Donkey Kong Jr Restoration - Video is finally fixed!!

[shilmover]

I accidentally started this thread in Arcade Miscellaneous but now that I have it in my possesion (picked it up as seen below for $100), it should be here... 

The original thread was here (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=72319.0).

The Cab is in much better shape then I expected...  I now have almost all the part either in my possession or on the way and will document the restore as best I can.

some pictures:

1. Back of cabinet...  very little damage on the outside (a bit around the key and on the inside).
2. Front of the cabinet...  Did I mention that it was converted to a 1 slot Neo Geo?
3. The current control panel (I have never seen those buttons before, but was told that they were from Europe?
4. Damage around the speaker area.

[shilmover]

More pictures:

1. Coin door.  Not bad shape... has a security bar, but luckily they used the keyhole in the door and just drilled one to the left...  should be easy to fix.
2. The original monitor mounting holes (I think).  This monitor is now mounted horizontally...  I will need to change it to the vertical.  The vertical components are not in the cab so if anyone has a set, let me know...   
3. Inside of the cab as it stands now...  notice the new switching power supply that is connected to the original and the JAMMA connector.  I am thinking of keeping the JAMMA and having both wired up so that it can be switched...  Comments?
4. Coin door and mech from the inside.

[shilmover]

And still more pictures:

1. Not sure what these two boards on the side are...  do they convert from DK to JAMMA?  Anyone know?
2. Damage on the inside of the back board.  anyone have a picture of what this should look like?  I am assuming it either has a board covering the hole or mesh of some kind?
3. The original instructions on the back of the door.  Pretty dirty, but otherwise nice shape.  Has anyone cleaned one of these before?  I would hate to damage it.

[JimmyU]

I say just restore it to its former glory as a DK Jr.  Sell off the Neo-Geo parts or put them in a new cab.

[Neilyboy]

agreed' nintendo cabs are meant to be dk, popey, mario etc.. not neo geo

youll be glad you did

Neil

[shilmover]

Let me clarify and add some context.

There is currently no Neo Geo in this cab and as far as I am concerned will never have that.  I am building this cab so that I can "donate" it to my kid's school auction.  I will be giving away a rental to someone, but will get it back. 

So I am thinking of doing this... 

1.  return cab to its original glory.
2.  Keep the JAMMA connector so that I can connect a 48-in-1 type solutions when I donate it to the auction.
3.  be able to have one or the other but have the ability to easily get rid of the JAMMA side and make it truly original

[SithMaster]

Dont those buttons go for a pretty penny on ebay sometimes?

My question is what guarantee do you have the person will return it?

Also why does everyone keep getting such cool projects all of a sudden?

[shilmover]

Dont those buttons go for a pretty penny on ebay sometimes?

I don't know, do they?  Have never seen them before...

My question is what guarantee do you have the person will return it?

There is never a guarantee.  However, this auction is for my kids school, my wife is one of the co-chairs and I know 95% of people there. 

Also why does everyone keep getting such cool projects all of a sudden?

Shrug...  I got lucky and got my last three from the same person...  he has a few more, but I was not really interested in them.  One was a Missle Command.

[shilmover]

So I decided to both restore the DK to original and wire up a JAMMA adapter.  Original DKJr for me and a 48-in-1 for the auction.

Does anyone have a step by step for wiring the JAMMA adapter?  I have the pin diagram, but wondering if someone has more info on what they did.

[HoopstarsGarage]

There is only one thing better than a scratch build.. and that is a restoration..!!

Awesome work..!!   


Hoops

[shilmover]

There is only one thing better than a scratch build.. and that is a restoration..!!

Awesome work..!!   


Hoops

Thanks!  When I get back from Europe, I should have all the parts (including NOS art, control panel, marquee, Bezel, etc).  I will post pics as I restore.

[Neilyboy]

And a joystick! keep us updated!!

Neil

[shilmover]

And a joystick! keep us updated!!

Neil

Yes!  Thanks to you, a Joystick...   

[FrizzleFried]

And a joystick! keep us updated!!

Neil

Yes!  Thanks you you, a Joystick...   

You do know they are indestructible...right?

[shilmover]

the cab or the joystick?

