Battlezone PCB Repair Logs

2025 started with Tranquility Base Arcade tackling Battlezone board sets for back up and for friends who were having issues with theirs as well. Through the years I have always regarded Battlezone PCB’s as ‘difficult to work on’ especially with faults from the AUX PCB. With improved bench capabilities the last 5 years I started 2025 with renewed optimism to repair all the Battlezone boards piling up at the Repair Station! After a lengthy repair process for each board I’m happy to report “They all have been saved!” The FPGA and my old KK Signature II along with a special SA harness were key to completing the repairs. I have created a special link to summarize each of the board repairs in order to provide assistance to anyone working on a Battlezone boardset. A new link has been added to the Repair Station page or you can simply click here. Bring on the Super Tank as I’m ready to battle again!

Pac-Man PCB Repair Logs

Over the years of keeping Tranquility Base Arcade going I have collected quite a few ‘back-up’ PCB’s. As time permits, I still enjoy repairing them so they are ready to go if needed. Recently, I tackled a group of five Pac-Man PCB’s. When I acquired these boards about 15 years ago, they were in terrible shape. They were thrown in a box that appeared to be bound for the trash bin. After a lengthy repair process for each board I’m happy to report “They all have been saved!” I have created a special link to summarize each of the board repairs in order to provide assistance to anyone working on a Pac-Man PCB. A new link has been added to the Repair Station page or you can simply click here. Waka Waka!

Repair Station Upgrade

A larger screen has been added so it is easier to see detailed schematics. This allows for PCB's to be repaired quicker. An improved TTL storage area has also been added to store the numerous IC's kept on hand in order to keep Tranquility Base Arcade humming along!

Black Lights Upgrade

I recently updated the lights in the Tranquility Base Arcade. I replaced the 16 standard incandescent bulbs with dual purpose LED white light / black light bulbs. Previously, the light emitted from the games diminished the glowing carpet. Now you can clearly see with the lighting upgrade that the carpet glows brightly even with the games on!

Zaxxon

The Zaxxon I acquired a few years ago is finally being restored. A bad ROM was replaced and now the game plays fine. The joystick will need a complete rebuild along with some other tweaks.

Missile Command Undergoing Restoration

The Atari Missile Command I acquired a few years ago is finally being restored. The game will need a complete monitor rebuild, proper control panel components and new locks. A rebuild of the Trak ball and an inner bronze plexi bezel is also required. No detail will be overlooked no matter how small. Missile Command is almost ready to launch some missiles!

Michael Collins

“His contribution to this great undertaking will be remembered so long as men wonder and dream and search for the truth on this planet and among the stars.”



Very sad to learn of the passing of yet another one of my childhood hero’s. Michael Collins was the pilot for Gemini 10 and conducted two EVA’s during its almost 3 day flight. However, Michael cemented his place in the greatest engineering feat of mankind by being the command module pilot of Columbia during the Apollo 11 mission. Michael orbited the moon 30 times by himself awaiting the return of the astronauts from the lunar surface. He was dubbed ‘the loneliest person in the world’ during this time where he was a quarter million miles from home completely by himself. This could not have been further from the truth as he later brought to light. He was the key role responsible for the safety and docking of the returning astronauts and tasked with the job of descending to near the lunar surface if they failed to reach the correct altitude to dock as planned. Michael Collins was the lifeline of Apollo 11. He was promised after Apollo 11 in a subsequent mission ‘he would get his boots dirty’ and being the man he is he declined. “As long as Apollo 11 succeeded I will have done my bit for history”. He was also a very critical communicator and professed the importance of STEM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Math) but always commented it should be STEEM with the extra ‘E’ being English and the importance of language. Something I can relate to daily as an engineer in the automotive industry. His photograph hangs proudly in Tranquility Base Arcade where he captured the returning Eagle spacecraft and the earth as the backdrop - ‘all human kind in a single photo’ excluding himself. Arguably the greatest photo ever taken with a camera. Godspeed Michael Collins.

Ingenuity Helicopter Flies On Mars!

NASA made aviation history as the Ingenuity helicopter completed its first flight on Mars. Ingenuity thus becomes the first powered aircraft to fly on another planet. The helicopter climbed to an altitude of approximately 10 feet at 3:34AM EST and hovered in place for about 30 seconds before landing back on Mars. The success shows that flight on Mars is possible and opens the door to future aircraft being able to scout planets in ways that no rover possibly could. Additional flights are planned later this month.

Perseverance Has Landed!

Today NASA landed a rover named Perseverance on Mars. The rover was launched July 30, 2020 and traveled over 140 million miles to get to Mars. Perseverance’s mission will be to seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and soil for a possible return to Earth. Contained in the rover is a small helicopter named Ingenuity that will demonstrate the possibility of powered flight in the thin Martian air. The data gained by Perseverance and Ingenuity would be important for a future manned mission. Click here to see footage from Mission Control as Perseverance landed.

Space Shuttle Challenger

We Remember 1986-2021

Happy Birthday Pac-Man!

Pac-Man, the most successful video game ever, turns 40 years old today. The game, which was designed by Namco in Japan and liscensed in the United States by Midway, sold over 100,00 units and generated over one billion dollars - all in quarters! The game became so popular it spawned everything from a breakfast cereal to a Saturday morning cartoon to a hit song. The Tranquility Base Arcade is proud to have a Pac-Man game in its collection. The game, acquired from the daughter of the original owner has just over 8,000 plays and after 40 years remains in mint condition.

Apollo 13

Apollo 13 successfully returned to Earth and landed in the Pacific Ocean 50 years ago today. Apollo 13 was to be the third mission to land on the moon but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module failed two days into the mission. A routine stir of an oxygen tank ignited damaged wire insulation inside it, causing an explosion that vented the contents of both service module oxygen tanks into space. It was at this time that Command Module pilot John Swigert uttered a phrase that was to become famous, “Okay, Houston, we've had a problem." The flight director for Apollo 13 was the legendary Gene Kranz. Using “courage, ingenuity, and teamwork" Kranz and his team was able to guide the astronauts into the undamaged Lunar Module and then the Command Module for the safe return to Earth. It is a great honor to have Gene's autograph hanging in Tranquility Base Arcade.

Kapton Foil

An amazing item is now on display at the Tranquility Base Arcade. You can now see an actual piece of Kapton foil that was once on the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia! Columbia carried the three Apollo 11 astronauts around the moon, launched and eventually docked with the Lunar Module Eagle before finally splashing down in the Pacific Ocean with all three astronauts safely onboard. Velvet ropes have been added to the arcade in anticipation of the large crowds that will surely visit.

1982 Williams Joust

After a lengthy repair job, I have finally fixed Joust. The game is in excellent original condition and plays great! The game had sat unused for many years and required quite a number of repairs including adding a NVRAM module, which not only saves high scores but also allowed for the removal of the batteries from the main PCB. A full manual set was found in the bottom of the game. Now on to defeat the "unbeatable” pterodactyl!

Splashdown!

The Command Module Columbia containing all three astronauts from Apollo 11 splashed down at 12:50 P.M. on July 24, 1969 thus successfully completing man's first trip to the Moon. The mission also fulfilled President Kennedy's promise made eight years earlier when he said before Congress that the United States "should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

We Did It!

News of the moon landing was carried by thousands of newspapers around the world on July 21, 1969. Most headlines were some variation of "Man Lands on Moon" or "Man Walks on Moon." The Macomb Daily, the local paper for Macomb County, Michigan features the unique headline of "We did it! We did it!" The words "moon" or "landing" are not mentioned. It wasn't until I watched the Google Doodle celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing did the true meaning become readily apparent. Command Module pilot Micheal Collins stated that after the astronauts returned to Earth they went on a world tour. All the people they met, from all over the world, told them "We did it!" We most certainly did!

An original July 21, 1969 edition of The Macomb Daily proudly hangs in the Tranquility Base Arcade.

That's one small step for man.....

.....one giant leap for mankind.

"We came in peace for all mankind."

Tranquility Base Arcade calls.....

.....Tranquility Base!

The men of Apollo 11 first landed on the moon at 4:17 PM on July 20, 1969. 50 years later at exactly 4:17 PM I decided to use the NASA Phone located in the lounge at Tranquility Base Arcade to make a call. This is what I heard.

Tranquility Base here....

......the Eagle has landed.

Blast Off!

Fifty years ago today, July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 left for the moon. It is believed that one million spectators watched the launch in person from the various highways and beaches near the launch site. The launch was televised live in 33 countries with over 25 million viewers watching it in the United States alone. Four days later the Lunar Module “Eagle” carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, Jr. landed on the moon.