Dave_K.'s Japanese Shooter cab (pics inside)

[Dave_K.]

Let me start by saying I was never really interested in Japanese sit-at style cabs until 2 years ago when I saw one at a local Super Auction.  It was a blue fiberglass cab with huge 29" screen turned vertical and setup with a dual PacMan, Galaga jamma setup.  At the top of the cab was a lighted "Namco" sign.  Unfortunally I arrived at the auction too late, as the cab was already sold.  Afterwards I searched google and found out it was a Namco 29" Exceleena Blue. 

http://www.highway.net.au/parts/machine/1807.html

It was maybe a month later when I found out a BYOAC member (MadSmurf) finished a mame project with a japanese sit-at cab, and it too was an Exceleena Blue cab.  Man what a beauty!

http://web.tampabay.rr.com/madsmurf/es2a.htm

From that point on I was determined to find me an Exceleena Blue.  Turns out, they are kinda rare, and the only place I could find them was coinop express, and the austrailian website above.  I even emailed MadSmurf asking if I could buy his cab (nope he said it cost way to much).  Coinop express had it listed for $558 for the cab only (without monitor) and it would cost another $800 or so for shipping and taxes and crap.  Man was I depressed.

Ok, now fast forward to September of this year, just on a fluke I typed "Namco 29" in ebay, and an Exceleena Blue came up!  I did an immediate "buynow" at $450, and paid an additional $150 for shipping.  I was so excited I was finally getting one (and in nice condition too from the description).  A couple days after sending payment, the guys ebay account got suspended because of some transaction over german watches.  Oh man what did I get myself into I thought.  To make a long story short, the seller was a huge flake, and has a load of "bad trader" msgs on usenet (I didn't know his email/name until AFTER I bought it!).  It took many emails and eventually a long phone call to get him to ship it to me a full month AFTER he received my payment.  What I eventually got was a poorly packaged cab with fibgerglass sides mearly taped to the frame, and strapped to a plastic pallet with NO protection around the cab at all!  By some miracle, the cab did not get smashed to bits (must have been the oversided plastic pallet that kept other packages away from it).  I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I finally got it into my garage.

I completely disassembled it, and cleaned all sorts of crap out of the metal frame (including leaves!?) .  The fiberglass was in pretty good shape but had lots of glue residue left over from the rounds of clear packing tape used to secure the body to the frame.   Thankfully I found a plastic bag inside with all the bolts need to secure the fiberglass body to the frame (like it should have been before shipped!).   The marquee holder (on the top) was bent like a horseshoe probably from the guy using it as a handle to tip onto its back wheels.   There were also a couple miner cracks in the fiberglass, but nothing a little adhesive cauk couldn't fix.

Coming up next, all my mods, and finally some pics.  Sorry I didn't have a digital camera before so I don't have any before shots...I had to borrow a camera just to take these completed pics.

[Dave_K.]

After hooking up my Dreamcast to the monitor at 15khz, I found a strange vertical ripple running through the picture.  Great I though, the guy wrote in the ebay auction that the monitor was a perfect 10!...what a load.  Another annoying thing I noticed was sitting this close to a huge rotated monitor at 15khz ment looking at a lot of ugly flickering scan lines.  Its definately not as noticeable when the monitor is oriented horizontally.  Around this time I read Kevin's review on the Betson 27" monitor and decided I'd get one (especially since the Betson West location was only 50 minutes from my home).   

You all can read the problems/issues we discovered with these monitors in the monitor forum.  But after going back up and talking to the tech, I decided to stick with the monitor, and was able to get it calibrated to a playable condition, and am actually very happy with it now.    One thing I did have to do was transplant the tube and PCB into the original rotating chasis/frame.  Thankfully I was able to secure the PCB onto the frame with the help of a couple oversized washers. 

Next up was replacing the Seimitsu LS-40 joysticks and buttons.  The left joystick was pretty worn and the right one looked brand new.  I don't mind the sticks, but they felt kinda weak, and looked cheezy.  The buttons were an odd combination of yellow and red with some that made no click when you press them, and other that did.  Very strange.  I believe they are Seimitsu buttons as well as they do not have sanwa written on them.  I'll take a closer picture of the buttons later, so if anyone wants japaense style buttons that click when you press them, they should look into getting these.