[Neilyboy]

the stick hehe

I cant wait for your restore to progress.

neil

[shilmover]

the stick hehe

I cant wait for your restore to progress.

neil

The Star Wars is almost done (just need to paint and route the back panels and put the Marquee and other graphics back on).  I should finish that next weekend (as I dont get back State side until Tuesday).

That will give me the room I need to start on the DK Jr.

BTW, does anyone know the color codes for the DKJr orange?

[shilmover]

Nothing major new, but I did order a couple of the light bulbs for the Marquee light in hopes that it still worked and surprisingly, it does!!   

I now have all the parts for the restoration and will start on it soon.

[shilmover]

Need help with the Sanyo EZ-20 monitor.

I installed the 48-in-1 board to test everything and it works great.  The monitor, however, was not looking great, so I re-capped it.

Now, the monitor is bright, but I am having a heck of a time getting the picture good:
1.  As you can see from the pictures below, it is wide and "collapses" about 1/4 of the way from the right on the vertical and it is also way to wide.  I have attempted the pots on the back, but no success.  I also changed the H-size pot on the pcb, but it does not seem to make any change.

2.  The image is upside down.  With the PCB on the bottom, the picture is upside down.  How do I invert it?

3.  Finally, it is as lowest on the vertical (bottom) as possible, but the top is still being cut off.

Please help!  I have a party at my house tomorrow night and would love to get it running for then.

Update:  Just an FYI.  The cab was converted to NeoGeo and has the 2 Nintendo VS boards.  The video is not inverted when connected to Jamma, so I am assuming it is changed somewhere (the Sanyo inverts the video, no?)

[WunderCade]

I just got my Donkey Kong Jr., it works but needs restoration. As far as the monitor issues you are having....

You need to eliminate those two boards. The original configuration with the SANYO 20 EZ has the sound card on-board the monitor and you DO NOT NEED an video inverter card for Nintendo PCB's like Donkey Kong, DK JR. etc.

Are you using an original Dk pcb or a Jamma hack?

If it's a DK Jamma board you'll need the inverter card for the Sanyo monitor.

[shilmover]

I just got my Donkey Kong Jr., it works but needs restoration. As far as the monitor issues you are having....

You need to eliminate those two boards. The original configuration with the SANYO 20 EZ has the sound card on-board the monitor and you DO NOT NEED an video inverter card for Nintendo PCB's like Donkey Kong, DK JR. etc.

So should I just wire it up as normal Jamma?  I want Jamma as I want to put in a 48-in-1 for the auction I am donating the rental of this system to.

Are you using an original Dk pcb or a Jamma hack?

If it's a DK Jamma board you'll need the inverter card for the Sanyo monitor.

It is a Jamma hack (one that I did not do)...  Can anyone post a picture of what the boards on the monitor look like?

Would that cause all the problem?

[WunderCade]

I believe FrizzleFried jamma-tized his Dk Jr. cab in an earlier project.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=64539.msg645919#msg645919

It might be worth asking him.

[shilmover]

I believe FrizzleFried jamma-tized his Dk Jr. cab in an earlier project.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=64539.msg645919#msg645919

It might be worth asking him.

THX!!!  PM Sent to FrizzleFried.

[shilmover]

Pulled the PCB tonight and checked all the capacitors.  On one of them, one of the solder joints was bad and it was obvious that the cap suffered from it.  Its flat top was no longer flat...     I will post a picture of it soon. 

After replacing, but video was still garbled, but I realized that it was my DKJr board as the 48-in-1 is working (although upsidedown).  That should be a relatively easy fix, I think...

I do seem to have some color issues on the monitor, like when you put a magnet to a TV.  How do I de-gauss the monitor (remember that it was set in horizontal for a while and now its vertical again.

[WunderCade]

Have you moved on from the monitor yet? What's next on your to do list for this cab?

[shilmover]

Yes and no.  I am still unhappy with how the monitor is displaying (cutting off the bottom of the screen and the colors are wrong), but I can live with it for now.  I have not had much time to work with it, but should tomorrow.

I also built a custom monitor bracket as I had a hard time shelling out $50  (plus shipping) for the brackets (seeing how I only paid $100 for the cab with the monitor, Powersupply, coin door, etc).  I will take pictures of what I did with an explaination this weekend.  It was not really that difficult, but I am hoping it will help others.  The new bracket does not fit into the original holes on the cabinet, but I was not too worried about that since I already have 8 holes to fill, what's 4 more?   

