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GCE / MB Vectrex

A unique console (1982): it has its own vector screen (no TV needed). Black & white vector display with colour overlays. A cult object for collectors — but beware, it's a CRT (high voltage).

GCE / MB Vectrex board
GCE / MB Vectrex board. Photo: Evan-Amos, public domain.

Identification

Field Value
Manufacturer GCE / Milton Bradley
Release 1982
Display Built-in B&W vector screen + overlays
Media Cartridge

Architecture (detail)

Block Chip Clock Role
CPU Motorola 6809 1.5 MHz
Display DAC + analog integrators driving the CRT gun vector drawing: no pixels, the beam traces lines (like Asteroids in the arcade)
Sound General Instrument AY-3-8912 (3-voice PSG) + button handling
Memory 1 KB RAM 8 KB ROM (BIOS/Mine Storm)

The only consumer console with a vector screen: the image is monochrome, colour is simulated by plastic overlays placed on the screen. The CRT and its high voltage make some repairs dangerous (see below). The game Mine Storm is built into ROM (BIOS).

Accessories

  • Light Pen: an optical pen (drawing, a few games).
  • 3D Imager: spinning-disc glasses for a stereoscopic effect (rare, an ancestor of active 3D).

⚠️ High voltage (built-in CRT) & phosphor burn

It's a cathode-ray tube

The Vectrex contains a CRT with high voltage. Discharge before working on it; don't work alone if untrained. As on arcade vector cabinets, a stationary beam (a frozen vector) can burn the phosphor — cut power if a fixed, very bright dot appears.

Common faults

Symptom Likely cause Lead
Shaky image / distorted vectors Capacitors / adjustments Recap; adjustments
Buzz / stray noise Sound stage / caps Targeted recap
No image (HV ok) Vector stage / joints Diagnosis + reflow
Cartridge not read Contacts Cleaning

Original service manual ✅

Manufacturer manual archived locally. It typically carries the schematics, the block diagram, the expected voltages and waveforms, the parts list and the disassembly procedures — the reference when a symptom matches no known fault.

  • Vectrex — service manual — PDF

Status

A manufacturer document with no explicit licence, kept for preservation (machine long out of production) — the same position as for the cabinet and arcade manuals already archived here. Source: Internet Archive.

Mods & repair — what to buy, how

Recap + CRT high voltage

The Vectrex is a vector CRT display: high voltage lingers even unplugged. Discharge the tube before any work → CRT safety. The recap is the #1 reliability topic (shrinking/shaking image, power).

  • Flashcart: VecMulti (or VecFever) — SD multicart with the whole library + homebrew, plug-and-play 🟢. Clear overlays reissued by the community.
  • Image adjustments 🟡: brightness / vector-linearity pots on the analog board (set them after the recap, tube cold then warm).
  • Speaker buzz: documented filtering mods (the analog sound bleeds into the amp).

Photos / assets

(To add: Vectrex, vector screen, board, overlays.)

Advanced repair

⚠️ Integrated high-voltage CRT → CRT safety; recap (the No. 1 reliability issue). Methods: CRT safety · Recap · PCB fault-finding.

Sources & attribution

ConsoleMods does NOT cover the Vectrex

Checked on 31/07/2026 via the ConsoleMods wiki search API: no page exists for the Vectrex. There is therefore no CC-BY-SA procedure to bring home for this machine — all the more so as, with its integrated vector CRT, it is a category of its own. This page's content rests on our existing sources, and nothing has been transposed from the wiki's other CRT consoles: high-voltage procedures do not generalise from one machine to another.

Image:

Review & corrections

How this space is used

Spotted a wrong value, an outdated procedure, a chip reference that does not match your board? Say so here, with what you observed (model, board revision, serial number, measurement). Every report is cross-checked against a source before anything changes — an unverifiable correction is published as “reported by …, not cross-checked” rather than silently applied.

Reading is open to everyone; posting requires signing in with Discord. Reports from the wiki's declared reviewers are handled first; anyone else's are read too, but go through a human before anything is changed.