Eugene Mosh Fixed My Centipede PCB
The main logic board for my Centipede arcade game is finally in working order again, and it’s all thanks to Eugene Mosh.
For those not in the know — because I had neglected to write a blog post about it at the time — I bought Centipede last November. In fact, the guy who sold it to me was gracious enough to help me move it into Trends N Treasures. (He coincidentally caught me struggling with it outside the building while he was driving down South 12th Street, mere hours after I had left his house.)
It was truly in classic condition…so much so, I’d be surprised if anyone had serviced it within the past three decades or longer. Once upon time, this cabinet was in the care of D&P Vendors of Waverly, Tennessee, a fun fact that I discovered based on an original tag lingering on the Regulator Audio II board. The company was established in 1976.
I knew something was wrong before even taking the thing to Trends N Treasures, because I couldn’t move the archer left or right – only up and down. Being largely ignorant to these matters, I thought a new trackball would do the trick.
Well, it didn’t, so I sought assistance from the “Arcade Game Repair Help” Facebook group. While Eugene Mosh was one of many wonderful people who provided insight, it was another contributor behind the YouTube page “smeatr0n” who gave me a clearer idea of what was wrong in the first place. There were a couple of hex Schmitt triggers, specifically 4584s, partly responsible for interpreting inputs that were likely at fault in this scenario.
His video was extensively detailed and therefore immensely valuable to a newbie such as myself. He also identified a “triggered flip-flop” 74LS chip that could be the culprit, considering it, too, had some effect on the controls.
Now, in the past, repairs have often been my downfall when it came to operating arcade games. I sold both WrestleMania and Target: Terror – the latter of which was my favorite title of all time — due to never quite cracking what prevented them from functioning.
Perhaps foolheartedly, I vowed not to let something like that happen again, so I got it in my mind that I’d be “Mr. Fix-It” this time around. I went as far as to purchase a Hakko soldering iron, along with the chips and sockets that I’d need for the job.
The only problem? I’d never soldered anything in my life, and anybody who had any sense had advised me not to practice on an important board. While I had intended to fool with a junk board first, I didn’t prioritize doing so when the demands of life sapped my free time, ultimately resulting in a whole lot of nothing. That tweaky Centipede PCB simply sat on my filing cabinet – for entirely too long at that.
Eugene Mosh, from day one, had let me know he could doctor my board. Even so, I had some pride wrapped up in this. Every grown man I know can just…fix things when they break, whereas I usually can’t. I didn’t want to be useless my entire life, especially when the most knowledgeable people in my chosen field were literally dying out. What if no one else bothered to take up the mantle?
By February, however, I realized that I wasn’t going to make anything happen anytime soon. Instead of letting a busted game rot on location for who knows how many months longer, I resigned to let Eugene Mosh do what he does best to my PCB.
A few Facebook messages later, good ol’ Centipede was on its way to Missouri – and believe it or not, it was on its way back to me just a couple days after that. That’s right: Eugene Mosh identified the issues and nipped them in the bud in record time. In retrospect, I should have gone to him from the very beginning.
Said issues included the input chips that I myself had intended to replace, plus the “POKEY” chip, the failure of which resulted in audio glitches whenever the spider appeared onscreen. I had to replace the “Big Blue” capacitor here in Kentucky to ensure to no other issues cropped up in the near future.
All in all, I’m more than satisfied with Eugene’s work, so I highly recommend contacting him if your classic coin-op pieces are acting up. He has my utmost gratitude for bringing Centipede back to life at a reasonable price ($152 flat, including shipping).
If I learned anything from this experience, it’s that life really is “pay-to-win” when you’re lacking expertise. I certainly didn’t learn how to maintain an arcade game. So yeah, I just thought that was worth mentioning.
You can play Centipede right now at Trends N Treasures in Murray. It’s a fantastic Atari release that absolutely deserves your attention.
