We got another Atari Asteroids Arcade Game In for repair, SUPER CLEAN... Let's Dig Into It!

[@MrOmgwtfhax]

Ron: "What's wrong with it Joe?" Joe: "It's Broke!" Cracks me up every single time ... :D

[@bperkins]

Joe: "It's Broke" - funny every time ;)

[@MrSpikebender]

1981 I just moved to Encinitas from Fresno I just turned 16 (F---ing culture shock there) Asteroids is how I met my first friends Dan and Gary .... RIP Gary, LSS We won a contest playing asteroids and the grand prize was-- drum roll please- A big ass Texas instruments calculator damn thing did EVERYTHING ..HAHAHA HAHA. Once we had ships going into the right bank we had no idea how many ships we had. Good times

[@LyonsArcade]

Spike I lived in Fresno when I was a kid, we moved when I was 7 to West Virginia, we lived off Tulare Avenue

[@MrSpikebender]

@@LyonsArcade Cool I grew up on Maple block and half from Tulare. Small world.

[@Not-Great-at-Gaming]

Top 3 high scores by Dio. I'd definitely keep that there for the 80s reference. I had a few Dio cassettes back then.

[@alanarmstrong2323]

Long live Ronnie James !

[@scottmumford4295]

I worked at the Goldmine in the 1980's. Watching these videos brings back a lot of memories. Asteroids was one of my favorite games and for a couple years Asteroids was a top game. We had 3 in the arcade and they were always being played.

[@NipkowDisk]

Cool. My cousin was married to the late Jerry Logg, the father of Ed Logg who created Asteroids. I met Ed circa 1987... EDIT: I may have mentioned this in the past.

[@michaelturner4457]

Asteroids was one of my favourite games when I was in my teens. .

[@Itmonolith]

Thank you Ron / Joe! I've learned so much from your videos over the year but came across an Asteroids machine needing quite a bit of love. I watched this video and your others for help on it, did the much needed power supply and deflection board repairs and she's back and kicking. Much appreciated brothers! Keep up the great work.

[@trumpingtonfanhurst694]

A table model of this in the bar I used to go to sure made getting drunk fun :)

[@andybaldman]

2:48. "I have it under good authority." Lol, I know that guy! :)

[@senilyDeluxe]

I'm fixing an Asteroids, it's almost working now (at least the board, the guy's machine has still more problems). Most of it was nothing to write home about (a bad Chip Select Mux, half the RAM being bad, a bad 74191 leading to BVLD never active leading to a dead Z-Axis), then I got stumped by the diamond pattern in self test being squiggly. My chip tester gave all the other 74191s a pass and the Scope also said "looks good". Anyway I was piggybacking all the 74191s until I found one that made the squigglies less pronounced. I replaced it and the squigglies were completely gone. I tested the chip out of circuit - works perfect. One (unrelated) problem is the top of the picture randomly jumping vertically in size, like the positive Y amplification randomly jumps. Probably a bad op-amp in the analog section. It's only in Y, X is rock solid.

[@KingWilliam]

Beautiful machine......how did they keep even the wood inside looking like new.....

[@contrabandjoe7974]

Love it. Asteroid's was the ONLY arcade game that I was able to master. I could play indefinitely on a single quarter. Younger kids would give me a quarter to stock a few dozen extra ships, lose them and pay me again to rack up more. I was eventually banned from 2 separate convenient stores that had the game due to lack of quarters going into the machines. That was not the case for any other era game at the time for me (space invaders, moon patrol, pac-man, gallaga etc)

[@LyonsArcade]

If you forget about the graphics and just think about the gameplay mechanics, the games are often of a similar style, i'll bet there would have been other games, similar to Asteroids that you would be just as good at, but once the gameplay was more linear, or less linear, or whatever it just wasn't in your wheelhouse. Plus... practice makes perfect :) Thanks for watching ContraBand Joe!

