Building a SuperGun.

[Tupin]

I decided that a SuperGun is best for me, but I have a few questions:

1. If I have a JAMMA harness and an ATX power supply, do I snip the connector off the power supply or take the wires from the harness and solder them into the connector? I've seen harnesses that have hook loops at the end for power supplies, how would that work?

2. How would I go about setting up audio?

3. What would be an ideal enclosure for a SuperGun that I'm planning to use Neo-Geo controllers with? I've seen small ones that just snap onto the end of a bare board, but I want to enclose the harness and board completely yet make it easy to swap out boards.

[Ed Oscuro]

Probably the best thing to do right now is make a list of the games you're likely to want to get and see how many buttons they use, how old they are, etc.

Street Smart seems to use a standard JAMMA connector, from counting the number of buttons (3) in MAME and comparing that to the standard JAMMA pinout online. Any games needing more than three buttons or with more than two players will have some extra wiring needs.

Doubtful you can change the orientation - most cabs (especially older ones) are made for either vertical or horizontal games and the monitors are fastened to the cabinet in that direction. I've also heard that some monitors do best kept in the orientation they were marketed for (but most arcade monitors should do fine either way, just so long as you aren't trying to turn them back and forth constantly). Basically, it seems like a good idea to get two cabinets if you want to play vert and horizontal games (one of the reasons why I've stuck to a supergun).

About JAMMA:
Most boards made around the time of Street Smart or somewhat later should be plug-and-play. This only works for boards that have a JAMMA connector, of course.

Many earlier games (to about 1985) should work (and some earlier, say to about 1983, with an adapter, i.e. Nichibutsu or Konami; I can point you towards these if you want one), but some may require certain voltage on one pin (+5V). I'm not sure if this is standard but when putting together my JAMMA supergun +5V had to be added specifically to play some older games. It seems to have been dropped at some point. Then again, asking me whether to put it in may have just been the supergun builder hoping to get out of a bit of extra work.

You might consider looking at the voltages coming out of the cabinet's power supply - the one in that cabinet it likely going on 21 years old now and may not be producing power to the right specs. If you have a voltage meter you can just check how it's doing. If I was buying a cabinet I would just replace it altogether.

[aclbandit]

I'm considering getting a Street Smart cabinet for $125, and I've heard that it's a JAMMA cabinet. Does this mean I can buy another JAMMA PCB offline and plug it into the cabinet and it will play? Oh, and if it's oriented one way, is it easy to switch to another way? Say it's horizontal and I want it to be vertical?

Yeah, I really am a newbie when it comes to this.

JAMMA is an arcade standard, so yes, any JAMMA board will work on it.

However, this statement assumes:
1) Your boards are fully JAMMA-compliant, and
2) Your cabinet's "harness" is also fully JAMMA-compliant.

As an example, Neo Geo MVS cabinets are "almost-JAMMA" since it has stereo audio. Some (all?) Neo Geo motherboards, however, have a switch that allows switching between NeoGeo cabs and mono JAMMA cabs.

Another example is CPS2 from Capcom, in which putting a JAMMA board into it won't break anything (unlike a NeoGeo cabinet), but it won't have audio either (without a little re-wiring) since the audio comes straight from the CPS2 boards.

Therefore, just MAKE SURE that your JAMMA board and your JAMMA cabinet are "really" JAMMA, and not just "sorta" JAMMA. If that's the case, though, Yes, ANYTHING JAMMA will work in a JAMMA cab.


As for monitor rotation... I'm interested in knowing myself. Never tried rotating the one in my NeoGeo.... that could be wicked for stuff like Contra or vertical shooters...

[aclbandit]

You might consider looking at the voltages coming out of the cabinet's power supply - the one in that cabinet it likely going on 21 years old now and may not be producing power to the right specs. If you have a voltage meter you can just check how it's doing. If I was buying a cabinet I would just replace it altogether.

Quite the good idea. Mine was broken while moving my MVS, but I probably would have replaced it eventually anyway.

