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Donkey Kong Audio
Question from Aaron: The audio on my Donkey Kong has recently started to fail. All the game noises are present – they are just overpowered by static and the volume escalates and rises uncontrollably. There is crackling and what sounds like interference. I am ignorant in electronic repair – From internet scouring I understand where the audio amp is. Nothing upon visual inspection looks defective/broken but I really don’t know what I’m looking for – all I see is that the capacitors look “healthy” (no bulges or deformity) all the pieces of wire seem to be intact on the board the amp is on. I have not disconnected it or removed – mostly because I’m freaked out since it’s mounted near the monitor and my understanding is if I touch the rear of the monitor incorrectly I’m going to receive somewhere around 10K volts. If it helped in anyway I could produce an mp3 or quick video clip of the sound issue if that helped in diagnostics at all. I could also remove the audio amp with a little instruction if you could provide it. I live in Wisconsin and have been unable to locate any professional help for fixing it. Appreciate any suggestions or guidance you could offer
Thanks
Aaron
1 answer
Response from Jonathan: Aaron,
Even though you’re not very electronic repair savvy, this should be a relatively easy install and a great project to help you learn the basics. Sounds like you need to order an audio board repair kit. We recommend ordering it from Bob Roberts at http://www.therealbobroberts.net. You will need to send him a check or money order for payment as he does not accept any form of online payment. You will also need a soldering iron and some desoldering braid. We talk about these tools in our post on Your First Arcade Toolbox. If you’re not familiar with soldering, our Volume 1 DVD has a soldering tutorial on it that might help you out. Once you get your kit in, you can do a search for some videos on how to install it. Here’s one I came across on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkNQfOCgXWE. If you have any specific questions, please let us know.
Hope that helps. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.
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