I will never stop repeating; please you must repleace all capacitors of the newbrain before turning it on.

I have replaced all capacitors some with acid leaks and this time everything has worked very well.

I left the computer running for a couple of hours and no other problems have been manifest yet … but it won’t last forever.

Gallery of the repair:

Useful link to visit: 8bit-homecomputermuseum.at

The first thing to do with this home computer before turning it on after many years that it was off is replacing all capacitors, which i did (some capacitors with acid leaks) and the computer worked well for about 15 minutes.

After the first 15 minutes while running a “for next” cycle, the computer started to show signs of slowing down and then freezed.

The problem was a RAM (4116) on BANK 2 [POSITION 416] (see photo), replaced the RAM the computer has started working again for another 15 minutes then it was freezed again.

I turned it off and on again and in this time a single line was repeated for X times, only with the composite video output, the VFD Display worked well (see photo)

Looking at the wiring diagram i found the area that manages the composite video output and i started to making measurements with the oscilloscope and after quite some time i have found the IC 74LS157 [POSITION 449] with a strange measurements that did not convince me for example the output pin 7 (OUTPUT Y2), in fact was broken, replaced the component the computer has started to work again.

Hopefully nothing will happen again: D

Gallery of the repair:

Useful link to visit: 8bit-homecomputermuseum.at

This is the Battery Pack for the Newbrain, very comfortable and very light :-D useful for taking the computer to the beach during the summer holidays.

Obviously the Battery Expansion Unit after many years of inactivity has presented some problems of the 20 x 1.2V 600mA NiCd batteries.

The batteries besides being completely exhausted i had leaked acid. (see photo)

Fortunately, there are no major damages with the leakage of acid and it was enough to clean well, unsolder the 20 batteries and replace them with new ones of 1000mA.

Last update: I noticed a malfunction of the Battery Expansion Unit, when i set the switch to OFF the “discharge” LED remained on.

Looking at the schematic, the switch suspend the charge and the use of batteries, the problem was caused by a pcb pad (see photo) that at first sight seemed to be connected together with another, immediately close, but in truth it was not so, it was enough isolate the connection and now everything works correctly.

Gallery:

12►

I have removed the blown filter capacitor of both PSU and cleaned the dirty cables.

Gallery:

Yes, it’s a long story, because i have modded this Atari 2600 JR many times.

The first time have made a simple composite video mod without adding any external components, so i have made the composite mod with 1 transistor and a couple of resistors, the last composite mod is the UAV (Ultimate Atari Video) made from a dude of AtariAge that was given to me by my friend Charlie and today i have put 3 x RCA for video/audio output in place of a cable passed through the RF hole.

I used the same hole as the RF output for the VIDEO output and soldered a RCA connector in the same pcb pad of the RF RCA connector, i have used the same pcb track that was needed for the RF signal for the Composite signal, i have also removed a resistor (R19) to isolate the pcb track.

Gallery:

Ultimate64/U64 Speaker with a little improvement.

I didn’t really like to see the U64 Speaker which due to the small connector and weight he tended to tilt and was not aligned with the motherboard.

I solved the problem quite elegantly by inserting a small thickness of plastic glued with a drop of Loctite on the botton side of the U64 Speaker motherboard.

Gallery:

The problem of this radio of the late 60s was due to the lack of foam layer, certainly removed by someone.

The thin layer of foam inside the battery holder is needed to lock the batteries in their position, missing this thin layer of foam the radio turns off if it is bumped or moved.

Gallery:

source: museoscienza.org

Atari 2600 (4-switch units) PAL Composite Video Mod for my friend Charlie.

Gallery:

Atari 800XL Hardware Enhancements.

I have decided to upgrade my Atari 800XL with some hardware interfaces available on the Lotharek website.

Current situation of my Atari 800XL:

• Ultimate 1MB from Sebastian Bartkowicz (Candle) with the latest FJC Bios.
• VBXE + DIN Connector for RGB/Audio Output (RF Modulator Removed)
• Simple Stereo + U-Switch + Jack 3.5 Stereo for auxiliary Audio Output.
• SIDE 2 / AVG Cartridge

New interfaces installed:

• P-Covox + 3.5 Stereo Jack for Audio Output.
• SRAM 64Kb.

After installing the SRAM 64Kb module i have removed also this series of IC which are no longer used from the Atari 800XL.

• 8 X RAM NEC 4164C
• 2 x SN74LS158N
• 1 x DM74LS51N
• 1 x SN74LS375N
• 1 x Delay Line EP8212 (C060472-D)

Gallery:

Atari 800XL with a missing delay line EP8212 (CO60472) Repair.

Thanks to the SRAM 64Kb Module by Lotharek, i have been able to resurrect a Atari 800XL which lacked the EP8212 delay line (CO60472) which is no longer available as spare parts.

More information of the SRAM 64Kb Module visit the lotharek site.

Gallery:

Commodore A501 (REV 6C) Expansion Memory Unit Kissed by luck.

Why “lucky”? because the battery used in this Expansion Ram Unit (A501) was not VARTA but GP, these batteries resist slightly to aging and release less acid.

Gallery:

Atari 2600 (4-switch units) Repair.

Defect:

• Black Screen.

Replaced parts:

• 1 x CPU 6507 (A200)

Gallery of the repair:

My name is “jaundice” and my last name is “lucky”.  :-)

Why “lucky”? because the battery used in this Amiga was not VARTA but GP, these batteries resist slightly to aging and release less acid.

The only defect of this Amiga 500 Plus was the Floppy Drive which did not read any Floppy Disk, the motor running slower than normal, it was enough replace a 4.7uF electrolytic capacitor to make it work again.

I thank my friend Igor for the donation.

Gallery:

12►

This Amiga 2000 is arrived in my lab in very poor condition in April 2016, the computer has been repaired and stored in an antistatic envelope.

Tested after almost 3 years, the computer does not show signs of life.

Having no video output, i have used the Chucky DIAGROM which through a serial connection i was able to identify 2 different problems with the RAM’s.

Defect:

• Black Screen

Repair:

• Rebuilt track on the 68000 DX side near resistor pack RP900 (previously good)
• Rebuilt track RAM U529 signal CAS (previously good)
• Replaced RAM LM 33256 U501 with TMS 4256 (previously working)

Below some random photo of the repair.

Gallery:

SNK Neo Geo MV1a Z-80 Error Repair.

Defect:

• No Sound (Z-80 Error)

Repair:

• Replacement of the Z-80 CPU in PSOP40 format.

Note:

• The error message “Z-80 Error” means everything and nothing, may be faulty the Z-80, SNK MASK-ROM SM1*, SNK NEO-D0 or also the YAMAHA YM2610.

With the Neo Diagnostics bios and with the M1 ROM burned and installed on the CHA Board of any NEO GEO cartridge, the problem can be better identified.

It is said that the error C3/00 that you see in the photos of NEO DIAGNOSTICS (write: C3 but reads: 00) is an almost assured a CPU problem, in fact, in this case it was.

The Z-80 CPU in PSOP40 format has been recovered from a failed SEGA GameGear.

Gallery:

source: neogeo diag