[Ed Oscuro]

Yes, ANYTHING JAMMA will work in a JAMMA cab.
This isn't true (especially taking into account this is a three-button cabinet he's asking about) or else I wouldn't have written what I did. Lots of games are called JAMMA but require extra connections (Street Fighter II immediately comes to mind). If it only uses the original, non-extended JAMMA pinout with three buttons, it'll work - but many games have extra controls (ironically, given this is an SNK cabinet, many of them - rotary joystick games - were made by SNK; for further ironic content consider that SNK went from being the major maker of rotary games to using the relatively simple MVS layout).

I think the best course of action is to consider whether you're interested in games that use non-standard controls; if you want to play games with more buttons you'll have to consider whether you want to drill extra holes into this cabinet and do a bit extra wiring (wiring the buttons should be easy; I would expect most of the trouble to be just finding the right wires to plug into JAMMA games that use extended boards).

[Flack]

Typically if a game uses the JAMMA standard but needs additional buttons, it will be listed as JAMMA+ (meaning essentially, "JAMMA plus something else"). Basically what that means is you can use your existing JAMMA wiring but you'll have to add something else (usually a kick harness).

Also just to clarify, there is no such thing as a horizontal or vertical monitor. The same monitors were used in horizontal games, vertical games, and cocktail games. Changing a monitor's orientation is likely to give you some odd color issues and you may need to manually degauss it, but it might not. Some people have issues simply pivoting games from facing one direction to another, and I hear keeping monitors looking good around the equator is a real bitch. Anyway, the only thing keeping you from rotating your monitor is the mounting brackets. Pull the front bezel off and look and you'll be able to tell real quick. Some cabs have enough space that rotating the monitor is no big deal, while others simply don't have the space.

[channelmaniac]

As an example, Neo Geo MVS cabinets are "almost-JAMMA" since it has stereo audio. Some (all?) Neo Geo motherboards, however, have a switch that allows switching between NeoGeo cabs and mono JAMMA cabs.

One slot Neo Geo boards are either mono or they can switch between stereo and mono.

All of the multi-slot boards (MV2, MV2F, MV4, MV4F, MV4FT2, MV6, and one more 4 slot I can't remember) are all wired for stereo. There is no stereo/mono switch on those models.

[aclbandit]

One slot Neo Geo boards are either mono or they can switch between stereo and mono.

All of the multi-slot boards (MV2, MV2F, MV4, MV4F, MV4FT2, MV6, and one more 4 slot I can't remember) are all wired for stereo. There is no stereo/mono switch on those models.

My board is actually a MV-1, so it has that mono/stereo switch. Didn't know if others had it or not. Thanks for the info!

[aclbandit]

This isn't true (especially taking into account this is a three-button cabinet he's asking about) or else I wouldn't have written what I did. Lots of games are called JAMMA but require extra connections (Street Fighter II immediately comes to mind). If it only uses the original, non-extended JAMMA pinout with three buttons, it'll work - but many games have extra controls (ironically, given this is an SNK cabinet, many of them - rotary joystick games - were made by SNK; for further ironic content consider that SNK went from being the major maker of rotary games to using the relatively simple MVS layout).

That's what I was getting at with the "really" JAMMA versus "sorta" JAMMA. As someone pointed out, "sorta JAMMA" is usually called "JAMMA+." Not that my MV-1 board says so >_<; So, when I said "Anything JAMMA will work in JAMMA", that was dependent upon the idea that BOTH PARTS are fully JAMMA-compliant.
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd344/aclbandit/0813091125a.jpg

[Tupin]

Just got the dimensions, it's:

2.5 feet wide
2.6 feet deep
5.8 feet tall

Is this standard for JAMMA? I read that this game gave people the option of building their own, but what is the average weight of these things?

[Ed Oscuro]

The JAMMA standard essentially just sets up the wiring, so that even different style cabinets will be part interchangeable for arcade operators. If you could ground everything properly, you could turn my momma's china cabinet into a fully JAMMA-compliant cabinet, add LCD monitors, use boombox speakers, add a funky joystick knob, and so on.

What the Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association cared about in regards to cabinet manufacturers was mainly that their cabinets were compatible and safe. They didn't care about the size (cabinets are similar sizes for other reasons, like player comfort and packaging in shipping crates). The actual computer hardware of PCBs is small enough (most, especially in the 90s, are smaller than a computer motherboard) that you won't need to worry about space.

