General questions about my newly acquired Vectrex

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Archived from groups: rec.games.vectrex (More info?)

As I noted a while back, I recently got my first ever Vectrex. It is in
excellent cosmetic conditions, and I have a couple questions about what to
expect in a few functional areas...

- The picture on my screen is fairly unsteady, meaning that the center of
the graphics is solid and sharp, but the extremities visibly "flutter" in
and out a bit making the image somewhat annoying to look at.

- The picture seems to shift upward a bit moving from left to right. What
I mean by that is, for example, my 4th remaining ship at the bottom right
of the screen is a few "pixels" (in raster terms :)) higher than the 1st
one rather than them being straight across.

- There's a very noticable hum when the machine is on, perhaps eminating
from the monitor itself?

My main question is - are these things to be generally expected in a
Vectrex by nature of its design? Specifically on the vertical shifting, I
saw a real picture of a the same screen online that did not _appear_ to
shift, but perhaps my eyes see the vectors differently that what a camera
picks up. Lastly, if any of these things are out of the ordinary, can
anything be done to correct them?

Thanks!

--
Slor
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.vectrex (More info?)

Cap kit to start..

"Slor" <slor@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Xns957F79A25A860emuslor@130.133.1.4...

> - The picture on my screen is fairly unsteady, meaning that the center of
> the graphics is solid and sharp, but the extremities visibly "flutter" in
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.vectrex (More info?)

Slor <slor@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<Xns957F79A25A860emuslor@130.133.1.4>...
> As I noted a while back, I recently got my first ever Vectrex. It is in
> excellent cosmetic conditions, and I have a couple questions about what to
> expect in a few functional areas...
>
> - The picture on my screen is fairly unsteady, meaning that the center of
> the graphics is solid and sharp, but the extremities visibly "flutter" in
> and out a bit making the image somewhat annoying to look at.
>
> - The picture seems to shift upward a bit moving from left to right. What
> I mean by that is, for example, my 4th remaining ship at the bottom right
> of the screen is a few "pixels" (in raster terms :)) higher than the 1st
> one rather than them being straight across.
>
> - There's a very noticable hum when the machine is on, perhaps eminating
> from the monitor itself?
>
> My main question is - are these things to be generally expected in a
> Vectrex by nature of its design? Specifically on the vertical shifting, I
> saw a real picture of a the same screen online that did not _appear_ to
> shift, but perhaps my eyes see the vectors differently that what a camera
> picks up. Lastly, if any of these things are out of the ordinary, can
> anything be done to correct them?
>
> Thanks!
All you described might be caused by "dried up" Power Supply Filter Capacitors.
Electrolitic Caps can dry up, which reduces their capacitance, which will
cause the AC ripple to propagate through all the circuitry.

Get yourself a service manual - search this group for a source of free manual,
and replace those caps.

Other than that, even all "good" Vectrii have a hum problem to a certain extent.

There are several remedies for that. some are simple rewiring projects, others
insert extra audio amp into the audio circuit.

I'm sure you can find them mentioned on this group, or just do a
Google search.

Peteski
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.vectrex (More info?)

Slor (slor@comcast.net) wrote on Monday 11 October 2004 11:57 am:

> As I noted a while back, I recently got my first ever Vectrex. It is in
> excellent cosmetic conditions, and I have a couple questions about what to
> expect in a few functional areas...
>
> - The picture on my screen is fairly unsteady, meaning that the center of
> the graphics is solid and sharp, but the extremities visibly "flutter" in
> and out a bit making the image somewhat annoying to look at.
>
> - The picture seems to shift upward a bit moving from left to right. What
> I mean by that is, for example, my 4th remaining ship at the bottom right
> of the screen is a few "pixels" (in raster terms :)) higher than the 1st
> one rather than them being straight across.
>
> - There's a very noticable hum when the machine is on, perhaps eminating
> from the monitor itself?
>
> My main question is - are these things to be generally expected in a
> Vectrex by nature of its design? Specifically on the vertical shifting, I
> saw a real picture of a the same screen online that did not _appear_ to
> shift, but perhaps my eyes see the vectors differently that what a camera
> picks up. Lastly, if any of these things are out of the ordinary, can
> anything be done to correct them?
>
> Thanks!
>

There's an easy (if you've soldered before) fix for the buzz. It can be
found on http://www.playvectrex.com/ under "Vectech". Go with both fixes.
In order to hear the hum on mine, I have to sit in a very quite room, and
be fairly close to the Vectrex.

And now maybe it's time I dug mine out for the evening...
--
Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is to
fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer, 1891
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.vectrex (More info?)

