Anyone used this USB->JAMMA connector?

[iscariot]

Was looking at Ali express and saw this:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2-player-PS-3-PC-COIN-USB-to-jamma-arcade-game-USB-joystick-and-buttons-28pin/1341586366.html

Has anyone looked at these before?  I was hoping someone knew is that was an audio header or something like that in the corner.  Going to ring them up tonight and see what the deal is with the connectors.

[Brutick]

It's more likely that those header pins are meant for jumpers that alter the board's operation, or possibly to program the microprocessor. Without any real sourcing of parts, or a manufacturer, I believe you might just have to bite the bullet or just get yourself an Ultimarc J-Pac instead of this unknown Chinese version.

Hope that helps in some way.

[RandyT]

If I were to guess (and I am ) I would suspect that those pins are pass throughs for the RGB video and speaker connections.  6-pins, 6 connections on the finger board.

[iscariot]

Yes, I'm told it's audio.  The next question is if they provide the header.  I might have to order one of these to play with.

[iscariot]

I've got one on the way to play with.  Is there a good way to test to see what the additional holes on the board are for without blowing up the board?

[iscariot]

Ok,  I have had this unit for a little while and wanted to comment:

Pros:  It works, and it's fast.  Seems tho use the default MAME controls which is a huge plus.  Since it hooks right into the jamma adapter it's already good to go.  Also uses EVERY connector so if you have additional buttons a la street fighter or Mortal Kombat or something then it's pretty easy to work with.  Price is right and it comes with a USB cable.  It doesn't need any weird drivers or anything like that, and it's certainly zero delay.  It's split off into two devices so that makes things easier from a configuration point of view.  All of the edge connections for I/O are used as well making for a lot of additional connections if necessary.

Cons:  It's seen as a set of joysticks AND a keyboard.  The coin and player select send keystrokes, in this case, the related default MAME keystrokes like 3, 4, etc.  Why they chose to do this is beyond me.  Actually seems like it's more complicated than it should be since just using keystrokes would have made a lot more sense but alas.  It also means that if you are using a FE that worked with default MAME keyboard inputs then you're going to have to fix it somehow.  As for the plug header, no idea as to what it does.  There's also no video or sound support.  I had wished that sound would work but no dice.  Given how long the pins are, you could easily solder something up though.  The sticks and buttons show up as two separate joysticks which is a plus.  I'll post a pic at some point. 

Thoughts:  It took nearly a month to get here, but it's pretty nice, and it's cheaper than the JPAC  The JPAC has connections for sound and video, but you have to use amplified sound to get it to work properly.  The video would also need adjustment if you plug it into the JPAC since it doesn't do any conversion on it's own.  Is it a better option than JPAC?  I think that for beginners that it is.  It comes pre-configured and it supports more buttons on the harness, so if you get one of those Chinese jamma harnesses with additional connections for buttons, they work straight out with this thing.  No need for running special wires and screwing them into terminals on the JPAC.  This is certainly a more "drop-in" option.  When you figure in shipping/handling from China to the US, this unit clocks in at under 1/2 the price of an Ipac.  When I bought it, the total cost was $37 USD, and an IPAC was going to cost $75.  That's slightly less than half the price. 

[kiwasabi]

Well if all this does is controls then there's a reason it costs half what the JPAC does... it has half the functionality!

[iscariot]

I think that for someone that wants to just have a "drop-in" option, this is a pretty good solution.  Granted, you can't have shift keys or something like that, the basics do work.  My SF2 cabinet just uses the basics, so I've mapped the exit key for mame to P1 and P2 and it's worked well.  For the $$ it's a pretty good, basic connector.

[kiwasabi]

I think that for someone that wants to just have a "drop-in" option, this is a pretty good solution.  Granted, you can't have shift keys or something like that, the basics do work.  My SF2 cabinet just uses the basics, so I've mapped the exit key for mame to P1 and P2 and it's worked well.  For the $$ it's a pretty good, basic connector.

Yep, just can't use the original cabinet's monitor or speakers with that device. That's what keeps me from being interested.

[iscariot]

The Ipac can't do it either if I'm not mistaken.

[kiwasabi]

The Ipac can't do it either if I'm not mistaken.

The JPAC you mean. And yeah, it takes VGA input from your video card. The signal has to be output at the proper frequency (15hz) to get it to work right. It also works for audio too:

"How do I wire for sound?

There are several easy ways to do this:
Use a sound card with an on-board amp. Either wire this to the speaker connectors on the J-PAC to use the cabinet speaker via the JAMMA connector or by-pass the J-PAC and wire directly to one or two speakers in the cabinet.
OR: Use a set of mains powered PC speakers. Either remove the speakers from their cases and mount in the cabinet or simply place inside the cabinet. This will give the advantage of power stereo sound. "