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Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 4:36 am
by Pat70
I have had a Sega New Astro City for a while now and just recently obtained a nice Sega Astro City. Now I cannot seem to get the colors right on my Astro City, the colors are dark compared to the New Astro even when I have my brightness at fullest. I've been playing with the gain pots for hours but not satisfied yet. I noticed the gain/V/H positioning/brightness panels from the two cabs are different and that the Astro does not have a contrast pot. Am I right?
I always thought there was no difference on these two cabs besides the speakers.
On the astro, next to the brightness pot I see a tiny switch you can move up/down. What's that for?

I'd appreciate it if any of the other Astro owners on this forum can put up a picture of their control panel to show me their 'ideal' gain/brightness positionings.
thanks!

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 5:04 am
by Flazh
It's different between all monitors, even the ones that are the same model. Not to mention that some games will look crappy with another game's settings.

Fraid you are gonna have to keep fine tuning it till you get something you like.

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 5:56 am
by John James Pacinelli
Pat70 wrote: the colors are dark
I'm in the very same boat.

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 5:57 am
by John James Pacinelli
Thank you for posting this Pat, I was afraid my astro was **** up.

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 8:37 am
by grantspain
change the electrolitic capcitor on the neck card,its a 250v 10uf rated at 105 degrees-this will return your colours

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 8:49 am
by Pat70
grantspain wrote:change the electrolitic capcitor on the neck card,its a 250v 10uf rated at 105 degrees-this will return your colours
que?

thanks for the answer Grantspain. Unfortunately I am a total noob when it comes to electronics. Can you show it in pics?
thnx

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 9:10 am
by grantspain
i will post a pic tonight,its a quick easy job but you will need to follow my instructions to the letter

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 9:15 am
by John James Pacinelli
grantspain wrote:i will post a pic tonight,its a quick easy job but you will need to follow my instructions to the letter

Sounds interesting. And dangerous.

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 9:24 am
by grantspain
John James Pacinelli wrote:
grantspain wrote:i will post a pic tonight,its a quick easy job but you will need to follow my instructions to the letter

Sounds interesting. And dangerous.
alas no,both very boring and very safe i am afraid

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 9:36 am
by John James Pacinelli
That's fantastic news! Looking forward to your pic.

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 9:51 am
by Pat70
Great. thanks for this.

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 4:18 pm
by SuperPang
Astro 1 = Nanao MS8, New Astro = MS9.

MS8 has hold pots on the remote board but no contrast. Its a pain. CPS2 and MVS look gorgeous with my setup but other high contrast PCBs (Raizing) can bleed and I can't be arsed adjusting chassis pots every time.

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 8:08 pm
by grantspain
to remove the neck card first unplug the machine
open the back door/panel to expose the monitor chassis
grip the left and right of the neck card all gently pull backwards using equal pressure

capacitor c332 on the neck card

Image

check here for bad solder joints also

Image


when you put the card back onto the tube neck make sure you line it up straight,you will see a keyway shape to align to

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 8:54 pm
by Pat70
Thanks Grantspain, will try this weekend. looks easy enough...
cheers!
:)

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 9th, 2008, 9:03 pm
by grantspain
remember electrolitic capacitors are polarity sensitive(they have a - leg and + leg),make sure you mark which is the negative(the side with the stripe)
the board is marked for the negative with a black semi circle
if you put a cap in the wrong way around then it will explode]
also make sure when it is soldered into place you cut the spare off the legs#

o.k ;)

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 10th, 2008, 2:58 am
by John James Pacinelli
Thank you Grant :)

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 10th, 2008, 2:17 pm
by jonny5
confirmed that this works....had the cap replaced on one of my astro monitors and it looks beautiful now

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 10th, 2008, 4:01 pm
by dmauro
This thread should go into the library or something.

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 10th, 2008, 9:46 pm
by thchardcore
Can I swap neckboard between SU and T versions?

Also, what caps on the mainboard tend to affect geometry the most? (verticle bowing)

Re: Brightness on Astro City monitor

Posted: October 10th, 2008, 10:20 pm
by grantspain
thchardcore wrote:Can I swap neckboard between SU and T versions?

Also, what caps on the mainboard tend to affect geometry the most? (verticle bowing)
tbh never tried but they should be almost if not identical,just look at the plugs

caps on the chassis that affect bowing,hmm dunno have you adjusted the side pincushion yet(vr451)