Ultra Rare Vectrex Repair

[@izzieb]

Gonna miss Ben when he's gone. I'd like to see more of Felix though. Feel like his personality is coming out more in newer videos.

[@lordkahtu96]

Wish I could like this twice!!!

[@uebertreiberman]

Wait, Ben is leaving TBHS? I feel like I missed some big chunk of information here...

[@roasthunter]

doh where you been on another planet?

[@PuffyRainbowCloud]

Yes, they even held a competition to find his replacement...

[@Iskelderon]

I'll always have a soft spot for the Vectrex. Thanks for keeping a classic like this alive!

[@DRTerabyte]

Why not post the 3D printer files and possibly anything to help recreate those discs.

[@adonian]

You should put these 3D print files and color wheel images up on the internet for people.

[@mute8s]

Ahhh now someday when I have the money to get a multigame cart for my Vectrex and a 3d printer I can finally make disks for the 3d games I haven't played. Been a Vectrex fanboy for years. Got my Vectrex back in 83 or 84 when i was 9 or 10. And it still works. I even play it from time to time. I have tons of games for it and a broken light pen. I'm working on building a new light pen though. Great system. Way ahead of it's time. Thank's Ben for showing something that very few people will ever get to see.

[@dan_loup]

You would still need the 3D imager for that. But maybe its possible to make one?

[@mute8s]

I do have one. But I only have the color wheel for 3d minesweeper.

[@TboneLoyal]

Be great if anyone monitored these old videos to respond.

[@BurgerStefan]

Transparencies for laser printers are heat resistent to a certain degree and can be laminated into pouches for additional strength/ stiffness. I use that to recreate damaged pinball plastics.

[@zybch]

Boy is it funny to watch some idiot that won't take advice run a regular OHT sheet through a laser printer lol Of course the drum needed replacing anyway...

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

The acting is getting too good, Ben... It's not nearly regrettable enough...😅

[@michaelmize1155]

Someone posted a pic on FB showing off their 5 Vectrex's so I thought I can do that boast even better so I linked this time Ben made a 3D Color Wheel for me a re-capped my Vectrex. Funny thing is this episode from His last Season was posted 4 years to the Day ago. Thanks Ben.

[@xPLAYnOfficial]

I love the Vectrex system. I really want to get one at some point.

[@WiteTigr]

I actually have four of these systems along with the screen overlays... Didn't know they were that rare thanks...

[@will_it_work]

Ben, the Vectrex doesn't have a 6502 CPU. It has a Motorola 6809.

[@80s_Gamr]

I still have my Vectrex from when I was a kid. I had to repair it after digging it out of my om's basement years ago but it's alive and well today. LOVE my Veccy!

[@Maxxarcade]

Every time I see a Vectrex I think of Arcade Jason. He's done lots of cool stuff with that hardware over the years. This is the first time I've seen the 3D setup though.

[@MalahkAngel]

Why do I feel like this "friend" has an unhealthy obsession with Truxton and trying to fit cartridges in CD trays?

[@goimei]

Chris B classic game room?:3

[@MalahkAngel]

You betcha. I kinda hope it actually is Mark cause that'd be awesome.

[@norbertcsorba4639]

1:50 that gave it away :D its Marks machine

[@zevindd]

Truxton and Vectrex is all you need. Maybe Atari 2600... and Beer....

[@zevindd]

Yeap, because people kept stealing his content. Check out patreon or Amazon video for CGR 2085.

[@unabashedindividualist6232]

Vectrex was a wonderful machine! its a shame folks don’t talk about it more!

[@johneygd]

You are very courage to repair that crt screen and creating that 3D colorwheel was an awesome project.

[@davidjellofox]

Ben Heck does some really cool stuff.

[@gwenynorisu6883]

Were any of these shots taken through the visor itself? Some of the ships / mines look like they might be different colours, but they also look like they're doubled-up 3D style (might just be because the Vectrex probably has greater-than-1/60th-sec phosphor persistence), and we don't see the red scoreline...

