My arcade Jamma starter kit (El cheapo)

[natas]

Jamma CBOX / Supergun: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005017779420.html, I paid 36€ with shipping from China for the cased variant.
It uses an ATX PSU what I already have.

5x DIN 8 Plug https://aliexpress.com/item/1005003873546785.html, I paid 3€ incl. shipping from China for 5 pieces.

I have VGA cables lying around so I will cut one connector of and mount the DIN8.

SG-VC9900 Video-HDMI converter https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005712537715.html, I paid 29€ incl. shipping from China:

Arcade Stick 2x https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005954129252.html I paid 32€ for 2 pieces incl. shipping from China.

Replacement cable SNK 15 Pin 2x https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005380592621.html I paid 9€ for 2 pieces incl. shipping from China.

Everything together a little above 100€ shipment should arrive mid of December.
What do you think is that a good starter kit?

 

[buffi]

Never seen that cbox/supergun. Could be jank or could be ok. 36eur is about what i'd expect some cheapo version would be, so could actually be ok maybe.

Scaler is probably something similar to a GBS control in terms of scaling capabilities, but slimmed down to minimum viable board. I expect you to have a lot of issues with it, but I've never seen that specific board either so I dunno.

2x arcade sticks for 32eur are going to be complete garbage, and basically unusable.

I think this is trying to get the cheapest possible option to get a PCB running, and its possible it might work, but it will not be a good or fun time for anyone.


My recommendation for a cheap starting option would be something like

https://www.axunworks.com/product-p669501.html (good supergun + psu), an OSSC clone from aliexpress and whatever cheap stick you can get with proper sanwa parts. Probably adds up to 300-400eur total, but anything less and you'll have a bad time.

 

[natas]

Never seen that cbox/supergun. Could be jank or could be ok. 36eur is about what i'd expect some cheapo version would be, so could actually be ok maybe.

Scaler is probably something similar to a GBS control in terms of scaling capabilities, but slimmed down to minimum viable board. I expect you to have a lot of issues with it, but I've never seen that specific board either so I dunno.

2x arcade sticks for 32eur are going to be complete garbage, and basically unusable.

I think this is trying to get the cheapest possible option to get a PCB running, and its possible it might work, but it will not be a good or fun time for anyone.


My recommendation for a cheap starting option would be something like

https://www.axunworks.com/product-p669501.html (good supergun + psu), an OSSC clone from aliexpress and whatever cheap stick you can get with proper sanwa parts. Probably adds up to 300-400eur total, but anything less and you'll have a bad time.

I am expecting one arcade PCB to arrive soon what is about the value of the stuff above.
The Intention is being able to use/test/work on an arcade PCB.

The CBOX Supergun is from here:
https://www.timeharvest.net/product...-rgbs-output-for-retro-arcade-game-main-board
The Chinese text says dual power and that you should use prefer PC ATX PSU.
The two voltage meters can be adjusted, there is an ATX Power switch, two coin buttons and a test button.
There are three pots to adjust color gain but no active video amp or video encoder on board, as I am living in SCART RGB country that's not a big issue.
I also plan to use it together with the Scaler.

According to this: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/hd-vc9900-sg-vc9900-hdmi-converter-mods.11745/ the scaler is like the GBS 8200 but with HDMI instead of VGA output.
I do not expect it to be worse than the GBS-8200, I found some more info about it:

