I have sourced components for wg6100 and Sega GO8 (and other vector) monitor rebuilds and I've collected some useful intel. I know that it can be a royal pita to source the big 2N3716 (NPN) and 2N3792 (PNP) and 2N6259 (NPN) transistors. They are not impossible to find (i.e. Bob Roberts, Newark, etc.) but sometimes they can be hard to find in stock and for reasonable prices. Worst case, they come from the USA by mule or the UK by sea-monkey and you have to wait for a few weeks or longer to get them.
I have seen posts in the past asking if there were any subs available... well, there are plenty, so here you go.
All of the substitutes that I have listed below should work, but I have not tried them all personally. Other people have tried and proven many of them, if not all. Many of them are actually superior to the original device. I just went through all of their datasheets, all of which I found on the Digikey site. The parts with the parameter (ft = 2 MHz) are known to work okay. The original 2N3716/92 parts have ft = 4 MHz and so do most of the subs listed below.
Any part having similar parameters such as...
- Ic (max collector current) equal to or greater than the original part spec
- Vce (max voltage) equal to or greater than the original part spec
- second breakdown (Is/b) equal to or greater than the original part spec
- similar gain (hfe about 60)
- same TO-3 case
- same bandwidth (ft)
...will work as good replacement parts. All of the parts listed below meet these requirements.
If anyone tries any of the parts listed below and it fails and is known to be the root cause of failure, please email me and let me know. I will add such reports to the list or remove the part from the list.
Before I make this next statement, I want to say first that I have the greatest respect for Bob Roberts. He is an honest and very experienced and knowledgeable person. He has contributed immeasureably to the arcade hobby and business for many years and the world is a much better place because he is a part of it. That said, I also want to say that although Bob's monitor rebuild kits are wonderful, you must be aware that Bob's GO8 kit comes with 2N3916 transistors. These are sorely inadequate for the GO8 and they WILL fail almost immediately after installation and most likely lead to the immediate destruction of several other components as well. Many people have learned this lesson the hard way. Bob has been notified of this but as far as I know, he has not changed his kit contents.
DO NOT INSTALL 2N3916's in your GO8 monitor !!! You have been warned.
2N3716 (NPN) and 2N3792 (PNP) Substitutes for monitors:
- WG6100 color XY (i.e. Space Duel, Black Widow, Gravitar, Tempest, some Star Wars)
- Atari GO5-802 mono XY (i.e. Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone)
- Cinematronics / Vectorbeam mono XY (i.e. Star Castle, Space War/s, Armor Attack, Rip Off, Solar Quest, Tail Gunner, etc.)
Possible subs for 2N3716 (NPN, 80V, 10A, ft = 4 MHz, case TO-3 or TO-204):
Part Number Manufacturer Description Newark #, Price Digikey #, Price USD 2N3773 STMicro 16A, 140V 45J2472, $3.62 497-6204-ND, $4.16ea, $3.27/10 2N3773G On Semi 16A, 140V 45J2472, $3.62 2N3773GOS-ND, $3.89ea, $3.38/10 MJ21196G Onsemi 16A, 250V MJ21196GOS-ND $3.78ea, $3.29/10 MJ21194 Onsemi 16A, 250V MJ21194GOS-ND $4.40ea, $3.83/10 MJ15015 Onsemi 15A, 120V MJ15015GOS-ND MJ15003 Onsemi 20A, 140V, ft = 2 MHz MJ15003GOS-ND $3.78ea, $3.29/10 2N5038 Onsemi 20A,90V 2N5038GOS-ND $8.93 2N5686 Onsemi 50A, 80V, ft = 2 MHz 2N5686GOS-ND $12.52ea 2N5886 Onsemi 25A, 80V, ft = 4 MHz 2N5886GOS-ND $3.80ea MJ15022 Onsemi 16A, 200V,ft = 4 MHz 26K4518 $4.10ea, $3.49/25 Mouser 863-MJ15022G $4.96ea, $4.08/25
MJ15024 Onsemi 16A, 250V,ft = 4 MHz MJ15024GOS-ND $4.40ea, $3.83/10
Possible subs for 2N3792 (PNP, 80V, 10A, ft = 4 MHz, case TO-3 or TO-204) :
Part Number Manufacturer Description Newark #, Price Digikey #, Price USD 2N6609 Onsemi 16A, 140V Newark 33C8331 $5.85 or 26M6251 $1.91 no stock MJ21195 Onsemi 16A, 250V MJ21195GOS-ND $4.08ea, $3.55/10 MJ21193 Onsemi 16A, 250V MJ21193GOS-ND $4.75ea, $4.13/10 MJ15016 15A, 120V MJ15016GOS-ND MJ15004 20A, 140V, ft = 2 MHz MJ15004GOS-ND $4.00ea, $3.59/10 2N5684 50A, 80V, ft = 2MHz 2N5684GOS-ND $8.44ea 2N5884 25A, 80V, ft = 4 MHz 2N5884GOS-ND $3.80ea MJ15023 16A, 200V,ft = 4 MHz MJ15023GOS-ND $4.75ea, $4.13/10 MJ15025 16A, 250V,ft = 4 MHz MJ15025GOS-ND $4.75ea, $4.13/10
2N6055 (NPN) Substitutes for Power Supplies:
2N6055: NPN darlington, 60V, 8A, case TO-3
- Cinematronics / Vectorbeam games include Star Castle, Space War/s, Armor Attack, Rip Off, Solar Quest, Tail Gunner, Speed Freak, and more. Their power supply manufacturers include Condor, Datapower, Xentek, National Power Tech. All of these used the 2N6055 or superior transistor as part of the +5VDC regulator circuit.
