Here are two more tips and my musings on 480i...........
Tip 1
I found in testing of JAMMAizer, I had issues with getting my MC PCB's to be recognized by my consoles. Turns out, my RJ45 cables had somehow went bad over time and I had to reterminate them (they are the original Akishops RJ45's purchased back in 2013 with the PS360+). If you are someone that plans on making your own console RJ45 cables, have the tools to do the job, here is a tip for you:
make sure you use RJ45 jacks that have pass through. I find
these are the best jacks to buy and make the job even easier since it is even easier to thread the wires:
The reason being is that console controller cables may have less wires than the 8-pin/position RJ45 jack has. As you fab the console RJ45 cables, you have to skip over some positions. Thereby in doing so, some wire lengths end up being longer than others as you position them during insertion into the jack. If the RJ45 jack is closed off, the wires will bend preventing you from pushing the wires far enough through so that they can be pierced by the RJ45 pins while still being pushed in far enough so that the insulation can be pinned down securely into the jack. With the pass through RJ45 connectors, that is avoided:
- With a multimeter, determine which wire by color matches the console numbered sequential pins
- Use the controller pinout here.
- Then map out the RJ45 pins in sequence to the proper colored wire you've tested for using the same document
- Strip about an inch and a half of of the networking cable's insulation back
- Fan out the wires in the proper sequence between your thumb and forefinger
- Cut the wires at a 45 degree angle so that the longest wire is away from your body and the shorter cut is closest to your body
- Insert the fanned wires into the RJ45 jack, positioning the longest wire into the lowest numbered pin in the RJ45 jack first
- Make sure if a pin is supposed to be NC (not connected) that you skip over that pin position
- If you have to skip a position, curve back the wire by bending it inwards towards you, keeping the wires already in their pin position in place, while freeing up the next wire for positioning into the proper pin.
- Once positioned correctly, push the entire cable through so that the insulation is far enough in the jack and can be crimped down securing the cable to the jack
- Finally, crimp it and cut off the excess wires that have passed through the jack
Console extension cables are like $2-3 bucks each from eBay but will take 2-3 weeks to arrive at your door from China. You can get 100pcs of the pass through RJ45 jacks for about $5, also from eBay. An RJ45 crimp tool costs $15 and can be used for other household chores and maybe even other arcade projects. If you don't already have the RJ45 cables, plan on getting the JAMMAizer, good idea to secure provisions for the RJ45 cables now so you'll be ready to go once you have JAMMAizer in your hands. The most time consuming process in all of this is testing continuity and mapping out the pins. Crimping/terminating takes about 45 seconds for each cable.
Tip 2:
Also, if you already have the classic Toodles MC Cthulhu PCB's, you can pull the pic chip off them and place them into Arthrimus's EZ MC Cthulhu PCB. Works great which I can confirm.
Arthrimus's EZ PCB + the MC Cthulhu Upgrade represents the best price value for MC controller input by a slight margin (~$10 per unit shipped). The trade off is that there isn't going to be further development with the MC Cthulhu compatiblity or features (no VMU saves
). If you are holding out hope for further features and console compatibility, buy the Brook Retro board; just don't expect much down this line as there are only so many retro consoles out there. PS360+ is OOP and can obtained it in the after market. Advantage of the PS360+ is that it supports the Xbox 360, which the MC Cthulhu and the Brook Retro do not. Lots of great arcade-style titles on the Xbox 360 (Cave Shmups!).
480i on an arcade CRT monitor:
Looks great! Even on much older lower end US arcade monitors. PS2 and Dreamcast thus far look wonderful. Haven't hooked up the Xbox 360 yet, but I expect it to look fine. There are those that say that the Cave shmup titles look better at 240p due to more prevelant scanlines. But I think I'll just be happy experiencing these titles on a a real arcade cab and you will be too.
EDIT: Here is a list of the monitors I've succesfully tested JAMMAizer's compatibility with. Should represent a good distribution of monitors that are out there. If there isn't one on the list (plus Arthrimus's test on the NNC/Toshiba Pure Flat and what ever djsheep tested), I wouldn't expect there to be monitor compability issues as JAMMAizer's video signal is as good as a genuince arcade PCB's. But of course, not every possible setup can be tested:
- Sanwa PFX (NNC) - known to have sync issues with the Taito F3 and some arcade PCB's. No issues with JAMMAizer however
- Nanao MS8 (Astro City)
- Nanao MS9 (Egret II & New Astro City)
- Nanao MS2930 (Blast City)
- Neotec NT-2515C (Area 51/Maximum Force cab)
- Neotec NT-33C (Dynamo Showcase cab)
- Wells Gardner K7400 (Atomiswave US Upright)
- Wells Gardner K7000 25" (several cabs)