This fabulous VGA/RGBS/RGBHV/CGA/ to HDMI video converter will allow you to replace your old arcade monitor with an HDMI monitor. With this converter you can connect any device with RGB/CGA/EGA/YUV video output and transform it to a HD signal. The video converter has an integrated 24-bit professional video processing chip a noise and aliasing free image.
Our HD video converter automatically analyses and identifies a wide variety of signals at different frequencies such as VGA 30,5-32,5K / CGA/EGA 14.5-16.5K 23.5-25.5K 30.5-32.5K / RGBHV 30.5-32.5K. The scaler also identifies the different color modes such as RGB and YUV by transforming the signals in order to be compatible with the HDMI signal output.
The converter has several RGB video inputs and connectors, including the 5-pin RGBS / CGA standard used in arcade machines. In addition, the board also has an 8 pin RGBS video input connector. The input resolutions accepted by the video scaler are RGBS, CGA and RGBHV converting it to HD video output in the following possible resolutions: 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 and 1360x768.
Another great feature of this excellent video converter is its OSD Menu (in English) where we can control and configure characteristics such as the framing and zoom of the image and other resolution settings. To adjust the color gain R/G/B we have 3 potentiometers integrated on the board that we can adjust according to our needs.

Features​

• Input power: DC 5V / 2A
• Compatible with RGBS/CGA/RGBHV/EGA/VGA signal input. 480i-60, 576i-50, 1080i-50, 1080i-50, 1080i-60, 480p-60, 576p-60, 720p-50, 720p-60, 1080p-50, 1080p-60
• HDMI output 640*480,800*600,1024*768,1360*768
• Automatic scanning of RGBS/CGA/RGBHV/EGA/VGA signals (15K,24K,31K)
• OSD in Chinese and English
• Picture position control and zoom control
• 24-bit digital A/D converter with true 16.7 million color conversion
• R/G/B gain control via potentiometers
• Instructions manual

I don't expect the arcade sticks to be robust at all, the main purpose for me is to be able to convert it to 15 Pin SNK to connect it to the Supergun.
Maybe it is possible if the case is robust enough to keep it and replace the joystick and buttons with arcade grade controls.

As I don't know how much I will like my new hobby I want to get a cheap start upgrading is always possible.
I just wanted to share what I found as the cheapest hopefully working setup.
I will give an update if that works out well.

 

[buffi]

I think you can probably hack something together thats working with those parts, but it will be pretty sketchy.

Post an update when you have the parts, since im kindof curious.

 

[nem]

If you're in Europe, why not just build the supergun yourself? A CRT TV with a scart port can still be had for peanuts.

Simple resistor based video attenuation will get your feet wet. It's just pots and resistors. Like this:

http://etim.net.au/av-driver/arcade/

I would skip audio attenuation and just wire Speaker + and - straight to an 8 ohm speaker.

Sanwa stick and buttons for the controls. You could build the case out of wood, 3D print one or even buy one from Ali.

A Mean Well RT-65A for power.

Wiring, 18AWG and 22AWG.

And that's it! This is pretty much how I started with the hobby 20 years ago.

 

[natas]

If you're in Europe, why not just build the supergun yourself? A CRT TV with a scart port can still be had for peanuts.

Simple resistor based video attenuation will get your feet wet. It's just pots and resistors. Like this:

http://etim.net.au/av-driver/arcade/

I would skip audio attenuation and just wire Speaker + and - straight to an 8 ohm speaker.

Sanwa stick and buttons for the controls. You could build the case out of wood, 3D print one or even buy one from Ali.

A Mean Well RT-65A for power.

Wiring, 18AWG and 22AWG.

And that's it! This is pretty much how I started with the hobby 20 years ago.

Sure I could do that but first I would need to order a Jamma connector/harness what is often sold for 1/2 the same price as the supergun above.
I have a couple of ATX PSUs lying around waiting for use so why buy a Mean Well?
The supergun above has has two RCA out for audio but it looks to me as they are directly connected.
Thank you for your link I will likely modify the supergun to have this resistors and caps as well or add two RCA-plus to an 8 Ohm speaker.
I don't have a CRT TV just a flat TV with SCART and acutely don't want to have one for them moment.
I will use the 5V GND screw terminals of the supergun to provide 5V for the scaler.

This is why I started that discussion:
We already identified a weak point of the supergun above, the audio "circuit" is broken either you connect a speaker with two RCA (only tip connected) or you add a proper audio circuit with line resistor and cap for DC block and 220 Ohm to ground for correct level. and Mono/Stereo switch.
The second issue seems to be the missing cap and series resistor on the sync signal, better superguns have also an additional switch to select between TTL and 75 Ohm I might add that as well.

