What does it take?

[spiderfighter]

What does it take to piece together a playable machine? I am looking at PCB boards as a start. What all do i need after that to assemble myself a machine i can enjoy? I'm not looking for it to be totally original,however that would be a bonus.I have no knowledge of electronics but i am also not challenged either.Could anyone please point me in the right direction or the steps to having some retro fun? Any help would be much appreciated.Thanks in advance!

 

[ussexplorer]

Well this is what you need:

 

From Scratch:

 

PCB/GameBoard

Power Supply. You can get generic ones with +5 +12, etc, etc.

Monitor. RGB 13", common 19", 25", etc.

Control Panel.

Cab.

Clean power to monitor if not built into power supply or monitor.

jamma wire harness or proper harness for pcb.

 

Jamma is a standard developed in the early 90's or so. Depending on the game you will need to mount the monitor horizontal or vertical in the Arcade cabinet. So if you have mutiple PCB and you want to swipt them out, if you have jamma it is pretty much plug and play.

 

Monitors sometimes need what is called a cap kit. If they are acting funky. Streched pictures, lines, etc, etc. This is basicly a bag full of capacitors to replace the old ones on the monitor board. Depending on the monitor you can get a pretty complete kit to replace everything on the monitor.

 

Check monitor types. Some of the older games used unique monitors. Later units used a common RGB monitor. Their is different resulution monitors.

 

you can also use www.klov.com to check stats on most games. I also searched around the web. You can pick up most information on everything. What voltage, monitor, and connector you need.

 

I to am looking for a game and as soon as I find one. I hope the fun will begin.

 

laters,

 

ussexplorer

[spiderfighter]

Thanks ussexplorer! The PCB board is a jamma i believe. The board i am looking at is from 84'. As far as cabinets go, is there a "standard" size? From my memories i seem to remember most were but you had some innovative,creative designs for some of the games. Could i build one and if so are their any plans out there to do so? Where are some good places to look for the necessary parts needed to complete this project(parts list ussessex provided) and what kind of costs am i looking at.I understand that it will vary,but a guide to this will help so i don't get reamed over the coals on some parts would be nice. I really appreciate any input! Thanks in advance.

 

[Adrian M]

Thanks ussexplorer!  The PCB board is a jamma i believe. The board i am looking at is from 84'. As far as cabinets go, is there a "standard" size? From my memories i seem to remember most were but you had some innovative,creative designs for some of the games. Could i build one and if so are their any plans out there to do so? Where are some good places to look for the necessary parts needed to complete this project(parts list ussessex provided) and what kind of costs am i looking at.I understand that it will vary,but a guide to this will help so i don't get reamed over the coals on some parts would be nice. I really appreciate any input! Thanks in advance.

 

 

If you're looking at a 1984 era game, I'll be the first to tell you that it won't be Jamma compatible.

The Jamma standard came about around 1987-1988. Prior to that, game developers all had their own standard pin outs.

Go to www.quarterarcade.com and do some research before getting too far ahead of yourself. Convertor edges do exist for some game to make them Jamma connector compatible, so all is not lost.

[Stingray]

If you're serious about building your own arcade machine you should check out the Build Your Own Arcade Controlls site:

 

http://www.arcadecontrols.com

 

Lots of active members on their forum with a vast knowlege of arcade machines.

 

-S

[Cassidy Nolen]

Honestly, if you do not know what you are doing....money wise and time wise, you might fair better to just buy a ready made JAMMA cabinet. Get the number for an operator off of just about any machine you see in a bar, and give them a call. Most operators I have ever worked with have junk sitting in storage they would be happy to sell for 1-200 bucks.

 

A monitor, new, would run you 200 (maybe 175 if you shop around). If it is for an older game, it is standard resolution. Many new monitors can handle standard and medium (just dont get one that only does medium; wont work). If its not a fairly new type, most likely you will need an isolation transformer. Simply, it goes in line between the power from your outlet to the monitor power input. Then a power supply, and the wiring. Controls (new ones anyway) get kind of pricey. Just those parts together would run you 250. I would suggest calling locally before you get too far into purchasing pieces. May even do a regional search on ebay? If the monitor needs a cap kit, there are companies that do them if you do not feel comfortable doing it. You mail them the chassis and they send it back recapped for a flat rate.

 

Just my opinion.

 

Cassidy

 

BTW, www.klov.com is a similar listing to what is what. Both sites are very helpful.

[spiderfighter]

Thanks everyone for all the advice/input. i appreciate it. Here is the game i want to try and put together or if i could find one out there that is complete,obviously for a guy like me that would be ideal. If you could have a look,maybe it would give some of you with experience more insight into what i really would need to do.Thanks in advance....

David.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

[Cassidy Nolen]

You need this:

 

http://www.multigame.com/konami2jamma.html

 

That will let you play those in a standard JAMMA harness, and tons more games (being that it is a jamma game).

 

Hope that helps. I know the ad says its JAMMA, but its not.

 

Cassidy

[spiderfighter]

Thanks very much Cassidy!

 

David