What all is needed to build a blitz/showtime cabinet?

[the3eyedblindman1]

Ive only built a mame cabinet, have no idea how to build a real arcade game, but am very interested in building a blitz showtime. What all would be needed. I know I need a blitz/ showtime pcb, and a jamma harness, but is there a specific one, and does anyone have a link on where to buy it? Ive also heard you need some kind of a hard drive, some kind of extra harness for the 4 players, etc. Can someone just give me a list of what is needed and links on where to buy? I just have no experience with jamma...just with building cabs running off of a pc. Also, I would want to use a TV as a monitor, is there a convertor you can buy to convert the video output of an arcade pcb to that which would plug into a tv? thanks, douglas.

[HaRuMaN]

There are video converters available.

Take a look here.

It's about the middle of the page, and costs $23.99 - Arcade RGB CGA to TV and Video Composite converter(NEW)

[the3eyedblindman1]

Thanks! Does anyone have links to what specific jamma harness i would need? or the one for the extra buttons? also having a hard time finding the pcb online.

[MonMotha]

2 Players or 4 Players?  49-way or 8-way sticks?  The dedicated cabinet is 4 players with 49 way sticks.  The wiring for this setup is somewhat complicated as it involves an extra I/O board (the I-40 board) to multiplex all the 49-way signals down to something more manageable.  You can usually find NOS wiring harnesses for Blitz/Showtime if you look around.  Probably the easiest way to go about things.

Blitz/Showtime conventionally run medium resolution, which is not compatible with a TV, but there is a DIP switch setting to make it run standard res (CGA), making it compatible with one of those s-video adapters.

[the3eyedblindman1]

I would do the 4 player with 49 way sticks.

[MonMotha]

That's a LOT of wires.  I'd definitely try to find a NOS harness.  They're out there.  I see them on ebay with some freqency, and Happ I think still has them in stock.

You'll need the Vegas boardset (all 3 boards) + hard drive (make sure you have a matching boot ROM, security chip, and sound ROM), the I-40 board, the little "I/O adapter board" that adapts one of the connectors used on Vegas to the style used on Seattle that the harnesses are made for, and the wiring harness.  Apply power (standard arcade switcher), hook the video wires up to your TV converter, and have fun.  You'll probably want to wire up the coin door, too, but that's just more wires.

If you can't find a NOS wiring harness, you can make one yourself.  It's easily several hundred feet of wire, though, and the original harness (if you'd like to match it) uses something like 50 colors.  There is a wiring diagram in the manual for Blitz/Showtime that will show you how to wire it up.

[the3eyedblindman1]

Would you use a standard jamma harness with a jamma+ harness?

[atomikbohm]

I have a 49 way Jamma harness in a box in my basement that will not be used again.  I could be persuaded to part with it ...  send me a pm if intrested.

[MonMotha]

"JAMMA+" is not a standard in any way, shape, or form.  It simply means that there's a JAMMA harness "plus" some other stuff.  You could start with a pre-made JAMMA harness, yes, then add the "plus" part, but the additional wires for the other 2 players involves almost as much wiring as the base JAMMA harness, plus you need all the connections to/from the I-40 board.  Again, see the wiring diagram in the manual for Blitz/Showtime for more info.  It's pretty detailed.

Basically, players 1-2 buttons hook up to JAMMA along with all the other "system" level stuff like video, power, coin door, etc., then there are some additional headers for player 3-4 buttons.  The 49-way sticks are time multiplexed by the I-40 board onto IIRC player 4 joystick inputs, and the I-40 is controlled by yet another header ("AUX Latched Outputs").  The I-40 and 49-way sticks also need power, which is not a typical requirement for a control panel.

On a 2 player CP w/ 49-way sticks, the I-40 is not used, and the 49-way sticks for players 1-2 hook up to the player 3-4 inputs using both button and joystick lines.

Midway also had dedicated volume up/down buttons that you may wish to install.  These hook up to yet another auxiliary inputs header.  Volume can also be adjusted from within test mode.

If you want stereo audio, then there's yet another header on the board for that as JAMMA is, by standard, only mono.

[the3eyedblindman1]

So basically you are saying that if I just wanted a 2 player control panel this would be a much simpler project? I wouldnt really need a 4 player CP as no one would really ever play 4 player, mainly 2 players.

