Author Topic: VGA to Arcade monitor (Read 10096 times)

wrighty · « **on:** April 11, 2008, 09:24:29 am »

Hey guys!

I have had a quick scout round the forums and found no definitive solution to my problem. I need to hook my PC up to my Arcade montor. I have a Golden Tee cab which does not have a fully wired JAMMA harness so i cant use the JPAC interface for connectivity. My only option is to use a VGA breakout cable to connect from my arcadeVGA card to the monitor. Is there a tutorial or can someone tell me how to do this please? i am very concerned about poking about the back of the monitor due to the dangerous voltages being passed thru. Does what I am doing pose any potential danger? Do I have to discharge my monitor first? If I have to do this I would rather pay an electrician rather than frying myself! Any help would be really really appreciated! Thanx!

Lutus · « **Reply #1 on:** April 11, 2008, 10:07:22 am »

Ok... well, welcome.

This type of topic HAS been covered numerous times. But, since you are new here a little slack is always nice.

FIRST, we need to determine what monitor you have in the machine. Take a picture of the monitor, but most Golden Tee's have the same monitor. I don't know what it is off hand, but some of these other guys will know.

The Jamma wiring refers to the gameboard/monitor pinout. The purpose is that you could buy another Jamma game, plug it into the same connector and it would have the same power/gameboard/button/joystick/monitor pinouts. Since you don't have a Jamma harness you can just use an 'ipac' or 'keywiz' or another encoder to handle your game inputs (buttons and joysticks).

Once you know what monitor you have, you will know the pinout "R,G,B, and Sync" of the monitor and you will use the 'Ultimarc' website to connect this to the correct pinout of the 'arcadevga' cable from the computer.

http://www.ultimarc.com/monfaq.html#monitorcable

That shows how to make your own cable to connect to your monitor.

First things first, determine what type of monitor you have and then find the correct pinout for that monitor.

wrighty · « **Reply #2 on:** April 11, 2008, 10:20:15 am »

Thanks for that! I understand now what is involved I will get a pic together ASAP. I have ordered the Build your arcade machine book as recommended by this site so I guess a lot will be explained in that!

Is the VGA wiring process dangerous? From what I have read as long as the cab and PC are completely disconnected from the mains then I should be ok just to unplug the RGB from the monitor mainboard?

northerngames · « **Reply #3 on:** April 11, 2008, 11:24:14 am »

yeah the arcadevga only throws 1.5V so it's not going to stop your heart if it were powered.

just make sure everything is unplugged to be sure.

the breakout from ultimarc is labeled R,G,B,GND,H,V

you need to look at your monitors video input and match the vga breakout wires with the matching letters on your monitors video inputs.

also if your going to run the pc with arcadevga your monitor need to be running in 15K.

after you get it installed and if your picture is still to dim even with the brightness all the way up then you will also need the ultimarc video amp.

The_Tyler_Black · « **Reply #4 on:** April 11, 2008, 12:59:41 pm »

Quote from: northerngames on April 11, 2008, 11:24:14 am

yeah the arcadevga only throws 1.5V

To get the feel for it first chew on a AA battery!

wrighty · « **Reply #5 on:** April 12, 2008, 02:17:45 pm »

Quote from: Lutus on April 11, 2008, 10:07:22 am

Ok... well, welcome.

This type of topic HAS been covered numerous times. But, since you are new here a little slack is always nice.

FIRST, we need to determine what monitor you have in the machine. Take a picture of the monitor, but most Golden Tee's have the same monitor. I don't know what it is off hand, but some of these other guys will know.

The Jamma wiring refers to the gameboard/monitor pinout. The purpose is that you could buy another Jamma game, plug it into the same connector and it would have the same power/gameboard/button/joystick/monitor pinouts. Since you don't have a Jamma harness you can just use an 'ipac' or 'keywiz' or another encoder to handle your game inputs (buttons and joysticks).

Once you know what monitor you have, you will know the pinout "R,G,B, and Sync" of the monitor and you will use the 'Ultimarc' website to connect this to the correct pinout of the 'arcadevga' cable from the computer.

http://www.ultimarc.com/monfaq.html#monitorcable

That shows how to make your own cable to connect to your monitor.

First things first, determine what type of monitor you have and then find the correct pinout for that monitor.

The_Tyler_Black · « **Reply #6 on:** April 13, 2008, 11:53:21 pm »

Quote from: Lutus on April 11, 2008, 10:07:22 am

FIRST, we need to determine what monitor you have in the machine. Take a picture of the monitor, but most Golden Tee's have the same monitor.

First things first, determine what type of monitor you have and then find the correct pinout for that monitor.

