A.P.B. Restoration.
Picked this machine up as a part of a package deal, namely - I had to buy 30 crappy machines for the chance to get this one..
When I got it home and fired it up, there was something which was quite striking about it - namely, that the op had covered the sides and control panel from damage with some custom plexi which had been skillfully cut to size and had thankfully preserved its beautiful condition artwork.
There was something else, the monitor would not fire up - now that its a wells gardner model XX-12345667889 parts are reasonably rare, I did trace the lack of picture down to a blown flyback ( HV Transformer ) which was not putting anything out.
Schematics were impossible to find at the time ( around 1998 ) as the scanning work projects for spies.com ( now closed ) was not complete, and randyfromm.com was not giving out schematics like they give out offers to come spend some money..
For almost 12 months I scoured the newsgroups for a suitable alternative, at one point - I considered buying the guts from another machine on ebay and using that to restore my baby.
Finally, One summer afternoon in 99' - I found a dead monitor with a chassis that had a " Suspected working " flyback.
I quickly got it home, put it on the bench - Desoldered it with my trust DSE one shot desolder pump.. and had it in there in no time, it fired up first time...
During my time working on this machine, I have noticed a few odd things - Namely that between the Australian and the American versions.
This machine was licenced for reproduction in Australia by LAI - Leisure and Allied Industries, AKA - TIMEZONE - who have since moved offshore to indonesia for cabinet production.. which is interesting considering that they just built the single largest freestanding building in the southern hemisphere to build games in... which they are now trying to sell due to a downturn in the current market...
The machine, in specification and components - is identical to the USA version, which - leads me to believe - that the cost of shipping these was too highly priced, so a template was made locally, and kits ( the guts ) shipped from the ATARI usa.
The only differences which i am able to find are.
1.) The Australian version is a GREY Laminate, which is different to the American Version which is BLACK.
2.) The Australian version uses BLACK t-molding ( or t-edging, cabinet rounding.. whatever u want to call it ), while the American Version uses a Chrome molding.
3.) The flasher unit is identical in both machines ( being the aussie kit is built down here ) but its location and rating is somewhat different.. It is placed in the head unit of the machine, near the lights - while the American version contains their flasher unit in side the machine near the main PCB and Power Supply.
4.) The Seat assembly - In australia, Our seat assembly uses an aluminium style seat - rounded with apb art on both sides, which is screwed onto a welded base plate, while the american version uses a wooden seat with the same, but has rubber padding or grip of some description on the seat which is black with the stickers on the side.
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© www.myarcadegames.com 2002
- Christopher Bedwell
Changelog 01-August-2002 ( primary writing )