Recommended Books For Electronics Repair
Those of you who are just now getting into the electronics part of arcade repair might wonder about where to start. This post contains some recommended books that will help you understand the basic electronics principles that are applied in arcade games.
The Book: A Guide To Electronic Game Operation And Servicing (Atari, 1980): This book was written by Atari in 1980 specifically to teach people who had bought their arcade games how to repair them. As you might expect, The Book assumes that you have little to no knowledge about electronics so it’s great for beginners. While finding an original copy of The Book is near impossible, you can buy photocopies of it from eBay or you can download the PDF file at http://pdf.textfiles.com/technical/atari_thebook.pdf or at http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Arcade_Atari_Kee/Atari_TM-129_The_Book.pdf.
Getting Started In Electronics (Forrest M. Mims III, 2003): Many people consider this one of the best books for electronics novices. Forrest Mims uses simple explanations to help you understand even the most complex electonics ideas. This book includes some great examples and sample schematics that will have you well on your way to becoming an electronics expert. Highly recommended.
Buy Getting Started In Electronics from Amazon.com now!
Electronics For Dummies (Gordon McComb & Earl Boysen, 2005): Much like Getting Started In Electronics, Electronics For Dummies is a book for novices that explains electronics in a simple way. Gordon McComb & Earl Boysen lay the groundwork for your electronics knowledge so that you don’t get completely lost when you move to more advanced electronics books. There is a 2009 edition of this book coming out soon but the 2005 edition should work fine for most of you.
Buy Electronics For Dummies (2005) from Amazon.com now!
Buy Electronics For Dummies (2009) from Amazon.com now!
There Are No Electrons: Electronics For Earthlings (Kenn Amdahl, 1991): Besides having an interesting title, There Are No Electrons: Electronics For Earthlings has a very unique approach to teaching basic electronics principles. One review I read compared this to a Mr. Wizard like approach and I would tend to agree. Comparing electrons to little green men (greenies) on their way to a killer party and capacitors to parking lot sized traffic jams is unorthodox but actually helps in comprehension. This book is a great complement to the more conventional books we’ve talked about here.
Buy There Are No Electrons: Electronics For Earthlings from Amazon.com now!
The Art Of Electronics (Paul Horowitz & Winfield Hill, 1989): So you’ve gone through the rest of these books and now you’re ready to move on to something a bit more advanced. Well, you’ve found it! The Art Of Electronics, written in 1989, changed the way that electronics was taught. One of the great things about the book is that you don’t have to be a mathematical genius to understand it. It’s a great book for someone who feels that they are past the beginner phase but not quite yet a pro. Definitely worth checking out.
Buy The Art Of Electronics from Amazon.com now!
Well, those are some of our recommended books on electronics repair. Now that you know ours, what are yours? Do you have a book you would like to recommend to beginners in electronics? Please leave some comments below and let us know.
I am having trouble with a few of my games. Two fried in one day! My Galaga started to smoke from a black canister near the monitor. My Tron stopped working mid game, and shows power to the screen and some graphics, but does little else. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Aiden
Aiden,
Sounds like your Galaga is having some monitor issues. We are assuming that the black canister you are referring is the flyback. The flyback usually looks just as you described with a wire coming out of the top of it that goes to the tube. We recommend inspecting the flyback to see if it has any cracks or holes in it. If it does, then you will need a new one. If you can email us either your monitor chassis brand and model or pictures of your chassis we can assist you with getting a new one.
Your Tron sounds like it might be having either a connection issue or power supply issue. Check all of your connectors to make sure they are making good connections. Look for loose or frayed wires that might cause issues. Use a multimeter to measure the power getting to your board to make sure it’s correct. We highly recommend replacing the power supply with a new one. Arcadeshop.com sells a MCR Switching Power Supply Adapter that can help you with that.
We have also featured your question on episode 7 of our Q&A podcast. Please listen to it for more of our thoughts on your questions. Thank you for your questions and good luck with your repairs.
There’s an original copy of Atari’s The Book: A Guide To Electronic Game Operation And Servicing
On ebay right now