Resurrecting Entex Super Cobra

Lord Thag · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:25 pm Post subject: Resurrecting Entex Super Cobra

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!
_________________
Playin' the world, one game at a time...

Rik · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:45 pm Post subject:

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...

Dan · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:55 pm Post subject:

Shows a true love of vintage games! Almost brings a tear to the eye...

nicknicknickandnick · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:33 pm Post subject:

This is a beautiful story. Yessss!

mario101 · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:20 am Post subject:

Almost brings a tear to the eye...

Very, very happy ending, It does to all of us.
_________________
Emulators are for the non collectors

blue6demon · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 4:16 am Post subject:

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 !
_________________
Keep on playing... no matter what !

Neil UK · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:43 pm Post subject:

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

Neil.

Roback · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 5:55 pm Post subject:

That's fantastic! Does that mean that you now have an extra one? Laughing

( hint hint )
_________________
Mego lives!!

Lord Thag · Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:31 am Post subject:

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!
_________________
Playin' the world, one game at a time...