Help with borked Vectrex

[ocb]

Hi all,

Thanks to you lot on here, I got obsessed with getting a Vectrex.

After months of on and off scouring local 2nd hand sites, I got one.

Vendor claims it was working, had photo (not that this proves anything).

It seemed reasonably well packed - but it wasn't in it's original packaging.

No glow from screen, no typical power up noises at all.

Any first hints??

I'm really gutted

Had some friends of the kids coming tomorrow, and the game cave is out of commission right now - I was so looking forward to showing this off.

*edited to say Vectrex....stupid autocorrect!

ocb2015-08-21 19:24:59

 

[Alpha1]

Vectrex?

Silverfox has one.

 

[Milky]

My one is Bloomin' old and never starts first time. This is the procedure i have to follow if i leave it for more than a couple of days.

Plug it in and flick the switch at the wall. Dont try and switch the machine on.Now walk away for 30 minutes or so. After its had a bit of time, switch it on. Give it a minute and you might get signs of life and hear the loud buzz from the speaker. I get a black screen for anything up to 2 minutes first. The picture should then slowly come to life and start minestorm (or whatever the built in game is called)

Failing that, you have a problem that needs fixing.Milky2015-08-21 19:03:15

 

[grobda]

mine does what milkys does too. i'll get round to recapping it at some point. maybe

 

[Nes4life]

There's a common issue with the power connector between the two main boards. There's a YouTube video of someone repairing a vectrex. Should be easy enough to find. Hope you get it fixed!

 

[ocb]

I got the chance to open it up this morning. Continuity to the fuse holder, then the ohmmeter was *just* registering in the high mega-ohms. Took the fuse out - it looks in tact, measured on it's own - still looked dodgy.
Double checked with A/C this time - got power to the fuse, but nowt passed it.

Off to order some "slow blow" replacements.

Obviously "happy" it wasn't totally fried inside - but will reserve judgement until I get it working...

 

[Nes4life]

Keep us updated! Want to see a mine storm start screen

 

[Milky]

 mine does what milkys does too. i'll get round to recapping it at some point. maybe

Sounds like you have about as much enthusiasm to fix it as I have! I quite like the process of trying to fire it up - very much like trying to get an old car to turn over.

 

[ocb]

This is my 2nd attempt at a reply. First one was mostly typed then I had a battery related shutdown..

So, 48 hours after getting the borked vectrex - one popped up for sale within 10 mins drive of me.

Bidding was low, so I put the asking price that the vendor wanted - and mailed him to say I could come the next night to collect it. Sure enough, someone else bid more. Luckily the vendor got in touch and was happy for me to collect it ASAP - it was a lad in his early 20s and his mum was moving house, it was a console they'd had for years.

It worked! And the price was decent. I tried both the carts I got with the first borked vec. Neither worked....ah no! I decided to take it anyway (and got a bit of a discount). The multicart I had a home worked on it though, so not a total disappointment!

Nothing quite like having 2 bits of kit to do side by side debug. First off, I swapped the fuse...and voila!

That's what was up. I had a careful look around the components on both, but nothing looked bad.

So, after several months of sniffing around - I now have 2 working Vectrex!

I called them Buzz and NoBuzz (although I've rename it BuzzNot).

Buzz screen isn't the best, the board looks well loved over the years.

BuzzNot, screen is minty, innards look hardly used - but the fire button on the controller is a bit unresponsive (but is the model that doesn't like multicarts)

 

[ocb]

BuzzNot lives!!!

Only kids and cats should get excited by boxes, apparently...

Ready for action!

OK - it was only a freekin fuse, but who knew!

 

[Nes4life]

Two vectrex! You lucky swine

I need to get a real cart and overlay at some point. I do have 2 controllers though!
One day I'll finish making my homebrew vectrex dance-mat game (seriously!)