Collector's Corner..On Fessing Up

[Berger]

Every Collector of the old chess computers has a current crop of defective computers [...]

And sadly, every passing day the number of chess computers which doesn't work will increase. There are components that degrade although not used: for example the pressure chessboards of Novag. Computers with a "ticking bomb" inside: those equiped with a NiCd battery, such as the SciSys Mark V. Others like Novag Savant, whose LCD... ¿dries?

Some time ago I repaired a Novag for a friend, and then I discovered this amazing world. Since then I have documented some of the repairs I have done. My small collection consists mostly in these repaired chess computers.

This is the link: https://sites.google.com/site/proyectos ... es/ajedrez

Although I have not (yet) translated that section into English, I hope that Google Translator can help you.

I didn't mean to make complex technical explanations, although I recognize that some things are not easy to do. But pay special attention to this article:

(What I explain is true for some of the early 80s)
https://sites.google.com/site/proyectos ... edrez/nicd

If you don't know how to replace the internal battery, at least ask a technician to remove it. Otherwise it could destroy the electronic circuitry in a short term.

So ... this is my small contribution to the community for the survival of more chess computers.

Regards,
Gerardo M. (aka Berger)

[Steve B]

Welcome Gerardo to the Forum

and thank you for an EXCELLENT Website!
Highest Regards
Steve

[Larry]

Novag Connie Expert 5mhz. Arrived yesterday and am currently trying
to find the problem. (Separate post about this one).
L

Well I succeeded in fixing it. If you already own a working example
of a broken chess comp you are buying, it's a HUGE advantage. You can swap
components around until you find the culprit. In this case
I did notice that one group of wires that fit into
a nylon flange which is in turn a push fit onto rigid wires coming from
the mainboard, had been turned around back to front. I would'nt have
picked up on this if it were'nt for my working Expert.
I was alerted about this machine by a friend, and was not particularly
interested until I noticed this in the picture:
https://a3-images.myspacecdn.com/images ... 00x300.jpg

Suddenly I decided to bid. I was the only bidder. It's in truly excellent
condition. The seller said he dropped and broke the power adaptor just
before testing it, so he had to sell it to me untested. After turning the
said wires around the right way, it worked like new.
Ok, that story had a happy ending. I'm hoping this next one will too.
Received the Montreux in just 12 days from Hungary. Here it is:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/111265373995 ... 1438.l2649
Bought it as non working. I found most of the problem. Once again I
already own a working example. On swapping the GAL display chips
around, the newly acquired Montreux burst to life only to show the
'f6' square lit up. On pressing various squares, I found I could replace
a lit up 'f6' square with a lit up f5, f7 or f8 square. The display insists
on saying "WHITE TO MOVE". This is sort of good news, because it does
mean the machine has not been cooked with a wrong adaptor. The bad
news for me seems to be an inability to get replacement GAL chips. It
seems that when the GAL chips come to the end of their life and go bad,
they not only stop the display from working, they actually stop the
computer from powering up. The Montreux has push fit GAL chips, unlike
most risc2500's which have soldered in GAL chips.
Frustrating for me is that GAL chips have write protection on them, so
if I can't find someone with the skills to get around the write protection,
the Montreux can not be restored to working condition. I live in hope.
thanks for reading this rather lengthy post.
L
PS If anyone here can help me with replacement working GAL chips, I
would appreciate if you let me know.

[fourthirty]

Did the previous owner's Tyrannosaurus Rex snack on it before realising that it was not food? Or perhaps it fell victim to a friendly neighbourhood nuclear explosion.

Monsieur Plastique - For this magnitude of carnage, I can only conclude that it must have been a combination of both. I suspect the poor pawn was attacked by a T-Rex with radiation-induced superpowers (which he gained from the friendly neighborhood nuke).

[Steve B]

Every Collector of the old chess computers has a current crop of defective computers
the Bane of the hobby and a constant painful annoyance
Some of Us choose to ignore the problem..preferring to "Block" the broken computers out of our minds...while others attempt repairs with varied success
i even know a collector that actually looks to acquire defective computers because he is an expert in the old electronics found in most dedicated computers and can repair almost any defect

in an effort to ease some of my pain i list my current crop of defective computers

SAVANT ROYALE - TOTALLY DEFECTIVE
SAVANT ll- SPECIAL EPROM WORKS OTHERWISE TOTALLY DEFECTIVE
SAVANT I- TOUCHSCREEN AND PROCESSOR WORK WITH PRINTER AND CLOCK
ROBOT ADVERSARY-NO.10403 TOTALLY DEFECTIVE
ROBOT ADVERSARY-NO.10368 TOTALLY DEFECTIVE
MILTON BRADLEY(MILTON)- RANDOM RELIABILITY
FIDELITY V6-DEAD C1 REED
FIDELITY ELITE PRIVAT BOARD-UNPLAYABLE
TSBIV LA REGENCE-WEAK A6 SQUARE
RUSSIAN MATTEL-DEAD F5-H8 SQUARES(12 SQUARES)
DDR VEB SC1(IN FOR REPAIR)

Handling The Truth Regards
Steve

Well its always a cause for celebration when one
can remove a computer from the dreaded
defective list and place it back on the active duty list



DDR VEB SC1-Repaired Regards
Steve

[Stray Black Cat]

Just re-soldered my 6124 Chesster Phantom this weekend. I bought it new(demo) as non-stock in a Miami store that sold upper-end unusual items. It had initialization issues from the start as well as some hangs but for the price it was still a keeper. On examination I found about twelve cold solder joints between both boards that were made in the Chesster conversion. No other repairs were needed and it now starts and runs perfect. Special thanks to Gerardo M. (aka Berger) for his site and the Milton repair. I had opened mine and taken notes and pictures but was uneasy about working on the CMOS boards and kept putting it off. Killed a lot of CMOS chips when I was young. It was still playable but annoying. His page motivated me to set up my ESD equipment and take on the boards. Took lots of pictures and hope to make dis-assembly instructions as there were many little things that are important. I am surprised that with all the Fidelity Phantoms that I could find no Motherboard pictures, internal, or verified parts data. Every site has a different description of what should be inside as well as other conflicting information. I still need to notate and organize but I made the main pictures available.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing

I will definitely make some youtube videos and confuse the 6100 owners by making my machine talk.