Arcade Talk 24/7/365

KeRbDoG

As mentioned before, I had an Atomiswave which I picked up from m0zie81 (<-- if I replace the '0' with an 'o', boards for some reason replaces it with "Amanda Lively Schoolroom") back in 2015. Only problem was that I had it in my workplace. It was fine at the started but when I had a notion to get hit home, the options for doing that (van with a taillift or allowing randos into the office) had all gone - so it sat in work for another few years. The pandemic/pox happened and it was moved into a corner.

Flash forwards to a few weeks back, I got some new motivation to get her home. The only way, take it mostly apart and use the missuses car.

It started like this;

And went to this with the control panel off

And then the screen out, front panel off and all bunged into the car;

That was one trip, next day BOOM!

So got all the parts home and then start to clean/assemble the cab (cat was of little help)

And now she is together at least...only problem is that the two Arcade1Up cabs will either need to go into storage or get sold due to the lack of space :(

Cab itself had a few scuffs which I thought had cut through the paintwork but most turned out to be 'magic eraser sponge'able so came off which is great.

Mistercade now installed - need to remind meself how the controls are setup for coin, menu etc. :D

Monitor was dim at initial power on but after 10min it brightened up. Maybe a capkit is in order, but I think its 80+ caps so it will be a chunk of work. Good news, I got a Hakko desoldering gun so it should make light work of it.

o1s1n

I don't think I've ever seen someone actually transport an Atomiswave in the back of a car haha, fair play! That's some amount of disassembly. Did all the screws/bolts come out easily or was there any corrosion?

If you've a similar MiSTer firmware setup to myself and have a kick harness installed, pressing player One button 1 & button 6 at the same time should bring the menu up.

Totally forgot you had those converted Dinokings by the way! they're absolutely gorgeous.

KeRbDoG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120434616#Comment_120434616

The bolts around the control panel needed encourement most likely due to its abuse in an arcade and 'spills' but they came out. Once the control panel and support has been removed, there is another bracket which is for the coin slide and that was a pain to remove with the monitor in. I should have waited until it was out before removing. All in all, just two people needed to dismantle/move with some balancing of the monitor bazel on a head when unbolting it :D

I've seen a video of someone horking one of these into a car on its back fully together. Defo wouldn't have fit in herselves car like that. The control panel wouldn't have allowed the boot closed. Wouldn't be a fun drive around the M50 :D

MiSTer - I had a kickharness adapter (kick to JAMMA edge) and it worked a treat. Just need to sort audio to take direct from the MiSTerCade direct to the speakers. JST connector/cable in post which I'll throw on phono connectors.

Need a new marquee light. The tube that was in it was over sized and did't like going back in after I tried to figure out the power cabling. Anyone just use a 12V LED strip?

tonyotonyo

Great job. I'd say nervous enough going over speed bumps and the like! Taking anything apart you're always worried something will go wrong putting it back again so fair play.

Good choice on robocop too. I managed to pull a miracle on that robocop 2 pcb I picked up a bit back, just by prodding around near some ram chips the text glitch disappeared, probably a semi dodgy solder point. But 100% now.

The dark seal pcb had a load of legs lifted on one of the cpu's, pressing down on it the game was attempting to boot in some way, way beyond me with soldering so I passed it onto bgollie who swore on his life that he'd get it working, 150% guarantee ;)

I also saw someone put up a video testing the neku killer instinct diagnostics with no joy so far. Hopefully it'll work out soon.

TechnoFreek

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120434616#Comment_120434616

I got mine in the back of a Toyota Starlet on its way for respray but with monitor and panel also removed

KeRbDoG

I'm now on the hunt for some artwork for both the Atomiswave and the DinoKings.

For the Atomiswave, a replacement instructions panel strip, coin sticker and maybe a Metal Slug 6 marquee poster

Fot the Dinos, something for the above & below the monitor slots. Maybe even a generic control panel artwork rather than the basic white ones I have.

If anyone can recommend a printer for such, do let me know. I've tapped the NL folks at arcadeartrepro.com to see what they can do.

