TECH: Spy Hunter sound static
John in NH
needed the minor niggling here and there but they work good and are in good
shape. Also, thanx to AtariPatrick for schleping them up to NH. :)
I've had numerous odd sound issues with the Spy Hunter which I know is a bear
of a game to own, tech wise. Fixed a few of them on my own but there is one
that has me stumped.
There is considerable "white noise" coming from the speakers. During full
gameplay, it's not that noticible with all the other noises and the
concentration on the game but when the game is in attract mode, it's pretty
noticible.
There are a couple of ground wires floating around in there, not connected to
anything but the ground on the transformer box. One went somewhere behind or
on the main boards but when I took them out, it came off before I could note
where it was. Of course, the game was 100% last night, except for the white
noise, and when I slid it 5 feet to insert Front Line into my row, some of the
odd sound problems I had before returned. Grr. . .
So, since the white noise one is the one I haven't been able to lick or find on
Deja, any input?
Voltages fine at 5.03 and 12.05. Power connector pins reflowed. Will be
replacing ribbon cables this week.
Still happy to have a Spy Hunter,
John in NH
p.s. - other odd problems I've had included playing the Gunn theme once at
boot-up (fixed), steering wheel and gas pedal registering as the same thing
(fixed), sound channel 3 being very faint (fixed) and loud squawking when your
car crashes or there is a tire squeel noise (fixed - now has returned).
~~~
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John in NH
to? If that was the case on mine, it wasn't attached like that to start with -
the ground wire fell right off upon removal of the boardset. :(
On the cheapsqueek, looks like a ground wire wants to go in the lower left
corner - seems to be a hole there with some wear around it. Is this the case?
Don't wanna fry anything as it looks like a trace goes right thru the hole.
I did the following and it cleared up all the problems mentioned in my posting.
Wish I had been more scientific about tracking what did what but it was near
midnight and I was pissed. :)
Replaced the two chips at the bottom of the sound/io board - they had the word
"sound" and some other stuff on them. I can't recall the chip positions but
they're near the bottom of the board - two longer chips. Took two out of my
nonworking Tron. I also replaced the Z80 (this seemed to do nothing) and the
chip near the two Spy Hunter sound EPROMs on the sound/io board. Again, don't
know the chip position (game is at home) but it was the chip that was to the
right of the EPROMs and wasn't labeled as being a Spy Hunter chip. Dead Tron
donated his chip. :)
BTW, the real unusual problem of the gas pedal and the steering wheel being
"linked" (hard right steered the car AND gave it gas) was likely caused by my
plugging in the small molex to the connector closeset to the bottom of the
sound/io board instead of the one closer to the top, where it goes. This fried
something in one of the aforementioned chips, methinks, as the steering, etc.
was fine at the start of my fiddling. Oops. :)
One of the caps on the corner of the sound/io board had been broken off on one
end. Replacing this with one from the Tron seemed to help the "Peter Gunn
playing only once at startup" problem. Also reflowed the pins to the power
board connector as when I reinstalled the board after putting in the new cap it
was DEAD. The reflow restored power.
Oh, there was the usual removing and replugging of connections to the cheap
squeek, amp, etc.
Damn, wish I could help more,
John in NH
>
>John,
>
>The boardset should have an earth to the stack - on mine the earth runs
>to the corner screw of the metal boards. Maybe that's where the floating
>wire goes - just screw it to the board corner.
>
>I haven't come across white noise before so if you find the answer
>please let me know to add to the FAQ I'm working on.
>
>Also - if you get a couple of minutes, if you could document the fixes
>for the other problems and post them, that would be great too.
>
>Cheers
>MacMan
MacMan
The boardset should have an earth to the stack - on mine the earth runs
to the corner screw of the metal boards. Maybe that's where the floating
wire goes - just screw it to the board corner.
I haven't come across white noise before so if you find the answer
please let me know to add to the FAQ I'm working on.
Also - if you get a couple of minutes, if you could document the fixes
for the other problems and post them, that would be great too.
Cheers
MacMan
In article <20001126092013...@ng-fi1.aol.com>,
John in NH
the aforementioned hiss in the speakers and the car not having quite enough
"oomph" to it. After 3 hours that included some reflowing, cussing and testing
of Tapper and Tron boards (may as well while I'm in there) the pedal is fine
but the hiss remains.
The hiss certainly seems to be coming from the cheap squeak. Removing the
leads from the squeak eliminates the hiss but also eliminates the music. The
other sounds remain and are clear. The white connector on the squeak (one
closest to the top, closest to the control panel) gives some good static to the
speakers when jiggled. Cleaned all the pins on the connectors of the squeak
and reflowed them. No better. I get the same speaker crackle/static when I
move the middle connector (also white) on the main board; the smaller one
between the two red connectors. Reflowed and cleaned those three connectors on
the board and still no better. :(
Those connectors that give the static look to have a ground wire or something
that's partially exposed. I'd think it's a hack but both connectors look like
that and I've seen it on a couple of other games.
Would wrapping these wires individually to further insulate them help at all?
Saw in another thread today that testing the continuity from the grounding
prong on the plug to the ground inside the game should be done, too. Will do.
The odd problem of the steering wheel and gas pedal being "tied in" together
certainly seems to be a problem with the two lower, longer chips on the main
sound/IO board as I mentioned before. Put in the old ones that I think I
fried, and the problem returned. Replaced with the Tron ones and the problem
is gone.
The pedal was a problem. You could calibrate it to a degree but you still
couldn't get the car to have that "way to fast" feel to it when floored.
Problem here was twofold.
First, pot needed a cleaning. WD-40, just like an Atari paddle. That seemed
to help stabilize it so that it wouldn't be jumpy during calibration. Next,
the pot itself had apparently at some point shifted physically in the pedal
mount, not allowing you to have the gas all the way "off" when calibrating.
Readjusted so the read was 0B rather than 07 or 10 as I commonly got before
that. Now, I can crash headlong into motorcycles and kill myself whereas
before, I could only go fast enough to bump them over. Whee! :)
Hope this stuff helps someone out there and Macman with his FAQ.
Any further suggestions on the static? Oh, sometimes when the game is on, even
if nobody is touching it, loud static/squawking will come from the speakers.
Also happens sometimes during game play. A rather gentle tap on the cab clears
it up. Doesn't seem to be any pattern with it. Lastly, a bit of sound (woofer
flutter?) comes out of the speaker when the weapons van button flashes for
credits. Some stray voltage here? Loose or crappy connections???
Thanx, all!
John in NH