I replaced the joystick and buttons with new Sanwa parts.  A pair of JLF-TP-8Y sticks and standard Sanwa buttons.  These are the very light feeling buttons that make no click at all.  It takes a bit to get used to, but I think is a neccesity if playing shooter style games as you don't want your fingers to get tired constantly hitting the fire button.  Another nice little hack was securing the JLF-TP-8Y sticks to the original LS-40 mounting plate.  My only options were to buy new mounting plates or drill holes in the LS-40 plates.  I figured out that 4 other holes (not the original mounting holes) on the JLF-TP-8Y sticks *almost* lined up with the LS-40 standard holes.  I then got the idea to take small zip-ties and run them through the holes to secure the stick at the 4 corners.  It worked like a charm!

Since the original monitor was gone, I had no need for the japanese 100W power supply.  That also ment taking out the ajoining stereo sound board.  I then hooked a powerstrip up to the mains just after the AC ripple/noise filter, and use a RadioShack SA-155 amp to power the 8ohm speakers.

After wiring up the sticks/buttons to a standard 15 pin molex connector, I was in business.  The cab can now play any of my consoles (Dreamcast, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox) in either 15khz or 31khz, and I can also play Mame via my laptop (although currently only at 31-38khz).  And let me tell you, playing Dreamcast shooters (Ikaruga, Psyvariar 2, Shikigami Noshiro 2) at hires is a sight to be seen.  This is the way true Naomi games are ment to be played at 31khz.

[Dave_K.]

A closer look at the panel.  At first I wasn't sure about the green stick and buttons in a blue cab, but now like the way it looks.  It actually matches the color in the 100 Yen sticker on the right. 

Built in cup holders are a bonus.

[Dave_K.]

A closer look at the monitor.  Notice the two metal handles used for manual rotation.  Its a heavy monitor, and a pain to rotate, but I can actually do it myself.  There is a long bolt in the back of the monitor frame that goes into a groove in the back of the cab.  All you do is lift slightly and pull, then turn while it pivoits in the groove.  The frame originally was built to rotate clockwise only (from the horizontal position), but since that was the wrong way for Ikaruga, I took the frame apart and put it back together in reverse so it would turn the other way.  Its now a little clumsy turning since I couldn't reverse the hand-holds, so my arms kind of cross when doing it. 

[Dave_K.]

A close up at the CP wiring.   So pretty  . Those are a pair of hacked Dreamcast Madcatz pads.  Notice the orange zip-ties that secure the Sanwa sticks to the LS-40 mounting plates...sure beats drilling new holes!

[Dave_K.]

Its whats inside that matters.  And in this case its the SA-155 stereo amp, and Dreamcast with VGA box.  As stated previously, I can put any of my consoles in here since I also have a set of hacked PSX pads to the same molex connectors.

[Dave_K.]

Some shots of Psyvariar 2 and Shikigami Noshiro 2 playing on the cab in hires!  Pure shooter bliss.

[Dave_K.]

A better look at the side of the cab.  Notice that the screen is more upright than an Egret.  Personally, I think this is the ultimate shooter cab, and even rivals Sega's Naomi Universal cab in looks and performance. 

[Will]

Really nice looking shooter cab you got there.I never saw any of these egret type cabs in the US when I was a kid but they really have grown on me.Maybe for my next cab I will pick up one of these.Nice work Dave.....

[Minwah]

Looks great

So are there a lot of games on the DC which can be played vertically?  I think I heard about Ikaruga, but I haven't heard of any others which can...

Also how can you run your DC @ 15 or 31khz?  Can that be done by hacking a VGA box?  I'll probably just hack a Scart lead as I only have a 15khz screen anyway.

[DYNAGOD]

most if not all of the good DC shooters have vertical mode..
most are imports, but its a small price to pay for arcade pefection/

love the cab..

[Apollo]

Very impressive, looks like all the pain was worth it and then some. Congrats, I'm jealous.

[SaiNRuB]

That is very nice, great job man.

Now its time to sit back and enjoy that Exceleena, god knows you went though enough to get it.

