This webpage is terribly outdated but I intend to keep updating and adding much more content as my schedule permits.
Introduction:
The color vector game Quantum was released in 1983. It was a very unusual game with a completely original premise. The player is some sort of sub-atomic entity where the goal is to eradicate other sub-atomic particles. Movement is controlled by a trackball. The game has become very popular among arcade game collectors and its relative value has increased according to demand over the years.
As a fan of early-80's arcade machines, I thought I'd like to add Quantum to my game collection. The problem however was that I could not find one. That's understandable since Atari didn't build very many of them and the surviving original machines are considered very valuable. I have seen original machines in good shape sell for $5000. I've seen non-working machines in relatively poor condition sell for over $2000. An original working game board might sell for $1000.
Several KLOV forum members have contributed their valuable time, resources, and skill sets, to reproduce key components of the Quantum machine in order to make it possible to build new Quantum machines from scratch. I decided to make it a project of mine to build a new Quantum machine for my own collection. Such a venture would certainly not have been possible without the help and contributions of many talented individuals.
I started the reproduction Quantum project in January 2011. It was completed in August 2013. The definition of 'complete' being that the machine is complete, fully operational, and perfectly playable.
I still plan to eventually build a brand new reproduction deflection board and HV board for the Amplifone monitor. The new monitor PCB's were reproduced in 2013 by KLOV member Dezbaz.
The Cabinet:
I had considered building my own cabinet from scratch but it quickly became obvious that I was greatly underestimating the task. First of all, I don't have much in terms of wood working equipment. I don't have a detailed set of plans and I don't have access to an original Quantum cabinet to use as a model. Fortunately for me, KLOV member DPtwiz builds to order excellent reproduction cabinets for many games including Quantum. I just ordered one and presto, I had a new Quantum cabinet. As for the cabinet artwork, I ordered new silkscreened vinyl artwork from Phoenix Arcade. The T-molding is standard 3/4" blue ordered from T-Molding.com. The top vent cover came from KLOV member mrbill08. The cabinet was made very well and is accurate in every detail. It was CNC cut and arrived fully assembled. All I had to do was paint some edges black (edges and lock hole of back door, edges of vent and speaker holes, etc.). My personal preference was to also clear coat all of the other wood that was otherwise not covered, neither painted black nor covered by artwork. I did this to seal the wood against moisture and accidental spills. It also helps keep dirt from penetrating the surfaces over time.
<more to come>
The Marquee:
My Quantum marquee is a brand new reproduction. It is reverse silkscreened on 1/4" plexiglass and is a top quality part. It was made by KLOV member joemagiera.
<pics to come>
The Glass:
The glass that goes in front of the monitor, commonly referred to as "black glass", is a tempered piece of "Greylite 14". Most custom glass suppliers will a piece for you custom made to order. I think I paid $80 for mine.
The dimensions are: 23 5/8”(min), 11/16"(max) wide and 18 1/8” tall and 1/4" thick
The Control Panel:
Completed Control Panel:
The hold-down latches came from Bob Roberts. I placed the self-stick wire-tie hold-downs in the factory original locations. Someone might notice that the carriage bolts presently holding the trackball look a little strange. That's because at the moment they are Chicago 10-24 x 2" female bolts retained from the undersides of the trackball by 10-24 x 3/4 machine screws. I had to special order the correct black 10-24 x 3" carriage bolts from Mike's Arcade. When they arrive, I'll install them.
Panel:
The steel control panel and glass retainer bar and speaker covers are all high quality reproductions made by KLOV member TakeMan. This panel sets a very high bar with respect to quality. I'll hand my money to this guy all day long. I don't have any complaints. The only change that I elected to make was to add some small anti-rotation notches to the holes where the push-button switches are installed. I used a simple grinding tool to cut the notches by hand. I prefer not to cut off the anti-rotation lugs on the bottom of the switch cones. In a home use only machine, it hardly matters but I prefer to keep them regardless.
Switches:
CPO:
The control panel overlay is a reproduction, I believe it came from Phoenix Arcade.
Trackball:
For the trackball, I had originally chosen to install a 3" highball model with clear ball (original game trackball was black) that came from Happ Controls. I found out the hard way that it did not fit. The seller had insisted that it would fit anything that the standard model was used in. This is certainly not the case. My second choice was to install the standard height 3" trackball from Happ. The one that I purchased came with a red translucent ball that was diffused, however, I was not happy with the poor quality of the diffusion effect. Any light source placed under the ball seemed to produce a bright beam of light that was very intense when looking straight down toward the top of the ball yet the light seemed relatively dim when viewed from a steep angle. I wanted a much more even distribution of the light. To solve the problem, I ordered the Electric Ice colorless diffused translucent trackball from Groovy Game Gear. I chose to purchase the trackball without the optional LED lighting products.
