Tupin Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 I recently just got an Astrocade, hooked it up, and all that shows up is a black screen. Sometimes there's lines, but it doesn't start up right. I know these things are finicky, where should I start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theredlineboss Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 Close your eyes and wish REAL hard for someone to make a new drop-in board for the Astrocade. I know that's what I'm hoping for. Seriously though, I'm in the same boat. I wound up taking mine apart and I see that some of the traces are actually separating from the motherboard (they kind of look melted). Hope you can get yours working! -Rob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 I'm pretty sure your Custom Data IC has overheated and gone bad. Pretty common. Not much you can do unless you have another unit to borrow parts from. My blog (link below) has an article on Astrocades that includes a link to the Service Manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tupin Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 Where should I start? Is there a chance it's not that IC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenzre Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 there are 30 chips in the unit. Beleive it or not, the custom data chip is more robust than most people think. What color is the label on the bottom? only the earliest of Ballys had the custom data chip problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenzre Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 If you know anyone that has a working unit, there are some things you can do easily to check to see what may not be wrong. You can swap out the prwer supply, the RF cable, the modulator ( tse rectangular metal box that has the rf cord attached to it), the t 40 pin custom chips. swap the out one at a time, putting yopur into the good unit. If the unit works after replaceing all of these components, and you switch is good. everything else in the unit acn be repaced by parts that are still pretty redilly available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tupin Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 Mine actually says it's an Astrovision. Isn't that a newer model? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I take back what I said. Listen to kenzre -- he knows more about how the Astrocade works than almost anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tupin Posted December 24, 2013 Author Share Posted December 24, 2013 Alright well, I really don't have the option to switch things out. I already had to replace the RF cable because the end got cut off, so that was one of the first steps of repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tupin Posted December 28, 2013 Author Share Posted December 28, 2013 Any ideas on where I should start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamecat80 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Do you think most of the Astrocade problems are perhaps with the power adapter? A bad power adapter can kill any system. Maybe the voltage and/or current is too "hot" on the typical power supply for the Astrocade. Maybe something with a slightly lower voltage would work better? Just a thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 The Bally got a rather impressive PSU and one hell of a weird way of getting it working. Maaaybe, I say maybe that some units have it badly tuned. The early models have the transformer rated at 11.5V and 7.5V, and later have just a 12V. If you look at blueprints, you'll see that the internal PSU part is feed with two AC lines from the transformer, and they use a "bi phase" model to get a second voltage of 11.5V/√ 2 =8V(approx) Which is terribly odd. And that's why the transformer mention having 11.5V on the black-red and yellow-white lines, and 7.5V on the red-yellow lines. Yeah. Caused me a headache trying to understand how they were doing that at first. And I still wonder why doing such a goddamit complex thing when at the end you get a rather regular arcade power output. http://ballyalley.com/documentation/misc_hardware_docs/Bally/full_size/Bally%20Schematic%20%28Ken%20Lill%29%28August%2024,%202011%29.pdf It would be wise to check on the power output at the end, indeed, to ensure that you have the needed +15, +10 and -5 V and VCC is probably 0V Maybe, like on the Colecovision, checking the power switch? Might be good to know it it works well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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