Vectrex Buzz-Off Kit Installation
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 มิ.ย. 2020
- Thirty six years after seeing (and hearing) my first Vectrex - I'm finally doing something about its infamous buzz. The majority of the video shows how I got on with installing the Buzz-off kit, but towards the end of the video there's also a brief demo of a new Vectrex light pen.
LINKS
I bought my Vectrex Buzz-Off kit from Obtanium Gaming on ebay
Here’s the EBAY AFFILIATED LINK to the item ebay.to/2MFRTqZ
UV Overlays provided by www.blacklighter.co.uk
I’m not sure if Rastislav is making more light pens - it’s more a hobby than a business, however he does have an ebay page, so if you want one then you could always send him a message through there - here’s the (non-affiliated) link ebay.to/2Yaow5R
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Mat, thanks for doing this video! There are over 2500 of these kits installed now. I designed it for anyone to be able install that wanted to. This is the third year of offering the kit and the Audio Tap line.
Thanks for making stuff like this and keeping retro gaming history alive.
Top bloke... thanks from a UK vectrexer!
You designed nothing, just put a standard amp in a plastic box. But well done sir, that’s a nice little profit there, I take my hat off.
I don't own a Vectrex, and I may never get into vintage computing (vintage (British) cars is more my thing!), but I definitely appreciate the work that's gone into this kit. Awesome instructions, straight to the point, and a very simple kit overall, by the looks. Absolutely fantastic work, mate, even if I may never need one myself! I'll share this with my Hackerspace group and see if anyone wants one.
Watched more of the video. May I recommend a mod to the kit? Why not include a wire that plugs in to the socket at 11:00 to 11:17 or so? Is that a rare item or something? I feel like the kit would be even easier if you had a plug available. Pardon my useless rambling, though, i'm not an electronics engineer - yet. It's an awesome kit nonetheless!
Many years ago I thought my dad had bought me and my sister a Vectrex and I loved it, but it turns out he'd only rented it for the summer holidays. I was, apparently so upset when it went back that, for Christmas that year, we were bought our first proper computer, a Commodore 64. So, it all turned out well in the end (especially when you consider I'm now a University Lecturer teaching Computer based modelling and simulation).
Success story at it's finest. Me on the other hand.... nevermind.
@@kellypg well, not with that attitude ;)
@Robert Jones I was a big fan of the Spectrum too - 3D Starstrike was one of my favourite games and Elite ran much smoother on the Spectrum than it did on the C64 - but I still love my 64 and yes, the SID chip was just the best.
I started with the ZX-81. I so wanted a spectrum when it came out. Never got one but still would love to own one. I think an Amstrad CPC was my next computer. I still remember the buzz and excitement from buying computer magazines as a kid and ready every inch of them.
SYS 64738 :-)
16:16 Thank you very much for the Vec box scans credit. I appreciated that very much! I'm a big fan of your channel and it's an honor to have them show up here. -Matt
You’re the only website with that picture - thanks for doing the scan, it was just what I needed to show in the video.
@@Ramdileo_sys Sadly, almost everything you learned there is irrelevant to the Vectrex, as vector displays function very differently than raster displays.
@@Ramdileo_sys What I'm saying is that the video you linked doesn't actually explain how the Vectrex light pen works.
@@CptJistuce I'd hazard a guess theyd both abuse the properties of CRTs to achieve their effects, even if the rendering process is different. They both use CRT monitors, although the Vectrex doesn't use the mask since it doesn't render pixels, and likely has a different formulation of phosphors used.
@@SkigBiggler The Vectrex also doesn't have a regular scan pattern that hits every part of the screen, because vector displays directly trace the visible image(basically, an electronic Etch-a-Sketch). And that's why the traditional way of making lightguns and lightpens work doesn't work, and the 8-Bit Guy video referenced isn't actually relevant. You can't watch to see when the beam is going by if the beam isn't touching most of the screen, and that is the key property of a raster-scan display that lightpens and lightguns traditionally exploit.
Lightpens on vector displays require a more complex approach because of that(and if a lightgun is even p possible, I'll be surprised).
Incidentally, color vector displays DO have a shadow mask. The Vectrex doesn't use one because it is monochrome, not because it is vector. Monochrome raster-scan displays don't have shadow masks either.
You need to make a Tech Moan intro using the light pen! This is pure gold!
That, plus the UV overlays, is instant vaporwave gold.
TheRealColBosch Yes!! And if you add some brass and synths it’s gonna be Sovietwave gold
Why stop at the lightpen? Get the 3-D headset in there too.
