SET UP FOR THE BALCHECK TESTS
USING MCM DESIGN'S WIRE WRAP BOARD


USING A REMOTE +5VDC POWER SUPPLY TO POWER THE BALCHECKHR BOARD

1. Use a power strip to power on.

If the 10,000uf capacitor C6 has only a 10V rating, MCM Design recommends you
leave the motherboard power switch in the "on" position and let the power strip
power on the motherboard. Details are provided for this recommendation in the doc
"A Power Transformer Substitution For The Bally/Astrocade Computer System" which
is archived on the BallyAlley.com website in the FAQs section. You will need AC
power for the +5VDC power supply and may also want to use the power strip to
power a small air fan, frequency meter, oscilloscope or possibly a logic
analyzer.



2. Use a 1/2 amp fast acting fuse with a holder.

MCM Design also recommends you protect the primary side of the black Bally power
transformer, that provides AC power to the Bally/Astrocade motherboard, from a
shorted ground fault failure within the motherboard.

What you can do is cut down an AC extension cord to only a few inches in length.
Then, splice in a 1 1/4" x 1/4" standard in-line fuse holder to either AC wire.
You can use 2 insulated butt connectors or solder and insulate with electrical 
tape, both ends of the fuse holder.

Jameco Electronics offers a variety of in-line fuse holders. You might be able
to purchase one locally. You should be able to purchase 1/2 amp fast acting fuses
at a hardware store.



3. A clean connection to TV/monitor is critical

To reduce rf interference on the TV display, do NOT use a TV/game switch.
Connect directly to the TV's 75 ohm connector using 1 of 3 methods:

A. Use a "no tool required" rf coax F plug adapter. One is available, at this
   time, at Amazon.com, item B0028MXOF6.

B. Splice on a spare 75 ohm coax cable having a plug in or screw on connector.

C. Splice on a "tools required" F connector like Jameco part#2272143 or equal.



4. Hard wire your +5VDC power supply to the BalcheckHR Board

There are labeled 5V and gnd solder contacts at the bottom of the BalcheckHR
board. Solder the +5V and gnd wires from the 5V power supply to those
respective solder contacts.



5. Disassemble the Bally/Astrocade console

Refer to the Bally PA-1 service manual, p.15 and disassemble the console.
This manual is archived on the BallyAlley.com website in the
documentation/misc hardware docs/Bally section. You do not have to remove the
rf modulator at this time. Decide if you should remove the bottom shielding
sheet. The later design version fastens this shielding to the motherboard using
11 small phillip screws. Decide also if you will need to keep the keypad attached
to the motherboard to execute optional BalcheckHR routines.



6. Inspect the connection provisions on the motherboard. If the 50 pin expansion
   pads are tarnished, you can use a small flat edge screw driver and lightly
   scrape the pads until they are relatively shiny. You can use a 400 grit folded
   piece of wet/dry sandpaper to clean the following:

   A. Four wire AC power transformer connection.
   B. RCA type output jack on the rf modulator.
   C. Bottom of the 8 pin connection to the rf modulator. Only the bottom
      surface mates with the modulator input contacts.


7. Place the motherboard so the back of motherboard hangs over the back of the
   console.


8. Place the BalcheckHR board and your 5VDC power supply behind the motherboard.


9. Plug the 50 pin ribbon cable connector into the motherboard expansion.


10. Clip on the black BalcheckHR board ground wire to the negative (ground)
    lead of the 1500uf electrolytic cap C1, which is at the right front corner
    of the motherboard.


11. Use a jumper wire and ground the rf modulator metal case to the ground clip
    you just placed on the cap C1.


12. Check the following on the BalcheckHR board:

    A. The 9VDC power on/off switch is "off" (flipped away from the 50 pin
       header).

    B. The remote ROM/Balcheck toggle switch is flipped to the Balcheck position
       (toward the EEPROM).

    C. The 5VDC voltage regulator output jumper is placed in the "disconnected"
       position (the position away from the regulator). Leaving the jumper
       in the "connected" position will likely power on some of the internal 
       circuits within the voltage regulator.

    D. The EEPROM multi-cart 2 position dip switch is set to 00 or 11 to select
       the BalcheckHR programming.

    E. The remote 5VDC power on/off switch, next to the 50 pin header, is in
       the "off" position (flipped away from the header).