TechnoFreek

So I know a lot of folk including myself have been on the lookout for arcade machine coins that are a suitable alternative for 100 yen coins.

I have a handful of yen but would like a nice bundle of coins for the machine and yen are increasingly more difficult and expenive to get.

Most arcade coin tokens like Sega, Capcom or unbranded are a totally different size, thickness, weight etc. and require adjustment of the coin entry slot and mech itself, often needing to totally change the entry slot and remove parts of the coin mech. Effectively making the mech a shute wihout any of the mechanics and familiar "clunk" sounds!

I've been on the hunt for a token that is like a 100 yen coin but ensuring the entry slot and mech require little to no modification.

Say Hello to these little guys from Aliexpress. I saw them linked on UKVAC but with not a lot of context so took a punt on 200 of them for circa 40 euro.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004297146823.html

Original yen front and back on left, tokens on the right

As you can see they look very like 100 yen coins but with MVS written on one side. No changing of the coin entry slot required and they go through the coin mech already set for 100 yen without any adjustment. Sort of.

As the coins are made of steel, you need to flip the magnet around in the mech to stop them getting stuck. I don't see this as a dealbreaker as that part of the mech is just used to pick up fake coins which in this case we are knowingly putting through and we're not in a commerical environement. The all important screw adjustments keeeping it set at stock for 100 yen remain untouched.

But otherwise you have a coin mech that can accept original 100 yen coins along with these tokens without any physical adjustments, all while retaining that all important clunk clunk clunk sound as the coin works it way through the mech!

I have put a good few through the mech there now without any rejecting.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120435414#Comment_120435414

I bought some stuff from this guy recently in the UK, really decent chap.

https://www.arcadeartshop.com/

tonyotonyo

Anyone have a super hangon cabinet here?

KeRbDoG

I couldn't do anything with the Atomiswave to bring up the brightness, resorted to getting a complete capkit for the monitor chassis.

So, work area setup.

Many hours later...all the old caps, about 65 of them. Seems that the chassis in the Atomiswaves are both crappy and have a lot of caps. The Hakko desoldering gun is amazing. Replaces a desoldering station which would need a lot of cleaning after every few components. No stopping with the Hakko.

A photo doesn't do it justice but the monitor is perfect now...apart from having perfect geometry, thats well above my skill/patience :D

geotrig

Need to do 21 and I've been stalling , 65 is a pain

KeRbDoG

Worth getting it done if it's needed. For me it was a semi stab in the dark as the only thing I could think to bring the monitor back to (bright) life. Also, if I can do it - anyone can do it 😀

Now need to follow up on the artwork, hopefully the NL lad is up for bits for this and the DinoKings. Settled on 'bust-a-move' and 'the last blade 2'. Atomiswave marquee, 'Samurai Shodown VI'

eddhorse

Id second Olly in Arcade Artshop , a gent and always helpful. Not sure on customs now with UK stuff though.

https://www.arcadeartshop.com/

@KeRbDoG Where did you get the cap kit?

KeRbDoG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120486880#Comment_120486880

From the folks at ArcadePartsandRepair.com - I used a package forwarding service from the US->IE. I'm sure there are folks in Europe but none I could find for the chassis I had.

Artwork - cool, will tap Olly but I see on the site they aren't doing anything custom anymore. Sure no harm in asking.

o1s1n

65 caps? ouch! fair play to you, I'd say that was beyond tedious. Colours in that picture look lovely, I'd say you're delighted.

geotrig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120487127#Comment_120487127

Yeah options for cap's this side are limited to say the least and parts suppliers mostly carry moq's on some if not a good few parts so drives prices up ,need a few cap kits and even with the forwarding factored in it was working out cheaper to get it from US ,madness i still haven't bought them

o1s1n

Console5 have always been great for any cap orders I've put through in the past, nice dude running the site too.

https://console5.com/store/

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120487407#Comment_120487407

He's a super nice chap I have to say. It just kills me to get roasted on shipping AND import fees. It makes inexpensive bits like caps just feel extortionate at times.

geotrig

The extended times and prices are crap as well I payed close to 20 quid for some slow blow fuses from UK 2 weeks ago and still waiting for them to arrive 🤨and need them to see my parts list from the states which will be another wait

80s Synth Pop

Nice job @KeRbDoG You would highly recommend the hakko?

