(Topic ID: 193187)

Meteor drop targets

By GameVault

6 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 15 posts
  • 5 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 4 years ago by GameVault
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

You

Linked Games

  • Meteor Stern Electronics, 1979
#1 6 years ago

This has bugged me for a long time, but I think this observation may help.
Game is in my arcade and runs 12 hours a day. At start of the day, turn the game on and start a game. It always sets the "METEOR" targets to what the last game ended with. Why? They should all reset up.
Going nuts with this.

David

#2 6 years ago

Alltek, or standard MPU-200?

It actually sounds like your RAM chip may be bad, as at the start of a game, everything is cleared off - including the Meteor targets.

It could also be a random bug depending on your dip-switch settings.

I would try changing dip-switch settings to factory, and see if that changes anything. If not, then try a different MPU board, or replace the RAM chip. If using an Alltek, .. I can't help there.

#3 6 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

Alltek, or standard MPU-200?
It actually sounds like your RAM chip may be bad, as at the start of a game, everything is cleared off - including the Meteor targets.
It could also be a random bug depending on your dip-switch settings.
I would try changing dip-switch settings to factory, and see if that changes anything. If not, then try a different MPU board, or replace the RAM chip. If using an Alltek, .. I can't help there.

It is an Alltek, but l may have an original somewhere. Let me look.

#4 6 years ago

Agreed this sounds like RAM: On the original MPU-200, the state of the METEOR drops is stored in the 24pin DIP 6810 RAM chip. On game powerup, it should be initialized to zeros, but if there was something wrong it might_ end up non-zero, and the software might_ reflect that state upon starting a ball. It would be a weird failure, one that I've never seen, but possible.

Not sure how the memory on an Altek board is done, but putting in an original MPU might at least tell you if it's the MPU or something else.

#5 6 years ago

Tried the original MPU.
Same thing.
It seems to remember the last game target orientation and set that up.
So I will try replacing the 24pin DIP 6810 RAM on the original pcb. Any advice where to buy?

How the same thing is happening on the Alltek is weird.

#6 6 years ago
Quoted from GameVault:

Tried the original MPU.
Same thing.
It seems to remember the last game target orientation and set that up.
So I will try replacing the 24pin DIP 6810 RAM on the original pcb. Any advice where to buy?
How the same thing is happening on the Alltek is weird.

If a completely different MPU gives the same problem, it really can't be the 6810, so I wouldn't bother sourcing and replacing that chip.

This is a real mystery! I'm stumped.

#7 6 years ago

Yeah, i agree - can you get a video of the game starting up?

2 months later
#8 6 years ago

best way to record and attach a video?

#9 6 years ago
Quoted from GameVault:

best way to record and attach a video?

1. Record.
2. Upload to YouTube.
3. Copy and attach link of the YouTube video.

4 weeks later
#10 6 years ago

So I was unable to upload a video, but tried someone else target assembly in my game and it works fine.
Must be in the drop target assembly.
Changed all the diodes on the switches to the drop target assembly, but no change.
Next is to change the diodes on the coils that pull the letters M E T E O R down.

#11 6 years ago

Do you have an EPROM reader?

#12 6 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

Do you have an EPROM reader?

We tried his mpu in my Meteor and it worked fine...

#13 6 years ago
Quoted from GameVault:

So I was unable to upload a video, but tried someone else target assembly in my game and it works fine.
Must be in the drop target assembly.
Changed all the diodes on the switches to the drop target assembly, but no change.
Next is to change the diodes on the coils that pull the letters M E T E O R down.

If any other memory coils look like they were changed, I would look at those first. It's possible that the DT assy wiring is fouled up. If any switches were replaced in the past, it's possible that somebody may have wired it wrong or reversed a coil diode.

#14 6 years ago
Quoted from Lovef2k:

We tried his mpu in my Meteor and it worked fine...

Okay.

1 year later
#15 4 years ago

PROBLEM RESOLVED! FIXED!
Explanation. Take down drop down assembly and inspect coil stop, plunger and link and where link connects to target lift bar. If there is sloppy play there or anywhere you will not get targets to set all the way up in ready position. Sometimes they will make it up but most times they will not. But when all the targets are knocked down they will almost always set up correctly because weight is evenly distributed for coil to reset. When some are down and the rod IS TORKED AND digs into the side assembly bracket (causing it to widen the hole) and/or with the linkage sloppiness, you get incomplete set ups or none.
So for example: Lets say you are the 1st player and you knock down the "M". Then you drain the ball. You see them all go up and the "M" fall down for the next player. It did not fall down by way of cpu. It fell down because it did not make it up all the way for the cpu to knock down and to start the next player to ready state. So if the 2nd player knocked down the "R" and then drained, the 1st player would see all the targets reset up and then specifically the cpu will knock down the "M" since it remembered the 1st player had the "M" down. After each drain ball ALL targets ALWAYS GO UP AND SPELL METEOR, then the cpu knocks the correct ones down one by one....click, click click etc.
So I replaced the parts and now they are all snug and no sloopiness. IT WORKS!

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