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Resurrecting Entex Super Cobra

 
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Lord Thag
Bandai FL Burgertime


Joined: 28 May 2006
Last Visit: 01 May 2009
Posts: 121

PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:25 pm    Post subject: Resurrecting Entex Super Cobra Reply with quote

I got a broken Entex Super Cobra in a lot with some other stuff I bought for parts. Someone had stepped on it and completely smashed the lower right corner, breaking the interior circuit board into itsy-bitsy pieces. The case, barring a crack in the underside, was miraculously in pretty good shape.

Well, just for kicks, I put some batteries in it to see what would happen. Amazingly, I got a flicker of life (a couple of elements on the VFD display lit up (the VFD was intact). Then, I got this crazy idea that I could fix the poor thing. I actually had to superglue like twenty pieces of little shattered circuit board back together like a jigsaw puzzle. Once that was done, I had a buddy who used to fix pagers solder jumpers over all the broken traces, then we re-wired the potentiometer, and we crosswired the start button to skip a broken ribbon cable. Then we fired it up.

Then, to both of our complete and utter amazement, the damn thing spun up and played perfectly! Shocked No kidding! I have a fully functioning Super Cobra for a buck! After some cleaning and polishing, I have the thing looking almost like new, barring a bit of wear on the silver chrome panel from long years of use. You could never tell this thing arrived in a little plastic baggie full of parts and fragments.

It's crazy, I tell you. Never brought back something that hammered before. Pretty frickin' cool!
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Rik
Site Admin


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 25 Mar 2024
Posts: 1932
Location: California

PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, there's always that little feeling of inner joy when you bring a 20+ year old game back to life... Mr. Green I've never had to repair one in that bad of shape, but every little repair means one more game getting to do what is was intended to do...
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Dan
Atari Cosmos


Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 14 May 2023
Posts: 576
Location: Neenah, WI

PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shows a true love of vintage games! Almost brings a tear to the eye...
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nicknicknickandnick
Bandai FL Burgertime


Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 18 May 2014
Posts: 107

PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is a beautiful story. Yessss!
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mario101
Adventure Vision


Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Last Visit: 11 Oct 2015
Posts: 439
Location: South Berwick Maine

PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Almost brings a tear to the eye...


Very, very happy ending, It does to all of us.
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blue6demon
Adventure Vision


Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 01 Feb 2024
Posts: 442
Location: Montreal, QC, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 4:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well it does prove one thing, when you really want something, you can find a way ! I think everything in life works that way ! Thanks for sharing this story Lord Thag !
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Neil UK
Atari Cosmos


Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 04 Jul 2023
Posts: 767
Location: South Wales.

PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well done Lord Thag! I admire your ingenuity and determination Very Happy

Neil.
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Roback
Bandai FL Burgertime


Joined: 27 Jan 2007
Last Visit: 27 May 2007
Posts: 125

PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 5:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's fantastic! Does that mean that you now have an extra one? Laughing ( hint hint )
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Lord Thag
Bandai FL Burgertime


Joined: 28 May 2006
Last Visit: 01 May 2009
Posts: 121

PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, it was pretty cool. I actually didn't have one of these yet (sorry Roback ) Laughing A lot of the games I collect are the ones no one else wants due to their condition, then I fix them up and make them look new again.

You guys should see that Mole Patrol that Neil posted about awhile back. The one that looks like it was sandblasted. It looks like it's brand new now.

Glad you all enjoyed the story. I'm enjoying the game just as much!
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