Senil Data Systems
Student
Hi.
When I first got to the Arcade- and Pinball Museum Seligenstadt, their TANK had a color TV and the original monitor was gone, nowhere to be found. It also ran an emulation of Super Tank.
So when I got to fixing the original mainboard, I noticed an abundance of video signal parts that just screamed for a color picture.
You can basically take the part signals, assign them color channels / mix them with diodes and be done. But there's a catch: The scores and the arena come out of the same chip. The original machine already has to cheat in order to get the black Tank's score black. It doesn't matter the white Tank's score is white, but now that we're in color, it needs to be a different color than the arena.
And some signals need inverting.
So here's where the video signals come from:
These are the simple signals one can just assign to the R/G/B channel.
Tank 1 = B10 Pin 2
Tank 2 = D7 Pin 12
Mines = D7 Pin 11
These signals need to be inverted (requiring a 7404, you can use LS or HC part):
Shot 1 = !L7 Pin 13 (also contains Explosion 1)
Shot 2 = !N7 Pin 10 (ditto)
Score 1 = !F14 Pin 12
These signals are more complicated (requiring two of the remaining gates of the 7404 plus a 740
Playfield = Playfield* & !Scorebox & CSYNC (B11 Pin 4). I guess that CSYNC can be omitted, but I wanted to be on the safe side.
Playfield = F14 Pin 13 & !F14 Pin 1 & B11 Pin 4
Score 2 = Playfield* & Scorebox & !452H (the machine uses Playfield* & Scorebox & 452H to get Score1)
Score 2 = F14 Pin 13 & F14 Pin 1 & !F14 Pin 2
NOTE: I'm pretty sure I have Score 1 and 2 mixed up
To mix these signals into R/G/B channels, I use a bunch of 1N4148 diodes as OR-gates. Solder the banded ends together (per channel) and connect each signal to the other end.
How you color these is up to you. My suggestion is this:
R = Tank 1 | Score 1 | Shot 1 | Shot 2 | Playfield
G = Mines | Shot 1 | Playfield
B = Tank 2 | Score 2 | Shot 2 | Playfield
Player 1 and his score will be red. His shot will be yellow.
Player 2 and his score will be blue. His shot will be magenta.
The mines will be green.
The playfield (arena) will be white. The background can be left black, but should be set to gray, because if you make the color switchable (when using a TV, this won't work on an arcade monitor), the original video signal has the gray level where the black level should be so the black tank, score and mines will be invisible.
And to be on the really safe side I also put all the signals through another 7404 double inverting them. This is just a protection against serious TV malfunctions and can be omitted if you feel brave.
After implementing the mod, I wonder, with the Race for Color Arcade Games going on in '73, why wasn't there a limited edition color TANK release? Sure, the machine would have cost twice as much and would have broken down more often as huge color TVs weren't exactly reliable back then, but if you make a color PONG and a color Gotcha, why no color TANK?
Video can be seen here, the color switch is flicked at 1:57
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pYwH0SYYDA
If anyone finds a mistake (as I said I probably have Score 1 and Score 2 swapped in the logic equations) or knows an easier way to get to the goal (logic golf anyone?), be sure to reply!
Also if someone has a better logic equation for VSYNC that would be nice as the top of the score is cut off and the picture is shifted as far down as the secret service menu allowed. Black&White monitors had no problem displaying the entire picture, but all color TVs I tried didn't display the top of the score.
When I first got to the Arcade- and Pinball Museum Seligenstadt, their TANK had a color TV and the original monitor was gone, nowhere to be found. It also ran an emulation of Super Tank.
So when I got to fixing the original mainboard, I noticed an abundance of video signal parts that just screamed for a color picture.
You can basically take the part signals, assign them color channels / mix them with diodes and be done. But there's a catch: The scores and the arena come out of the same chip. The original machine already has to cheat in order to get the black Tank's score black. It doesn't matter the white Tank's score is white, but now that we're in color, it needs to be a different color than the arena.
And some signals need inverting.
So here's where the video signals come from:
These are the simple signals one can just assign to the R/G/B channel.
Tank 1 = B10 Pin 2
Tank 2 = D7 Pin 12
Mines = D7 Pin 11
These signals need to be inverted (requiring a 7404, you can use LS or HC part):
Shot 1 = !L7 Pin 13 (also contains Explosion 1)
Shot 2 = !N7 Pin 10 (ditto)
Score 1 = !F14 Pin 12
These signals are more complicated (requiring two of the remaining gates of the 7404 plus a 740
Playfield = Playfield* & !Scorebox & CSYNC (B11 Pin 4). I guess that CSYNC can be omitted, but I wanted to be on the safe side.
Playfield = F14 Pin 13 & !F14 Pin 1 & B11 Pin 4
Score 2 = Playfield* & Scorebox & !452H (the machine uses Playfield* & Scorebox & 452H to get Score1)
Score 2 = F14 Pin 13 & F14 Pin 1 & !F14 Pin 2
NOTE: I'm pretty sure I have Score 1 and 2 mixed up
To mix these signals into R/G/B channels, I use a bunch of 1N4148 diodes as OR-gates. Solder the banded ends together (per channel) and connect each signal to the other end.
How you color these is up to you. My suggestion is this:
R = Tank 1 | Score 1 | Shot 1 | Shot 2 | Playfield
G = Mines | Shot 1 | Playfield
B = Tank 2 | Score 2 | Shot 2 | Playfield
Player 1 and his score will be red. His shot will be yellow.
Player 2 and his score will be blue. His shot will be magenta.
The mines will be green.
The playfield (arena) will be white. The background can be left black, but should be set to gray, because if you make the color switchable (when using a TV, this won't work on an arcade monitor), the original video signal has the gray level where the black level should be so the black tank, score and mines will be invisible.
And to be on the really safe side I also put all the signals through another 7404 double inverting them. This is just a protection against serious TV malfunctions and can be omitted if you feel brave.
After implementing the mod, I wonder, with the Race for Color Arcade Games going on in '73, why wasn't there a limited edition color TANK release? Sure, the machine would have cost twice as much and would have broken down more often as huge color TVs weren't exactly reliable back then, but if you make a color PONG and a color Gotcha, why no color TANK?
Video can be seen here, the color switch is flicked at 1:57
If anyone finds a mistake (as I said I probably have Score 1 and Score 2 swapped in the logic equations) or knows an easier way to get to the goal (logic golf anyone?), be sure to reply!
Also if someone has a better logic equation for VSYNC that would be nice as the top of the score is cut off and the picture is shifted as far down as the secret service menu allowed. Black&White monitors had no problem displaying the entire picture, but all color TVs I tried didn't display the top of the score.
