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Bootleg JJ Squawkers, different date on title screen, no sound

XtraSmiley

XtraSmiley

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OK, so I bought a real JJ Squawkers PCB a little while ago and it got me wondering about bootlegs and how close they are. There is a guy selling them on eBay and it looks like the Athena PCB with the ROM board the real JJS has removed. While this guy wants way too much for a bootleg, over on KLOV I saw one for $120 shipped, working.

I get the board and no sound at all. I run my finger around the sound area and nothing, not a hiss, not a hum, nothing. PCB looks to be in great condition and the caps don't look damaged. Seller is reliable based on feedback and claims it was working when he mailed it.

Trouble shooting help? Sadly, I don't have my tools easily available right now, and I just want to know if I should be sending it back or if it is an easy fix for later. Any way to trouble shoot would be appreciated.

With that out of the way, the real JJS title screen shows a date of 1993. This one shows 1999, so likely when the bootleg was made. That being said, so far I don't notice a difference other than it might be a tad faster that the real PCB. I have to pull it out later and compare. That, and of course I have no idea on the sound.

Is this bad boy already dumped? Anyone seen this bootleg vice the one made from a real Athena PCB?

SOLUTION:

OK Team, thanks for EVERYONE's help and inputs. I'll add this to the top for other's potentially looking for a solution. I found my cheap $10 RadioShack DMM and was able to ops test per the help in this thread and the amp is ALIVE!

I can't reroute the wires now, but I was able to conclude it is indeed the weird choice of bootleggers to reverse the wires. So...

My bootleg does not have sound (for future searches): See this thread for sound issues posted by @twistedsymphony his solution was right and my PCB has sound!

a lot of bootlegs will run ground to speaker + and then the out- is routed to speaker- while most cabs are ok with this most superguns are not.

I would first check to see if speaker + and - are actually routed to out + and - on the amp.

it's entirely possible that it's working fine but your setup doesn't support the way it's wired.
 

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From the symptoms you describe, the amp in the lower right corner by the volume dial might be dead. Check if it’s getting voltage. If so, try replacing it.
 
OK, is there an easy way to see if it is getting voltage? I assume the amp is the thing with the heatsink on it?
 
Yep, amp is the thing with the heatsink on it in the corner. Read the part number off of it then Google a data sheet for the part. Odds are it’ll be a part similar to this:
9BCF16F7-8919-4524-BF03-A0D35068658C.jpeg

Once you know the pin assignments, set a multimeter to measure DC current, and touch the black probe to Ground and the red probe to Vcc. You should read close to 12V on the meter with the board powered on.
 
a lot of bootlegs will run ground to speaker + and then the out- is routed to speaker- while most cabs are ok with this most superguns are not.

I would first check to see if speaker + and - are actually routed to out + and - on the amp.

it's entirely possible that it's working fine but your setup doesn't support the way it's wired.
 
Thanks, I'm running a HAS, so I hadn't thought of this.

If that's the case, any solution for getting it to work with the HAS?
 
No easy solution for the HAS I take it? I'll have to get a DMM to test the amp!

Is the ROM dumped? I don't mess with MAME, but is the "1999" version of this worth working to get dumped?
 
For a supergun if you don’t want to fix it on the pcb, depending on what’s wrong you can buy a jamma passthrough like a jnx atlas and handle the rewiring there. But you should get a multimeter and check first anyway to make sure that’s an option
 
XtraSmiley said:
Is the ROM dumped? I don't mess with MAME, but is the "1999" version of this worth working to get dumped?
Click to expand...
Nope, not dumped. please do it if you can , the 2x in sockets is the program "the meat and potatoes"
The GFX and sound ROM's are on surface mount roms , if the sound rom is dead / differs you may be in trouble.
 
OK, I don't have an easy way to mess with it right now other than tossing it into one of my JAMMA cabs and just testing it. I'll let you guys know.
 
this is probably a HAS thing, I have the same issue with a bootleg, no sound.
I then tried the pcb on mak strike3 (which full disclosure wouldn't recommend and why I moved on to a HAS), and sound worked perfectly (but the mak strike couldn't adapt the video sync of the bootleg right, so no picture, an HV position figerboard fixed it when ON. (the HAS can handle this on its own perfectly though)
 
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Sometimes changing Speaker + / - works with the HAS (for me with Mahou and some Bootlegs) but i think it should be also not that hard to just install some audio out (headphone jack?) directly on the AMP?
 
XtraSmiley said:
@RGB if you do a revision 4.3 of the HAS (best SG still, IMO!), maybe this can be a new feature, since it seems a common issue with bootlegs?
Click to expand...
This can be done in the next revision (if there will be another one). In the meantime, the current HAS version can be adapted to do that if you're willing to sacrifice the JAMMA/MVS audio switch or add a jumper. I'll post my modification idea later.
 
Same for the Sigma Reijin btw! Simply buy some Jamma extension and switch both cables for games without sound. Easy fix :)
 
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