[@scottdunn2178]

Tempest was my favorite. 1981 was probably the last time I played one. Avoid Spikes 🤣

[@kbramlett6877]

I read in one of those video game history books, that someone figured out how to outsmart the game and rack up lives and points out the wazoo. This was done by leaving only 1 fragment of an asteroid on the playing field. Then just shoot the UFO whenever it shows up. As long as you leave just that 1 asteroid fragment you can shoot the UFO, and rack up lives and points all day.

[@deadevilmonkey]

You guys need a t-shirt with "I'ts Broke..!!" as a tag line....

[@fred_derf]

Oh! My! God! That is one clean machine! (at least the outside is). I'm jealous of who ever gets to put this in their home! P.S. The inside is just as clean. What an amazing specimen!

[@kander2]

You understand all the electronics and can re-solder and replace all the parts on a board? You're a stud! I only know of 2 games that used vector graphics.

[@LyonsArcade]

I don't understand all of them but I'm trying :)

[@leeroykitty758]

Every time "Joe what's up with this game" - it broke lmao cracks me up all the time

[@memyopinionsche6610]

And future merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your family members. And let's just hope 2022. Can awesomely be better than 2020 and 2021 for everyone I don't know the last two years was weird.. Finger cross 2022 is better for everyone.

[@sideburn]

That asteroids is in excellent condition. Looks like an original control panel. I’ve got a near mint cocktail. I found a NOS glass with silkscreen on eBay and payed $300 for it (the price I paid for the whole machine) and I sold my scratched up glass for the same price! The Blaze multigame addition is a score! It’s great.

[@EsotericArctos]

I usually reflow the solder around the diodes and the flyback on those boards. Just as a precaution. The caps seem to be pretty reliable most times

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you Brendan, we just swap em because we keep them in stock so it's simple enough for us... love the old Asteroids games!

[@EsotericArctos]

@@LyonsArcade If I ever get a chance, I am grabbing an Asteroids. One of the best games ever

[@wackyworldofwindios3476]

Good afternoon Joe. coll more Stroids.

[@cklinejr]

Its been cool having a new video everyday!

[@djmips]

The high voltage hum I couldn't hear on my PC speakers but I could hear it on my headphones.

[@andrewcooper3845]

Such a great game. It's been a very long time since I played asteroids on original hardware. The vector graphics are just so old school cool.

[@elitster]

Great work.

[@scoosie5967]

Great to see Joe helping on this Arcade.... "It's Broke" :)

[@Yoeddy1]

Serious high scores!

[@mrwrister]

I've never seen an Asteroids game that displays scores in the millions. My machine and every one I've ever played turns over at 100,000.

[@LyonsArcade]

This one has a kit in it to allow it to do that.... they sell them at www.HighScoreSaves.com ...

[@sideburn]

I have the kit but I haven’t been able to test it cause I can’t get past 150,000 😭

[@Skeemaster]

Ridiculous on those high scores.. Such a Classic right there!

[@drjmansplace5174]

20:35 The yellow cap looks like it could go bad soon.

[@philsarcade]

Just picked one of these bad boys up to add to the collection. Been a little worse for wear, and as with this one, sound is very low, so will be interesting to watch the next instalment.

[@douro20]

What kind of controller is on the floor next to the Asteroids cabinet? If this were mine I would pull the PCBs and make sure they're working before doing anything else.

[@macdaddyns]

Went for a few world records on this one in my day, game always crashed after 12 hours or so. If you want to clean the anode wire and cap, spray a little WD-40 on a rag and wipe it down, puts em back to new. Nice game, looks really clean!

[@douro20]

I'd probably still change the old PVC anode lead to a silicone one.

[@iggysfriend4431]

Oh my god this is the nemesis of my college days, although I did get very good at it. This would go well in my man cave.

