. The table below describes the pin numbers as seen in the photograph above.
1 2 3
4 5 6

Pin Connection
1 GND (Ground)
2 GND
3 +10.3 VDC
4 Not connected
5 Not Connected
6 +10.3 VDC

Pins 4 and 5 are not grounded, linked or connected to the board.

J7


This connector is 9 pins and completes the +5 VDC circuit. The table below describes the pin numbers as seen in the photograph above.
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

Pin Connection
1 GND (Ground)
2 LM105H (Voltage Regulator)
3 LM105H
4 GNd
5 +5 VDC
6 +5 VDC
7 +10.3 VDC
8 CA2002 (Current Limiter)
9 CA2002

Cap List


Like the popular Monitor stories, AR board have similar capacitors that may need replacement.
Qty. Farad Volts
2 10μf 25v
3 470μf 25v
3 1000μf 25v

The 1000/25 caps are the black caps in the photograph. The 470/25 caps are the large blue ones and the 10/25 are the two small blue caps "in the shadow" of the heat sink