Star Wars (Atari, 1983, color vector)

Got this October 20, 2001.

• Fabulous Fantasies has new art for the marquee and the controller. (My controller looks like it was taken off of a Return of the Jedi--the color is wrong.)
• A Star Wars/Empire Strikes Back multi-game kit is available from Clay Cowgill. I have been too distracted by my Twilight Zone to get around to installing it.
• LV2000 fixes some problems with the WG6100 monitor that I have. My game was sold to me with a LV2000 already in it.

Repairs

• Replaced the X2212 NOVRAM, which was toast when I got the game. It's not easy to get to that socket!
• Replaced the missing coin mechanism with Coin Controls parts scavenged from an Arkanoid that I never really liked anyway. Replaced switch, too, since the one on the Star Wars isn't quite right. The game is, of course, on free play, so this is irrelavant.
• Someone replaced the coin mechanisms at some point in the past and did a rotten job. I re-soldered the wires and covered with heat-shrink tubing. They look better, and at least I know it's not a hack job in there. (18 Feb 02)
• Replaced microswitch for left thumb button with one scrounged from a joystick that Bob E at Halted pointed out. Much better: four buttons that do the same thing instead of three, but now no one tells me that there's a broken button. (18 Feb 02)
• Replaced the vertical pot on the controller. The part isn't ideal, but it centers okay. Got it from Radio Shack, so it cost a tenth of what Happ wants. Had to buy a hacksaw to get a shorter shaft on it, just like the old part. Any excuse to buy a hacksaw, really. (Mar 02)
• Controller went goofy for vertical movements; my scores decreased dramatically. Set screw for Y-axis was not tight. Fixed.

Problems

• Two wires in the coin door wiring harness are undocumented and just hanging there. I suppose they're for lockout coils, which my mechanisms don't have.
• Back panel is screwed in; lock can be twisted. (I have the hardware to fix this.)
• Side art is mediocre, marquee has a rip, and the controller cover is from a Return of the Jedi, not a Star Wars.

last modified by tjs at Wed Feb 5 14:35:29 2003