The light pen is the small man's light saber.
@@techloon4181 The light pen is mightier than the light saber.
"It is possible, even if you are a bit of a clown" Relatable
I had to solder six pin-size points on my original XBOX motherboard this week, left one of the solder bridges sticking up higher than Mt Crumpit - and it all turned out functional.
We clowns get it done from time to time.
@@arootube You don't wanna know how I put a 50hz/60hz switch and a region switch on my megadrive. But it works hahahaha.
Clown Lives Matter
Recently I was trying to repair an audio cable. Carefully soldered everything back together, only to discover that I had forgotten to put the sleeve on first! Had to unsolder everything and start again! Of course the first try was a much neater job...
I saw a Vectrex at a computer game museum once and it stood out like a sore thumb against other machines of it's vintage. The fluidity and brightness of the display are something that just has to be experienced in real life.
That´s why I love the Vectrex, all those cool homebrew projects done today for such an unique gaming console, buzz-off kits, amazing UV overlays, Thomas Sontowski´s mind blowing VecFever cart and much more. Rastislav was even so kind to send me his first light pen with buttons some time ago, love that device, he lives quite close to my home on the other side of the border in Slovakia so he is almost a neighbour. ;-)
Hi Roli! Without your excellent channel dedicated to Vectrex, I probably wouldn't buy one and without your video where you have pointed out the fact that there is no pen with buttons yet, I woudln't make one. We all 'make history' together. ;-)
My friend had a Vectrex with the light pen back in the 80s and it absolutely blew my mind. Asked for one for Christmas and got laughed at by my parents. They told me to go play his when I wanted to. I carried that wisdom into adulthood with respect to boats and jet skis
Much the same as me, except I applied it to beer and women.
The 2 best days of a boat owner are the day he buys it and the day he sells it
@@kellypg that applies to many items other than boats.
Sometimes I wish I had nothing and lived on an isolated tropical island. Then I come back to my senses and watch another TH-cam.
"wisdom" is right!
And pools!
That Buzz Off kit was really well packaged and presented. Using real wires sellotaped to a hi-res pic showing you exactly where to go. Very thoughtful by the vendor, totally foolproof.
Thank you for noticing that. I wanted everyone to have the chance at success.
hilariously im watching this on an old plasma and i really had to turn it up to hear your buzz over mine
I had to put on my headset as my soundbar didn't make the buzz sound was just silent
Never did hear a buzz
I had to hear it over the buzz in my head.
I had to stop making that buzzing sound with my mouth that I do all the time.
i had to put on a tinfoil hat to cancel out the buzz all 5g towers generate
The vectrex is a beautiful but sadly lesser-known part of gaming history.
I work in hifi electronics manufacturing and repair so I can say that your "bodges" look very good compared to some of the fixes that I've had to implement.
However, I would be a bit weary of you placing the amplifier on top of a transformer, you might be picking up a bit of mains hum. But if that works for you, that's great!
He did, you can clearly hear it when he says there's an eary silence. It surprised me he said that since there was clearly an interference, just less obvious than before.
There is a very low level noise with the kit installed. To me, it is so low as to not be an annoyance. Compare the before and after - it is a vast improvement. It is odd to place an amplifier right on a transformer, for sure.
@@butwait I know his father is somewhat hearing impaired but I can't remember if he said he is as well
Meh, by comparison it is quiet now. I think before, the original amplifier was near the tube driving section. The buzz sounds very much like vertical buzz, which would be 50Hz, same as mains. Anyhow, I'm assuming the kit instructions suggest having it on the transformer. There isn't much free real estate to put it anyway.
Yeah i found the positioning of that amplifier module a bit dubious as well, but as we could hear, it was virtually noise-free in the end, so it's all good imo :)
The moving TM letters with the Light Pen application is reminding me of the Danger Mouse logo.
Danger mouse~ *DANGER MOUSE!*
the light pen is legit impressing even now.
Now I saw a vectrex at a consumer electronics show with a 3D+color attachment.
You wore a big pair of glasses on your head with a spinning wheel that blocked each eye some of the time and colored your view some of the time, and the vectrix would sync itself to the spinning wheel to give you real 3D through eye to eye flicker and color the same way.
The famous Vectrex 3D Imager. My holy grail. Currently, there is one on ebay for 700 euros. :(
Would love to see a new Techmoan intro with the Vectrex light pen and different overlays!
It's great watching your vids showing old tech which was either outdated and forgotten or that we never knew existed.