[@robintst]

The Vectrex is like the DeLorean of vintage game consoles. Always wanted one of each. My first console was the ColecoVision and even though a lot of the arcade ports on it saw more accurate ports to future systems, I still find an undeniable charm those earlier ones. I used to play the crap out of Donkey Kong Junior on that thing. Half the challenge of playing games on a Coleco though was wrestling with those weird flat-top joysticks that had almost zero travel. You needed the keypad on it to select your game mode and difficulty but you could easily swap out the second one with a VCS joystick or almost anything else that had that same DE9 connector. Years later I tried with a SEGA Genesis pad, totally worked but took all the of the physical stick wrestling challenge away from the experience, hehe.

[@KuraIthys]

hahah. Yeah, I can imagine. I use a Mega Drive controller for my 800XL as well. The official controllers I have for it are the worst. (a bit of research showed them to be 7800 Pro controllers. Which sucked badly even by atari standards.) It''s really only a quirk of fate that makes it possible though. Technically the sega and Atari wiring standards are different. Luckily most atari port compliant systems don't care, but never use a Sega controller on a Commodore 64 unless you like the thought of frying your keyboard controller. Ouch. Basically the wiring issue between the two is that the Sega standard has it's +5 volt line on what is an unused pin for the Atari standard, and the Atari's 5 volt power pin is the 'select' line on the Sega controller. The 'select' line, is how a Mega Drive can have 4 buttons and a D-pad and still work on a 9 pin port without any particularly fancy internal circuitry. (by comparison NES and SNES controllers have shift registers in them, and the Sega 6 button controller has it's own CPU, but the 3 button controller just has a tiny bit of logic for the select line, and then the buttons wired directly to the pins.) When the 'select' line is low, you can read the Up, Left, Start and A buttons because they will pull a related pin on the controller port to ground. When the 'select' line is high, you can read up, left, right, down, B and C through the same method. (B maps to the same line as Start, C to the same line as A) As you can see though, with it low, half the D-pad no longer works. (not sure why, but that's how it is.) Luckily, the 'select' line is the Atari's controller power line, so it's always 'high'. Just as luckily, unused pins in an atari port are always high too. Which is why the controller still gets power even though it's power line is wired to an unused pin. The final bits of luck - D-pad maps correctly to joystick direction lines on Atari port. And the B button maps to the button line on atari ports as well. (also the C button maps to a pin that you can read from hardware on an atari, as well as the second button on atari 7800 systems. Meaning homebrew software can read a second button from the controller. But obviously standard software cannot...)

[@vectrexer]

General Instrument (GI) Sound chip used. AY-3-8910

[@jduncan459]

Sort of interesting but it's like they are phoning them in now. No details of what they are doing like the old days. It's troubling what the show will be come July.

[@Quade235]

Thank God I'm not alone. I don't even know what gels he's saying they used.

[@MrHack4never]

It would also be nice to see inside the glasses, how they sync the wheel with the screen, if they could reverse engineer it etc.

[@trinidad17]

My exact thoughts, what is interesting is the design decisions, the problems, and how they made it, even if it is from a high level point of view. But it's just "we have this problem, and we solved it" without explaining almost anything more. Like in this video, they show clips from various approaches that they used for the colors it seems, but it's just B roll, it doesn't explain what you're seeing, if those the one they used, what problems the ones the other ones had, why the chosen one was the best solution, not even the different approaches used were discused, just "look what we did, goodbye". Because of that I lost interest and unsubscribed a while ago because of that but this was recommended and tried to give it a second chance to see how things are going.

[@morsteen]

Yup, went from a google image of a disc and then all of the sudden there is a working disc? Yeah ok.

[@collectorsalmanac]

would it not have been easier to use the clear cd spindle top you get in cd rw cases?

[@Labruskie]

"It's time to take apart the Vectrex, IN A TURBO VOLCANO!!!!!!!"

[@jhallak47]

I’ve been having issues with my 3d imager showing me a lot of double vision depending on what I am looking at. Has any else had this issue and how to solve it?

Please, I need to know, what brand is that orange screwdriver he used when dismantling the box, I had one of those a long time ago but I lost it, it was great. I can't recall the brand so I never was able to buy one again. please if you know the brand reply me. thanks.

