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Sentinel Supergun - Prototype

Thanks @xtrasmiley!

I only ordered x 5 PCBs this time around for the sake of financial efficiency, for the purpose of testing and validating everything is functioning correctly, and they're all spoken for. That said, I'll keep you in mind for future reference.

Just for the record, no-one is getting one for free. The testers are paying shipping and a small amount to cover parts and labour.
 
Frank_fjs said:
Thanks @xtrasmiley!

I only ordered x 5 PCBs this time around for the sake of financial efficiency, for the purpose of testing and validating everything is functioning correctly, and they're all spoken for. That said, I'll keep you in mind for future reference.

Just for the record, no-one is getting one for free. The testers are paying shipping and a small amount to cover parts and labour.
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Thanks man, I figured. I may go the MAK route, but, I guess, I don't want to! :P

I'll wait. I figure a mid-level one like yours will be sweet to have until RGB has time to do some new HAS', after I can move yours to a second room, give it to a friend, or even do some sort of competition and give it away! I'll figure something out, heck maybe I'll love it and keep it!
 
Where are you located? If you're nearby to one of the testers you may be able to get a look :)

I'll be doing a full review and I imagine SmokeMonster will probably do a video review - will be great to have an Australian made Supergun out there
 
@Frank_fjs -- Congratulations of finally getting the goods! Really looking forward to it. Might have to hire the skills of @xodaraP to install that 50/60hz switch on my SMS too as it's WAYYYY too slow for me as is.

Those white Voltmeters looks great too!
 
I thought you had revised the design to move the DB15 ports to the front of the board? Or is this just a test on your current revision to make sure all is good before changing the PCB layout?
 
The Spaniard said:
I thought you had revised the design to move the DB15 ports to the front of the board? Or is this just a test on your current revision to make sure all is good before changing the PCB layout?
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My understanding is this layout works well so it will be the one to go on sale now and then the new revision will be worked on for future release as it's a huge change (moving the controller ports means a full board layout change)
 
IMG20180726203848.jpg

Quickly slapped together a Mega Drive adapter, works as expected.

Regarding the supergun revisions...

What's pictured is the original layout, fully refined and all glitches ironed out. I ordered these PCBs before I had started to shift to a new design. This is why I only ordered x 5.

The new design is being worked on as we speak. The new design is really exciting, but I'm still routing all the traces and finishing things off. I have power, video and audio nearing completion, just working on the controller inputs and other bits and pieces.

The new design has, from left to right on the front edge:

Power switch, controller port 1, controller port 2, RGB trimmers which are now vertically mounted and able to be controlled simultaneously.

Left edge, ATX power input

Right edge, Mega Drive 2 RGB and composite input via the Mega Drive 2 DIN connector. So an MD2 RGB scart cable is used for RGB, an MD2 composite AV cable is used for composite.
Further down is a 3.5mm headphone connector for audio output or input which is routed to the MD2 DIN.
Further down again is an s-video socket.

Kick harness is present and an addition of a 6 way dipswitch to enable or disable button inputs 4,5,6 for each player.

RGB is attenuated, regenerated and buffered.

Sync has the following configurable options:

- Raw unprocessed straight from the jamma edge.
- Raw attenuated.
- Raw, cleaned.
- Raw, cleaned and attenuated.
- Regenerated, buffered.
- Regenerated, buffered, cleaned.
- Regenerated, buffered, cleaned, attenuated.

I didn't want to compete abandon the original design as I invested a lot of hours and money into it. At the very least it serves as a good guide of performance and is similar enough in features and circuitry for testers to provide invaluable feedback.

Next step is working out where to go from here. Ditch the current design in its entirety is probably what I'm facing. I prefer the new layout better as I don't need to create two separate PCBs and things are more accessible.
 
Awesome work, things are looking great. Regarding my review unit--while I'd love to review one eventually, I'm away from the US (where my arcade stuff is) until December. So feel free to put me on the backburner and prioritize another tester.