I love seeing those super old hand drawn PCB's
the curvy traces are so interesting looking
MB really were so ahead of everyone when this was launched. They were made in my home town in Waterford Ireland and the factory is still here today.
A Geary MB didn’t design it though....and I have doubts they were manufactured in Ireland.....all units I’ve seen so far say Made in Hong Kong, but maybe there were also manufactured in other places.....haven’t seen them all 😁
@@atariandre5014 I know for a fact they were assembled in the factory and packaged...
A Geary I’ll believe it when I see a “Made in Ireland” label on a Vectrex 😎
I did some quick research, and it seems that while I couldn't find evidence of the Vectrex itself being produced in Ireland, the cartridges were: vectorgaming.proboards.com/thread/762/mine-storm-ii
Atari Andre Techmoans is Made in Taiwan
I love these kits that breathe new life into old video game equipment.
2:31 I love that they include a fireball sweet's 😁 in packaging 😊
I didn't really notice on the first video, but this console aged pretty well, the protector game seems pretty good even by modern standards, and the high refresh rate + vector graphics combo really seems way ahead of its time in '83!
Glad there's such a dedicated community out there keeping the Vectrex alive.
HUGE random blast of nostalgia when I saw the fireball candy. My grandmother had a Vectrex when I was a kid that she played so often, us grandchildren rarely got a go at it. AND her favorite candy that she always had in a big dish next to the Vectrex was fireballs. What are the odds!? Maybe it was just a popular candy in the mid 80's. Anyways, as always... thanks for the memories Techmoan.
I was lucky to get a Vectrex in 2013 which was a late German release where they'd fixed the 'buzz'. Clean, crisp sound without modifications.
I think these non-buzz vectrexes have some compatibility issues with some software.
I haven't come across that yet, personally, but it does also have the fixed Minestorm built in.
WOW what brilliant instructions...wish all manufacturers would include them as detailed and clear as that!
😊
The corner pins modifier and the animation was pretty impressive for that era, very smooth
Just got mine back from a Johnny's Jukes in Burnaby to fix mine after it stopped working over 35 years ago. $300 later, it still has that humming goodness to its sound I remember so fondly.
This really does elevate the vectrex to the level it always deserves to have been. When I was young I just assumed the buzzing was related to how the vector art was generated.
Quite possibly my favourite channel on youtube. I love to learn about old tech from before my time.
That pen is a refillable whiteboard marker LOL. As AvE would say, GENIUS! :D
hanetar doesn’t work on whiteboards though
@@Tejvir7 It used to, until the guy gutted it and used the shell to house the electronics lol
Safe to say, it's been refilled...
@@ChuckFickens1972 yeah, they said its reusable, so I have reused it ;-)
I remember being mesmerized when I saw Vectrex machines in the store. I've always loved that vector graphics look.
I, too, am still a clown when it comes to soldering, but I can say that using liquid flux makes a huge difference to repairing stuff.
Another excellent video, I love how humble and thankful you are for everything. A lot of TH-camrs could learn a thing or two!! :)
Keep up the good work, and hope you and family are keeping well.
And Congrats on 1 MILLION subs!
17:50 - love the squishy dancing TM. :)
So nice to hear somebody pronouncing "solder" properly!
To quote a well-known engineer: "For the benefit of our American viewers, yes that is how we say 'solder' in the UK. Why? Because it's got a f***ing 'L' in it!"
Leicester is pronounced "Lester" to rhyme with "jester" and "pester".
Watched a similar video over on The Retro Shed
's channel, fascinating stuff. Almost makes me want to pick up a Vectrex and one of these kits, never had or even saw one in my youth so luckily no nostalgia pushing me over the edge into what is probably a pricey purchase.
I love the videos from you, they always make me happy and glad that I found you. Keep up the good work!
Love how easy they made the instructions. That's really nice of them.
That machine is amazing! And that lightpen stuff makes it even more amazing.
Still an amazing machine that Vectrex! I remember they were in the shops but way to expensive for us. Simple lcd-games of things like Donkey Kong with only one screen were a toy for the rich kid in school. Our first step in the computer era was the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and i still have it. Nice memories ; )
And the ZX Sinclair is 40 years old now. The Vectrex will follow later this year :)
Wow man, so much hate in the comment section for modifying a friggin' videogame console. It's his machine, not yours. Relax.
They're probably the same people who get mad when somebody opens a Star Wars toy...
@@gwishart Nooo! Is there realy some people who are opening them?!?! :-)
The buzz sounds awesome... so old-school and soothing. I would never get rid of it.