Despite all prevention efforts, peteski@my-deja.com (Peter W.) wrote in
news:b2412277.0410112207.7994e2ef@posting.google.com:

> All you described might be caused by "dried up" Power Supply Filter
> Capacitors. Electrolitic Caps can dry up, which reduces their
> capacitance, which will cause the AC ripple to propagate through all
> the circuitry.
>
> Get yourself a service manual - search this group for a source of free
> manual, and replace those caps.

That would be great if old caps are causing everything. I assume this one
of those repairs that I'll want to discharge the picture tube before
starting?

>
> Other than that, even all "good" Vectrii have a hum problem to a
> certain extent.
>

I was wondering what the plural form is... :)

> There are several remedies for that. some are simple rewiring
> projects, others insert extra audio amp into the audio circuit.
>

Was looking at those last night after seeing the other post - I might at
least do the simple rewiring.

Thanks to you and the others who replied.

--
Slor
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.vectrex (More info?)

Slor <slor@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<Xns95806FC07BDC8emuslor@130.133.1.4>...
> Despite all prevention efforts, peteski@my-deja.com (Peter W.) wrote in
> news:b2412277.0410112207.7994e2ef@posting.google.com:
>
> > All you described might be caused by "dried up" Power Supply Filter
> > Capacitors. Electrolitic Caps can dry up, which reduces their
> > capacitance, which will cause the AC ripple to propagate through all
> > the circuitry.
> >
> > Get yourself a service manual - search this group for a source of free
> > manual, and replace those caps.
>
> That would be great if old caps are causing everything. I assume this one
> of those repairs that I'll want to discharge the picture tube before
> starting?

That would be a very wise decision. 🙂

>
> >
> > Other than that, even all "good" Vectrii have a hum problem to a
> > certain extent.
> >
>
> I was wondering what the plural form is... :)

I'm not sure how correct it is - I just like the way it sounds...

>
> > There are several remedies for that. some are simple rewiring
> > projects, others insert extra audio amp into the audio circuit.
> >
>
> Was looking at those last night after seeing the other post - I might at
> least do the simple rewiring.
>
> Thanks to you and the others who replied.

You're welcome!
Peteski
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.vectrex (More info?)

Despite all prevention efforts, peteski@my-deja.com (Peter W.) wrote in
news:b2412277.0410132103.3601fb14@posting.google.com:

>> > All you described might be caused by "dried up" Power Supply Filter
>> > Capacitors. Electrolitic Caps can dry up, which reduces their
>> > capacitance, which will cause the AC ripple to propagate through
>> > all the circuitry.
>> >
>> > Get yourself a service manual - search this group for a source of
>> > free manual, and replace those caps.
>>
>> That would be great if old caps are causing everything. I assume
>> this one of those repairs that I'll want to discharge the picture
>> tube before starting?
>
> That would be a very wise decision. 🙂
>

Last question - Is there a source who provides a cap kit for the Vectrex,
or do I just start searching for the correct capacitors wherever I buy
electronics?

Thanks!

--
Slor
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.vectrex (More info?)

Slor <slor@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<Xns95868420AE838emuslor@130.133.1.4>...
> Despite all prevention efforts, peteski@my-deja.com (Peter W.) wrote in
> news:b2412277.0410132103.3601fb14@posting.google.com:
>
> >> > All you described might be caused by "dried up" Power Supply Filter
> >> > Capacitors. Electrolitic Caps can dry up, which reduces their
> >> > capacitance, which will cause the AC ripple to propagate through
> >> > all the circuitry.
> >> >
> >> > Get yourself a service manual - search this group for a source of
> >> > free manual, and replace those caps.
> >>
> >> That would be great if old caps are causing everything. I assume
> >> this one of those repairs that I'll want to discharge the picture
> >> tube before starting?
> >
> > That would be a very wise decision. 🙂
> >
>
> Last question - Is there a source who provides a cap kit for the Vectrex,
> or do I just start searching for the correct capacitors wherever I buy
> electronics?
>
> Thanks!

I don't know of any "cap kits" for Vectrex.

They should all be standard run-of-the-mill components.
You can pick them up at any electronic supplier.

Peteski
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.vectrex (More info?)

>Is there a source who provides a cap kit for the Vectrex

Zanen Electronics 1-806-793-6337, 46 Parklane Dr. Ransom Canyon, TX
79366.



Richard H.
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.vectrex (More info?)

Despite all prevention efforts, "Richard Hutchinson"
<richard.hutchinson@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in
news:9vydnWkNfolNsejcRVnyhA@pipex.net:

>>Is there a source who provides a cap kit for the Vectrex
>
> Zanen Electronics 1-806-793-6337, 46 Parklane Dr. Ransom Canyon, TX
> 79366.
>

Excellent! Thanks Richard.

--
Slor
 
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