Project Taito Pheonix (image warning)

[DYNAGOD]

 
i had not thought of that!!
i just switched domains...i never even considered the side effect that would have here..
im going to have to create a web album.
ive got so many images,its like having a first child

im curious how your egret arrives as well! definetly keep me posted,.
i think its time to start an egret owners ring
 

[DYNAGOD]

this was a tight fit...
 
finally managed to stuff my pc inside the cramped confines of the cab. there was literally not a 1/32 on any side when i slid it in..i had to "scrape" it in ..thankfully it fit! almost broke my soundcard off at the rail..
i had to cut the rails out that the little pice of MDF that the Jamma boards are supposed to slide into just to make room.

[JoeB]

You sure you got enough circulation in there for air??  Don't want to "burn" your pc!

 

[DYNAGOD]

i definetly need some fans..
i wasnt even able to keep the air cowl that directed air to the CPU on becuase of space constraints..
luckily its only a 1.7ghz, its not a prescott,so heat dissipation shouldnt be too much of an issue..

next hurdle is sound..i have no sound at this point.. need to get a PC speaker setup that doesnt have a subwoofer (no room) .
the Egret has 4 speakers which presents alittle bit of a problem but ill just split a stereo signal between them

[JoeB]

if your cab has speakers in them already, and want a clean install (that will allow you to connect jamma boards later) your best bet is to use the speakers that are there now!

Search for pc speaker hacks..  lots of people have done it.  The gist of it is:

- find cheap pc speakers
- hack the amp + volume/power button out
- connect amp to machine speakers
- mount volume/power in a nice spot

very clean install and sounds great. 

[DYNAGOD]

i need to get some 8 ohm 25 watt shielded 3X6 speakers from http://www.therealbobroberts.com/



the speakers in the cabinet now are so brittle that 2 of them completely disintegrated during the dissasembly of the cab. 

[DYNAGOD]

i bought a pair of cyber acoustic amplified desktop speakers and hacked em open..
the control pod fits clean as an OCD clinic bathroom in the card reader slot on the face of the CP. 

[gique]

great idea! totally forgot about the card slot!

just hacked open some PC speakers and wired the volume controller to the existing egret speakers, slick!! - i might add a headphone socket to the smaller slot soon!

luckily my original speakers are still holding out, i might get some replacements soon.. some BASS would be nice....

[Dave_K.]

Note: PC speakers are typically 4 or 6 ohm, and the speakers in an Egret (or any arcade machine) are normally 8ohm.  The impedence mismatch may wear out the amp (quicker than normal), but more importantly the signal will get attenuated making the sound more tinny or distorted.

I highly recommend the Radio Shack/Optimus/Realistic SA-155 integrated stereo amp. Its very small, and produces almost no heat, and drives 8ohm speakers  They go for about $15-20 on ebay. 

Of course you wouldn't be able to do something cool like Dynagod did with the card slot. 

[DYNAGOD]

the cyber acoustic amplified desktop speakers which i got from radio shack are indeed 8 ohms and match the egrets speakers impedance.
I dremmeled the speakers original control panel and shaped it to match the size of the card reader slot.    
and the CYbers have a an integrated headphone out right on the face, cant really see it in my pic.but its there and functional! great for those late night sessions of dragon blaze
looks very slick..ill get some pics up..
i also went to radio shack and bought some male and female RCA jacks and cut the ends of the speakers and replaced them with the RCA's. female on the speaker ands and male on the jamma harness end.
now i essentially have quick disconnects so i can go back and forth from jamma and PC.
oh and the cyber acoustic has a ultra brite blue, almost ultra violet led, that looks KICK ass when its powered up 

[gique]

Note: PC speakers are typically 4 or 6 ohm, and the speakers in an Egret (or any arcade machine) are normally 8ohm.  The impedence mismatch may wear out the amp (quicker than normal), but more importantly the signal will get attenuated making the sound more tinny or distorted.

hmm will check the old speakers impedance tonight.. hadn't thought o' that

[Dave_K.]

the cyber acoustic amplified desktop speakers which i got from radio shack are indeed 8 ohms and match the egrets speakers impedance.

Hmmm...the radioshack website says they are 4ohm drivers?   
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=40-1446

I guess if it still sounds fine to you, then who cares.  Having convienent controls at your fingertips is sweet (I have to open the cab door to adjust volume).

[gique]

hey there

regarding your "shimmer" effect - its due to interlacing on the arcade VGA - I made a custom 640x480 front end in MAMEWAH that reduces the effect due to large fonts at careful odd/even positioning of screen elements  - there's some screenshots on my LJ...

my arcade front end boots automatically now so i dont even have to deal with windows anymore, unless i need to rename or copy in new files....

[DYNAGOD]

Im taking offers on this badboy..My work is going down the crapper and i simply dont have the money to finish this the cab i want.

Cab is located in Gloucester,Ma.
Pickup only, i will not consider shipping it..
ill even throw in the PC, minus the drive (no roms)

[elvis]

Looking good!

My only suggestion is that you reduce the amount of memory in the PC. Even Windows98 and Me have hard times with 1Gb of memory. The DOS memory managers won't know what to do with 1Gb and you'll get better performance with 256Mb or even 128mb of RAM. Make sure you're using DOS 7.1, it has the best DOS support for larger memory (older DOS's only supported a maximum of 64mb)

Ah... no.  You won't get "better performance with 256MB".  Any OS in existence that can't fully address all availble memory space will simply ignore it.  You won't be penalised for having extra.  Yes, it would be a waste, but no, it won't hurt.

[Dave_K.]

Im taking offers on this badboy..My work is going down the crapper and i simply dont have the money to finish this the cab i want.

I was wondering what was happening with this project.  Man you went through hell and back!  Gotta chalk a bulk of the expense up to just lessons learned I guess.  You should advertise locally in craigslist or something.

[DYNAGOD]

all dead images painstakingly relinked due to surge in interest. 

[elvis]

all dead images painstakingly relinked due to surge in interest. 

Cheers.  I'm still drooling over big-screen DoDonPachi.  My little 17" cocktail pales in comparison.