Tech: AR boards

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

ok, I have an AR board that has this exact layout:

http://www.elektronforge.com/Images/AR1_3.jpg

That is an A034485-03.

The difference between a -03 board and a -01 is supposed to be the big caps
near the speaker test points. Looking at the picture of the -01 board, it
also appears that the speaker connector is a 4 pin in a row, vs 4 pin in a
square:

http://www.elektronforge.com/Images/AR1_1.jpg

So, to make a long story longer, I have a board that looks like the first
picture (square speaker connector), but has 1000uf caps instead of 3300uf
caps. This causes the sound on my asteroids deluxe to be messed up. Can I
simply just swap in new 3300uf caps and be good to go, or are there other
differences in the board?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

>From the Elektron Forge site:

The "dash" numbers on Regulator/Audio and Regulator/Audio I boards are
not marked, so it is not obvious which is which since they both have
the same basic part number (A034485). An easy way to tell the
difference between the -01 and the -03 is to check the pair of large
capacitors near the SPKR 1 and SPKR 2 test points. If the value of the
caps is 1000uF, then the board is a -01 (Asteroids). If the value of
the caps is 3300uF, then the board is a -03 (Asteroids Deluxe). They
are *almost* interchangeable - the sound will be slightly garbled but
everything else will be OK.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

Yeah, I read that part about the boards being almost interchangeable. I
wasn't sure if I could "convert" one to the other. He mentioned that was an
easy way to tell the difference, but I wasn't sure if it was the only
difference.

"Rob Williams" <iggins@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1121353339.115762.167080@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> >From the Elektron Forge site:
>
> The "dash" numbers on Regulator/Audio and Regulator/Audio I boards are
> not marked, so it is not obvious which is which since they both have
> the same basic part number (A034485). An easy way to tell the
> difference between the -01 and the -03 is to check the pair of large
> capacitors near the SPKR 1 and SPKR 2 test points. If the value of the
> caps is 1000uF, then the board is a -01 (Asteroids). If the value of
> the caps is 3300uF, then the board is a -03 (Asteroids Deluxe). They
> are *almost* interchangeable - the sound will be slightly garbled but
> everything else will be OK.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

> Yeah, I read that part about the boards being almost interchangeable. I
> wasn't sure if I could "convert" one to the other. He mentioned that was an
> easy way to tell the difference, but I wasn't sure if it was the only
> difference.

No, that's not the only difference - it's just the easiest way to detect
which one you are dealing with. I don't recall *exactly* what's involved
(working from memory - don't have the schematics handy), but in general\
I believe the amplifier gain needs to be changed. It could be as simple as
changing one or two resistor values. I'm sure it's been discussed before,
so your most sure-fire bet is to dig thru the Google archive.

Alex
----
ayeckley@elektronforge.com
www.elektronforge.com