Looks great!! I’m so HYYYYYYPED!!
Console JAMMAizer! Easily connect home consoles to your JAMMA arcade cabinet.
- Thread starter Arthrimus
- Start date
Just tried the vga hat, too. Works great!
BroadwayJose
Professional
For the VGA hat, is this something that works with 31khz monitors only? I'm planning on using the Jammaizer primarily with a 15khz monitor, so I want to understand what to expect when I start testing.
@BroadwayJose
JAMMAizer doesn't do any transcoding of the video signal; just amplification + DC coupling. So if you have 31khz input, you get 31khz output that is amped and DC coupled. So for 31khz, you need a cab that is capableof displaying a 31khz signal. Personally, any 31khz-capable cab, I connecting the video source directly to the cab through VGA as 31khz does not need to be amped by JAMMAizer's video circuitry. And If you have 15khz, you get 15khz output that is ampled and DC coupled.
The value of the VGA hat is in allowing for connection of non-SCART 15khz video input signals that are unamped. Now you can use it to connect a CRT Emu-enabled MAME box. Now you can use it for those older consoles that can be RGB-modded to output RGB video a D-Sub 15 connector. If you have a Dreamcast and a non-31khz cab, you can use a Dreamcast VGA box that supports 15khz instead of buying a separate SCART video cable (saving yourself some cash).
Without the VGA hat, you'd have to figure out how to channel your non-SCART audio and video sources into your cab through the SCART connector.
JAMMAizer doesn't do any transcoding of the video signal; just amplification + DC coupling. So if you have 31khz input, you get 31khz output that is amped and DC coupled. So for 31khz, you need a cab that is capableof displaying a 31khz signal. Personally, any 31khz-capable cab, I connecting the video source directly to the cab through VGA as 31khz does not need to be amped by JAMMAizer's video circuitry. And If you have 15khz, you get 15khz output that is ampled and DC coupled.
The value of the VGA hat is in allowing for connection of non-SCART 15khz video input signals that are unamped. Now you can use it to connect a CRT Emu-enabled MAME box. Now you can use it for those older consoles that can be RGB-modded to output RGB video a D-Sub 15 connector. If you have a Dreamcast and a non-31khz cab, you can use a Dreamcast VGA box that supports 15khz instead of buying a separate SCART video cable (saving yourself some cash).
Without the VGA hat, you'd have to figure out how to channel your non-SCART audio and video sources into your cab through the SCART connector.
BroadwayJose
Professional
@acblunden2 I suspected this would be the case, just wanted some confirmation. Thanks for the breakdown. Likely will explore this setup with a MAME box at some point.
If you've ever used a J-Pac, you know that it you have to pipe the line-level audio from your PC's 3.5mm audio jack into an amp, downmux it to mono, and wire it up to the J-Pac. No easy feat, trust me. You have to splice/slice in somewhere to figure out how to power your audio amp. Figure out what to do to downux your audio. JAMMAizer takes care of that in one nice all in one solution as it has a 3.5mm audio input on the VGA hat and an onboard audio amp with mono output to the JAMMA edge. Perfect.
Also, JAMMAizer eliminates keyboard emulation and allows you to have true joystick control (with whatever MC PCB you want to use). What you lose with default button mapping in MAME, you gain in elimination of keyboard emulation lag and compatibility with emulators that don't use keyboard emulation.
Also, JAMMAizer eliminates keyboard emulation and allows you to have true joystick control (with whatever MC PCB you want to use). What you lose with default button mapping in MAME, you gain in elimination of keyboard emulation lag and compatibility with emulators that don't use keyboard emulation.
BroadwayJose
Professional
I have not worked with a J-Pac or really even explored MAME in any meaningful capacity yet. That audio setup sounds awful lol so I'm already glad I won't have to worry about that. Seems like I'm jumping into the MAME cab world at the right time with the Jammaizer as an option. I'm sure I'll still have tons of questions about it whenever I start down that path but I'll save all of that for another time and a different thread.
BroadwayJose
Professional
Got mine in. Plugged in two Brook Retro boards and ran some quick tests last night primarily via SCART for the RGB capable consoles I own and everything is excellent so far. Likewise with the VGA hat. No pics yet but I'm planning a game session with friends next week so I'll be sure to share some pics after.
@Arthrimus a couple of quick questions:
@Arthrimus a couple of quick questions:
- What is the pinout for the aux button harness connector?
- What is the default button combo to activate Select and Home button emulation?
@BroadwayJose If you look on the bottom of the PCB the pinout is listed on the silkscreen.
The JST NH connector should be wired like this:
For Select and Home Emulation the button combos are as follows.
Select = B1+B2+Start
Home = B2+B3+Start
The JST NH connector should be wired like this:
- Select
- Home
- B7
- B8
- GND
For Select and Home Emulation the button combos are as follows.
Select = B1+B2+Start
Home = B2+B3+Start
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BroadwayJose
Professional
Didn't flip the board over so I didn't see it. Good to know.