I bought one of these new, when I was in my teens in the 1980s. Nice design. Interesting games.
I love how you include content showing you servicing your own gear.
I bought a Vectrex when it came out in the 1980s. It's the only piece of 80s tech that I wish I'd hung on to. I agree that the buzz was annoying. Glad to see a fix came out, even if it was too late for me.
Better loan a compressor and really blow the dust out of the first one.
When you start using a brush but don't finish cleaning, the dust tends to stay clumped up in places and can have a greater chance of causing a short or a flashover.
Speaking from the experience of two destroyed CRT televisions, one of which caught on fire a little.
"a little" *^____^*
It’s just a little bit on fire. Haha 🔥
I discovered back in 2006 while cleaning a projector...blowing compressed air (from a can) into the projector while it was powered up was a mistake. Bright and hot projector lamps, propellant and dust makes for nifty flames coming out of the unit. Coworkers were a tad concerned.
I like the buzz, most Vectrex games have hardly any soundtrack at all so buzz helps to fill the void during the quiet periods.
Nothing I like more than to sit down with a coffee ☕ and watch your vids 👍 happy days.
You had me in absolute stitches at:
There are people out there who think that a vectrex without its buzz is missing something, and I'd say to those people don't install a buzz-off kit, it's a very easy thing to avoid doing"
Always great to see another video from you on the vectrex, stay safe out there!
it's always nice to see people who are not into soldering that much doing it just fine and get the job done. Well done! I hope this will encourage more people to do something similar. No reason to be frightened of electronics.
wow! i can even hear the birds in your garden now! it's amazing!
Wow, talk about memories. I got one of these as a kid when they came out. I played it for years. Mistakenly loaned it to family friend, right before moving away. I never got it back. I’ve always wanted to replace it, and just might nowadays. As always, GREAT CONTENT. 👍🏾✌🏾
I've actually never seen the lightpen in use. My mind is blown by that. 1983! I had never seen a Vectrex when they were still relevant so my experiences from that time was my Atari 2600 and my Uncle's Vic-20. I don't know if my mind could have processed it if I had seen that back then. It would have been black magic fuckery. It still kind of is.
You are most definitely not a clown, you tackle jobs I'd never be able to do. I love all of your videos.
I just came across your video the other day and have to say I love your channel! Wonderful and informative videos. Soothing as well! Keep it up!
Good timing on coming out with this video, a friend gave me his Vectrex to try to get it working again. I'll watch out for it being a rare model, and keep in mind that audio amplifier issue.
Thanks, good video!
Have to admit the buzz is part of the charm for me, the way it changed as the on screen graphics changed. I guess it depends on what you drew up on; haven't played one for over 20 years
You bring back the magical emotion of early electronics quite effectively. It always startles me some when a brit is about to wield a torch. I haven't flashed lights much for over sixty years so I suppose torch is a better name.
That has to be one of the most impressive kits I've ever seen! Most seem to blow off doing the documentation once the hard bits have been sorted out.
Might be alone in this but, I find some nostalgic comfort in that buzzing sound.
Would love to see a whole video dedicated to the most popular modern accessories and games for the Vectrex. It has such a loving and creative community, they should be highlighted.
An amazing device, thank you for doing this one!
Brilliant. So happy you got it working. Good thing you had two. Good gaming.
Wow - that light pen kit is amazing!
Your Vectrex videos have really made me nostalgic and regretful. I had one of these as a kid, only a few games though. Star Trek, something where you had two jeeps to drive around and shoot at each other...
I spent a lot of time with that machine.
Of course I was only about ten when something with the controllers failed. I didn't the first thing about repair at that age. But, I do have fond memories of the old Vectrex.
With regards to connecting that speaker up either way - the cone will vibrate the wrong way (compared to having the speaker the correct way around), not a massively noticeable difference in a mono system, but get one speaker the wrong way around in a stereo system and you get out of phase audio (which I am sure you are aware of!). Great result, certainly a mod worth doing!
Correct. But it’s not stereo so it will sound the same either way.
I'm loving your channel thank you for all the great content.
Mine wasn't that dusty. I had an issue with the white spot at times, decided to recap it, no difference. Turns out the power switch needed cleaning. One of the power lines the switch connects wasn't being connected.
You should get an air compressor and a blow gun, best thing ever for clearing out dust.
Big thumb up for RastiSLAV's work. Also a very generous man.