[@maxmt4325]

My asteroids screen gets slightly expands and contracts. Not too bad but noticable. Any ideas what that can be. Not sure if it's blooming since it goes back to normal size but still expands. Did capkit so definitely isn't caps

[@LyonsArcade]

Usually it's something in the power supply of the monitor or of the gameboard. That's not really blooming since it moves, it's more of a ripple in the power supply voltage, where it's allowing ac through on the dc line... so it may be the 'big blue' capacitor in the power supply in the bottom of the game, or some of the capacitors on the power supply board above the game board on the side of the cabinet. It may be one of the zener diodes on the monitor power supply too if you didn't replace those when you did the caps. Z902, etc.

[@fred_derf]

I have a question, couldn't you short across the volume pot and wouldn't that make it full volume? So if that worked you would know it's just the pot, and if it doesn't that there's an issue somewhere else?

[@LyonsArcade]

Yes that would work!

[@tubejay1]

Try putting baby powder on the rubber. That'll often stop it from being tacky like that.

[@Doughiemantoo]

New T-shirt.... "What's wrong with it? It's broke."

[@naytch2003]

Cmon people cmon now

[@bperkins]

I'd buy that T-Shirt

[@sideburn]

I have a G07 chassis that’s driving me nuts. I did a cap kit and fixed all broken traces, it worked for a month and quit again so I replaced the flyback and checked all of the transistors. Still nada. No spark on the flyback. I’m running out of parts to replace and ideas on what it could possibly be. 🤷‍♂️ what’s your address I’m sending it to you 😆 No high voltage and no neck glow. All fuses are good. A/c is good.

[@waynegram8907]

JOE CLASSIC, you mentioned that the flyback cord to the anode cap is "outgassing". What is it outgassing from the CRT tube?

[@bperkins]

He meant that the insulator on the wire was 'outgassing' That rubber/silicon breaks down and gets sticky after 40+ years..

[@waynegram8907]

@@bperkins but why is the insulator outgassing? From the heat or radiation from the crt tube?

[@douro20]

@@bperkins Yeah I'd replace it with a modern silicone lead. They'll probably well outlast the monitor.

[@LyonsArcade]

"Outgassing" might not have been the proper word, basically I was trying to say that it was chemically breaking down and starting to deteriorate, they have an oil that kind of secretes out of them as they start changing, and falling apart slowly.

[@waynegram8907]

@@LyonsArcade ok thanks i'm guessing for the high current from the flyback it causes the flyback cord to break down over time. I didn't know that the flyback cord did that.

[@a68k_de]

Joe: "Can we fix it?" Ron: "Hold my camera!" 😎😁

[@timblake5844]

Very. Nice machine. Looks a lot like mine. What monitor is that? Ps my g05-801 does that same pulsing in sync with the push start flashing. It’s not a big deal to me and doesn’t effect game play so I left it alone.

[@andymouse]

Oooooh cant wait ! (2nd)....cheers.

[@mythomaschannelisback2440]

Will you let me know if you Get a Falcon crazy junior or crazy Kong

[@gamingo_gguyverx6812]

Wht can cause a death spot? On asteroids monitor? can it be cause by a bad fuse cause a fuse replaced was mine was working fine but then a white middle dot came in middle of monitor

[@douro20]

Rev. 2A with an Electrohome monitor. Unless the ROMs have been upgraded this is rather anachronistic.

[@memyopinionsche6610]

350, 000.0 It's pretty impressive for DIO.. Is that his neutrals or his name? Because there's only one dio. RODNEY JAMES DIO.. The singer that replaced OZZY OSBOURNE for BLACK SABBATH And really the best singer for metal DIO!

[@bhuff123]

Does this mean since I’ve seen the video that you will be able to fix it

[@pnegron79v]

You mention a "dot" in this video that you can barely see. What dot is that? I am looking at purchasing an Asteroids but the owner says that a dot shows up after the monitor is on for a minute. Is this just the brightness being too high? Love your channel!