That AV-Driver from the link you provided seems to be the ultimate addition to the Supergun above to fix it's issues.

As I plan to use it in combination with the scaler and a 8 Ohm speaker no modifications needed.

 

[nem]

Sure I could do that but first I would need to order a Jamma connector/harness what is often sold for 1/2 the same price as the supergun above.

I'm sure a jamma connector can be picked up for 5-10 euros.

I have a couple of ATX PSUs lying around waiting for use so why buy a Mean Well?

Because the Mean Well has an adjustable +5V rail.

Thank you for your link I will likely modify the supergun to have this resistors and caps as well or add two RCA-plus to an 8 Ohm speaker.

Your supergun already has attenuation. That's what the R, G and B trimmers are for. Plus, if you're actually going to use that scaler, you can even connect the video as is to it, since it can handle 3-5vpp video signals.

 

[buffi]

I think its worth it to buy a premade supergun instead of diy’ing one nowadays. Even alright superguns are so cheap now

 

[rewrite]

Because the Mean Well has an adjustable +5V rail.

People will die on the hill of "not needing one" and simultaneously wonder why their setup never works...

 

[natas]

Why do I need adjustable 5V.
To some games need more than 5V?
I can try with ATX if that's not working fine I can buy a Mean Well.

 

[rewrite]

Why do I need adjustable 5V.
To some games need more than 5V?

Different games draw different amounts of current.

So if you set your PSU to 5.00v, and plug in a game, it could still put out 5.00v or it could put out 4.91v, etc. Some games are more power hungry than others.

And some games often need more than 5.00v anyway (some Midway boards are a good an example). You'll typically run those closer to 5.10 and the chips way across the board will barely be seeing 5.00v.

 

[notsonic]

Modern ATX power supplies are only designed to really provide amperage on 12v. The weak 5v is ok, until it isn't.

 

[biggestsonicfan]

Screaming at this list. There's a point where you've got to ask yourself if you want to go so cheap, why not emulate the game. You're not going to get a decent arcade experience with all this. Not to mention I don't know how you're magically going to connect the Neogeo cable to the arcade stick without buying some sort of encoder.

 

[buffi]

Not to mention I don't know how you're magically going to connect the Neogeo cable to the arcade stick without buying some sort of encoder.

I mean that particular part is pretty trivial. Theres no encoder needed, its all passive. Just hook up the buttons/lever.

 

[rewrite]

Not to mention I don't know how you're magically going to connect the Neogeo cable to the arcade stick without buying some sort of encoder.

Neo is just wired direct to buttons.

 

[biggestsonicfan]

I mean that particular part is pretty trivial. Theres no encoder needed, its all passive. Just hook up the buttons/lever.

Neo is just wired direct to buttons.

I'm assuming because the stick is USB for PS3/PC it's just going to be an HID device, so you're probably not going to have switches to easily solder to and you're going to have to bodge that neogeo cable in there and solder. Not worth the effort in my opinion.

 

[twistedsymphony]

Quickest/Cheapest for testing PCBs:

buy one of those, a JAMMA harness then a cheap speaker and a cheap arcade PSU. plug it into a RGB capable monitor... it's nice and compact too

 

[rewrite]

so you're probably not going to have switches to easily solder to

Huh? Buttons are buttons, I'm not sure what switches to solder to you're worried about. Just solder to the button since this is all it's for.

 

[biggestsonicfan]

I mean we'll see once they get it but I can only assume you're underestimating the jankness of very cheap HID devices.

 

[twistedsymphony]

Huh? Buttons are buttons

not necessarily. I've seen more than a few controllers that use a button matrix wiring rather than a common ground which would be ok if you can disconnect all of the micro-switches. But, if the buttons are integrated into the PCB (like the face buttons on a console controller) as opposed to a micro-switch then the whole thing would be unusable.