Thank you so much for this video, what a treat! Very cool to watch. And it has Tempest! One of my favorite games growing up
Please continue to blather, I enjoy your blatherings
The buzz brings back fond memories.
Nice to see someone with better soldering skills than my own Matt. Excellent video!
I remember the old sound. It makes me remember many nice moments when playing the games on it...
This reminds me of the days when the movie ET came out. I like those games!😃👍
It's always such a joy to watch somebody fix some old piece and being good at it.
And then there's this :-D
What a classic machine the Vectrex is!
That vectrex is amazing!! Technically really impressive
Wow, seriously incredible timing. I just started playing my vectrex again last week. It had been sitting for 3 or 4 years. It's amazing how pretty much everything on a vectrex can be fixed with a few minor adjustments (i.e. geometry issues, stick drift, etc.) the only thing I cant adjust away is the annoying buzz!
I still remember my vectrex , it was awesome , it ended up in the loft at my mums house , it’s now gone forever
These are truly fascinating machines. I had no idea they even existed until I saw your previous video on one. I unfortunately have the attention span of a house fly and rarely replay games once I feel I've done all I can with them. Apart from my Nintendo 64 that I've had since Christmas of 1998, and the Windows 98 Pentium 4 system I built 3 or so years ago, I really don't do much retro gaming.
Never the less, keep up the great work Mat! I've done worse soldering jobs myself. Reattached the RCA plugs on the back of a TV 15 years ago with a cut up RJ45 phone cord, solid copper wire is why I used the cord, easier to solder. Was a hackjob but it worked until the TV didn't anymore.
Vector displays were nice in so many ways. I seem to recall people taking the deflection yoke off the neck of the CRT in a television while leaving it hooked into the sweep circuitry. Then they would get another yoke and place it on the CRT. Finally they would hook up the horizontal and vertical deflection coils to the speaker outputs of an audio amplifier, and have a TV-sized audio pattern display.
Never tried it myself, but it was tempting. 😉
My Vectrex has that buzz, too. I might not fix it for a long time, but at least now I know where the problem is. Thank you!
Always wanted one. With these extras the acquisition of one seems more inviting.
Nice job love this console always wanted one
i'm curious, how does the light pen work on a vector screen? i only know the ones for scanline CRTs which essentially just measure the time between VSYNC and the light being measured by the pen, thus knowing where the ray was at that time, but that won't do for a vector based CRT, there's no scanlines to count.
I just worked it out. I did not research this topic. Note how the cursor turns into a octagon that seems to expand and contract depending or how fast you move the pen across the screen. You can really see this effect when he moves from the first to second line. 17:18 I believe the octagon is drawn and while being drawn if the pen hits the edge move the pointer there. If not draw a bigger octagon and so on.
IR photo sender and fly back lines
@@ky5666 ah ok so it essentially tries to home in on it with timed cursor drawing till it gets seen where (or rather when) expected.
@@The_Studioworkshop yeah no. note how i literally just said that this is not the case since there are no scanlines in a vector display
It would be sick to capture this homing-in effect with a high speed camera.
The Deox (and other similar sprays) will eventually dry off and the oxidation and noise will be back. The gunk I suspect is contact grease which is a lot more permanent solution.
Correct. It’s a special dielectric grease that works itself into the carbon trace. New pots of quality are loaded with silicone to keep moisture out.
Fantastic video as always!
I used to have a Vextrex! Spent so many hours playing it.
The animator and defender...err protector look bloody amazing!
The vectrex really is superbly gorgeous graphically.
I don't suppose this style is gonna make a big comeback with some new, equally effective technology replacing the CRT, but a man can dream...
VEry nice, not heard of them before,cheers for the videos, always enjoy them.
Wow. It's like a Galaxy Note in 1986!! Absolutely amazing what u show on here. Your taste in Hi Fi 👌. One of my favorite channels since discovering it. Cheers from Cleveland Ohio
Ive always wanted the vectrex ever since i played one at a con last year. Made me look into how they work too, and now im a big fan of vector displays. They had an extreme resolution on them, id say almost as good as todays 4k, just except it was with a series of lines instead of a "raster" picture. Good video, keep them coming :)
Can't wait to see what you've got planned for 1M subs!
Put the buzz back in
@@DaveMcGarry lol
That's pretty cool. Thanks for the video!
I think they made it more confusing by including physical wires on the printed diagrams. I was also thinking that you had to use them for something.
crazy how much this machine still gets even after all these years. Never owned one and mostly likely never will because they are not really cheap but still fascinating to see what people come up with for the Vectrex.
This a fascinating piece of technology.