Judge the dimensions and trim of the cabinet as they fit your needs - are the joysticks good? Will it fit through your door? Is the screen big enough (but not too big) for your liking?

I want to take a moment to address an earlier point of yours - it will be out of your price range, but probably not by as much by you think (i.e. it's no $1000 investment, possibly not $500 either): the Taito Egret's (http://www.solvalou.com/arcade_egret.php) screen can be rotated so you easily play both kinds of games. It may have (I'm working off memory, this was brought up in Shmups Forum's Hardware section a while ago) some strange mappings that go against the JAMMA standard.

Even so - if you have the space, getting dedicated vertical and horizontal cabinets is probably the way to go.

[Tupin]

I barely have room for this one if I were to get it. LOL

[Flack]

Just got the dimensions, it's:

2.5 feet wide
2.6 feet deep
5.8 feet tall

Is this standard for JAMMA? I read that this game gave people the option of building their own, but what is the average weight of these things?

JAMMA is the internal wiring standard, not the physical cabinet itself.

Average weight of a cabinet is between 200-300 pounds, with a monitor in it.

Man, I should write a book for beginning arcade collectors. Oh wait I did (http://www.robohara.com/invadingspaces).

[Tupin]

I'll have to look into that book.

...Especially since the guy already sold the machine. Ah well, it's not like JAMMA cabinets are hard to find.

[aclbandit]

Average weight of a cabinet is between 200-300 pounds, with a monitor in it.

And after taking a neo geo up the stairs, I'm totally convinced that I'm never moving a machine with the monitor still in it again. That was just not fun. (Admittedly, at the time, I'd never worked on an arcade machine, so removing the monitor was out of the question. If I ever get another cab, though...)

[Tupin]

Yeah, even a candy cab looks heavy. Speaking of which, a store around here has had several of those in a corner of the store for months now. I wonder if they are for sale, and more importantly, if they work.

[OMF2097]

And after taking a neo geo up the stairs, I'm totally convinced that I'm never moving a machine with the monitor still in it again. That was just not fun. (Admittedly, at the time, I'd never worked on an arcade machine, so removing the monitor was out of the question. If I ever get another cab, though...)

Which one did you move (a 6 slot behemoth, 4, 2, or single)? When I moved my old big red out of my apartment a few years back I removed the monitor the lower back wood panel, glass, and coin assemblage. It made moving it easier and putting it all back together was a snap.

[Arcade Antics]

I've moved a lot of machines up and down stairs. IMO, pulling the monitor just to move a game is way more trouble than it's worth, and it doesn't significantly reduce the overall weight of the cab either.

[Tupin]

I think I'm gonna go with a candy cab, it's not as tall and overall smaller.

[Ed Oscuro]

Do you have a particular model picked out?

When I hear "candy cab" I think of the small (Japan only I think) Neo Geo MVS units, probably because I first heard the term in Neo Geo discussions. I wouldn't get one of those unless I wanted an MVS dedicated machine.

[Tupin]

Some of them were JAMMA, and I'm going to a local store that has a bunch of them to find whether they are or not.

[Ed Oscuro]

You might get lucky and find a JAMMA cabinet that has a MVS board in it, which would let you swap in regular JAMMA PCBs or use the MVS board. Somebody else will have to chime in on this, but I think that any non-Neo Geo branded cabinet with an MVS board is likely to be straight-up JAMMA. As far as I know regular Neo Geo cabinets have wiring close to JAMMA; they just need a -5V line.

[Tupin]

Well, there is a place around an hour and a half away that has an MVS cabinet, but I'm pretty sure the candy cabinets near me aren't Neo-Geo.

So the MVS cabinets are JAMMA compatible, you just don't attach the -5v line when playing a JAMMA game?

[Ed Oscuro]

Look up "Adding a -5V line" (http://hardmvs.com/html/projects.htm) on this page. I'm just linking you to the directory and not the specific page because it does throw up a warning :P Edit: and aclbandit notes it's the stereo, d'oh

So, you can see it's not too bad for darn good JAMMA compatibility.

'course I think it would be easier going the other way - putting a MVS motherboard in a JAMMA cabinet.

[Tupin]

Yeah, and I found an adapter for MVS to JAMMA anyway, if I need it.

