Thema: v Datum: 04.09.98 13:27:19 MEZ From: Salomon@isb.de (Christopher Salomon) To: chrissalo@aol.com Path: csus.edu!csulb.edu!newshub.csu.net!usc!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news-e1a.megaweb.com!newstf01.news.aol.com!newsbf02.news.aol.com!not-for-mail From: mkdud@aol.com (MK DUD) Newsgroups: rec.games.vectrex Subject: Vectrex Buzzfix - Please upload to FTP Date: 12 Jan 1996 02:01:12 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Lines: 100 Sender: root@newsbf02.news.aol.com Message-ID: <4d50vo$40q@newsbf02.news.aol.com> Reply-To: mkdud@aol.com (MK DUD) Note: This repair requires that you work on your Vectrex system while it is opened up and operating. The Vectrex contains several areas that are high voltage, and can cause a serious electrical shock. I assume no liablility for those who choose to perform this procedure. This procedure can be very dangerous if you have no idea what you are doing. Seek help from a qualified technician if you have no experience with high voltage systems. This procedure is in no way endorsed by GCE or Milton Bradley. This procedure should greatly reduce the amount of video/audio interference in the Vectrex units that have a serious buzzing problem from the speaker. This buzz will be heard regardless of the volume setting, and will change depending on what is being displayed on the screen. I have not scoped the buzzing, but it appears to increase in frequency as the screen is slightly illuminated, and decrease when the screen is full. This proceedure will fully cure the problem on some units, and greatly reduce it on others. To perform this fix, you will need thes items: 4 feet of insulating (black UL) electrical tape, strips of aluminum foil (4) cut in lengths of 1/2" by 12", a phillips head screwdriver, possibly a set of long needlenose pliers, and possibly a set of tweezers. First, turn the power off. Remove any cartridge (or multicart) that you may have in the unit. Unplug the Vectrex from the wall outlet. Turn the power switch on, and leave it on for at least 10 seconds. Turn the power off. Open the Vectrex by removing the 5 phillips head screws on the back of the unit (don't forget the long one next to the power cord). I usually do this by putting the Vectrex screen side down on a towel. Be careful, as the screen can be scratched easily (as many of you might know). Remove the back cover. Turn the Vectrex back up so the screen faces normally. The cable we are going to be working on is the audio cable that links the CPU board to the video board. It is a small grey wire that sits right near the front of the screen on the CPU board; it is close to being directly behind the reset button. It connects to the video board in a hard to reach space between 2 capacitors. It has a 2 socket female connector on each end. Unplug the cable from its socket on the CPU board, and follow the cable to where it is boound (by black electrical tape on mine) with the other wires going to the video board. After you have the cable unbound from the others, disconnect it from the video board. You may need a long set of needlenose pliers or tweezers to do this. The cable may be firmly seated to the video board, so be patient. Lay the cable flat on a table , and try to straighten it as best you can. Take the strips of foil, and begin insulating the cable by wrapping the strips to the outside of the cable. Make sure the foil fully covers the original cable insulation. Then, using the insulating electrical tape, wrap the cable so that NONE of the foil is visable. You may want to put an extra layer of tape on the cable - exposed foil can be dangerous in the Vectrex. Replace the cable to the video board first, then attatch it to the cpu board. Get one or two 2-3 inch pieces of electrical tape ready. Make sure the cable is firmly seated in the sockets. Plug in the Vectrex, and turn the power on. Now, begin to move the wire so that the buzz you hear is greatly reduced, or disapears. Using the tape, attatch the cable to the chasis or cabinet so it stays in position to eliminate the most noise. On my Vectrex, I used the upper edge on the isolation transformer and part of the inside cabinet. Now, turn off and unplug the Vectrex. Put the back cover on, being careful not to displace the cable from it's "Noiseless" position. (Allways guide the back cover on lining it up to the cartridge slot. It's much easier this way. As I said before, this procedure should greatly reduce the video interference noise. For some units, it is a total cure. Most everybody should see a good improvement in their audio by doing this. -Fix by Michael Kelley, internet: mkdud@aol.com Thanks also to Zachary Ethridge PLEASE UPLOAD THIS TO THE VECTREX FTP (ftp.csus.edu). Thank You, Michael ----------------------- Headers -------------------------------- Return-Path: Received: from rly-zc01.mx.aol.com (rly-zc01.mail.aol.com [172.31.33.1]) by air-zc03.mail.aol.com (v49.1) with SMTP; Fri, 04 Sep 1998 08:27:18 -0400 Received: from nasa.isb.de (nasa.isb.de [194.173.176.3] (may be forged)) by rly-zc01.mx.aol.com (8.8.8/8.8.5/AOL-4.0.0) with SMTP id IAA17382 for ; Fri, 4 Sep 1998 08:27:15 -0400 (EDT) Received: from isb.de by nasa.isb.de (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id OAA16629; Fri, 4 Sep 1998 14:27:11 +0200 Message-ID: <35EFDC9D.2E483AE0@isb.de> Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 14:27:09 +0200 From: Christopher Salomon Organization: ISB GmbH X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: chrissalo@aol.com Subject: v Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit