The beast is back at it! Yes, Pole Position II, by far the most cumbersome and bulky of the game systems I own, and also one of the most “frankensteined” internally, is back on the operating table after a guest at Santa Barbara Escape let me know that it was not working. She sent me a picture of...

So, after determining that the power-up issue with the Defender system at Palm Springs Midmod was a minor issue with the back panel service power cut-off switch, restoring power revealed that the persistent memory of the unit was not working properly. This is almost invariably an issue with the battery that...

And Defender makes three! That’s right, 3 out of 4 game systems at our Palm Springs Midmod property were DOI (dead on inspection)! I knew about Frogger after a guest had lamented that the game system, one of her favorites, worked for only a day during their stay, but having both Defender and Tempest...

So, as part of a maintenance visit to our Palm Springs Midmod vacation rental property, I was prepared to troubleshoot the Frogger system that was reportedly no longer working. After determining that the Frogger system would need a new switching power supply, I decided I should make sure the other systems...

So, word came down a few weeks ago that my latest acquisition, Frogger, worked for the first day of someone’s vacation at Palm Springs Midmod, but then stopped working. Apparently, they were pretty bummed, but I warn people that these machines are almost 40 years old so, you know, no guarantees your...