I have decided that I will do most of the woodwork in the spring when I can do it in my driveway, so until the cabinet restoration takes place, the plan is to do the following:

- Fix monitor to my satisfaction...  I did win another monitor on ebay that is supposed to be really nice, so that may solve my problem.
- Rebuild CP.
- Fix Marquee Light.
- Install Marquee and bezel.
- Build/install new monitor surround.
- clean up the internal wiring and install original DKJr board and the 48-in-1.

I will then bring the cab into the house for the kids to play with.  Hoping to do most of that tomorrow so that I have room for the Millipede that I am picking up on monday.

On another note, I did get my Space Fever cocktail working.   .  I will try to post pictures tonight, when I get a bit more time.

[Kevin Mullins]

I'm curious is to if you ever figured out what the two small boards were for or what setup they were used with? I've never seen those before. Looks kinda like they were part of a conversion kit or something.


That cabinet appears to have been converted a couple of times.
DKjr, Nintendo VS, NeoGeo........

Is there still a metal Nintendo tag on the back of the cabinet?
If so, what is the model number?

[shilmover]

It did go through that conversion process.  It was VS connected to JAMMA when I got it.

Model number is MGS-UP-US.

[Kevin Mullins]

They appear to be some form of filter board, the FCC required those for awhile back then.
I'd bet they were for the DKjr to VS conversion. The VS used two edge connectors per board, like a 36 pin and a 44 pin like the ones connected to those two boards.

Nit-picky stuff..... but I like learning the history and bits to different cabinets that have been converted over the years.

[shilmover]

I think you are right...  I think they are from that edge board that Nintendo had for the metal cage (Like the SW cage).

BTW, your post count says 'leet'   

[Kevin Mullins]

Ah-ha .... found it. ]

062 36P FCC PCB
062 44P FCC PCB

[Kevin Mullins]

BTW, your post count says 'leet'   

Huh... I didn't see that until you mentioned it. I have no idea what that meant. 
But it seemed to go away after I made that last post.

[Jdurg]

BTW, your post count says 'leet'   

Huh... I didn't see that until you mentioned it. I have no idea what that meant. 
But it seemed to go away after I made that last post.

Probably because of the stupid litle "geek speak" where 1337 means "leet"!!!!! 

[Kevin Mullins]

1337.... yup, I bet that was it, because that would have been my post count when that was showing...... and I guess the system automatically converts that to alpha characters for whatever reason.

Good call. 

[shilmover]

 

[shilmover]

Okay...  I finally figured out the video problem.  And the pisser is that I had it fixed a while back, but just did not know it...  Let me explain.

The monitor I got with the cab does not invert the video so I could not test the DKJr board on it.  The folks I got the cab from had hacked a conversion from Nintendo VS to JAMMA so that I could drop in a JAMMA board, but the video was terrible so I assumed it was the monitor...

Re-capped nothing and still bad video.

So a couple of week ago I took it to a guy to fix.  $50 and it looked great in his shop.  Take it home and it looks terrible.  I started to get suspicious that this problem was not monitor related.

Yesterday I took the monitor to another guy's place to do convergence and it looks great.  Bring it home... Crap video!   

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been building a SuperGun/Test Harness so that I can test some of my boards without having to plug and unplug from my cabs.  Today I got it to the point where I could do some tests (not all the buttons are hooked up and the controls aren't either, but the power and video is).  I plugged an old JAMMA board in (so that if it was wired wrong, I would not take the 48-in-1 with it).  Video looks amazing!!

So I plug in the 48-in-1 and it now locks nearly perfect (still need to do some convergence, but that's okay...

So all this time the cab was wired wrong and it was not me!   

I ordered a new JAMMA Harness and will re-wire the cab next weekend.

Thanks everyone for your help.

[WunderCade]

Nice. Very Nice. Can't wait to see it up and running.

Are you just gonna get it into playable condition or are you going for the "full-minty".

[shilmover]

Nice. Very Nice. Can't wait to see it up and running.

Are you just gonna get it into playable condition or are you going for the "full-minty".

The original plan was to restore it Full-Minty this fall, but with the video problems, that wont work.  The current plan is to get it into playable condition right away and then Full-minty in the spring/summer.