[@timothystevenhoward]

I already miss you Ben...

[@Poisonjam7]

Ahh...remember the good old days of electronics, when resistors and capacitors were actually visible without a microscope.

[@linvjw]

It's a 6809 CPU, BTW...

[@coyote_den]

FYI the flyback often has a HV bleeder resistor that discharges the tube within seconds of turning the power off. Not so much for safety but to prevent the bright dot in the middle of the screen you see on really old TVs that don't have a bleeder.

[@vectrexer]

Nice Job on the 3D Imager disc.

[@xaytana]

I'd like to see a more in depth video on this, especially on how they sync the colors to certain things on screen. Vector graphics are cool, especially in color and 3d. Too bad nobody's really developed this style for today's games.

[@adamtaylor6969]

Any chance of sharing the files ?

[@stereo_future]

Since you didn't hear the pop, what made you confident enough to continue working? Do you have guidance on how to double check the CRT has been discharged before continuing?

[@nutz4gunz457]

Since there wasn't an electrical pop that means the capacitor was discharged and there is no danger

[@AnOfficialAndrewFloyd]

Hopefully you also fixed the Vectrex audio buzz problem while you were at it.

[@miguelsilveira6623]

Loved the galaxy quest reference!

[@jeromepedroza2367]

were can i get capacitor?

[@GrahamToal]

links to the 3d print and laser cut files?

[@vectrexer]

Already 'Ben' confirmed by both teams the industrial design of the Vectrex and the Macintosh are simply happy coincidences that evolved independently. A good design naturally replicates itself whether from Smith Engineering / GCE or Apple. :)

[@will_it_work]

Only a little over 1 square inch between them. Amazing.

[@yohook680]

Very nice video, do you know with what can I replace the original flyback on my Vectrex? Mine seems dead :(

[@Arnie_Liv]

There's a guy on atariage forum rewound his with some transformer wire you could try that

[@Legerine]

I really miss the Ben Heck Show... =^.,.^=

[@ObiTrev]

I have an Atari Super Pong, I have never replaced the D-Cells in it. They're from 1994!

[@MrHack4never]

ObiTrev Have you at least checked that they haven't leaked?

[@VintageTech1]

ObiTrev I have a Pokedex from the 90's the batteries still work.

[@ObiTrev]

I check every year... In fact... imgur.com/mG4b9Ol imgur.com/CX8j07z imgur.com/Kl6fcAQ That's not leakage, that's a fix my grandfather did in the 70s when my Dad and Uncle got in a fight. Imagine having to share THE CONTROLLER with your brother! Somebody wouldn't stop shaking it. Controller cheat?

[@seanbon74]

Do you have contact info?I need a go to man for repairs and maintenance on vectrex.I understand it will likely be costly and require shipping costs.

[@aageon]

is that a FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER? I've seen too much electroBOOM...

[@DoomRater]

There is no such thing as too much ElectroBOOM

[@JanTuts]

The moment he mentioned the rectifier, my mind went "FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER >:O" :P

[@dan_loup]

Give da meta!

[@youbecha64]

That looks like a relatively simply solution!...now reproduce the 3D viewer part :)

[@MickeyD2012]

Good to see you fixing things instead of chopping them up to make some sort of Frankenstein's monster. :P

[@cAHOONah]

Would love to have you redo a new compete glasses... ... this thing is so expensive and we would love to have it in our museum.

[@joshuaupham5993]

Awesome episode!

[@Bugzie666]

Link for that solder sucker please?

[@makingthings277]

Those 1000v rated dishwashing gloves?

[@nakjojo]

Amazing Episode

[@TransistorBased]

My ex's family has a Vectrex and I only got to use it a few times. Shame I never got to make them an offer on it 😒

[@ericdicken5678]

It always blows my mind how intelligent Ben is, and how much he knows. I wish we could plug a USB into his brain and download all his knowledge. Seriously.

[@LittleRainGames]

Eric Dicken work hard everyday and someday you will be too.