I've gone through 2x China desoldering pumps so far and they cause too many problems. Set at 300 degrees and the smallest 0.8 nozzle they leave a small ring mark on the pcb around the pin.

Then 300 is too cold to get those big gnd and 5v planes.

I've popped too many traces around the through hole over the years too.

Got such a pain with it I now thin the pins with low melt solder and a quick 30 second blast with heat gun to remove and then desoldering braid to clear out the hole. Still a pain but at least no pcb marks or popped traces.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120497314#Comment_120497314

That's odd. I've a duratool desoldering station, and have used it extensively. No issues whatsoever with it. Obviously won't be as good as the Hakko, but for ~€100 it's worth it's weight in gold for retro repairs etc.

I use the smallest nozzle most of the time, set the station to between 330c and 360c depending on the job, and it just works. It's not uncommon for me to add fresh solder to a joint before removing the solder, it helps in the case of really old/dull solder joints, but I've never had an issue of it damaging a trace or the pcb itself.

KeRbDoG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120497314#Comment_120497314

I'd easily recommend the Hakko, the only negative is the price. If we lived in 100/110V land it would be cheap but in 220/240 land it is expensive. The cheapest I found it was from Eleshop.eu

I didn't need to use any new solder on any pins/components, 99% of them all the solder cleared in the first 2~3 second heat up and a click of the trigger.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120497923#Comment_120497923

Most of the time I find adding fresh solder to old solder for removal just means a cleaner extraction, and less time with the gun on the board. I really only do it where plastic is concerned, say the Amiga keyboard connector removal job etc. It can also work very well on old solder contaminated with capacitor gunk, that stuff can be quite stubborn.

The Hakko looks to be the bees knees though. You mention it doesn't need to be cleaned much, how does it get around that?

KeRbDoG

My non scientific thinking - I found with the cheaper units, solder would need to be cleared within the desoldering gun with the 'poking wand' every so many components removed. I think that was more to do with needing to use the suction more as it couldn't effectively push the heat into the joint/board so you continue to heat the joint as you are hitting the trigger, temp drops of the solder you are removing so it would solidify too soon while being drawn up.

The Hakko seems to be able to push the heat into a connection really well and able to keep the temp very stable. Less suction attempts needed etc. It will still need to be cleaned, but didn't let me know mid job... at least not yet 😃

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120497976#Comment_120497976

Ah, makes sense. No doubt they've a massively more efficient method of thermal transfer. The mistake people tend to make with the more affordable stations I find, is they're not letting it heat up correctly. You're supposed to leave it heating up for 10 to 15 minutes BEFORE you even use it. This ensures that not only is the nozzle up to temp, but the vacuum chamber, and collection cylinder are all at a temp that won't cause that horrible instant solidifying of solder (which is what causes the blocks.)

I clean the gun with the rod every few components anyway, just out habit. Wiping the nozzle then every few uses helps with heat transfer too.

80s Synth Pop

It's probably me so :D

I've found china de-soldering pumps are fine on the few CRT chassis I've recapped/repairs (all hantarex) as they have good sized "through holes" on the caps/transistors and the pump nozzle tip is a perfect fit touching all solder around the pin.

The arcade PCBs I've worked on (late a 80's, early 90's) though is another story. All the LS and ram chips have smaller through holes than the nozzle diameter.

The "proskit" pump smallest nozzle is 1mm and that's too big. The smallest tip on the other ZD-915 pump says it's 0.8 but is still too big. Half the nozzle is touching the solder and half is touching the bare PCB board causing that small ring mark on the PCB around the hole.

Had a look at the Hakko: Is this it: https://eleshop.eu/hakko-fr-301-desoldering-gun.html ?

KeRbDoG

Thats the one - it was a Christmas present to myself last year :)

Jack burton

Need some advice for one of my cabs

I have a HoTD2 with mobo graphic chip damage, so garbled graphics. It's like a beta naomi style motherboard so hard to replace. There's one gun with a broken trigger and another gun from a different game that works.

