UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Powered By Google Custom Search Vintage Radio and TV Service Data

Go Back   UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum > Specific Vintage Equipment > Vintage Computers

Notices

Vintage Computers Any vintage computer systems, calculators, video games etc., but with an emphasis on 1980s and earlier equipment.

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 29th Mar 2020, 7:19 pm   #1
electronicskip
Nonode
 
electronicskip's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Gloucester, Glos. UK.
Posts: 2,149
Default Vectrex Nostalgia.

With time on my hands today I pulled out my Vectrex machine for a few nostalgic games of Hyperchase and a few other favs.

Even now it's never been really duplicated for its individuality or fun rating although the yoof of today would probably laugh at it.

I was originally hooked on it when I first saw one working in the shop I worked t which was a stockist, so much so I bought one myself .

Some while back I obtained a multicart with all the games on plus some home brew ones and a couple of unreleased demos which is lots of fun.

Anyone else have a Vectrex?
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_20200329_164229.jpg
Views:	227
Size:	47.7 KB
ID:	201788   Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_20200329_164542.jpg
Views:	208
Size:	40.6 KB
ID:	201789   Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_20200329_164708 (2).jpg
Views:	182
Size:	47.0 KB
ID:	201790  
__________________
Oh I've had that for years dear!!
electronicskip is offline  
Old 29th Mar 2020, 7:36 pm   #2
SiriusHardware
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,484
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

Interesting the way they provided a screen overlay with each game to 'personalise' its appearance. I take it it's a mono screen underneath, and the graphics are vector graphics rather than bitmap-based?

What is 'Armour Attack', a version of the future-tank game 'Battlezone' by any chance?
SiriusHardware is offline  
Old 29th Mar 2020, 7:44 pm   #3
electronicskip
Nonode
 
electronicskip's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Gloucester, Glos. UK.
Posts: 2,149
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SiriusHardware View Post
What is 'Armour Attack', a version of the future-tank game 'Battlezone' by any chance?
It's actually like Combat which was bundled with the Atari VCS system. Good fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72T07X0ZxQs
__________________
Oh I've had that for years dear!!
electronicskip is offline  
Old 29th Mar 2020, 8:00 pm   #4
SiriusHardware
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,484
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

Lovely looking game, especially the 'working' rotors on the helicopter. I always liked the classic arcade vector games (Battlezone, Star Wars, Tempest, etc).
SiriusHardware is offline  
Old 29th Mar 2020, 9:32 pm   #5
Outrun_uk
Heptode
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Liverpool, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 704
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

I have one and a friend of mine (Jim) develops new software and hardware for them :-

http://www.clockworkrobot.com/
Outrun_uk is online now  
Old 30th Mar 2020, 6:07 am   #6
TonyDuell
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,190
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SiriusHardware View Post
Interesting the way they provided a screen overlay with each game to 'personalise' its appearance. I take it it's a mono screen underneath, and the graphics are vector graphics rather than bitmap-based?
(I also have a Vectrex)

Yes, it's a normal white-phosphor CRT mounted with the long dimension of the screen vertical. Magnetically deflected, but as you say vector graphics not raster. The EHT comes from what looks like a normal line output transformer (and may indeed be one) but that is driven by its own oscillator, it has nothing to do with the deflection system.

The digital side consists of a 68A09 processor, ROM, RAM, one of those AY-3-8910 sound chips and a single DAC. The latter is multiplexed (sample/hold circuits) IIRC between the 2 deflection axes, intensity, and another sound channel.

As well as the coloured overlays for each game, there was a very rare (I don't have it) 3D device. This was a frame you wore like a pair of spectacles with a spinning colour filter disk (again different ones for different 3D games) that was synchronised to the vector display (OK, acutally the display was sync'd to the disk). It lend each of your eyes see only some of the displayed vectors, and in different colours.

I am pretty sure you can download the service manual for the main unit if you want to know what's inside.
TonyDuell is offline  
Old 30th Mar 2020, 11:00 am   #7
electronicskip
Nonode
 
electronicskip's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Gloucester, Glos. UK.
Posts: 2,149
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyDuell View Post
I am pretty sure you can download the service manual for the main unit if you want to know what's inside.
You're correct.
All the service diagrams and coding stuff was made open source by the company who designed/sold them after it went out of production.
__________________
Oh I've had that for years dear!!
electronicskip is offline  
Old 1st Apr 2020, 7:20 am   #8
defender
Pentode
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 192
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

Techmoan has one too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRbzsbcequI

Demonstrating Outrun uk's friend Jim's products

Last edited by defender; 1st Apr 2020 at 7:27 am.
defender is offline  
Old 1st Apr 2020, 11:52 am   #9
electronicskip
Nonode
 
electronicskip's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Gloucester, Glos. UK.
Posts: 2,149
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

If your prepared to pay for the 3D set up then you can generally find one despite the rarity of them.
Personally I will stick to my Nintendo Virtual boy if I want 3D haha
__________________
Oh I've had that for years dear!!
electronicskip is offline  
Old 1st Apr 2020, 8:03 pm   #10
hamid_1
Heptode
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: High Wycombe, Bucks. UK.
Posts: 811
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

I'm another Vectrex owner. I first bought one in 1984 from Dingle's department store, Clifton, Bristol when it was discontinued and reduced to £39.95. Some months later, Woolworths in Broadmead, Bristol sold off their stock of games for £2.99 or less. I bought all the different titles I could find and had a lot of fun for a relatively small amount of money.

