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The new Act Labs gun

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Jedi Master Matt:

Bad news and good news.   It does look like there is a problem going on with VGA boxes... the good news is that when it works, it seems to work GREAT!

I went and did a series of tests with both of my boxes and guns and here's what I've found out.  (besides my busted VGA box with no red being passed)

My cabinet has a 21" Cornerstone VGA monitor running at 800 x 600 @60hz.   Testing at this res and rate, I get a greyish background at calibration that is lighter at the top and darker at the bottom.   When I click the trigger, the screen goes black except for a bright white flash at the top 2 - 3" of the screen.   Moving the res and refresh rate up seem to make the problem worse.   The screen gets darker and the flash isn't as big.

Checking to see if this problem exists on my other working VGA monitor in the house, a 17" Samsung that's almost brand new - it works PERFECT.   The calibration screen is very bright and when the trigger is pulled, a very bright and even flash happens.

Trying to figure out the differences between the two monitors - besides the obvious size - I tried to grasp as straws and replaced the VGA cable on the Cornerstone with a new one.   This resulted in lighter calibration background and a flash that extends about an inch further down the screen.

So, I wonder if there is some adjustment that needs to be made to the VGA box to work with bigger/older monitors?  If it's just some sort of internal calibration of the box that is required, this might not be that big of a deal.

I've sent my help request off to Act-Labs and I'll let you know what I find out.  I forgot to do this; but, someone should copy them to this thread and we should all put our monitor, resolution, and refresh rates in here to help them figure this out.


RetroACTIVE:

Does anyone know of any compatibility issues w/ActLabs + ArcadeVGA + Betson monitor.... At one time there was an issue with the WGD9200.  Did not know if there was a similar situation with the Betson.

I'm having mixed results with mine... calibration screen is all white but accuracy is WAY OFF... and somtimes the trigger will cause more than just a quick flash... but a complete drop out of the video signal.

Thanks
Jim


Lilwolf:

As for the benson... Ask in the monitor section.

but I remember there is two ways to make a vga->arcade monitor cable.  One where you split the syncs and one where you combine them.  I don't remember for sure, but I believe one doesn't work well with act-labs guns, and the other does.  So it might be a pretty easy fix...

RetroACTIVE:

I don't need to make a cable... my monitor has a standard VGA cable already and works great with the ArcadeVGA board (which I would no way give up for the use of a light gun)... the gun should be plug and play...

Well... either way... the thing is POS, I'm going to try to get my money back... 80 bucks is a scam.

AC.:

Here is an email response from Act Labs that I just got, apart from the grammar, it appears they are trying to solve the problem:

"We are aware of the problem. The cause is the incompatibility of certain
monitors and one of the IC has to change from current ST brand to T1 brand.

If you can access other monitor, please give it a try and no driver is
required. If the gun works well with other monitor, and you want to change
the IC, there is two options.

1. We are getting material to produce VGA boxes, and we will send you box
from China, and if that works, you send us back the non-working VGA box;
this might takes a few weeks

2. Send the VGA box to us in Vancouver BC, and we help to change the IC and
send it back to you."

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