how to build a pong replica?

[Curt Vendel]

13" B&W TV

 

 

Curt

 

Does anybody know what size the TV screen was in the original Pong machine? I'm looking at scaling down the Pong cabinet to a little CRT I have.

[BigO]

Thank you, sir.

 

That'll be quite a downscale from 13" to 4".

 

1:3.25 scale model would yield roughly an 18" high cabinet.

 

I was wondering about being able to keep consistent scale given the proportionally deep CRT in my little thrift store TV. It has an overall depth of ~5.25"

The scaled down cabinet would be ~5.5" deep at the shallowest depth. I may not be able to get the CRT set back away from the front glass as it appears to be in a real machine, but I think this will work, even if I have to fudge the depth scale a wee bit.

 

I don't think I want to go so crazy as to build authentic replica Pong circuitry. Now, do I tear up my Ricochet MT1A or my Radio Shack TV Scoreboard for the guts? My TV Scoreboard has the elusive gun so I'd rather not trash that system, but the Ricochet boards are relatively huge.

 

 

Anybody got a "pong on a chip"-ish cheapie system in horrid cosmetic condition that they want to let go cheap?

 

13" B&W TV

 

 

Curt

 

Does anybody know what size the TV screen was in the original Pong machine? I'm looking at scaling down the Pong cabinet to a little CRT I have.

[supercat]

Anybody got a "pong on a chip"-ish cheapie system in horrid cosmetic condition that they want to let go cheap?

 

The ubiquitous GI tennis/hockey/handball/practice chip is grossly inferior to Atari's original Pong. It's too bad it became so popular that most people are completely unaware of how much better the original was.

[BigO]

Anybody got a "pong on a chip"-ish cheapie system in horrid cosmetic condition that they want to let go cheap?

 

The ubiquitous GI tennis/hockey/handball/practice chip is grossly inferior to Atari's original Pong. It's too bad it became so popular that most people are completely unaware of how much better the original was.

 

Understood. Were I building a true replica, I'd be trying for more accuracy. In a way, you've made the point for me that it doesn't matter too much when you say that most people are completely unaware of how much better the original was. It took me all of about 2 seconds to get the cheapie system stuck in an infinite volley. I suspect this wasn't the case with the original Pong.

 

I plan for this to be mainly a conversation piece, but I'm willing to listen to alternatives. Were there any of those Pong knock-offs of better quality than the "AY-3-8500" ilk? I think this Ricochet whatever unit had a bunch of discrete components when I looked in there, but it doesn't seem a whole lot better than the TV Scoreboard, playability-wise. What would I see on screen that would let me realize that I was watching a superior design?

 

I saw you contributing technical suggestions to a replica Pong circuit somewhere around here. Was that working up to be an actual circuit or was it intended to be run as a simulation? If it's intended to become a real circuit, would it take years upon years to build one? Ya think I could wire wrap one and have it work reasonably well?

[Superully]

mysterious posting Edited August 20, 2008 by Superully

[jprice1000]

the screen was a 13" hitachi

[rexreed]

Hmm I seem to remember it being a magnavox 13" BW