[@LyonsArcade]

In the very center of the screen, there will be a faint dot because that's where all the deflection is starting from, on some of them you can turn the brightness down enough to get rid of it, but on the 801's in particular sometimes you can't because the contrast on everything else isn't high enough to pull it off. So some Asteroids games have a small dot in the center of the screen while you play it, some don't. Now if he means it works fine for a minute then everything is gone except a dot, that means the deflection board is not working properly.

[@pnegron79v]

@@LyonsArcade Thank you for your quick response! So its normal then?

[@DjResR]

-Saves a HV diode. -Finds out later that it is shorted. Elna caps are top notch japanese, I'm not surprised it survived 40 years._

[@WinrichNaujoks]

How much did you buy it for?

[@GHILLIESARCADEANDMORE]

Cool

[@pb7379-j2k]

Never replace a working part. Always take grandpa’s keys

[@craigcoffman69]

Thanks Ron, you've infected me with the game bug. Obscure game I'd like to see "Major Havoc", anyone remember?

[@naytch2003]

Yep sure do remember that

[@dreamcastfan]

Aren’t you going to convert it to Mortal Kombat? 😉

[@Pitbull0669]

OMG HOLLY SHIZ 3MIL!!!

[@netropolis]

My asteroids has what looks like lightning that attaches to the corners of asteroids and the ship... I have been watching every asteroids video I can find to see if anyone else has had the problem to no avail.

[@mdoyle1981]

That sounds like retrace lines from the brightness being turned up too high. When it's turned up too high, you see the beam moving to draw the next object and it looks like lightning.

[@Zepphd2]

I have a 23 III Fluke I use for work. Sorry, nothing to do with anything. Lol

[@philsarcade]

His one seems to be well used :)

[@scottscaneh]

Thant game hums because it doesn't know the words

[@memyopinionsche6610]

What's wrong with it Joe? It's broken. How do you know.. Nothing's happening.. Ok With those scientific measures we now know. This game has issues. So Let's fix them.

[@lileveretteyoakumiii]

Yodelayheehoo

[@naytch2003]

Yodelaheehoo...it's broke people but not Fer long

[@fred_derf]

It's only broke, not broke-slap-up!

[@naytch2003]

@@fred_derf what the hells broke-slap-up

[@fred_derf]

@@naytch2003 You must be new here…

[@naytch2003]

@@fred_derf no I've been here a long time

[@fred_derf]

@@naytch2003 And you've never heard Ron say this or that is Broke Slap Up?

[@THEMARTIALARTSCHANNEL-bb4fx]

I am a huge retro gamer and usally finds something appealing in all games. But with asteroids there is nothing there. The graphics are boring, there is no music, the game itself is repetitive and without any point to it what so ever. Even in a simple game like pac-man there is more things going on. In asteroids you are just a triangle in a black void shooting round shapes that are suppose to be asteroids, and nothing ever change.... can a game be more boring? I think there is a good reason pretty much all asteroids got turned into other games quicker than they came out on the arcade floor.

[@LyonsArcade]

I can tell you're pretty young and never played anything in an actual arcade. There's nothing wrong with that, you just missed out and can't understand it now looking back, you're not the only one who doesn't get why it's fun.

[@THEMARTIALARTSCHANNEL-bb4fx]

@@LyonsArcade No actually I play games from the golden era almost exclusively on my arcade cabinets. I dont even know how to start a xbox or what ever young people play these days. One of my most cherished memories from my life was playing space invaders. But in a game like that there are things going on. Aliens are attacking, you are shooting at them, they are shooting at you, they are getting closer and closer, faster and faster. You got 4 shields that get more and more destroyed. Things are happening! But in asteroids there is no point to anything. The whole game is such a lame effort and without any good idea behind it. A similar game that is much, much better but is hardly ever mentioned is time pilot. That game is a blast!

[@jeanrodrigues6249]

Floppy

[@peter486]

1st