A Zaccaria board set is comprised of three main circuit boards and six displays, all of which are mounted in the backbox. The three main boards are the CPU (upper left), Driver (lower left), and Power Supply (lower right). These are connected with a combination of wiring harnesses and 20-pin ribbon cables.
The earliest games (Winter Sports, House Of Diamonds, Future World) featured simple sound effects produced by an oscillator circuit that is part of the Driver board that is capable of producing four simple tones. As the games, and available technology, progressed they added greater sound effects capabilities with several different sound boards. This began with Shooting The Rapids, which introduced the first dedicated sound board.
I have not found a source for compatible or replacement connectors for these games. The large, .156" (green) connectors used for power distribution do not seem to be available. They were made by Amp, so there may be old stock out there somewhere, or something compatible may be available, but so far I have not been able to find it. For the .100" (tan) connectors used for the lamp and switch matrix connections, again I have not been able to locate a compatible replacement connector. Fortunately, these connectors are both usually in pretty good condition unless they have been butchered by somebody. Getting the .156" connectors loose can be difficult as the covering flap part of the connector also serves as a locking mechanism. Many connectors seem to have this flap broken off.
There is a 20-pin ribbon cable connecting the Driver board to the CPU board. The displays are connected via a 20-pin ribbon cable to the CPU board. If the game features a dedicated sound board, it will be connected to this ribbon cable as well. 20-pin cable can be bought in bulk from suppliers like Mouser, and standard 20-pin ribbon cable connectors can be crimped on to make replacements. 3M connectors (P/N 517-8920 from Mouser) work well and are reasonably priced.
Between Winter Sports and Locomotion, there were three major revisions of the CPU board, and one revision that was specific to Locomotion. The Power Supply and Driver boards stayed pretty much the same. There were four different sound boards. The displays all seem to have been intended to be the same, but there are some minor differences between them, like moving the ribbon cable header from one side of the board to the other.
The overall system design did not change, and with the exception of sound boards, and the Locomotion-specific CPU board modification, the circuit boards are generally very similar and are downward compatible, so that a board from a newer game will work fine in an older game.
Each circuit board has a part number, with revisions indicated by a trailing slash and a number. So a 1B1110 CPU board is similar to a 1B1110/0 board, but there will be some differences between them that may or may not be obvious, but are important.
CPU Boards - Located in the top left corner of the backbox. Revisions:
Driver Boards - Located in the bottom left corner of the backbox. Revisions:
Power Supply Boards - Located in the bottom right corner of the backbox. Revisions:
Sound Boards - Located on the back of the backbox door. Revisions:
Display Boards - Located on the backbox insert door. Revisions:
Settings Boards - Located in-line with the switch matrix connector (CN9). Revisions:
Chase Lamp Board - Locomotion. Revisions:
David Gersic
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