CGA to VGA - How To Power Monitor?

[gb_phil]

Hey All,

I'm very much a noob when it comes to arcade stuff so please excuse my question.

I have a dedicated arcade game (not a MAME setup) that I'm wanting to pull the old monitor from since it has really bad screen burn in. I have a VGA CRT monitor laying around that I'm going to throw in it. I purchased the CGA to VGA converter so that I can use this VGA monitor with my JAMMA board. But what I'm still trying to figure out is how the monitor will actually power on. The monitor in there now appears to have two cables running to a MOLEX which then runs to a transformer or something at the bottom of the cabinet. But my new monitor just has the regular old three prong plug that plugs right into the wall. I'd like to avoid two power cords running out the back. Maybe I could get a smart strip or something or is there a way to hard wire that new monitor to the arcade so that only the one power cord is required and flipping the switch turns everything on.

[CraftyMech]

Go with the power strip inside the cab, a lot of MAME builders do the same thing.

The transformer in the bottom of the cab is an isolation transformer, and your old arcade monitor required it. Your VGA monitor has one built in, so it can be plugged directly into an outlet. The easiest way is to just use the power strip, and resist the temptation to wire the monitor power cable into the power supply for the cab.

You'll also need an outlet for the power supply of your VGA converter board, so using a power strip will give you somewhere to plug that into as well.

[gb_phil]

Thanks for the reply!

I think this board comes with a 5 volt connection that goes into the power supply in the cabinet. But again, I'm a total noob here so maybe it won't work like that for my cabinet.

So back to the strip...if I get a smart strip and plug the monitor and the old arcade plug into that and then run the strip's power cord out the back and into the wall...will flipping the switch on the cabinet turn everything on? Or how do I go about getting all that to work?

[mgb]

You can just take the 120 volt line that comes from the isolation transformer to feed the existing monitor and cut the plug end off a power strip and hardwire it to that power that used to feed the monitor.
Then just plug your VGA monitor into it.
Then your VGA monitor will turn on when you turn on your cabinet.
(That is as long as your monitor will turn when power is supplied without having to push the power switch each time.)