[aclbandit]

Yeah, and I found an adapter for MVS to JAMMA anyway, if I need it.

And that's what you'll need, yup. Don't mess with the wiring in a dedicated MVS cab: if it hasn't been messed with, that there is STEREO. You don't wanna re-wire for true JAMMA when the adapter basically does that for you (that way, mono-sound-based "real" JAMMA will split across both speakers, and your MVS straight in without the adapter will net you the original stereo).

[Tupin]

Yeah, I'm going to use this:

http://www.jammaboards.com/store/neogeo-mvs-to-jamma-adapter/prod_198.html?ccSID285e73f64c04744fc5f33ff68f52974 2=a49ee682df9d7726e74d7d42401397f3

I just plug that into the JAMMA slot of the cabinet and plug an MVS cart on top of that.

[Ed Oscuro]

Doh, edited my post in case of future reference (I hope not).

[aclbandit]

Which one did you move (a 6 slot behemoth, 4, 2, or single)? When I moved my old big red out of my apartment a few years back I removed the monitor the lower back wood panel, glass, and coin assemblage. It made moving it easier and putting it all back together was a snap.

It was the first model with an MV-1 in it. Admittedly, I'd say the 6-slot would have sucked more, but the stairs are about 1" wider than the cab, and the ceiling of the second floor is slanted at the top, so we had to move it up and rotate it forward from the diagonal as we went. (Why not just leaving it standing up, then, you may ask? There's an overhang that's too short for that too >_<)

Also, about the MVS-->JAMMA adapter, since it's the one from jammaboards.com, I've heard good things. I'll grab one eventually -- let me know how it works out for you if you get one first.

EDIT: Also, I just checked your link -- that's the WRONG ONE! That one lets you use MVS boards in JAMMA; the one you want is this:
http://www.jammaboards.com/store/jamma-to-neogeo-adapter/prod_228.html?ccSID285e73f64c04744fc5f33ff68f52974 2=a49ee682df9d7726e74d7d42401397f3

It lets you use JAMMA boards in the MVS.

[Tupin]

That actually is the correct one for me, I want to get a JAMMA cabinet and use MVS games in it. But if it turns out to be the other way around, thanks.

[aclbandit]

That actually is the correct one for me, I want to get a JAMMA cabinet and use MVS games in it. But if it turns out to be the other way around, thanks.

Oh, okay :P I thought you were looking at an MVS. I think you mentioned that at one point. I think I must have missed the changeover point or something. Glad that you know which one you need.

Also, good luck with your quest. Let us know when you pick up your first cab, and post pics! :)

[Tupin]

I'm going to call a store around an hour and a half away from me soon and ask about the MVS cabinet I saw there, I don't remember if it was for sale or not. It was a two-slot, I think. Hopefully it won't be outrageously overpriced.

If it is, I'll keep looking for a JAMMA cabinet.

[Ed Oscuro]

I've heard MVS 6-slot cabinets have some reliability issues. And yeah, they're probably damn big to boot.

[aclbandit]

I've heard MVS 6-slot cabinets have some reliability issues. And yeah, they're probably damn big to boot.

Yeah, weird stuff like "can't put this game in slot one, but works great in slot 3", that sort of nonsense. Four-slot is the "best" from what I hear, but the two-slot has similar features (just fewer slots :P)

Good luck with your continuing endeavor.

[Tupin]

Definitely wasn't a six slot, those are massive. I think I might have deal going for a JAMMA cabinet on another forum, I'll update this thread with what happens.

[Tupin]

I found a JAMMA+ cabinet on CL for $100 (High Impact), but it only has two buttons. Would this become an issue if I were to try to put another JAMMA game in the cabinet?

[Arcade Antics]

I found a JAMMA+ cabinet on CL for $100 (High Impact), but it only has two buttons. Would this become an issue if I were to try to put another JAMMA game in the cabinet?
It only becomes an issue if you want to play a game with 3 or more buttons and are unwilling / unable to revise or replace the CP and wire up the additional buttons.

[Tupin]

Hmm...

I'll have to see what games I'm interested in and see how many of them I can manage to play with just two buttons. Or I might wait. I also might look up how to wire up additional buttons.

[Tupin]

Okay, I decided that a cabinet is not going to work unless it's one of those small MAME tabletops, but that's not what I really want. I think I'm going to build a SuperGun with this guide:

http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/28/how-to-consolize-an-arcade-game/

Looks pretty simple, I'll look for a one slot MVS motherboard and if I go the route of using a controller port, I'll have a consolized MVS that with an adapter will create exactly what I need in a space much smaller than a cab.

[Ed Oscuro]

One of us, one of us!

Arasoi and myself are always willing to discuss supergun stuff.

Some things to keep in mind: A supergun always ends up being a lot more expensive than you initially plan for, especially if you want good controllers / special video output. Even if you find a Sony PVM / PGM or similar RGB monitor you'll have to make a cable to run from your supergun to it.

My supergun was made special order; it's got an extra DB-9 connector (DE-9 actually, roughly the size of a computer monitor connector) for a kick harness (I believe) along with the usual JAMMA connector. Whatever the case, expect to have to splice together a number of cables to get a supergun going.

My Supergun setup currently consists of: $300+ Supergun, $200+ XRGB-2, ~$30ish pro monitor (apparently worth more actually) which needs some fiddling with, yet more for a custom stick somebody built, and the autofire circuits (Neo Geo to PS2 style pins). Spendy.

Additionally, somebody is working on JAMMA self-healing fuse boards to protect every pin of a PCB from power surges. That's another expense, probably will come out around $40+ per board, but well worth it (for cabinets or superguns).

[Tupin]

I'll keep everyone updated on my progress of building it, any idea of where I can get working MVS motherboards? I plan on putting Neo-Geo controller ports on it, just for sheer simplicity and the ability to use several types of controllers.

Wait, I can just use a JAMMA harness to hook it up? If so, how do I wire up the power supply? Do I just take the wires from the harness and wire them into the connector for the power supply?

I also found this, which is what I'll use to connect it to the TV:
http://www.jammaboards.com/store/cv-04-rgb-to-ntsc-pal-tv-converter-pcb/prod_253.html

[Ed Oscuro]

If you're looking to hook it up to a standard TV you probably should go with an S-Video encoder - a lot more sharpness and color will be noticably improved over that. I don't know any recommended models off-hand, but Arasoi should.

[Tupin]

That model I linked to has an S-Video port on it. In addition to my other questions, how exactly do I hook up audio?

I'm getting a free ATX power supply off of Craigslist tomorrow, so my gathering of materials has begun! Thread updated to express what I'm doing now.

[Ed Oscuro]

Audio is one of my problems as well, actually. On my unit, audio is carried on pins located in the same style RGB connector that is used by a couple of my classic Japanese computers. This cable terminates at the other end in a SCART-style connector, which plugs directly into my XRGB-2, which has RCA and S-Video style connectors on the back but which are only for input (why, god, why?). The solution there is probably to get a device which splits out the two sound channels (Arasoi showed me one of these), although some rewiring may be necessary.

[Arasoi]

I've been running a supergun a while like Ed, and I've run 2 different MVS boards off mine (1F and 1C). I have a $200 supergun(probably going to sell this, and my MVS-1F) currently capable of connecting to Neo geo pads and sticks and RGB out to an NEC XM29 RGB capable monitor.

Some of this stuff might be redundant and in the article you linked to already, but I'm going to run through the most important build issues I can think of..

Basically what you want to do is get a project box and mount some terminals that take spade connectors, get a jamma harness and wire it up to one end of that, matching the other ends to controller inputs, audio, video, power, etc which you will be bringing in.

http://www.arcadeshop.de/images/jamma-pinout.gif

For audio output, you will need to run leads off your terminal block to either SCART or female RCA plugs, for your purposes I would go with the RCA jacks for ease of use.

All in all video issues might be a pain for you if not dealt with early on so I'll focus on them here:

If you have a CRT TV capable of component video, I would steer you away from S video and to a component encoder instead for increased video quality. The JROK encoders are lag free on their end and actually can provide all 3: component, svideo, and composite.

http://www.jrok.com/hardware/RGB.html

Maybe a bit more $, but if you're not going RGB or upscaled RGB you'll probably want as many output options as possible as TVs can come and go. Neobitz is another trusted internal encoder by builders, but it doesn't have as many output options as the JROK.

