Computer Space Restoration
by Archer Maclean
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Basically about 3 years ago I finally found a computer space in Canada. After various negotiations, the owner agreed to sell and crate it up like it was something from the end scene of Indiana Jones/raiders of the lost Ark. Although apparently it nearly went over a cliff with the truck on an icy road out of British Colombia.

It duly turned up in the UK a month later, intact, and was in pretty good condition considering. It had a few scrapes scuffs and an interesting hole on the front where someone had perhaps trodden on the left edge. Without much effort, it was persuaded to work as well ! But the TV takes minutes to 'bloom' into life, so more work yet to be done on that.

But around about the same time I also received a request from the organisers of a European arcade games exhibition, to basically donate loads of cabs for semi permanent display at the show. I agreed but only if they financially helped out with the cost of a very expensive cabinet restoration back to 'as-new'. Expensive because the paint and lacquer required wasn't easy to apply or source. And it took a dozen coats of lacquer . .

But the machine is so simple there wasn't much else to do renovation wise.

What amazes me are the following things :

1. The machine is like a historical blue print of how all arcades games to follow would be made, featuring cooling fans, coin counters, interlock switches on the door and so on.
2. The electronic design was truly inspired from a logic point of view, and how he used a Diode grid as a basic 4 character rom is visibly obvious on the PCB, although even the rocket image is symmetrical so the diode grid only shows one half of the rocket image and the electronics mirrors things when drawn.
3. The ingenuity shown in turning a piece of software (Space War!) into discrete logic with no processors in sight, not even a 4004 :)
4. Inside was a few printed sheets of 'instructions' for maintenance. These are written in very personal way by Nolan Bushnell himself, and at the end of it all he more or less says 'any problems give me a ring' and puts his direct phone number at the time !
5. Whilst the cab design was so far ahead of its time, the game play is, well, a bit, err, Dull ?! You can see why it is so obviously inspired by Space War from a few years before it, and possibly where Asteroids came from 9 yrs later !
   
   Anyway, enjoy.
   Arch

01 raiders of the lost ark relic 101.46 Kb	02 unpacked with scrapes and a hole 139.50 Kb	03 base of PCBs looked clean 85.08 Kb	04 the infamous paint tin 74.74 Kb
05 underside of CP looked good too 85.60 Kb	06 tv and boards out 188.38 Kb	07 cp stripped and cleaned 202.93 Kb	08 board set attached to door 256.70 Kb
09 inner beauty fibreglass style 194.55 Kb	10 candy apple paint plus 12 coats of lacquer 369.10 Kb	11 Nolan's personalised instruction sheet 135.74 Kb	12 lower right paint 188.16 Kb
13 upper right paint 163.54 Kb	14 back reassembled 138.21 Kb	14A getting reassembled from back 160.21 Kb	15 screen close up 132.15 Kb
16 CP close up missing return rod 122.75 Kb	19 Father son and holy ghost 89.39 Kb	20 CS featured at UK GameOn exhibition 2002 253.71 Kb	21 CS with Kurt's Yellow one 61.01 Kb
22 Pong on the plinth 70.80 Kb	23 Proud plaque for the donor 209.83 Kb