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To cut or not to cut?

nipple

nipple

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Hey guys,

I have fitted the little hirose G pin on the jamma harness on my Astros, they are so good as I can confidently install game boards without my glasses and know I have the harness on right.

But I went to play a few games the other day, bootleg boards mind you, but they didn’t have the jamma edge cut or removed where the key fits. I was tempted to remove the little g pin but decided to play the genuine board instead. I don’t like to use it normally and just play the bootlegs.

But my question is, is it ok to cut the bootleg and remove the pin 7 keyway or do you guys leave it and not use the blanking pin on the harness?

cheers

p.s i couldn't work out how to make a poll

 
I cut the key pin slot in all of my bootleg boards, and I've done in a handful of originals too.

I think the only time I wouldn't is if it was a high value board in pristine condition.

word of advice is that the slot doesn't need to be very wide, start with it more shallow and narrow than you think it needs to be because you can't put that material back once it's gone :D

I use one of these, https://www.dremel.com/us/en/p/426b-2615426baa usually a single straight plunge is enough.

the official JAMMA spec states the key slot should be 3mm wide and 10mm deep
 
My suggestion: have a jamma passthrough for your bootleg boards.

Frank_fjs

Thread 'Jamma Fingerboards'

Please find attached the necessary Gerber files to produce either your own jamma fingerboard or Jamma adapter board.

Idea here is to provide a better quality fingerboard for free, other than PCB production costs.

Details for Jamma Finger:
Jamma_Finger_Render.png
  • 124mm x 40mm
  • 2 layer PCB
  • Four M3 mounting holes.
  • Top edge is designed to facilitate soldering a jamma edge connector, if necessary. It may also be inserted into a jamma edge connector.
  • Bottom edge inserts into a jamma edge connector.
  • All connections from the jamma finger to the jamma...
  • Like
 
I never cut them either. Always go for the path of least destruction.

I’ve seen some boards for sale with poorly cut notches that look like they just snapped it off.

I either remove the key when I need to play the boots or use a pass through, as @nem suggested.

The other thing a G-Pin is actually good for is to remind you NOT to plug in pre-JAMMA stuff :)
 
Thank you @twistedsymphony and @nem, appreciate the feedback and ideas as always very helpful.

I might whip up a little jamma adapter, which i hadn't thought about doing. As I have some finger boards from Jomac already and will just need to grab a jamma edge connector from @djsheep, as a short term solution as it would still allow me to plug in backwards. until I'm brave enough to get out the Dremel.

Have a great weekend gaming everyone!

cheers
 
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