The answer is in the pictures but its a Hantarex Polo 2 and the 25 is the size of it!

wrighty · « **Reply #7 on:** April 15, 2008, 11:55:11 am »

Is it the wires connected to the green connector that i need to take from the jamma and place into a VGA breakout cable? Also with this monitor do you think I will need a monitor amplifier? I am buying an arcadeVGA card from ultimarc.

grantspain · « **Reply #8 on:** April 15, 2008, 12:04:07 pm »

If not using a J-PAC or video amp, many monitors (including all Wells-Gardner and Hantarex) can accept a 1 volt signal level that the ArcadeVGA card supplies. So with these monitors you can make you own cable (See here for details.) or use our pre-stripped and labelled VGA breakout cable. Note we are unable to supply fully assembled cables as there is no established standard connector or pinout for arcade monitors in a non-JAMMA setup, so we would not know what connections your monitor has. If your monitor has a single sync input (composite sync) you can connect the H-Sync and V-Sync wires together. The ArcadeVGA card always sends negative H and V sync in all video modes, so this method works fine. The connections on the VGA breakout cable are marked as follows:
R, G, B = colours
H = horizontal sync. H and V sync can normally be connected together for most monitors to produce composite sync.
V = vertical sync
- = ground

wrighty · « **Reply #9 on:** April 24, 2008, 10:44:59 am »

Hey guys Im sure you can help with this one!

I have got my Hantarex polo 2 monitor and my vga breakout cable. I have disconnected the monitor from the existing jamma connector. The Molex connector on the monitor has 6 pins (The colours are 1 - Red, 2 - Green, 3 - blue, 4 - Black with small blue stripes through them, 5 - empty and 6 - white) They are not clearly labelled to what the black/blue and white pinouts are (one must be gnd and the other h/v sync?) Can someone clarify which pinouts are which? Also when I connect all this up im guessing I will need to purchase a new molex connector? Can someone clarify?

Many thanks
Wrighty!!

grantspain · « **Reply #10 on:** April 24, 2008, 01:24:00 pm »

the video input on hantarex is 4=video ground and 6=composite sync,
why can't you just join the vga breakout to the existing video plug using some connector strip

wrighty · « **Reply #11 on:** May 01, 2008, 06:52:36 pm »

If i had read the book I would have realised that was the correct way to do it! me --------->

Now im in a right mess I have got some new molex connectors and my original Monitor config (1 - Red, 2 - Green, 3 - blue, 4 - Black with small blue stripes through them, 5 - empty and 6 - white). My issue now is, my pre hacked ultimarc cable is no longer in its housing and so I dont know which pin is which. Can you help? and before anyone say it yes I am an idiot for messing the most simplistic of tasks up!!

wrighty · « **Reply #12 on:** May 02, 2008, 01:00:19 pm »

any takers??

grantspain · « **Reply #13 on:** May 02, 2008, 01:56:22 pm »

http://www.ultimarc.com/monfaq.html#monitorcable

why you no look

wrighty · « **Reply #14 on:** May 02, 2008, 02:30:11 pm »

I have looked but that does not solve my problem as I have cut the housing that comes with the arcade vga so I need to trace the wires back somehow. Ive made such a balls up of this! Basically instead of connecting the vga wires to the monitor wires i have pulled all the cables away from the molex on the monitor so therefore, I need to make a new vga cable which connects directly onto a molex connection to be plugged into the monitor! Please help. Im sorry if im a noob but I am so close with my cab now and you guys are the experts!!

Cheers

grantspain · « **Reply #15 on:** May 02, 2008, 02:47:41 pm »

to do this correctly you need a multimeter.you use this to trace the wire back from the monitor plug to the vga plug
may as well buy a new vga cable as well

wrighty · « **Reply #16 on:** May 02, 2008, 07:19:50 pm »

Already bought a new VGA cable. Ive stripped it down and there are Obvious RGB connections on it. All I need are the ground and the H and V Sync cables (which I believe I can twist together as one). Aint used a multimeter since school so how the heck do I do trace it back? Again Im sorry but I am soooooooo close!!!

wrighty · « **Reply #17 on:** May 02, 2008, 07:25:18 pm »

Also I noticed that I said cut the wires of the ArcadeVGA rather than the breakout cable! sorry but majorly stressed!!!

grantspain · « **Reply #18 on:** May 02, 2008, 07:42:33 pm »

it very simple,the horizontal and vertical can be joined together
the ground should link to all grounds-use the ultimarc guide as a reference
using a multimeter is simple,just use the ohms or bleep test to check continuity from one connection to another i.e if pin 1 on the vga is red then it should read dead short to the red of your monitor plug and so on

wrighty · « **Reply #19 on:** May 03, 2008, 12:30:22 pm »

Ive managed to trace my wires back. I have put the wires in the molex connector but no joy?! When I turn the machine on and the PC the monitor switches on for about 2-3 seconds (no picture) then switches off. I have an ArcadeVGA card any ideas?

grantspain · « **Reply #20 on:** May 03, 2008, 02:11:06 pm »

well you are really getting yourself in a mess with this.
what monitor are you using now?if you using a pc type then it will shut down as you are trying to feed it a 15khz signal

wrighty · « **Reply #21 on:** May 03, 2008, 02:54:37 pm »

It is the Hantarex Polo 2 monitor I am using. Do you know of any websites that could sell the original Video connector on the monitor? I feel that this would be my best option as I can just conect it up wire to wire (like you are supposed to!)