13. Push the motherboard power on/off switch all the way to the "on" (left)
    position.


14. Plug the black Bally AC power transformer into your short custom extension
    cord with the in-line fuse holder.


15. Plug your power strip into a 120VAC outlet and make sure it is in the "off"
    position. Then, plug in:

    A. Your remote 5VDC power supply.
    B. The black Bally xfmr with  its in-line fuse.
    C. A small air fan pointed at the motherboard to keep the custom data chip
       from overheating (optional, not required for the 19 sec Balcheck tests)
       and turn the fan power switch to low speed.

16. Important! Before you turn on the power strip, read the BalcheckHR user
    manual doc "Balcheck May Normally Power On with a Black (Blank) Screen".
    This doc file is labeled "Blank Power On".

17. Turn on the power strip.
    Turn on the remote 5VDC power switch on the BalcheckHR board. The board LED
    should light.
    Press the system reset button.
    Watch the Balcheck dual display, NOT the TV screen.

    If the display does not initialize to -- (dash dash) and start counting up,
    try pressing the reset button again.

18. If the display will still not initialize and count up, there is a failure
    somewhere preventing the Balcheck tests from executing.

19. If the display does initialize and count up, Balcheck will attempt to
    execute 4 passes of tests.

    The display will output E1 if 4 passes of tests have "passed" and detected
    no error. The screen will also remain blank leaving a blue 2 byte rectangle
    near the middle of the screen. This is normal for the end of testing.

    If Balcheck detects an error, it will report the error on the display
    repeatedly using an error sequence as follows:

    error code

    ][

    info/error data

    HE

    LP

    1.9 sec blank display



Notes:

See the BalcheckHR user manual doc for specifics on error reports.

While the 4 passes of tests are executing, actually anytime after you press the
system reset button, you can select the execution of an optional program by
pressing a specific keypad key. See the BalcheckHR user manual for specifics on the 
execution of optional programs.

See the BalcheckHR user manual doc if you would like to conduct a "Performance
Check" on the BalcheckHR programming.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


USING AN OPTIONAL 9V BATTERY OR VARIABLE DC POWER SUPPLY TO POWER THE
BALCHECKHR BOARD


The board was originally used back in the 1980's as the dual display for MCM
Design's Balcheck II programming which was around 4K bytes. There was no EEPROM
installed on the board. Instead, the EEPROM was installed in a game cartridge.
At that time, a 9V battery with a 5V voltage regulator was feasible since the
board was mainly used to run the 19 sec standard Balcheck tests on a failed
motherboard.

The 9V battery scheme is still present on MCM Design's BalcheckHR board. The
user has the option to operate the board with a 9V battery, instead of dealing
with an attached hard wired +5VDC power supply, IF all the user is going to run
is mainly the 19 sec standard 4 pass Balcheck tests. Such a short run will not
drain the 9V battery too much.

The BalcheckHR board set up for the 9V battery power is as follows:

1. Inspect the BalcheckHR board and check that:

   A. The 9V power switch is in the off position (flipped away from the EEPROM).

   B. The remote ROM/Balcheck switch is flipped to the Balcheck position (toward
      the EEPROM).

   C. The 5V voltage regulator output jumper is placed in the "connected"
      position (the position right next to the regulator).

   D. The EEPROM multi-cart 2 position dip switch is set at 00 or 11 to select
      the BalcheckHR programming.

   E. The remote 5VDC power switch, next to the 50 pin header, is in the off
      position (flipped away from the header).

2. Clip on the 9V battery to the BalcheckHR board.

   It will only clip on one way. The board has a diode to protect against an
   accidental attempt to clip on the battery backwards. Place the battery in
   its holder.

3. Follow a SIMILAR procedure as the above procedure for utilizing a remote
   5VDC power supply.



Note:

You also have the option of using a variable DC power supply. You can hard
wire the variable power supply to the labeled 9V and gnd solder contacts on
the bottom of the BalcheckHR board or use instead insulated color coded jumper
wires making the connection at the 9V battery clip. Make sure you don't make
a backwards connection to the battery clip before you power on the variable
power supply.



End of document
MCM design
Dec 2018