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Asteroids Monitor
Question from Pete: Hi. I recently picked up an Atari Asteroids upright arcade game from 1979. Surprisingly everything worked except some monitor issues. There is a bright dot in the center of the monitor and lines coming off of all moving objects. At times it looks like an EKG machine. The game is playable but too much garbage makes it difficult. Any input would be great. Thanks for your help!! Pete
1 answer
Response from Jonathan: Pete,
On the lines coming off of the objects, you might try adjusting the monitor to see if it helps the issue. Sometimes the screen adjustment on the flyback will solve issues like this. Check out our post on Adjusting An Arcade Monitor for more information. Even though we discuss a raster monitor in the post, the process is pretty much the same for vector monitors as well.
As for the bright dot in the center of the monitor, this could indicate that the spot killer circuit on the monitor chassis is not working. In order to repair this, you will probably need to replace some parts in this section of your monitor. Here is a link to a document that discusses how to repair black & white vector monitors: http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/ARCADE/A-J/FAQ%20-%20Black%20and%20White%20XY%20(Version%201.1%20dated%207%20Feb%2002)%20%5BEnglish%5D.pdf. See page 6 which discusses the spot killer in some detail.
Hope that helps. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.
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