Last time I checked it worked but I remember having to hold the gun close tthe screen so I'm not sure how the light sensor is holding up.

Going to tackle it this summer hopefully so wondering what's the best route to take?

I know there's emulation available for the arcade version now, so do I build a PC to emulate it? Or is it possible to another console in there? Maybe the Dreamcast?

What do ye reckon is my best option?

geotrig

I'm fairly sure you can netboot hotd2 now ,i know there was issues around before but i'm sure i saw that it was fixed ... ,but i would try and get the board fixed or pick up another board stack if you cant get the board stack fixed.

my opinion will always be fix it first --> burn it with fire :P ill never pick emulation willingly

KeRbDoG

Seems to be some chat on Arcade-Projects on NetDIMMing HOTD2 - https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/house-of-the-dead-2-netboot.5901/

Doesn't look clean cut

geotrig

best try neo arcadia as they were more up to date on this stuff, but i'm still fairly sure i saw somewhere that it was working on netdimm now.

80s Synth Pop

HOTD2 definitely works for normal naomi's on the netboot now. Write the latest multibios from mathieulh for a standard naomi (Search: naomi multi bios fixed with proper bootstrap) then use Chunksins wipi netbooter image (search: Naomi Pi WiPi Netbooter).

The original cart/gdrom might work on a regular naomi with that new bios.

If you need to go emulation, it works very well. I've an old video on the subject here (skip ahead to around 20 mins in):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w2MXsq2l6I&t=1196s

Using aimtrak guns in the video above but could just as easily be gun4ir, sinden; sonik's guncon2/3 driver etc (although I'd say you could even get your Naomi guns interfaced with the PC using a u-hid for an even better experience)

On the other hand if you want to use your naomi but the original lightguns are faulty then you can interface regular PC lightguns to naomi using an "openjvs" add on board (enable openjvs in the WiPi Netbooter software)

KeRbDoG

Wonder if someone might be knowledable about coin mechs used in Sega Naomi cabs and others (Dinos used them also), they are a C120 type. Seem like they can be programmed for different coints. Curious if anyone has ever played around with them or found a way to replace them with a generic type 'switch' mech.

Yup, you can just wire the service switch to a button for coin and for the generic coin mechs you can replace with a 3D printed funnel type thing - but I'm just curious if anyone knows anymore about the C120 mechs.

This interest is after I picked up those MVS/Yen coins mentioned earlier on here :) work great in the Atomiswave cab. Some thing nice

80s Synth Pop

Any Time Crisis 2 fans? It's fully playable start to finish in the latest MAME released today.

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120530269#Comment_120530269

Oh fantastic! I've been waiting for this for a long time, would love a cab but have been putting it off due to Super System 23 being a big pain when I've worked on it, that's great news.

o1s1n

Just had to buy myself a new PSU for the Pony cabinet. Only place I could source a good quality SuzoHapp switching one was from Arcade World UK.

44.99 GBP for the PSU

25.84 GBP for postage/VAT

82 euro all in for a power supply. 😮 madness.

Once it's installed I'll be moving on to the even pricer endeavour of buying another DE10 Nano!

The Last Bandit

Yep prices of stuff has got insane, I was on Farnell earlier ordering parts and a single power supply capacitor I need is almost 20 euro :(

geotrig

bought a suzo happ one in Jan from arcade xpress(Think they are spanish )for €50 and was gauled at that price ,spent ages looking as well as I just didn't want the hassle of ordering from the UK !

need a few chips for board repairs and its horrendous just looking at postage and all that ,30 quid for a few ram and another 30quid elsewhere to get the others if needed.something that was quickish and easy before is just a pain.

o1s1n

Arcade Express! I knew there had to be a website in Europe that I didn't know about, seems to be a real lack of places to get good arcade parts in the EU.

