Bally-Sente SAC-1 MAME Cab Adventures!

[rockman_x_2002]

I'll preface my story here by saying that up until a month ago I knew next to nothing about the inner workings of arcade cabinets except the general idea of how they work (i.e., it's made of wood, there's a computer inside with ROMs on board, joysticks, buttons, and coin switches buttons connect to it, there's a monitor for display, and a fluorescent ballast in the top). Since then I have learned much, but I need to know more.

 

So, for a long time I've been interested in building my own MAME cabinet since I finally got a workshop/office built, and I now have the room for it. My original plans included building a custom cabinet from scratch, soup-to-nuts.

 

However, about a month ago, I found out about a pawn shop in the area that had a Dead Angle arcade cabinet for sale that was in good working condition but physically beat up over the years. Used to be owned by the arcade in the mall some years ago when they were still an Aladdin's Castle. The pawn shop more or less just wanted the thing gone so they could reclaim floor space, and they were only asking $100 for it. I figured for the price, it might be cheaper to buy the game and convert it into the MAME cab. I'd never heard of the game before and played it in MAME and, while it's a decent enough alright game, I figure the cab could be better put to use as something else.

 

Now, what I was expecting to find is a game slapped into your typical Dynamo cab or similar, as arcade operators were wont to do in the late 80s/early 90s. But when I got there I discovered that the game was actually installed inside a Bally-Sente SAC-1 cab, and from what I can gather after getting it home, it's played host to a lot of other games in it's lifetime, but I have no clue as to what the original game from Bally was, as all the serial numbers and identifying info from the sticker on the back have faded away with age. The cabinet itself definitely has some wear and tear. The front of the cabinet looks fairly beat up, the coin doors especially. There's some wear on the control panel metal as well, and the T-molding needs a total overhaul. The white plastic outer shell on the cabinet has yellowed with age, and I'd like to find some way to brighten it back up to its original color (Retr0bright, maybe?).

 

The game boards have some age wear on them, but I found them generally in good shape. The game itself plays great, actually, and nothing seems out of sorts electronically. Joystick and buttons all seem to work, and the power supply (including the isolating transformer) are all in good shape as well. The coin mechs have been removed (or partially so), so inserting coins doesn't actually do anything except drop straight into the coin box without actually hitting the trigger. The only way to coin up the game is to open the coin door (easy to do, as the lock has been removed) and physically press the credit switch a few times. I found that the monitor is in fairly decent shape, besides just a small bit of electromagnetic buildup around the bottom left of the screen (slight, but it's there) and a small bit of interference coming from something, though I couldn't begin to guess as to what. There is also a lock in the back of the cabinet which hasn't been removed, and of course I don't have the key. I figure on taking that out and re-installing all brand new locks (and a new coin door), but that will have to wait for later.

 

What I also found (or did not find, I suppose), is the volume control. I've searched high and low for this, and even downloaded the manual for both the SAC-1 cabinet as well as the Dead Angle game. It seems that the SAC-1 is expecting the volume to be controlled by the game board itself, and the manual for Dead Angle alludes to there being some volume controls somewhere. it would be very nice to find those, as for the meantime I've simply unhooked the speakers from the game. The alternative is to go happily through life with blown-out eardrums, of course, and I found that option less than satisfactory. So if anyone happens to know how to adjust the volume on a Dead Angle board, I would be forever indebted (until the PC is ready to install in the cab and the cab itself is being cleaned up and worked on, it would be nice to have a game to play in it in the meantime that you can't hear in the next county).

 

For the conversion to a MAME cab, I have a Dell Dimension E520 desktop that was given to me free of charge. It has an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 CPU (1.86 GHz) with 1GB RAM, but I have ordered more RAM for it to bump it up to 4GB and will later purchase an Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.6GHz) to replace the CPU and give it a little extra muscle. I also have an ArcadeVGA video card from Ultimarc with appropriate connectors to get the machine connected to the RGB monitor in the cab, as well as an I-PAC input encoder, also from Ultimarc (and I will be ordering joysticks, buttons, etc., later). I'll be taking the guts out of the desktop case and mounting them inside the cab directly, of course. At some point I will upgrade to newer hardware, of course, but since this PC was free to me and minor upgrades in total will cost me around $40 tops, I figure it should be ample to run the earlier games that I enjoy most (pre-1995 or so).

 

I've posted a pic of the cab, which is standing on a four-wheel dolly next to my Mustang LE pin right now. I want to keep it on wheels for the meantime until I can get it fully converted over to a MAME cab so I can roll it around and work with it. One thing I do like about this cabinet is you can actually access the innards from the front, as opposed to working totally in the back. But what I'm looking for right now are suggestions and gotchas that I need to look out for as I embark on this project.

Also, for the record? That Bally-Sente SAC-1 is one more heavy SOB.

[schuwalker]

I have 2 of those suckers and *yes* they're beasts!

[rockman_x_2002]

I have 2 of those suckers and *yes* they're beasts!

 

An absolute behemoth! The project's kinda been on hold due to other goings-on, but I'm hoping to get back at it soonish.

 

For what it's worth, I have found the volume control on the Dead Angle board now. Hiding right there in plain sight, too. Not that it matters since that's getting replaced, but it's nice to know.