The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: Yvan256 on December 30, 2009, 09:15:03 pm
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This is a small new side project, to gather feedback and to see if anyone would be interested in such a thing.
Some (a lot?) of people building Neo-Geo cabs are almost obligated to skip the dual 7-segment credit display because of the rarity/cost of the MV-LED board (judging by eBay auctions), a lack of support in MAME or simply because they lack the knowledge to build their own board.
These are all the reasons behind Sim-MV-LED.
Now, before I go any further, let me say two things:
- Sim-MV-LED is not a replacement for an original MV-LED in a real MVS cabinet. The pcboard will probably be different (unless someone can give me the measurements for both the vertical and horizontal MV-LED boards). Even if it is the same size with the same mounting holes, there is not going to be any MVS connector on it. It will only have power, token mech switch, player start button and player start input connections.
- I know that MAME devs are opposed to credit displays/counters. However, Sim-MV-LED will have some flaws that would prevent it from being used successfully in a commercial setting.
Here are the features for Sim-MV-LED:
- designed for home users who want to have a more realistic-looking Neo-Geo cabinet
- connects to your token mech switch (or credit button)
- counts from 0 to 99 credits (any additional credits are not only not displayed, they are not counted at all)
- connectors for "player start" button.
- connectors for the actual "player start" and "coin" inputs on your cabinet/i-Pac/keyboard/whatever.
Usage:
In short, the Sim-MV-LED sits between your "player start" input and your "player start" button. Pressing the button will cause Sim-MV-LED to send the player start command to the system but only if there is any credits left.
The upshot is, credits will be kept between games. This is a big no-no for the MAME devs. However the downside is, and that is a big one, Sim-MV-LED has no idea if the arcade/computer is accepting the player start command or not (ex: if you are in a game selection menu, credits will be taken for pressing player start... same thing if MAME is running but player start has no effect in the game, i.e. you're playing, you're not dead, pressing player start does nothing in the game but Sim-MV-LED will still remove a credit for pressing player start).
If that's not enough to prevent usage in a commercial setting, it also makes it a tool to easily detect if MAME or any other emulator is being used in a commercial setting. That makes it an additional deterrent for using Sim-MV-LED in a commercial cabinet IMHO.
For a home setup, however, it should be more than enough. Just tell your friends to not press "player start" unless the game asks for it, otherwise they'll have to insert another token/press the insert credit button again. No biggie, in my opinion this small downside is worth it to have working credits displays.
(http://media.digikey.com/photos/Rohm%20Photos/LB-602VA2.JPG)
As for the hardware, the 7-segment module should be a ROHM LB-602VA2 (http://www.rohm.com/products/databook/dp/pdf/lb-602ak2.pdf). I think the original MVS cabinets had red, 14.3 mm (0.56 inches) tall digits. Can someone with a MV-LED board confirm this?
The connections for everything are probably going to be via OSTTA024163 (http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=ED2580-ND), the same as most keyboard encoders, etc. The power connector could be the same as a PC hard drive or floppy drive.
I'm sure my explanations could be a bit better, but hopefully it's still clear enough that those who are interested will get the idea. If not, I'll do a picture of how it's going to be connected in a typical setup.
As for the cost, it would depend on how many people would want one. Prices for parts and pcboards depends a lot on quantities. And people with two players cabs will probably want two boards.
I'll keep a list, in this first post, of those would be interested (number of boards):
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Here's a drawing in case my explanations were a bit confusing.
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I know a guy with vertical MV-LED boards I should be able to measure. If I can find my horizontal ones, I'll measure them for you. Keep reminding me :)
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I know a guy with vertical MV-LED boards I should be able to measure. If I can find my horizontal ones, I'll measure them for you. Keep reminding me :)
I would need the dimensions, the 7-segment position as well as the diameter and position of the mounting holes. The plan would be to make it MVS-friendly, as far as mounting is concerned. It would be useful for people using real MVS control panels in their cabs, even though it wouldn't be MVS-compatible as far as the connectors are concerned.
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Ok I am here in full force. Work was kicking ---my bottom--- but I'm on this.
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I have both a square and two rectangle MV-LED credit displays from original MVS's
Also have all the connection cables. I would donate all of this to help this project.
Just email me and we can co-ordinate this.
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I think the original MVS cabinets had red, 14.3 mm (0.56 inches) tall digits. Can someone with a MV-LED board confirm this?
We'll I'd say 14mm with a school ruler.
0.3 mm might be the thickness of the line at 14 mm...
I'd say that the board is 40mm high and 150.5mm wide.
Let me know if you need anything else measured.
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I think the original MVS cabinets had red, 14.3 mm (0.56 inches) tall digits. Can someone with a MV-LED board confirm this?
We'll I'd say 14mm with a school ruler.
0.3 mm might be the thickness of the line at 14 mm...
I'd say that the board is 40mm high and 150.5mm wide.
Let me know if you need anything else measured.
The dual 7-segment display ROHM LB-602VA2 has 14mm tall digits, so I guess I'm off to a good start.
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I bought two MV-LED on eBay. The 7-segment displays are badly scratched, but guess what? Both units have a ROHM LB-602VA2 as their dual 7-segment display. I guess I got lucky when I chose that one. :laugh:
I still need to reverse engineer the circuit, but I find it amazing to have such a complex design for such a simple function.