Usually end up just going to Paradise Arcade shop but they only seem to have Wei Ya PSUs which I've been told are shite.

eddhorse

Did you get stung for customs on Arcade World too?

geotrig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120668146#Comment_120668146

this was from them a while back

Shipping to EU Member States - IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop)

B2C (Business 2 Consumer Only)

We use IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) for shipping parcels to customers in the EU member states. This applies to B2C only (Business 2 Consumer).

We display the Tax and relevant duties at the time of shopping on our website and the price you pay includes tax and duties. There will be nothing else to pay once your order arrives in your country. Business customers based in the EU members states will be shipped using DDU (Delivery Duties Unpaid) and will be responsible for paying their own taxes/duties once their parcel arrives in their country.

o1s1n

Yeah when I paid for it I had to prepay the import taxes but they did deduct the UK VAT price so that was good to see.

Won't be landing until next week so we shall see how it goes!

o1s1n

Arcade PSU arrived today, no additional import duties to argue with customs about so that was great.

Fecking wreaked after work but I had to try installing it as I've been wondering if my Pony's issues have been the PSU for a year and a half now.

Basically the issue is that the 5v fluctuated all over the place and PCBs were loading with garbled graphics and a mad loud static noise through the speaker. Monitor also had crazy rolling interference over it too. My MiSTercade wouldn't boot with it at all.

Funnily enough though my cheapo Chinese multi boards were booting (still with some sound issues). Seems they don't have as much of an issue with variable 5v.

Annoyingly the PSU set to 230v and the jumper to change it to 110v was almost impossible to get to. Just could not get it lifted with a pliers so I'd to remove the casing get access to it. Managed to sort it in the end but it was an absolute pain in the ass.

Now to actually get the thing installed.

I'd two things that had me worried about installing this.

1 - everything installing correctly first time and nothing being fried. Bloody expensive cabinet so I don't even want to hazard a guess at the potential cost of further fixes.

2 - the new PSU not solving my issues as I really was unsure where to go next if it didn't.

Out with the old, in with the new:

This was also an absolute pain in the ass. The cables are only so long so I'd to stick my head inside a very very small machine with a control panel that sticks out a mile and then screw down those little terminals almost blind.

Got them all in, double checked everything.. wired up Raiden 2 with a 5V meter on the jamma edge, held my breath and...

Game booted perfectly! No high pitched static buzz from the speaker, just beautiful music from the PCB. Monitor has no interference on it at all. So it was a dodgy PSU after all.

Replacing a PSU really isn't a big deal, but I've had a bit of a block in giving it a go, I think partially out of fear that it wouldn't solve the problem.

Next step now will be to finally get a vertical MiSTer setup going. In the meantime there will be a lot of Raiden 2 booming out of it.

eddhorse

Amazing, great result, they look super.

Inviere

Nice work, love it when you have a concisive fix like that. Vertical Mister setup will be sweet alongside the hori one.

tonyotonyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120683776#Comment_120683776

https://ibb.co/9wQCDjT

Yessum

o1s1n

Cheers lads! Yeah im over the moon.

Curiosity got the better of me this evening and I just had to try out the MiSTercade in it.

And she boots!

I was assuming the controls would need to be remapped with a vertical mister profile but no, they're all set up for Tate orientation already.

So basically the menus you've to navigate with your head side ways but all the games play as they should.

I'll still get another DE10 for this cabinet but it's pretty amazing that you can just switch it between cabinets with only the menu being a slight annoyance.

I was actually going to get my Mercs board down out of the attic before it dawned on me to try this out, apparently I don't need to now :D

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120684388#Comment_120684388

I'm 99% sure I spotted, while digging around in the Mister.ini file, the flag to rotate the on screen menu controls....

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120684806#Comment_120684806

Yep, I knew I seen somewhere:

osd_rotate - Rotate the OSD. Useful for when you rotate your monitor for certain Arcade cores. 0 - no rotation, 1 - rotate right (+90°), and 2 - rotate left (-90°).

https://mister-devel.github.io/MkDocs_MiSTer/advanced/ini/#menu-settings

o1s1n

Excellent! I completely forgot you could actually edit the Mister.ini from within the OSD itself without having to do it on a PC. Will give that a go this evening.