MarkVP cool mini pac-man arcade thread - I wanna make one!

[gurnie]

So i love MarkVp's mini arcade thread:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36591.0

but it seems like some of the visuals are missing.  I'm a  electronics moran so i need some guidance. 

can someone explain from the OUT end of the VGA switcher, how he fed the video/out from the VGA to RCA inputs and still had all the games going through the one rca input?

i mean i understand that he had all the games PCB boards wired to VGA cables, where it was fed into the switcher.  But how did he take the VGA OUT (of the siwtcher) and then take those audio/video ports to rca... and how did he get all the games to feed out of that one cord?

[ark_ader]

Looks to me he built a PacMame cab.  These use a TV mounted inside a low height cabinet for children, munchkins and people who like to wear out their knee caps.

It looks like he has one of those TV game systems hooked up to it.  Nice cheap and perfectly legalish.  So the RCA goes into the TV's composite connection.  I did not see anything about VGA, but if you have a Magic VGA you can do the same thing with a LCD display.

[gurnie]

Page 1

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36591.msg324563#msg324563

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36591.msg329670#msg329670


and

the bottom of page 2
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36591.msg334231#msg334231

shows the wiring. 

[ark_ader]

Page 1

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36591.msg324563#msg324563

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36591.msg329670#msg329670


and

the bottom of page 2
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36591.msg334231#msg334231

shows the wiring. 

Yes I can see the confusion now. When I used to make my sub mini cabinets, I used CAT5 cabling to connect all my joystick and buttons.  It looks like the option was to use VGA cable to connect everything up.  This was probably due to using two different types of TV game units.  So the switch box would be a easy way to connect Joys and buttons as well as video out.  I have not read the entire thread, but I still find it difficult to wire a TV up to a TV game unit via native VGA cable to view a VGA output.  It is a convenient way to cable everything up.  Maybe 6v power went via the VGA cable too?

Ooops I just saw this while I was typing:  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36591.msg324563#msg324563

Pictured below is how I plan to interface both Jaks units to one set of controls.  Thank you to MinerAl for the suggestion.

This box has 4 inputs, so I can also hack in Ryan's Spongebob handheld and his Spiderman handheld (these were a 2-pack from Sam's Club).

I got this on ebay complete with 4 cables for $11.95 plus shipping.

I like having 15 pins on the connector.  Each handheld box will need these wires:

Joystick Up
Joystick Down
Joystick Right
Joystick Left
Ground
Button 1
Button 2 (and possibly 1 more ground)
Video +
Video Ground
Audio +
Audio Ground

That's 11 wires needed (and possibly 1 more ground).

I will need to hack these to a 6 volt power supply.  I had planned on using one of the Wall Wart DC converters.  A couple of questions here:

- Will the Wall Wart work okay (this has been some discussion in the Main Forum)?
- Can I hook all 4 handhelds in parallel to 1 Wall Wart DC converter?
- Should I hook the Wall Wart DC converter into the 4 port switch so 1 power source is switched to the active handheld only?

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.