How to hack Namco 5-in-1

[MameMe]

I know this is short notice but I'll give 'er a try since I know you guys are pretty awesome.

I noticed a few here have hacked the namco joysticks and turned them into table arcades.  What I'm having a difficult time finding are instructions on how to do the hack.  When I say hack I mean:

1)  How do you swap the namco controls & buttons for better ones?

2)  How do you remove the need for a battery?

3)  Is it easy for an newcomer?

[SirPeale]

1)  How do you swap the namco controls & buttons for better ones?

Same as any other CP.  Solder the ground and data wire.

2)  How do you remove the need for a battery?

I think most everyone uses a power adapter.

3)  Is it easy for an newcomer?

Depends on how skilled you are, and how creative.  I'm working on a project that will use BOTH the Ms Pac and Pac man joysticks, in one cab.

[RayB]

mmm ... this is REALLY newbie stuff. Buttons (ie the controls) are basically a device that touches two wires together. Pretty basic stuff really. If you don't have the knowledge to hack that, well... I dunno what to tell you.

You know what actually... those toys cost what, $18 at Walmart? Just buy one and crack it open. If you screw up, so what. It's only $18. Consider it a learning experience.

~Ray B.

[MameMe]

I've created a full size mame cab this summer so I do feel comfortable.  I'm just wondering maybe if someone had images of the namco board, what to connect, and maybe how to attach an adapter.

Can we say spoon feed? lol  Sorry I'm a visual person.

[NoOne=NBA=]

Sorry, I don't have one to show you.

It should be really obvious once you have it open.
The joystick will have 4 normally open contacts, one for each direction.
You will just need to break the contacts with the existing joystick, and replace them with the ones from the joystick you put in the cabinet.

The buttons will all be the same.
Solder the new buttons so that they close the contacts that the original buttons did.

[seanp]

Look on the main site at the tutorials for how to hack dreamcast / ps2 etc controls.  The concept is exactly the same, you'll just be looking at a different control board.  There are a lot of pictures for some of those projects, and looking through them really helped me visualize what I needed to do before I started tearing stuff up.

-Sean

[javeryh]

I think Friday Walmart is having a sale where it's 2 for the price of one so they're actually less than $10.  Try it out and post your results!  I'd love to see them...

[jimmyjet]

As far as the boards in those joysticks go, every wire is labeled.  All you need is a bit of common sense.  If you are hacking the pacman one, definitely upgrade to a real four way joy.  Just cut all wires and reattach them to a real joy.  Same thing with the buttons.   Cut both wires and reattach.   The ms pac needs the joystick it comes with to make pole position work.
Throw the battery holder away and wire in a dc convertor. 
jim

[Ed ONeill]

Ok so javeryh is right they are $20 for pacman and ms.pacman  combo pack. I posted  about this yestarday. Can't go wrong for that price !

jimjet is correct they are suppposedly all labeled , 2 people in this thread have done it... http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,23215.0.html

I revived that thread hoping one of them  will post  some pictures. I know its not that hard but from what I understand it is hard to get the plastic casing off . I also prefer to learn by seeing or specific instructions.

Jimmyjet...can you comment more about the need to keep the joystick for ms pacman.

Thanks
Ed

[RayB]

Can we say spoon feed? lol

[MameMe]

Ok so javeryh is right they are $20 for pacman and ms.pacman

[MameMe]

As far as the boards in those joysticks go, every wire is labeled.

[Gunstar Hero]

The stick "twists" to act as a steering wheel.

[quarterback]

Ok so javeryh is right they are $20 for pacman and ms.pacman

[paigeoliver]

The stick "twists" to act as a steering wheel.

You could STILL separate it into a stick and a pot based spinner.

[Ed ONeill]

The stick "twists" to act as a steering wheel.

Thanks for clearing that up

[daywane]

just got mine today. I can not take them apart till 12/25 
took all my skill just to get my wife to let me test them out.
the steering in pole position was very good.
I do not think the picture was as good as mame but darn playable

I have wondered about power other than battery
I happen to have in my attic 2 Atari monitors that works perfect for the 2 namco joysticks

[bishmasterb]

FYI

I've hacked several of the Jakks original Namco 5-in-1s, and each of them required that the power LED be kept in the circuit, don't throw it away just because you don't need/want a power LED. If it's not in the circuit the video becomes distorted.

For Power, just a simple 6volt DC power supply; I think I used a 600ma, which worked fine.

As others have stated, every solder point on the PCB is clearly labeled ("left,", "right", "fire", etc.) so it's pretty easy.

[MameMe]

So how would you power everything up?  The same way as normal arcades?  I've never used a T.V. before as the monitor so I'm thinking maybe you have to keep the remote control handy? 

I guess the same goes for the 5-in-1 joystick, does it make sense to add an extra button on the outside of the cab to power up the joystick as well?

Any thoughts?  I was thinking maybe the T.V. & joystick have separate buttons, that way the kids could watch television or play the arcade.

[DrewKaree]

Is there an RCA to VGA adapter that is REASONABLY priced?  I'd like to use one of the bazillion monitors lying around my house, but for the cost of the adapters I've seen....I might as well just use an old PC and vantage

[Ed ONeill]

 MameMe

I think I am going to use a tv/vcr combo so I am thinking a trap door (remove front panel) to access the front of the tv so my son can watch tv,play a movie or game. This would also solve the powering on the tv .

I also haven't decided about the powering of the joystick yet but I may just add a switch on top or back of the game . This would then make it like a real arcade game.

DrewKaree...would an old ati all in wonder work for you?

Just my 2 cents
ED

[DrewKaree]

DrewKaree...would an old ati all in wonder work for you?

Just my 2 cents
ED

Is that a standalone box?  I thought it was a video card?

What I'm looking for is a standalone box that'll convert the signal so all I'd have is the 5-in-1, the converter, and a PC monitor.  Failing the standalone box-type converter, someone's DIY converter.  Using a videocard would require the use of a PC, which negates the cool/cheap factor of the 5-in-1.

All the standalone boxes I've come across are in the $130-ish + range, which is silly expensive.

I'd like to build a bartop with a 5-in-1 and a PC monitor, so something like a hack RCA-to-VGA box or a box priced somewhere in the $30-50 range would be reasonable to me.  Otherwise, like I said, I might as well use one of the old pc's lying around here and make a vantage machine and spend the $130+ of a converter box on a cheap TV and videocard, which that route will almost definitely end up being way more expensive.

I'm off to google the ATI thing, though, so thanks Ed, I'll see if it'll work for my purposes and edit here accordingly 

[Ed ONeill]

 ...Man I don't know what I was thinking when I posted that must have been a brain fart

[DrewKaree]

I didn't smell anything, so you coulda just acted like it wasn't yours