I would wire a RGB out port of some kind as well in case you want to use a commercial RGB video upscaler in the future, the way things are going with commercial TVs this may be an unavoidable eventuality down the line. Just run extra leads off your R-G-B-S terminals to a female DB9 serial port, you could make whatever cable you needed in the future cheaply.

You should also be careful about what kind of TV you'll be using. My old rig was an older CRT TV that came out when component was new, I had 0 lag and a nice picture quality (no stretching). Scaling lag is your enemy, and it will be pretty common on LCDs and Plasmas unless they have a quality upscaling unit inside.

Since you are going MVS, there are a few considerations that might help in your purchasing decision.

http://hardmvs.com/html/PCBcompare.htm

You have the option of wiring your supergun with a stereo/mono audio switch, mine has one and it's pretty nice having that option. However be forewarned that if you go for other regular mono JAMMA boards you can damage them by accidentally leaving the switch set to stereo mode.

If you want to play "classic" MVS carts that are not SNK Playmore encrypted carts you should get an MVS-1F. The 1F has the most features overall (pcb onboard stereo or mono switchable output, a socketed bios which can be replaced with the universe bios, onboard controller ports. headphone port, etc). The 1F will play most SNK-P encrypted carts without much fuss, but you will run into glitched graphics sometimes on ones here and there.

If you must play every cart without exception and are willing to sacrifice the BIOS socket and stereo audio, I would go with the MVS 1C or MVS 1A. They'll work with every cart you'll throw at them and they have a very small and compact footprint compared to the others. These PCBs are generally used for making consolized MVS units.

Hopefully some of this info was useful, as Ed said we love talking about this stuff so feel free to throw questions at us.

[Tupin]

I'm just going to gather the parts I need, which at this point is:

A JAMMA harness (I did find an MVS motherboard for cheap, but it's broken and shipping is too expensive)
A cheap JAMMA board as a starter
An enclosure
A video encoder
A switch for the power supply
RCA jacks
Neo Geo controller
Two DB-15 ports

The MVS motherboard I mentioned is an MV-1 for $5, but there is a backup RAM error. Would that be an easy fix? I'm still going to get the video encoder I posted, S-Video is all I really need and as long as it doesn't have those rolling lines, (which it probably won't because I'm using a modern LCD TV) it will be fine.

I'll ask any further questions I have when they come up.

[Arasoi]

Good luck!

[Tupin]

Okay, power supply problem. I got the supply today, it came from a PIII Dell, apparently it's not ATX even though it doesn't look like it.

Compared to this picture:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2006/11/atx_engadget_howto.jpg

Pin 19 isn't there, neither is the wire. I have one power supply that has all of them, but it's broken. Is the Dell PS still useful?

[PC-ENGINE HELL]

Some Dell power supplies do not follow the ATX wiring scheme, so it would be hard to say what wire does what on them. Some are just wired up a specific way for certain boards. Noticed this was the case for alot of their power supplies from the Pentium 2/3 days. Infact I dont think I have any normal power supplies laying around from Dell that came about until the P4 days. You should try to hunt down a older normal ATX psu, like something from Sparkle, Thermaltake, or Nspire on the cheap that will still be reliable. Hit up ebay for one.

[Tupin]

I found the pinout online, it has all the voltages, just ordered and wired differently.

http://pinouts.ru/Power/dell_atxpower_pinout.shtml

What does a JAMMA harness use to get its power? Like what does the connector look like?

[Arasoi]

Power is drawn on the appropriate +5,-5, and +12 pins.

http://arcarc.xmission.com/Web%20Archives/pinouts_all/jamma_pinout.gif

http://chrisevans3d.com/hardware/xbox/type1.jpg

[TheDomesticInstitution]

I found the pinout online, it has all the voltages, just ordered and wired differently.

http://pinouts.ru/Power/dell_atxpower_pinout.shtml

What does a JAMMA harness use to get its power? Like what does the connector look like?