Anyway, been loving this thing so far. Thanks again for such a great product!
Anyway, been loving this thing so far. Thanks again for such a great product!
Final update for Pre Order Round 1.
All orders have been packed and will be dropped off at the post office tomorrow morning. Thanks for your patience everyone, this has been by far the most complex production process I've ever been through and it went off without a hitch. Looking forward to doing a second round of pre-orders in mid December. Until then, enjoy your Console JAMMAizers and keep an eye out for the other project's I will be working on in the meantime.
All orders have been packed and will be dropped off at the post office tomorrow morning. Thanks for your patience everyone, this has been by far the most complex production process I've ever been through and it went off without a hitch. Looking forward to doing a second round of pre-orders in mid December. Until then, enjoy your Console JAMMAizers and keep an eye out for the other project's I will be working on in the meantime.
Being an owner of the JAMMACon and the JAMMAizer, what is your honest assessment of the merits between the two? Personally, I passed on the JAMMACon because of the following:
- Proprietary console controller interfacing
- I just felt implementing an interface to leverage commercially available MC PCB's was a better way to go
- And you could still use those MC PCB solutions for fight sticks. To me, this is huge
- I just felt implementing an interface to leverage commercially available MC PCB's was a better way to go
- Lack of stereo pass through
- SCART only input
- I really felt there was an opportunity to increase flexibility in allowing non-SCART AV sources into such a device
- Shipping costs from the UK
- Video quality
- Audio quality
- Ease of use
- Does the inclusion of RGB's button mapper make a huge difference?
BroadwayJose
Professional
@acblunden2 Haven't had a lot of time yet to really put the JAMMAizer through its paces. Can't test audio extensively with a toddler trying to sleep at night so that will need to wait. Video looks good if a bit bright out of the box. That might be my monitor but I'll play with adjusting settings there and on the JAMMAizer to dial it in.
JAMMAcon video output has been excellent for me, no complaints there. Haven't bothered with the audio, I just bypass all of that and go straight to a set of PC speakers from the console. I use this on an Astro City and I don't care at all for the speakers and mono audio that come stock on these cabs. I try to do the same for any arcade PCBs connected to that cab as well.
My issues with the product mirrors yours, specifically around the poor control options. I really wanted to use the attached PSX controller PCB and adapt that to my other consoles but it never worked well for me. Having to use a different set of console controllers mostly defeats the purpose of installing a console in a cabinet so this was always a problem to me. The integration of the 20 pin port that has effectively become the standard of most 3rd party console controller PCBs is the strongest feature of the JAMMAizer. The fact that the EZ padhack option exists to effectively make any PCB able to work with this setup just makes this even better for coverage of consoles or anything else that the common Brook or MC Cthulhu PCBs don't yet support. It's all super easy to use and very smart design.
I'll find other uses with other cabinets for the JAMMAcon so I don't regret that purchase at all. But the JAMMAizer is going to be my main retro console gaming option moving forward. Also looking forward to working in a PC setup to connect via VGA hat. That's a great value add feature.
Edit: Haven't tested the button mapping feature yet but I'll need to do that when working with certain consoles and certain games. From the preview video it seems easy to do, I'm sure it will work well.
JAMMAcon video output has been excellent for me, no complaints there. Haven't bothered with the audio, I just bypass all of that and go straight to a set of PC speakers from the console. I use this on an Astro City and I don't care at all for the speakers and mono audio that come stock on these cabs. I try to do the same for any arcade PCBs connected to that cab as well.
My issues with the product mirrors yours, specifically around the poor control options. I really wanted to use the attached PSX controller PCB and adapt that to my other consoles but it never worked well for me. Having to use a different set of console controllers mostly defeats the purpose of installing a console in a cabinet so this was always a problem to me. The integration of the 20 pin port that has effectively become the standard of most 3rd party console controller PCBs is the strongest feature of the JAMMAizer. The fact that the EZ padhack option exists to effectively make any PCB able to work with this setup just makes this even better for coverage of consoles or anything else that the common Brook or MC Cthulhu PCBs don't yet support. It's all super easy to use and very smart design.
I'll find other uses with other cabinets for the JAMMAcon so I don't regret that purchase at all. But the JAMMAizer is going to be my main retro console gaming option moving forward. Also looking forward to working in a PC setup to connect via VGA hat. That's a great value add feature.
Edit: Haven't tested the button mapping feature yet but I'll need to do that when working with certain consoles and certain games. From the preview video it seems easy to do, I'm sure it will work well.
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Hey fellas, I finally stopped procrastinating and put together a user manual for this thing. All Console JAMMAizer owners will want to have a quick look at this to get acquainted with all of the functions and features.
Console JAMMAizer User Manual.
Console JAMMAizer User Manual.
Brentradio
Champion
Thanks!
Just a suggestion. Change the color of the lines and boxes that go around the description and go to the component to RED to make it easier to see against the black background of the pcb.
