competent repair people ?

[Bama]

I am glad you all are discussing this topic.
I live in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
I lack the skills to re-cap my Atari’s but respect the expert opinion that the electrolytic capacitors need to be replaced, what questions do I ask to find a competent repair person in my locale?

Thanks,

Sam

[exxos]

Thats some of the "trouble" as well, people are paying like £100+ in just shipping their machine to me in the UK.. shipping is more costly than the some of the work I do!

[guus.assmann]

Hello Sam,

In my opinion, recapping is as complicated as replacing the wheel on a car if you have a flat.
Meaning that every tech who can wield a soldering iron and can recognise the parts will do.
Most "Radio Ham's " will be able to do the job.
And they are "all over the world" and generally not difficult to find. (Just look for big "wire" antenna's )
Mostly, a trucker will be able to tell you where to find competent people as well. ( CB-users ....)

Just my two bits.

BR/
Guus

[mrbombermillzy]

I have to actually scale down. After 13 years of trying, my wife and I are finally having a baby girl. IVF was what it took. 1.1.2019 should be the day. So full time IT work at a huge insurance company doesn't leave much free time for anything else so something has to give, at least in the beginning.

Hey congratulations!!

Having just been through all that recently (Fred was born 13th March) Ive had to write off several things which take too long to get round to:

1. Sending my broken (not by me I will add! lol) Falcon to Chris as he has just posted this thread and I feel bad now
2. Experimenting with TT graphic mode enhancements.

Luckily the one thing I have just managed to get back to THIS WEEK is my game project.

But seriously, be prepared to have stuff grind to a halt...including sleep for a while!

Its worth it though!

Back on topic though: Yes I have contacted plenty of people about this, but none seem either able or willing.

Ironically, I work at a small laptop refurb company with a reflow facility and digital test equipment, but the guy who does the mainboard repairs doesnt know much about Atari and doesnt want to really learn in his free time, which is not surprising really.

[Atarian Computing]

Hey congratulations!!

Having just been through all that recently (Fred was born 13th March) Ive had to write off several things which take too long to get round to:

1. Sending my broken (not by me I will add! lol) Falcon to Chris as he has just posted this thread and I feel bad now
2. Experimenting with TT graphic mode enhancements.

Luckily the one thing I have just managed to get back to THIS WEEK is my game project.

But seriously, be prepared to have stuff grind to a halt...including sleep for a while!

Its worth it though!

Thank you! Glad to hear you're enjoying your little one, congrats as well. I've had my fun, I'm 40 and ready for a new life as a dad

[exxos]

I don't think I mentioned that I am using this company for my assembly and repair work now..

http://ekey-solutions.com/

They are a small UK company, though so far their prices and work seem really good.

[KyleB]

You say repair work, but these aren't (obviously) falcon specialists.

So how does that go, you diagnose it, write down a note saying replace this this and this, fix this broken trace here, and stick it all with the new parts in a box and hand it over?

God I'd be a bag of nerves hoping it didn't go to the work experience boy.

[exxos]

So how does that go, you diagnose it, write down a note saying replace this this and this, fix this broken trace here, and stick it all with the new parts in a box and hand it over?

I have done the diagnostics, they do the repairs. But since a lot is RTC replacement, any good soldering company can do it. I can't be the only guy in the world who can change a chip.

Though I am not doing diagnostics next year either. As posted before, I just don't have time to do it.

[atari030]

My eyesight is starting to go to crap, that would be the one thing that stops me these days. I still do a bit, but reading glasses are a must. I have repaired Ameoba's and Atari's for folks in Melbourne just because not many people have seen one let alone repaired one. My diagnostic skills aren't great, but, I can pick out the glaringly obvious.

I have actually had a couple of people from interstate send machines down to fix. I knew what was wrong before they sent them, though.

I fix and build servers at work, but, it isn't near as much fun as an Atari coming back to life.

[Steve]

Hey guys,

I'm going to start offering my services for retro enthusiasts.

Got a mod that needs installing?
Motherboard needs re-capping?
PSU needs re-capping?
System needs servicing?
Case needs retrobrighting?
But don't have a soldering iron or equipment?!

e-mail me or PM me. I am located in the West Midlands (Coventry). I have much experience installing all kinds of Atari mods on ST/TT/Falcon, and have much experience re-capping and servicing. I can also do other general electronics jobs too.

e-mail: steven - at - systimms - dot - com
or PM.