Photo shows the GGG trackball lighted by BXTLC.
I thought about adding a custom LED controller to the trackball assembly that would illuminate the ball and cause it to pulsate bright and dimmer. I could not find an existing product that did exactly what I wanted to so I made my own custom device, the BXTLC. My idea was to use a small microcontroller to monitor the trackball signals and to drive the LED pulsations faster when the ball is moving and slower when the ball is not moving. I designed the LED controller such that it simply plugs in-line with the trackball harness so that no modifications to the harness are required and also no separate power supply is required. I liked the solution so much that I also installed the BXTLC in my Major Havoc roller. The BXTLC is available in several colors and can be used in most trackball games.
Control Panel Harness:
The wiring harness for the trackball was made by KLOV member Dokert.
<more to come>
The Game Board:
The PCB was reproduced by KLOV member Tronic. He supplied the PCBs blank. Some parts kits were provided by KLOV member RipTor. I ordered several chips from Digikey, Mouser, and some from Mark Capps <arcadechips.com> including LF13201, X2212, MC68000.
As of March 2012, I finished populating the reproduction Quantum game main PCB. Early in 2013, a KLOV member organized a second run of the boards. I purchased a second board so that I'd have a working spare for my machine. I completed building it in July 2013.
I have zipped together my modified bill of materials along with a bunch of photos of my finished board. I have replaced some of the originally recommended components with my own choices. I believe that the changes that I've made are beneficial for several reasons however you assume any and all risk for your own Quantum game board. Use my list at your discretion.
Summary of changed components...
Download BOM and photos: zipfile 10 MB revised 2013-11-09.
Note that my previous version (2012-03) recommended to replace transistors 2N3904/06 with MPSA06/56 respectively. Do not do this for Q7 and Q8 because it causes a serious graphics problem. While the MPSA06/56 transistors appeared to work okay in the other locations but it's probably best in this case to stick with the 2N3904/06 parts throughout the PCB. I have replaced the 2N3904/06 parts with the MPSA06/56 parts for many years in many applications without any issue. This is the first example that I've seen where it actually caused a problem. Live and learn.
Download Pincushion Correction Instructions: Quantum_Game_Board_Pincushion_Correction.pdf
This document details the results of my pincushion correction tests. It includes screenshots of a Wells Gardner K6100 monitor and an Atari Amplifone monitor. The resistor values used and their locations are specified and shown in photos. A simple modification is shown that makes it very easy to switch back and forth between the two types of monitors.
The Monitor:
The monitor is a medium resolution color vector 19" Amplifone. I don't believe that a standard resolution Wells Gardner 19k6100 would suffice due to insufficient drawing speed. I won't get into any technical monitor stuff here since there's so much such info elsewhere online. Instead I'll stick to the task at hand, mounting the monitor inside the new Quantum cabinet.
As great as the repro cabinet by Dptwiz is, there were a couple minor issues. First, the counterbore around the back door lock hole was on the outside when it should have been on the inside. Also, as the pictures below show, the upper two monitor bracket holes were about 1/4" too high and at least 1/8" too far to the cabinet's right. I had to drill new holes 1/4" down and 1/8" toward the cabinet's left. I could have filled the original two 1/4" holes with a wooden dowl rod but I didn't bother since I didn't have any dowel rod handy. I might do it later.
Another issue with respect to mounting the monitor is that it's very difficult to hold the monitor from the front and also reach behind it to install nuts and hold them while tightening bolts from the front. To solve this problem, I installed 1/4-20 T-nuts on the four holes that are used to mount the CRT brackets. I did not hammer them into the holes. First I drilled the original 1/4" holes from the inside to 19/64" diameter and to about 3/8" through. I then squeezed the T-nuts into the holes using a large C-clamp as a press.
I mounted the brackets to the CRT first, then while holding the CRT (with its brackets attached) inside the wooden frame, I installed the four 1/4-20 x 1" bolts through the bracket holes and into the T-nuts.
After installing the CRT, I assembled the new black cardboard CRT bezel (from joeycuda). It's not stapled in or anything. I just set it in place. The glass retaining metal rail sets into slots in the wood sides of the cabinet. The new black glass goes in next. The glass goes in top edge first and then tilts back and the bottom edge then drops into the slot formed in the metal rail.
Other Parts:
The Bezel (CRT cardboard surround): This part is a reproduction piece made by KLOV member joeycuda.
Speakers: Quantity 2 : Bob Roberts Parts Page description "8 ohm 15 watt shielded 6X9 speaker $10"
Coin Door, Vault, Utility Panel: <under construction>
Wiring Harness: The game's main wiring harness was made by KLOV member Joe Magiera in March 2013. <under construction>
Power Supply, AR-II Board: <under construction>
<more to come>
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