Atari part number 137179-001 is a gate array found in various color vector games
such as Space Duel, Gravitar, Black Widow, Quantum, Star Wars, and Major Havoc.
Unfortunately, no low cost source exists for these original chips and therefore several
individuals have endeavored to provide alternative solutions. Until now, most of
these consisted of several TTL chips on a rather largish board. Their main selling
point was "ease of repair." In other words, they have a higher failure in time and
lower MTBF than a single IC solution can provide.
Now you can replace that broken AVG IC on your Atari color vector board with a simple,
small, all-in-one solution. This replacement utilizes a Xilinx CPLD in place of
all those nasty TTL ICs. The socket connection consists of round pins for a smooth
connection and easy replacement of your existing gate array. To date, this design
has been tested in Space Duel, Major Havoc, and Star Wars.
MINI AVG IN A SPACE DUEL MINI AVG IN A MAJOR HAVOC
These were resold via Arcadeshop but production has since been discontinued. Another
Xilinx based version will be pending from a fellow collector, however, an unreleased
fix is available for anyone interested in updating their miniAVG. Please visit http://www.arcadeshop.com
or download the files HERE.
You will need a Xilinx programming cable such as a Parallel Cable III - DLC5 or more
recent USB equivalent. The download files contain instructions and the v1.5 JEDEC.
Thanks!