- Some supplies were factory shipped with other device numbers (ie: 2N6577, SDM4004) but they were electrically equivalent or better than the 2N6055.
- NTE Components warning: Although the following table shows Newark's suggested "NTE" substitutions and even though such substitutions might work okay for you, I suggest that you do not ever use NTE components in general. They are very loosely specified and grossly overpriced. If paying over $18 for a $4 transistor doesn't convince you, nothing will. You are always better off sticking to proven high quality manufacturers such as OnSemi, ST Micro, Multicomp, Intersil, Texas Instruments, and so on. I would purchase an NTE component only as a very last resort.
Proven subtitutes for 2N6055:
Part Number Manufacturer Description Newark #, Price Digikey #, Price USD 2N6284
(best choice)20A, 100V 2N6284GOS-ND $4.26ea, $3.81/10 2N6578
GE datasheet
Central Semi datasheet
Inchange Semi datasheet15A, 120V 09F6473 no longer available, sub listed:
NTE2349:
29C4485 $18.49 (Ha!)no stock 2N6577
GE datasheet
Central Semi datasheet
Inchange Semi datasheet
Semelab datasheet15A, 90V 09F6472 no longer available, sub listed: NTE249:
31C3624 $9.47eano stock 2N6576
GE datasheet
Central Semi datasheet
Inchange Semi datasheet
OnSemi15A, 60V 09F6470 no longer available, subs listed:
NTE249:
31C3624 $9.47ea
NTE2349:
29C4485 $18.49no stock 2N6059 12A, 100V 35C0736 $2.00ea 497-2561-5-ND (no stock)
Theoretical subtitutes for 2N6055:
I have not personally tried the following transistors in my games, but the datasheet information shows that they should work well. (general power transistors spec sheet)
Part Number Description 2N6056 8A, 80V 2N6057 12A, 60V 2N6058 12A, 80V 2N6282 20A, 60V 2N6283 20A, 80V 2N6384 10A, 60V 2N6385 10A, 80V 2N6576 15A, 60V 2N6577 15A, 90V
Sega GO8-003 Color Vector Monitor Transistor Substitutes:
MPSU07 (NPN) and MPSU57 (PNP) Substitutes for Vector Monitors:
Part Number Manufacturer Description Supplier #, Price Supplier #, Price USD CEN-U07 Central Semi NPN, 100V, 2A, 50MHz, TO-202
The Central-Semi parts are new exact replacements but stock is not always available.Mouser,
610-CEN-U07
$2.87ea, $2.56/10CEN-U57 Central Semi PNP, 100V, 2A, 50MHz, TO-202
The Central-Semi parts are new exact replacements but stock is not always available.Mouser,
610-CEN-U57
$2.87, $2.56/10ZTX653
-replaces MPSU07
-needs heatsink belowDiodes Inc. datasheet
This maybe used to be a Zetex part.NPN, 100V, 2A,
150 MHz,
TO-92 pinned EBC
This part works but is not as durable as original part due to lower power capacity.Newark,
95K6783 $0.85ea, $7.40/10Digikey,
ZTX653-ND $0.92ea, $8.05/10ZTX753
-replaces MPSU57
-needs heatsink belowDiodes Inc. datasheet
This maybe used to be a Zetex part.PNP, 100V, 2A,
140 MHz,
TO-92 pinned EBC This part works but is not as durable as original part due to lower power capacity.Newark,
98K4086 $0.85ea, $7.40/10Digikey,
ZTX753-ND $0.92ea, $8.05/10575200B00000G Aavid Thermalloy
datasheetPress-on heatsink for TO-92 case Newark,
12N1434 $0.99ea, $9.71/10Digikey,
HS251-ND $0.46ea, $3.84/10
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