No special connector, you just have to crimp those y connectors on the proper harness wires. This is what the switcher looks like that powers a JAMMA board.

http://www.jammaboards.com/store/images/uploads//P032_Power_Supply_WM_332x448_LR.jpg

Here is the link. (http://www.jammaboards.com/store/15a-arcade-switching-power-supply-110w/prod_251.html)

They generally look like this, and you can buy them at lots of places. You then can wire a standard edison to this and plug it into the wall. While I don't own a supergun, I would assume that the set-up would incorporate this power supply somehow.

Also here is an image to what I refer to as Y connectors. You crimp the little blue ends onto the wire and loosen the appropriate screws on the switching power supply, then tighten them down on the "y-connector"

http://www.heliproz.com/images/BP2CRIMP.jpg

[Tupin]

Ah, so I take the connector off of the power supply and solder the correct wires from the supply to the harness? I've seen some with y connectors that normally would go into that switcher, I just solder the wires to those?

Does it matter which ones? I can just solder any +5v wire to any +5v clip as an example?

[TheDomesticInstitution]

No, no soldering. Crimp the blue y connector things on your jamma harness and then loosen the screws on the PS and slide them in.

[Tupin]

But I'm using a PC power supply, so I guess I'll have to solder?

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Sorry I can't help you on that. I know nothing about PC power supplies, my jamma cabs run off a switcher like what's in the picture above.

[Tupin]

That's fine, after looking it up a bit, I get what I need to do.

[Tupin]

What about the video connectors, how does a harness attach to an encoder? I'm guessing it goes from the actual JAMMA board to the encoder, but I might be wrong.

[SPAZ-12]

Hooking up a JAMMA harness really couldn't be easier. The JAMMA harness connects to the edge of the PCB in question, with one wire going to each of the pins on the board. To hook up a power supply, all that is needed is to connect the 12v, 5v, (-5v), and ground wires to the appropriate lines on the power supply; if you are using a PC power supply then you will need to cut and solder the wires from the supply.

To connect to a video encoder, the same thing is true. Just locate the red, green, blue, video ground, and video-sync lines, and connect them to the appropriate terminals on you encoder. The only other thing that you need to know is how to hook up buttons and switches, and all that you need to know is: if you want to tell the board that a button is "on," then connect that button's pin to ground. So, every button is connected to that button's pin on one side, and to ground on the other.

That should honestly be enough information for you to wire up the entire harness. For more information check out this site:
"How to Wire In A Jamma Harness" (http://arcadecontrols.com/BBBB/jh.html).
Bob Roberts knows what he's doing, and if you have a question wiring your supergun, you're likely to find an answer on his site.

[Tupin]

Okay, I decided that I'm going with a Genesis controller simply because it's cheaper to find the controllers. I'm not sure about how to wire the ports up, the pinouts I've seen are kind of confusing. I'm just gonna buy a DB9 serial port at RadioShack, how exactly do I wire it up?

Oh, and for the coin/start switches, I figured since I'm making the controller removable, can I just use a standard electrical pushbutton switch?

[Tupin]

Also decided that I'm going to use an Amiga monitor instead of an expensive video encoder, I'll just wire the RGB to a female DB-9 connector and connect it to the male DB-9 connector on the monitor via another DB-9 cable with opposite connectors on each side. I think I'll be able to connect audio to that as well.

[SPAZ-12]

I'm not entirely sure about this, but I don't think that you want to use a Genesis controller for your Supergun. As far as I can tell, you would need to build a multiplexer circuit to read the buttons on the gamepad. It seems that the Genesis controller port uses a "select" line, so that each of the other wires going to pad can be connected to two different buttons (depending on whether select is enabled or not).

Don't quote me on this though, I'm nowhere near 100% sure about this.

I happen to be building a Supergun as well (albeit slowly over the last 2 years) and I decided that I would just make my own controllers, with a unique pinout that I decided upon--of course, this is an expensive and time consuming way of doing things. Another option is to buy a Neo Geo controller off of eBay, since these controllers are supposed to be pretty simple to use with a Supergun.

[aclbandit]

Another option is to buy a Neo Geo controller off of eBay, since these controllers are supposed to be pretty simple to use with a Supergun.

The only problem I can forsee with this solution is when playing newer Capcom stuff that has that nifty six-button layout -- Neos, of course, have only four buttons.

