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twistedsymphony

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I recently picked up a Sky Shark PCB. Got it for a steal as "partially tested" (confirmed to boot).

It boots and the boot screen confirms ROM, RAM and SOUND check "OK". It plays but it has this weird sprite issue that comes and goes:

sometimes my plane will appear twice, once where it's suppose to be and again a few inches toward the top of the screen. it looks like it's broken up such that one instances has all the odd lines and the other instance has all the even lines.

some enemies appear like this also, some have this kind of "jail bar" look without a double (maybe it's off screen?) some enemies appear normal. Here's a photo where you can see some tank enemies have the problem:


sky_shark_1.jpg
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The PCB looks to be in good shape overall except for one chip in the corner which has been "decapitated" :D

sky_shark_2.jpg


This may or may not be the cause of the sprite problem. I will replace this chip anyway, though it'd be nice if someone else who owns a Sky shark can confirm that it is a "MBM2148L-55" like the other chips near it.
 
My Sky Shark is in storage and I don't have any HD pictures on hand to verify it. Zooming way in on Google images does make it look like that chip is the same as what's nearby, but hopefully someone can verify this for you.
 
I can confirm that the chip is the same as its neighbor on the B row. On my pcb they are both AM2148-55DC. I also have intel P2148H-3 chips where you have MBM2148L-55. So it seems there are six total 2148 chips in that section.

Good luck fixing that Sky Shark, it's a really fun game.
 
Just wanted to report back that I got my replacement chip in today (those things are expensive since they're out of production. $12 for one chip... used).

the old chip practically crumbled while I was removing it. put the new one in and the game now looks and plays perfectly! :D
Congrats on your repair.
I had to replace 3 RAMs and found my stock was 2148 75ns where the chips installed were 55ns.
Ended up buying the last stock of 10 pieces available at a decent price in Poland. Still it was expensive.
 
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