[@C2H5OHist]

His brain runs on a 256-bit parallel bus so you would need to hack up a bunch of USB-parallel adapters and the wiring and sync would be a nightmare.

[@ericdicken5678]

LittleRainGames Trying to everyday. Im getting there.

[@AirborneSurfer]

Ben Heck will return...as CYBERHECK

[@TubbyJ420]

growing up we had a colecovision with about 20 games, the boxing glove controllers, the steering wheel and the trackball. The day i found out my dad threw it all out because 'the player 2 connector didnt work' was a sad day.

[@TechyMantis]

My first system was the BBC micro (how many can remember that?) it was made by Acorn Computers and British Broadcasting Corporation (yes that BBC) to make a computer for people to code on. One of the first games I remember was the original Elite which was made for the BBC in mind and it was on cassette lol. The good old days.

[@testosteroneinc.3800]

Lets Linus do a review on a rare console, Linus drops it 😂

[@AirborneSurfer]

9:31 Nice reference to "A Case of Spring Fever"

[@ImaginationToForm]

Apple would sue the creator of the pencil if they were still alive.

[@Defensive_Wounds]

They are the biggest patent troll (sue others who have real devices that Apple patented yet don't even have such a REAL device ready.) Pathetic U.S patent system needs an overhaul badly to stop such anti-competitive BS that Apple does.

[@Mr_Wh1]

Defensive Wounds You don't understand! Apple is love. Apple is life....

[@Screamingtut]

Ben, FYI, you were holding the Fly-back transformer.

[@djbass101]

Well thank you ElectroBoom for breaking me; every time I hear bridge rectifier (Ben explaining the power board)I hear ElectroBoom saying "Full Bridge Rectifier" in my head.

[@TheRealSasquatch]

Try aVe - "rectumfryer"

[@kelviantopratamaharum1862]

THE RECTIFAIIAHH

[@johneygd]

It’s time to turn that vectrex into a portible handheld vectrex by replacing the screen with a flat crt screen while stifting all other electronics into a small case including the controller.

[@LordMarlle]

The acidic tune in the break is goood

[@msbae]

The Atari 2600 is the only console from the early 80's that I have played and really enjoyed. I have actually repaired one earlier this year. My 5200 doesn't have any working controllers. I can't give an opinion on it's fun factor. (You guys really should market that 5200 controller you built a few weeks ago.) Both Intellivision and Colecovision have really weird/uncomfortable controllers. I have never had the pleasure of playing a Vectrex.

[@KuraIthys]

I have no idea about the 5200. A lot hinges on the games. I love the hardware indirectly, because it's the same as what's in my 800XL, which is the only 8 bit home computer I ever owned. (I was too young for 80's computing really - I owned that 800XL from second-hand stuff in the early 80's)

[@msbae]

The 5200 was a console-ized version of the Atari 400 platform, the least capable of all their 8-Bit machines.

[@teh_supar_hackr]

Now to recreate the helmet itself.

[@spudhead169]

Element14 really pulled Ben's pants down. You should read your contracts before signing dude.

[@infango]

Is Ben one of mythical Laser Masters ? He really knows his lasers ..

[@sherekhangamedev]

I will miss Ben and all this and the regrettable acting. I have to repair a Game Boy DMG of the Playing Loud Serie. It has the common problem with the vertical lines in the display but I think a capacitor also blow because now don't turns on

[@KrazyContraptions]

There's a guy I found yesterday on YT who made a Vectrex monitor into color without the spinning wheel.

[@KuraIthys]

How did he manage that? XD Did he integrate some kind of filters into the screen itself? Adapt it with a colour CRT? (if so, how does the vectrex know what colours to send to the CRT?) So many questions...

[@KrazyContraptions]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKHcnISQrrKso5o He also has an in depth video on how he does it. He has a lot of cool stuff on his channel. #notsponsored XD

[@Koosemose]

This may be the guy the OP was referring to: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKamXqKDqbuGj6s it shows a demo of a color vectrex, along with a basic overview of how it was done (it looks like the channel may have some more detailed vids on it, though I didn't watch them). It looks like the colors are arbitrary, rather than any scheme related to that of the game with color disk.