[MonMotha]

the 2 player wiring is JAMMA with a couple fairly straightforward additional harnesses to hook the two 49-way sticks up.  The 4 player wiring is a rat's nest   So yeah, the 2 player setup is probably a lot simpler from a wiring POV if only because you can just buy a pre-made JAMMA harness then come up with something relatively easily for the 49-ways to hook up.

I would still recommend trying to find a NOS Midway 4-player harness.  I see them all the time.  They usually go for about $35, which isn't much more than a decent plain JAMMA harness from the hobby arcade sites.  You'd still have to wire the CP to the I-40 for 4 players, but you'll have to do that no matter what (and people sell those harnesses pulled off old machines, too).

[the3eyedblindman1]

Do any websites sell the nfl blitz/ nba showtime boardset or do u generally just have to find other member who have one for sale or on auction sites?

[MonMotha]

eBay is usually your best bet if you want one at a reasonable price, and even then they're kinda rare.  Every once in a while, one of the "arcade services vendors" will get their hands on one, but they usually want some crazy price for it like $400.  A tested working boardset with HDD running Sportstation should run you about $150-200 on eBay.  Make sure it's complete.  There are 3 boards (Video, CPU, I/O), 3 chips that have to be installed on the boards (Boot ROM, Sound ROM, Security), and a Hard Drive.  If you're lucky, you'll also get the metal mounting plate with cooling fans and the I/O adapter PCB for the I-40 hookup.

[korendog]

blindman, i got a blitz/showtime gold edition cab if you are interested.  Nonworking, but pretty certain it is complete. I'm in eastern, pa.  Hit me up if interested and I can get u some pics.

[the3eyedblindman1]

OK, I found an original working NFL blitz machine by my house (just blitz...not 99, 2000 gold, etc). How hard would it be to incorporate showtime into this cabinet if I purchased?

[MonMotha]

Original Blitz runs on Seattle hardware.  Showtime and the combo versions run on Vegas hardware.  You would need to board swap.  The wiring harnesses are all the same otherwise.

[the3eyedblindman1]

So if I bought the nba showtime/ nfl blitz gold boardset all I would have to do is swap it for the NFL BLitz board thats already in the cabinet? Just a board swap? no rewiring or anything?

[the3eyedblindman1]

I just found you posted this below monmotha, so ill just paste it here so its easy to find...thanks.
You would need a full set of Vegas boards (all 3 boards) plus the I/O adapter board.  The I/O adapter board is used to convert the connector that Seattle used for the outputs to the I-40 board to the connector that Vegas uses.  If you can't find the I/O adapter board, it can be faked with a custom wiring harness.  If you only have 8-way joysticks or a 2 player cabinet (and hence no I-40 board), you don't need this, but a dedicated Blitz 99 setup should have 49-way sticks with an I-40, so if you aren't sure otherwise, you probably do need this I/O adapter board.

If you plan on buying the boardset separately from the game program (as in buying a Vegas boardset running something other than the Blitz/Showtime combo), you'll need to acquire all four items from the "upgrade kit": hard drive, boot ROM, security chip, and sound ROM.  If the boardset started out running Blitz or Showtime, then you probably (but I cannot confirm) do not need the sound ROM and possibly the boot ROM, but you still need the hard drive and security chip.  New upgrade kits are not generally available, but bootlegs are pretty common.  They usually work fine, but they aren't real.  Every once in a while, you can find someone with a NOS legit kit, but that's getting rare.

Easiest path is to buy a boardset already running the Blitz/Showtime combo.  Then it's just plug and play as long as you have that little I/O adapter board.

[the3eyedblindman1]

OK.. I just bought a dedicated NFL bLitz cabinet today for 475 dollars, perfect condition, and to my surprise, its been converted to an nfl blitz 2000 gold edition. So its a blitz machine playing nfl blitz 2000 gold edition. Since its already been converted, would it just make adding showtime to the cabinet a simple board swap from the blitz 2000 gold edition to an nfl blitz/ showtime combo board?

[MonMotha]

No different than an original NFL Blitz 97, but yes.  Just swap boards.  All the connectors should match up.