I love your wiring and the mounting of your Sanwa sticks, thats was a great idea.

[NIVO]

Class all the way Dave. Glad to see it.

[Dave_K.]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone! 

Looks great

So are there a lot of games on the DC which can be played vertically?  I think I heard about Ikaruga, but I haven't heard of any others which can...

Also how can you run your DC @ 15 or 31khz?  Can that be done by hacking a VGA box?  I'll probably just hack a Scart lead as I only have a 15khz screen anyway.

Right now the only Dreamcast vertical shooters that have a true rotate (or "tate" as they call it) option are:
Ikaruga (import)
Psyvariar 2 (import)
Shikigami Noshiro 2 (import)
Gunbird 2

I know of about 15 or so Playstation2 vertical shooter imports with "tate" options.  Most are re-releases of 90's arcade shooters already emulated in mame.  But some newer conversions worth owning are:
DoDonPachi - Dai Ou Jou
Psyvariar Complete
ESPGaluda
XII Stag

To answer your other question, hooking up the Dreamcast at either 15khz or 31khz is a matter of hacking the VGA box as described in the Game Console FAQ.  Pretty simple really as all you do is snip one wire to put it into 15khz mode.  Put in a toggle switch and you can easily switch between both modes (you'd have to power off/on the Dreamcast to boot in either mode).
http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_consoles.shtml

[Minwah]

Thanks for the info Dave, must get round to putting my DC in my cab...

Have fun on your cab!

[Dave_K.]

In case anyone is interested, here is a closeup of the original buttons from my cab.  The top two are the ones that click when you press them, the bottom two I believe are seimitsu PS-15's and don't make any click (just like sanwa's).  You can see the slight difference in color, pin configuration and edges.   If anyone can recognize the top two, please let me know.

[SNAAKE]

Its like woah ! good job

[Dave_K.]

Its like woah ! good job 
Are jap buttons slightly bigger than standard 1 1/8"

Standard japanese buttons are 30mm, which is about 1 3/16".  The start buttons are 24mm.

[Grasshopper]

Looks great. I'm very jealous. Is that 4 cabs you own now?

Those modern Japanese cabs certainly grow on you. If it was a straight choice between a classic cab (such as the Williams ones) and a modern Japanese cab, then I'd still go for the classic. But I have to admit the Jap cabs are a lot more comfortable to play on. The older I get the more appealing the sit down cabinets become!

All of the Japanese cabs I've seen in the arcades have been white i.e. pretty ugly. I didn't realise they came in other colours but you seem to have found a nice looking blue one. I wonder whether they are also available in black. That would be cool.

[Dave_K.]

I do have a couple other cabs (mostly restored classics),  but I still wanted this one for an authentic import expierence.  As mentioned before, I think  the Exceleena Blue is a rare model, and is (IMHO) one of the nicest looking sit-at cabs I've ever seen. 

I did find out that Namco made a sucessor called the Exceleena 2, also with a 29" monitor, and its in Red.  Here is a pic. 



I think all the japanese manufacturers starting making sit-at cabs that could easily prop up against each other for long rows of games.  This is another reason why the Exceleena Blue is different.  Its really wide, and not made to fit well with other cabs  (so probably wasn't very popular in cramped japanese arcades).

[gique]

how are you wiring the buttons to the DC?? is it a DC only cab??

[Dave_K.]

how are you wiring the buttons to the DC?? is it a DC only cab??

In the closeup pic of the CP wiring above, you can see I wired the buttons and joystick to a pair of 15 pin molex connectors.  These connectors then go to a pair of hacked Dreamcast pads.  I also have a pair of hacked PSX pads with the same molex connector, so I can swap  the DC pads out with the PSX pads and now the machine can play Playstations2 games.  Using PSX converters I can then further hookup the PSX pads to any other console, or a PC (via USB)...making this a universal cab which can hookup to just about anything.   

Hooking up the video side of consoles is different story.  I mainly try to map the console's output to a db15 VGA connector plug (be it at 15khz or 31khz).  I use a scart cable hack for the playstation2, a vga box for dreamcast, and a component transcoder for GameCube or Xbox.  PC is just normal VGA out. 

[SNAAKE]

Hooking up the video side of consoles is different story.

