should I have bought the j-pac?

[mushmouth]

A few days ago, I ordered an i-pac and and opti-pac and my controls. I was under the assumption I was going to have to build my own cab because I was having no luck finding ANYTHING.

So I order them. Then, a couple of days ago, I found a cab. It's a jamma cab that was originally a pac cab, painted over. The jamma harness is intact, everything is there, except the board.

Since the cab I'm getting is jamma, would my life have been much easier if I had the j-pac coming instead of the i-pac? Does it matter? Would he allow me to exchange it if I don't open it?

Considering my cab, what pros and cons are there of going with either of those two?

Ugh... I ordered 2 days too early. What AM I, KRESKIN?

mushmouth

[JustMichael]

Forgive the suggestion but have you tried emailing him about it?

[mushmouth]

Not yet. I want to find out if it's even necessary or WAY in my best interest to switch it before I bother with all of that and shipping it back, etc...

I'm asking because I don't know what the benefits of the j-pac over the i-pac are when you have a jamma cab. If it's not THAT big a deal, I won't bother.

[MilitiaMan]

Forgive the suggestion but have you tried emailing him about it?

Great Idea ...

Not to put words in his mouth, but every time I have e-mailed UltiMarc (Andy) about anything, he has been nothing but helpful.

It's worth a try, Mr. Kreskin ...  

MM

[menace]

The j-pac with a jamma harness pre-installed is the simplest connection to your cab--I would be contacting andy post haste to get a chage--and Hurry, andy is no slouch when it comes to mailing things quickly!

[SirPeale]

Did you already get it?  If he hasn't shipped it out yet a simple switcharoo should be okay.  Email him.

[mushmouth]

e-mail sent...

But can anyone answer my question with detail?

[tmasman]

If the cabinet has an Arcade monitor, then get the J-PAC...
The J-Pac has a video amplifier built in & is a sinch to hook up in a JAMMA cab.

If you've got a JAMMA harness & have (or plan on having) an arcade monitor,
this is definately the easiest way. (& sets you up to collect & play original JAMMA
boards...  )

[_Iz-]

Are you going to use an Arcade Monitor?
Do you want to be able to swap in original jamma boards?

If you answer no to both these questions then just cut the jamma connector off the cabinet wiring harness and connect directly to the ipac.

If you answered yes to one or both then consider a jpac...

[dhansen]

Doesn't the JPAC have a video cut off so you don't send bad frequencies to your monitor before the TSR loads?  This would be a nice feature for the iPac or perhaps incorportate it into his video amplifier.  I only have an advanceVGA in one of my cabs...

Doug

[mushmouth]

I'm more confused than ever... Admittedly, I'm new to this, about a month, but my head hurts.

I'm gonna gather my thoughts, get all my info into one concise list, and come back with a new thread. I'd like for someone to see the set up laying disassembled in front of them and answer the question "How would you approach turning this into a Mame machine?"

[tmasman]

Doesn't the JPAC have a video cut off so you don't send bad frequencies to your monitor before the TSR loads?  This would be a nice feature for the iPac or perhaps incorportate it into his video amplifier.  I only have an advanceVGA in one of my cabs...

Doug

Yup!

Quote from Ultimarc Website:

# Connector for VGA input from PC VGA card. Routes through to JAMMA edge connector for connection to the cabinet arcade monitor.
# On-board video amplifier boosts signal to standard arcade monitor levels. Uses high-bandwidth video amplifier chip.
# Custom microcontroller only allows sync signals to be sent to the monitor if they are in the correct range that the monitor is designed for. Avoids driving the monitor with a too-high horizontal sync rate which can damage some arcade monitors.
# Sync circuitry also converts separate horizontal and vertical syncs into composite sync. Can handle both positive and negative vertical sync.
# If required, can divide a 31Khz VGA signal in half so that it will display a stable picture on a 15Khz arcade monitor. Useful for checking boot-up progress and configuration (not for application us