Since the Vectrex was discontinued due to poor sales after a fairly short time on the market, I never expected to find any more games for it. Then in 1996 I discovered a number of Vectrex enthusiasts in the USA on the internet, some of whom were producing new software. I obtained a multi-cart from Sean Kelly in Chicago which contained all the commercially released games, including some I didn't already have. Plus I bought a couple of brand new games from a developer called John Dondzila. It was not so easy to buy things online from the USA at that time. There was no PayPal so it was difficult to send money. I had to either obtain a cheque in US dollars from a UK bank which was very expensive, send dollar bills in the post and take the risk of loss, or ask my relatives in the USA to pay on my behalf. I paid them back and collected the item when I visited them, but that was also inconvenient. I felt a bit awkward about asking them to do things like that, plus it could mean a long wait until I could visit the US to see them. I tried all three methods of sending money, fortunately with success.

I never saw the 3D imager for the Vectrex, though the aforementioned multicart contains all the 3D games. It is possible to build a 3D imager yourself - the technical details have been published. I haven't tried, though.

Some years ago, I was given a 120volt American Vectrex that had been found at the local council tip. Unfortunately the finder had plugged it in to 240v and it had gone bang. I replaced the blown internal mains fuse and connected it up to a 120v stepdown transformer, but sadly it didn't work. It only produced a dim white spot in the centre of the screen, suggesting that the monitor was working but the microprocessor was not. Someone on this forum kindly gave me a spare 68A09 CPU. I fitted it but it still didn't work. Eventually I passed it to a friend of mine who diagnosed faulty RAM and sound chip, so now it has been repaired and lives again.

Interestingly, the built-in MineStorm game plays differently on the American Vectrex. The four different types of mines appear in a different sequence.
hamid_1 is offline  
Old 3rd Apr 2020, 9:54 am   #11
dominicbeesley
Octode
 
dominicbeesley's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,885
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

I've always wanted one of these but never seen one in the flesh... another construction project!
dominicbeesley is offline  
Old 3rd Apr 2020, 12:32 pm   #12
electronicskip
Nonode
 
electronicskip's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Gloucester, Glos. UK.
Posts: 2,149
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

This is my Vectrex Multicart.
Its called a Vectrom and appears to be from France as the box and all the instructions are in French .

It has 32 games on it and they are selected by adjusting the dip switches on the circuit board, although its a bit of a pain if you use it inside a genuine cart.

I do tend to use it outside a cart for this reason although i do have one which it can be housed inside if needed.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	vectrom(2).jpg
Views:	109
Size:	52.4 KB
ID:	202161  
__________________
Oh I've had that for years dear!!
electronicskip is offline  
Old 13th Apr 2020, 11:23 pm   #13
McMurdo
Dekatron
 
McMurdo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Staffordshire Moorlands, UK.
Posts: 5,263
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

I remember staring at these things in Woolworths. Seems like only yesterday!
__________________
Kevin
McMurdo is offline  
Old 15th Apr 2020, 3:12 am   #14
IanBland
Hexode
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Northampton, Northants, UK.
Posts: 380
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

I remember staring at a lot of video games in Woolworths, for a while it seemed to be the TV game hub of Northampton! I remember at one point they had a huge display of running TV pong games which was constantly mobbed by us spotty youths. I doubt anyone actually considering buying one could get close...

It seems these are now old enough to be, like old wireless sets, instantly nostalgia-for-when-the-technology-was-magical inducing.
IanBland is offline  
Old 15th Apr 2020, 10:35 am   #15
electronicskip
Nonode
 
electronicskip's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Gloucester, Glos. UK.
Posts: 2,149
Default Re: Vectrex Nostalgia.

Couple of TV adverts for the Vectrex here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc3njOEqC1o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Kyuhr0HcE
__________________
Oh I've had that for years dear!!
electronicskip is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools



All times are GMT +1. The time now is 7:29 am.


All information and advice on this forum is subject to the WARNING AND DISCLAIMER located at https://www.vintage-radio.net/rules.html.
Failure to heed this warning may result in death or serious injury to yourself and/or others.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2002 - 2023, Paul Stenning.