Thanks for all the help tho it is much appreciated!

grantspain · « **Reply #22 on:** May 03, 2008, 03:18:49 pm »

worringly if your polo2 switches off after a few seconds you may have more of a problem.
i am guessing you are in the u.k yes,if so i know a few peeps that can help you

wrighty · « **Reply #23 on:** May 03, 2008, 06:45:06 pm »

Yeah I am in the UK! Man I hope my monitor aint popped!!

If you could help me get the wire it would be greatly appreciated!!

grantspain · « **Reply #24 on:** May 04, 2008, 05:03:27 am »

well the first you need to do is prove the monitor is o.k
disconnect the video cable and power on the monitor,turn the screen volts up a fraction so you can just see a white screen(raster)-if it remains on for more than 3 minutes then the monitor is o.k
i will email a friend in the u.k to see if he can make you a cable with the correct connections.

wrighty · « **Reply #25 on:** May 04, 2008, 08:30:02 am »

Good news it appears the monitor is working ok. It stayed on for way over 3 mins!!!

Any joy with the cable?

Cheers mate!

grantspain · « **Reply #26 on:** May 04, 2008, 08:38:08 am »

you don't have the green hantarex 6 pin video plug do you?
what is the state of you breakout cable now?

wrighty · « **Reply #27 on:** May 04, 2008, 11:38:47 am »

I have the green molex housing but the wires and pins are destroyed! I have the ultimarc breakout and I also have a standard VGA stripped cable!

grantspain · « **Reply #28 on:** May 04, 2008, 12:50:26 pm »

can you post the photos of your cable so i can see the damage

wrighty · « **Reply #29 on:** May 05, 2008, 07:30:46 am »

Here are the photos (sorry for quality camera phone!). As you can see the breakoutcable is still in tact but my Molex connection is completely mashed!!

grantspain · « **Reply #30 on:** May 05, 2008, 08:31:31 am »

dunno what to suggest really,if you get a new video plug and follow my instructions then i think you can fix it yourself
otherwise you would need to get one of the u.k members to make one for you or even ultimarc(although i doubt they like to get involved),i could do it for you but postage to spain and back would not make it worthwhile.
what do you want to do?

wrighty · « **Reply #31 on:** May 05, 2008, 08:36:07 am »

Im sure I can do it myself this time as I kno what im doing now. Do you know where I can source that type of molex connector with the pins? I have tried the molex website but there appears to be thousands of different connectors also, there is no part number on the connector. Any suggestions?

Again thank you so much for your efforts with helping me do this!!

grantspain · « **Reply #32 on:** May 05, 2008, 08:45:34 am »

where are you in the u.k?

wrighty · « **Reply #33 on:** May 05, 2008, 08:53:50 am »

North Wales, near Chester.

grantspain · « **Reply #34 on:** May 05, 2008, 09:12:27 am »

i will see what i can do to get a new plug to you,give me a day or so
or try a local arcade/amusement operator to see if they have an old video plug kicking around

grantspain · « **Reply #35 on:** May 05, 2008, 09:19:41 am »

actually try these people,they should have that plug-make sure you get it with the wires connected(like yours was originally)
http://www.videotronicsuk.com/
phone them.

wrighty · « **Reply #36 on:** May 05, 2008, 12:11:04 pm »

Can you look at this website http://www.arcadeshop.com/parts.htm? Search for video signal cable. I think this is exactly what I want, can u confirm? Cheers for link I have emailed them!

grantspain · « **Reply #37 on:** May 05, 2008, 01:10:25 pm »

thats is a different type of plug,the pins are different-also they u.s based
here it is and a u.k company just scroll to hantarex
http://www.coin.demon.co.uk/-video.htm#hantarex

wrighty · « **Reply #38 on:** May 06, 2008, 01:53:57 pm »

Quote from: grantspain on May 05, 2008, 09:19:41 am

actually try these people,they should have that plug-make sure you get it with the wires connected(like yours was originally)
http://www.videotronicsuk.com/
phone them.

Ive had no luck with these guys! I have emaild them and left a voice message. Any other ideas on how I can get this cable? Cheers

grantspain · « **Reply #39 on:** May 06, 2008, 02:09:14 pm »

http://www.coin.demon.co.uk/-video.htm#hantarex

he is showing this in stock
RGB lead (6 way green plug) complete with wires. £3.80 7 available. Used.


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