Mattel Battlestar Galactica Space Alert Troubleshooting Guide
Fault-finding on the Mattel Battlestar Galactica Space Alert handheld LED game (model 2448, 1978). Mattel published no service manual, schematic or parts list. What follows is drawn from Mattel's instruction leaflet, Creative Computing's 1978 review of Missile Attack (the same game under its first title), MAME's driver notes and Sean Riddle's board scans. Dismantling and the battery are covered on Mattel Battlestar Galactica Space Alert General Maintenance.
What a working game does
[edit | edit source]- Slide the switch to ARM. The game starts at once with a Cylon attack: blips of light start at the top of the display and descend towards the Battlestar at the bottom.[1]
- Press FIRE. A blip rises from the bottom of the screen; the guidance control steers it left, right or centre.[1]
- The two-digit display shows the score. A hit in the 6 band scores 6 points, a hit in the 5 band 5, and so on.[1]
- If none of the 20 attackers reaches the Battlestar the game plays "All Clear". A direct hit on the centre of the ship ends the game with "Taps".[1]
Sounds
[edit | edit source]Creative Computing described the sounds of Missile Attack: a buzz as the missiles come in, a bleep when a defending missile is launched, a flat "blaah" for an interception, an upward-spiralling "All Clear" when all 20 attackers have been stopped, and the first three notes of "Taps" when the target is hit.[2] Space Alert's leaflet names the "All Clear" and "Taps" endings.[1]
Things that are not faults
[edit | edit source]| What you see | Why | Source |
|---|---|---|
| FIRE does nothing for a moment after a miss | The game delays arming a new torpedo after a miss | [1][2] |
| An attacker changes direction on its way down | Some attackers shift trajectory in flight | [1][2] |
| The game ends within seconds | One direct hit ends it; Creative Computing timed games of 2 to about 40 seconds | [1][2] |
| The score display changes form above 100 | Scores over 100 are shown with a special mark in the readout, as the leaflet illustrates | [1][2] |
| The game will not restart after it ends | Switch to OFF, then back to ARM | [1] |
| The guidance control stays where it is left | It does not spring back to the centre | [3] |
Battery first
[edit | edit source]Mattel's leaflet: "If the blips of light representing laser torpedoes or the digital score readout appear to be malfunctioning, this is the first sign of battery wear. A fresh battery should solve the problem. For longer battery life, use a 9-volt alkaline battery."[1] Try a fresh alkaline battery before anything else.
Symptom table
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Probable cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing lights at ARM | Flat battery, corroded snap, broken lead, dirty ARM-OFF switch | Fit a fresh battery; inspect the snap and leads; clean the switch. See Mattel Battlestar Galactica Space Alert General Maintenance[1] |
| Blips or score digits misbehave | Weak battery | Fit a fresh alkaline 9-volt battery[1] |
| Some LEDs never light | A failed LED, or a break between the display board and the main board | Inspect the row of soldered pins that joins the display board to the main board for cracked joints[4] |
| FIRE does not launch, even after waiting | FIRE button contact | Clean or replace the button; it is mounted on the main board[4] |
| The torpedo will not steer to one side | Guidance switch contacts | Clean the three-position slide switch with switch cleaner[2][4] |
| Silent game, display normal | Speaker or its leads | Check the leads to the piezo speaker for breaks[2] |
| Display and sound normal but the game behaves oddly on a fresh battery | Fault in the board or the chip | The B6001 is a custom Rockwell chip with the program in its own ROM, so it cannot be bought as a stock part. A board from another Space Alert or a Missile Attack carries the same chip: MAME runs both games from one ROM dump[5][3] |
Final notes
[edit | edit source]- The B6001 is the same chip as Auto Race's B6000, with a different program; the two games use the same kind of board. Mattel Auto Race Troubleshooting Guide covers the sister game.[5][6]
- Mattel's warranty service, at the Mattel Electronics Repair Center in Hawthorne, California, charged US$10.00 after the 90-day warranty.[1]
- The board's one axial capacitor is covered on Mattel Battlestar Galactica Space Alert Capacitor Replacement Guide.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Mattel Battlestar Galactica Space Alert
- Mattel Battlestar Galactica Space Alert General Maintenance
- Mattel Battlestar Galactica Space Alert Capacitor Replacement Guide
- Mattel Battlestar Galactica Space Alert Documentation
- Mattel Auto Race Troubleshooting Guide
- Capacitor Failure Symptoms
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Mattel, Inc., Battlestar Galactica Space Alert Instructions (2448-0920(A), 1978), File:Mattel Battlestar Galactica Space Alert Instructions (1978).pdf. P. 3: control keys and playing area. P. 4: how to play; ARM starts the game "with an immediate Cylon attack"; light blips start "miles out in space" and the torpedo blip starts from the bottom; guidance left, right or centre; scoring; 20 attacking Cylon Raiders; ALL CLEAR; a direct hit "in the center of the ship" ends the game with TAPS; OFF then ARM to play again. P. 5: tips (attackers "shift trajectory", "if you miss there will be a delay in arming a new defensive missile"); over 100 points the score readout shows the illustrated characters. P. 6: "Important notice" on battery wear. Pp. 6-8: 90-day warranty; $10.00 service charge; Mattel Electronics Repair Center, 5150 Rosecrans Avenue, Hawthorne, California.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Stephen B. Gray, "Profile of Three Smart Electronic Games: Auto Race, Missile Attack, Football", Creative Computing vol. 4 no. 1, January/February 1978, pp. 26-29; Internet Archive item creativecomputing-1978-01 (retrieved 2026-10-19): Missile Attack sounds; a game lasts from 2 seconds to about 40 seconds; "at least a third of the 20 missiles shift their trajectories in flight"; after a miss "the computer causes a delay in arming a new anti-missile missile"; scores over 100 produce "a special character in the first digit of the readout"; a three-position Guidance Control slide switch; a "piezo-ceramic speaker".
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 MAME source, hh_rw5000.cpp (retrieved 2026-10-19), driver misatk, "Missile Attack / Space Alert", one ROM image (b6001ea) for both: the guidance control "does not auto-center on real device".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Sean Riddle, Space Alert board scans, front and back (retrieved 2026-10-19), hosted as File:Mattel Space Alert circuit board, component side.jpg and File:Mattel Space Alert circuit board, solder side.jpg: the FIRE button and switches on the main board; the display board joined to it by a row of soldered pins.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sean Riddle, "The First Mattel LED games" (retrieved 2026-10-19): custom Rockwell chips in 42-pin quad in-line packages marked B6000 (Auto Race) and B6001 (Space Alert); "B6000 and B6001 are the same chip with different ROM contents".
- ↑ Scott Stilphen, "Mark Lesser interview", Digital Press (retrieved 2026-10-19): Missile Attack "was a variation of the Auto Race program".