[@kstringer24]

6:26 assessories!

[@Build_the_Future]

please build a robot project using the odrive I would love to see something like that.

[@GabrielWehrle]

Seriously don't discharge a CRT at home. Even if its been sitting around for a while unused. I was being an idiot, and tried to do this without any knowledge of how its done and ended up discharging the capacitor through myself. I broke the one hand behind the back rule, but somehow the current went through my jaw instead of my chest. If it hadn't, I likely wouldn't be here. It left me stunned, but otherwise unscathed. Please don't do what I did, it can kill you

[@endlessmode7823]

Glad you are ok! I have a working Vectrex and idk WHAT I'm gonna do when the caps need to be replaced. Problem for future me I guess. XD

[@lycrake]

Nice! Would have been good to see how you actually made the disks, as opposed to rushing through the construction process in the summary... Good work all the same!

[@Kangsteri]

Thanks!

[@xKatjaxPurrsx]

"Oh look, i knocked a piece of Friday loose!"

[@ZiggyTheHamster]

Nice 8-Bit Guy t-shirt!

[@Frankfurtdabezzzt]

Now do a video how to fix the buzzing of the Vectrex

[@StevenIngram]

I loved how you just lifted the template from a image online. LOL If you could have done something like that in 1982, Vectrex would have lost their mind. hehehe You're totally infringing on our IP dude. :D

[@StevenIngram]

Also... with a 3D printer and a modern MCU like an adruino or something, wouldn't it be possibly to make your own version of the headset? I suspect it's just receiving data from the unit that tells the motor how fast to run to sync the disk to the display, right?

[@Nonexister1]

The quote was Galaxy Quest., but I'm sure you knew that.

[@uncle-comrade]

From memory, I don't think it has a 6502 CPU! I thought it was a 6800.

[@GrahamToal]

6809

[@KuraIthys]

Yeah, it does. Though the 6502 is supposed to be a drop-in improved replacement of a 6800 or something... And of course the 6800 is the 8 bit predecessor of the 68000, hence the name...

[@mikiex]

The 6502 isn't really a drop in replacement Its possible to put a 6501 in a 6800 socket, though they are not software compatible they are pin compatible. The 6809 in the Vectrex is evolution of the 6800 but has quite different and innovative design.

[@evilash570]

Super neat!!!!

[@DougDingus]

6809 in the Vectrex

[@atraxr603]

Apple is first to invent things that have already been invented. Great company.

[@StephenZura]

Love those Chrono Trigger Stickers

[@craigcooper1967]

haha, you underestimate your Last Starfighter subscribers...

[@Travelinmatt1976]

The star wars bit is back again!

[@vega1287]

i was born after the year 2000 but m y favorite gaming sysrtem was the ninbtendo ds and my dad and i had to repair it because i droped it too many times

[@nintendolunchbox]

Nooooo springs. Nice coily reference.

[@chrisjericho7123]

Im dragging mines. Now i have to go find that clip

[@danstenger1]

One acronym for how to properly sandwich those discs: LOCA.

[@digerman3]

if he now recreate the 3D peripheral with 3d Printing to 100% that i want to se

[@pressplay6430]

Simply WOW!

[@virtuaskimmer6714]

I got my pizza related handkerchief map stuck in my vetrex once.

[@kawawete]

*h o w*

[@anumeon]

Yeah,, so now i'll imagine that to be a Futurama game with Bender for ever.. :D

[@cedarstuff]

You do great mods/repairs, but your videos are so short and light on informative/demonstrative content as to be almost pointless. You may as well have a before picture, one block of text, and then an after picture.

[@badvisionary1977]

Agggggg the ads the ads are coming!!!!! The ads are coming!!!!

[@teresamartinson7427]

finally he discharges a crt

[@morsteen]

Barely makes it under that rubber cap, and then says yeah guess it didn't pop lol. Phew lucky.

[@cthulpiss]

ad in the middle was obnoxious :/

[@xaytana]

Also the Element 14 ads are really outdated and painful to watch