Maybe if you send a unit to @beast1x5 he could have the NYC arcade people check it out. Lots of great/brilliant people at IFixMachine Arcade who could run it through the paces and give you publicity through their streams. And he has a big PCB collection of rare shooters and beat 'em ups that he could test on it.
 
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I’m in Hawaii, so the only person I interact with is JNX, but if he has time, he’d be a more intense tester than me. I’m a novice, but maybe it makes sense to have a newbie test out from that perspective. Then again, maybe later when major quirks are already done. Either way, very excited for this project!
 
Is the mega drive cable that you are looking to use going to be the same as the NES RGB ones that the HAS uses?
 
No, I opted for a Mega Drive 2 RGB scart cable and they are mass produced and more widely available.
 
Can get cheap ones and expensive ones! From $7 landed via Aliexpress to $40 for retrogamingcables pack a punch cable.

Other benefit of using a standard mega drive 2 cable is the option to use a hdretrovision component cable. RGB, s-video, composite video and component video all available as video outputs, pretty nifty.
 
Frank_fjs said:
Can get cheap ones and expensive ones! From $7 landed via Aliexpress to $40 for retrogamingcables pack a punch cable.

Other benefit of using a standard mega drive 2 cable is the option to use a hdretrovision component cable. RGB, s-video, composite video and component video all available as video outputs, pretty nifty.
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Yeah getting easy component out is quite a bonus!

If I were you I'd take the little bit of effort to recommend some cables you've tried to people (don't recommend the cheap stuff, or give a warning with them), will save you a lot of bother with people being... special... with their cable choices. You can order them and try them out then recoup your investment by selling to someone who would be buying anyway to get their supergun all set up.
 
Yeah that's way too time consuming for me!

To share my current experience:

I use the retrogamingcables packapunch cable. Yes it's expensive but it's a one off investment and it's the absolute best you can get. High quality wiring, individually shielded video and audio cables housed within a shielded outer sheath. The outer jacket feels awesome and doesn't tangle. The DIN connector is custom made and perfect. I love the little PCB within the scart housing. Just a damn good cable in every respect, I couldn't make it better myself.

Aliexpress cables are cheap in every regard. Thin wiring, no shielding and the components are absolute bottom of the ladder. Good news is they are wired correctly and work fine, albeit with some video/audio interference.

There's another popular US seller, can't recall the name but it's a female. I bought a few of her cables and they're good but not excellent. Soldering was above average as was assembly but cheap components were used. Probably a good middle range option.
 
Frank_fjs said:
Yeah that's way too time consuming for me!
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Might take you 10 minutes to order from the 2 major places, seems you already have one so that's 5 minutes, 10 minutes to test it works fine. 5 minutes to make a few lines of text saying that this cable <link> works great. 20mins over 2 separate days ezpz job's done!
 
plasia said:
Frank_fjs said:
Yeah that's way too time consuming for me!
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Might take you 10 minutes to order from the 2 major places, seems you already have one so that's 5 minutes, 10 minutes to test it works fine. 5 minutes to make a few lines of text saying that this cable <link> works great. 20mins over 2 separate days ezpz job's done!
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Frank just gave his experiences with two cables above. That's more than enough. Cheap? Order from Aliexpress. Want superb quality or have deep pockets? Order from retrogamingcables.co.uk.

I'm pretty sure anyone can make their mind up from that post alone. Want to try a different option? Go and buy it and report back to the community your experience. People expect, and (even worse) demand way too much these days from people doing good things for the community and their hobbies. It's honestly embarrassing.

NOTE: People who make multi kits, superguns, flash carts, cool arcade projects, etc. ARE NOT your personal concierge there to answer every demand, or customisation you think would be the best for their product. I ain't doing shit but being a fan good things and this constant banter and harassment toward the "do-ers" of the community gets a tad bit old and frustrating after a while.
 
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