[Dave_K.]

Hooking up the video side of consoles is different story.  I mainly try to map the console's output to a db15 VGA connector plug (be it at 15khz or 31khz).  I use a scart cable hack for the playstation2, a vga box for dreamcast, and a component transcoder for GameCube or Xbox.  PC is just normal VGA out. 

Madsmurf gave you that scan converter to run VGA ?

No I replaced the original std/med res monitor with a Betson Imperial multisync.  It does 15khz-38khz.  So no need for a scan converter.

[MameMaster!]

G-d Bless our beloved Dreamcast.

If only someone would reissue the damn thing....it would sell plenty for $50-75.!......I'm surprised no one has reissued it yet....it's a real shame.

It's amazing that they still sell the PS1.....it's inferior to Dreamcast in so many ways. Oh well.

Great cab by the way! 

MameMaster!

[armad1ll0]

Nicely done.

I have the same cab in my garage as well. I've never posted any pictures of it as I'm kinda still restoring it/ building it up.

It's still a Jamma cab with a CPS2 board inside. (ST SFighter)

The orange/red buttons you show in there are not japanese but are China clones of sanwa buttons. I've got some samples of those two and they also came with my cab in it's original shape.

It also had those older Sanwa sticks which I've swapped out for bat top JLFs with the GT-Y octagonal plate.

For mine, I bought it locally for $700 which included three CPS2 board sets. (A+B) Alpha3, Super Turbo, and Super SF2. I was either looking for an Impress or this one. I was glad I found this one as you've got to love those cup holders.

Nice wiring... the wiring in my cab isn't nearly as nice.

[Dave_K.]

Nicely done.

I have the same cab in my garage as well. I've never posted any pictures of it as I'm kinda still restoring it/ building it up.

Thanks.  I had read on modeverything that you had an Exceleena also, and thought you might like how mine turned out.     I'm thinking about getting those GT-Y restrictors also (although I don't mind the current square ones).  I understand they are really good for fighting games, but I'm kind-of uncertain how the JLF sticks will hold up to the abuse.

[geomartin]

You must have a cool wife!  She even went out and bought matching placemats for the dining room table

[armad1ll0]

The JLF's should hold up fine as well as any joystick. It's still about the switches wearing out. The sad thing is that you can't just swap out one switch. The whole PCB has to be swapped out unless you have a donor PCB and desolder one switch at a time to fix a busted microswitch.

Yeah, i'm not a big fan of verticle shooters but it makes a really beautiful cab. It's just a true ---smurfette--- to rotate the monitor huh?

[DYNAGOD]

hey,when you decide to sell it i want first dibs 

[Dave_K.]

Yeah, i'm not a big fan of verticle shooters but it makes a really beautiful cab. It's just a true <auto-censored> to rotate the monitor huh?

Yes it is a pain doing it by myself. I have to unbolt the control panel completely just to get enough leverage to lift, pulll, and turn.  But I only plan on doing that like once a month (whenever I get bored and want to go back to playing fighters).

[DYNAGOD]

Yeah, i'm not a big fan of verticle shooters but it makes a really beautiful cab. It's just a true <auto-censored> to rotate the monitor huh?

Yes it is a pain doing it by myself. I have to unbolt the control panel completely just to get enough leverage to lift, pulll, and turn.  But I only plan on doing that like once a month (whenever I get bored and want to go back to playing fighters).

i smell another cab coming

[Dave_K.]

i smell another cab coming

Its definately an addiction. 

[traveling]

It sounds very well. 

[Dave_K.]

It sounds very well. 

Wow, how coincidental bringing this thread back from the dead.  I just made a post yesterday on my blog with an update to this very cab!

http://arcadefever.blogspot.com/



Converted back to Jamma, with JPAC, Mala front end and serial display plug-in. 

[Malenko]

that is an awesome machine. I really like the LED display.
Why the switch back to JAMMA? to play jap only vertical shooters?

Id love to get my greedy paws on a cab like yours or even one like the Astro City 29s

All I have now is a dedicated MKII convertered to UMK3 (25")  a MAME'd Pengo cab (27"), and a dedicated 4slot Neo Geo with a 2 slot board (25")