And really, who wants to play Street Fighter II without all the available moves?

EDIT: However, you may not care about newer stuff that uses six buttons, in which case a four-button pad is perfect. :D

[Tupin]

The only problem I can forsee with this solution is when playing newer Capcom stuff that has that nifty six-button layout -- Neos, of course, have only four buttons.

And really, who wants to play Street Fighter II without all the available moves?

EDIT: However, you may not care about newer stuff that uses six buttons, in which case a four-button pad is perfect. :D
Obviously a Neo-Geo controller would be best, but they're expensive. Then again, now that I'm going to use an Amiga monitor rather than a video encoder, I have the money to spend $30 on one...

[Arasoi]

On the bright side you would be getting your money's worth. Neo Geo pads are high quality, very precise. I use them on my supergun.

For the monitor, the only detail that's important is that it can accept a 15 khz RGB signal. I don't know which model you have so I can't verify that detail for you, but I assume you already have it worked out.

I would still wire sound to 2 RCA jacks.

[Tupin]

On the bright side you would be getting your money's worth. Neo Geo pads are high quality, very precise. I use them on my supergun.

For the monitor, the only detail that's important is that it can accept a 15 khz RGB signal. I don't know which model you have so I can't verify that detail for you, but I assume you already have it worked out.

I would still wire sound to 2 RCA jacks.
Yeah, most of them do. How/why would I wire two RCA jacks when there's only Mono sound? As for the start and coin buttons, can I just use a normal switch from RadioShack and wire it up, one side with the function and the other to a ground?

[Arasoi]

I wire mono to two jacks for stereos or TVs that dont put the single channel on both speakers. You can do it with a couple of surface mount RCA jacks, or to some female cables.

For coin and start, my supergun is wired to neo geo, but with select being coin and start being start.

[Tupin]

Hm, how do I get the +5v to the ports if I use all of the power supply wires to the harness?

I have RCA jacks, the central pin is positive and the outer pin is negative, so I connect the respective wires to the correct place, but that still only gives me enough wires to solder one port.

[Arasoi]

I have never built a supergun from a PC power supply, but the PSU should provide 5 and 12 volts on the 4 pin molex connectors that you would use for hard drives/optical drives in a PC, if you need more leads.

[Tupin]

Makes sense, but what about the audio? There's only enough wires on a harness to hook up one RCA jack. Do I split the wire or something?

[Arasoi]

In my supergun are little terminal blocks, I simply put another spade terminal on a wire and screwed it down with the other one and split the signal. If you dont have a terminal block you could split the wire in other ways, tehres probably clamp/crimp wires for it.

If you want stereo from MVS as well you would probably need to install a switch.

[Tupin]

What about using an RCA jack splitter like this?:

http://www.provantage.com/cables-go-29121~7CTBP01W.htm

[Tupin]

Oh, and I found the RGB pinouts for an Amiga monitor, and it doesn't carry audio apparently. I'm going to wire the port up so it fits with an Amiga monitor and use a serial extension cable to link the two and hook the audio pinouts into external speakers using an audio splitter to split the audio to two speakers.

At least with an Amiga monitor, it's easy to turn it on its side for vertical games, all my TVs are flat screen that can't rotate.

Might take a bit, though. Some guy on my local Craigslist wants $150 for a 1080, lawl. I might be able to use one of the old IBM-style monitors I have, if I can find the pinouts.

[Tupin]

I found the pinouts for my Tandy CM-4 monitor and here's the pinouts:

1 Ground
2 Ground
3 R (Red Video)
4 G (Green Video)
5 B (Blue Video)
6 Intensity
7 No connect
8 Horizontal Sync
9 Vertical Sync

I guess for pin 6 I don't need anything and I can just wire the video sync to either pin 8 or 9 and it doesn't matter?

[Arasoi]

I am not sure if a TTL CGA monitor (your Tandy is one if I read that pinout correctly) is your best bet. I do not believe those can take analog RGB signals from arcade boards.

The term CGA gets tossed around a little loosely, it can be used in the PC world to describe early color adapters that had a separate intensity signal, or anything around 320x240 or below for analog RGB.

And yes that audio adapter should work fine if you dont want to wire it inside the SG.