[SOS] Problem with Famicom light gun

Started by Sceptre_JLRB, February 19, 2017, 01:12:16 pm

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Sceptre_JLRB

Hi pals,

After a long search, I finally got the mythical Famicom revolver, but sadly it is not working at all. I have the light gun connected to my fully-working AV Famicom console on my CRT TV (an old, non-100Hz one, NTSC-compatible and working with other light guns), but it does not respond at all. It won't shoot and the shot does not even occur, when tested with Famicom light gun games such as Wild Gunman or Duck Hunt.

I have disassembled the gun but haven't seen anything wrong. Just in case, I have cleaned the trigger's metallic contacts with an alcohol-imbued cotton swab, but the problem still persists. The DB15 extension port of my console, where the light gun is connected, seems to be in perfect condition (in the same way the console itself and its inners are), with no rust/dust/dirt on its pins, in fact it has even been always covered with its lid. The only problem is that I don't own any other accesories to connect to the ext. port to really discard it as a cause...

Does anybody here have any experience with these light guns and know what could be happening or anything about their common failures?

Thank you very much in advance for your attention!

Cheers.

P

The trigger should work no matter what TV you use (of course the game needs to give you some feedback when shooting off-screen in that case for you to be able to tell), so I guess the gun isn't working at all for some reason.

I've never heard of a broken expansion port but the easiest way to rule that out would be if you had access to another Famicom. Haven't heard of a broken light gun either though.
The easiest way to check the gun would be checking continuity on traces/cables using a multimeter.

Sceptre_JLRB

Thanks for your answer!

Unfortunately, at the moment I don't have access to another Famicom and I'm not that much experienced with the multimeter to really tell what is failing...  :( Maybe the best solution would be getting another light gun in order to compare, but the thing is these ones aren't certainly easy to get...  ???

P

NES Zapppers are cheap. But you need to make an adapter for the expansion port or solder port $4017 line D3 and D4 to the second controller port though.

Sceptre_JLRB

Right, this is another possibility. Thank you so much!

Sceptre_JLRB

Hi again!

Finally, I got another Famicom light gun. This one works properly. However, what strikes me is that there is no sound other than the mechanical noise the revolver's hammer emits due to its spring system.  ??? I mean, there is no electronic sound such as the one characteristic of the NES Zapper. Is it normal or should I expect this sound? Could anyone confirm whether the Famicom light gun does emit the electronic sound typical of the Zapper?

Thanks in advance for your help!

P

I never had a Famicom light gun so I can't confirm anything, but I can tell you what I know.

The Zapper's trigger has a spring or something that is released when you press the trigger over a certain point, this is what makes the characteristic Zapper sound. The trigger signal that is sent to the game, actually activates as soon as you start pressing the trigger, and stops as soon as you have pressed it past the spring thingy. Of course games are programmed to work with this behaviour. I'm guessing that spring was added to the zapper instead of the revolver hammer so that the user knows when the trigger has been pressed past that point and a "shot" has been firered. So in other words, there should be no need for that sound on the Famicom gun because the hammer is giving you the feedback.

Sceptre_JLRB

Interesting...
So original Zapper/revolver does not emit electronic sound at all. My confusion comes from the fact that the clone NES 'Creation' I have from 1991 includes a clone Zapper which emits an electronic sound from its own internal speaker whenever the trigger is pressed and it's connected to the powered-on console.

I guess my new Famicom revolver is working properly after all. :-)

Thanks again for your answer!

P

A speaker? So that's why you said "electronic sound". Yeah the original Zapper makes a characteristic springy clunk kind of sound when you pressed it past that point, no speaker that I'm aware of.

Sceptre_JLRB

Yeah, for sure! The beep is indeed coming from the inners of the gun, altough there is no springy clunk. Maybe the first one was introduced to compensate the absence of the latter...

Concretely, my clone NES is like this one:
https://i.warosu.org/data/vr/img/0015/52/1397781824440.jpg
(But with circular D-pads.)