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B&W Multivector
Tithis:
Last year I bought a 19v2000 that only had the frame, wiring, tube & yoke, with the plan of hopefully either making an asteroids or a b&w multivector cabinet.
Last month or so I've been collecting bits to get the monitor up and running, and have started making plans for it.
First pictures of what I've gotten so far
First the frame, tube & yoke. Tube has a bit of burn in and a broken mounting tab, still workable though.
Then I had a chance to buy this and I couldn't resist, NOS tube that should be compatible if I want to do a swap.
Found a guy selling rebuilt deflection boards on ebay
Grabbed an Atari power brick, supposedly from a Battlezone
And I'm currently awaiting a HV cage from a guy on KLOV for a G05-802, which from my understanding is compatible with the 19V2000.
Since I've got a 25" upright and 19" cocktail MAME cabinets, a cabaret seems like a fitting form factor. I know the Atari cabarets only used 19" monitors in vertical orientation, so it will be a bit of a departure. Imagining it similar to this chatgpt generation.
Suppose the next thing I need to decide on and buy is how I'll be generating the vector signal. Figured with current availability I'm looking at either a Masteroids board or a VSTCM. Does anyone here have many opinions on either of them?
alfonzotan:
I would go with vstcm. I've tried a Masteroids board and wound up selling it, although I understand firmware updates since then have corrected a lot of the stuff I didn't like (not least including sound in Asteroids itself). vstcm would give you access to virtually every vector game, and more flexibility in the wiring hardness and controller interface (and on-screen interface, for that matter). And the open source origins of vstcm should mean improvements in the software available there, assuming it continues to get a bigger user base.
With the Masteroids the simplest thing would be to score an Asteroids or Deluxe wiring harness and adapt that to your build.
Tithis:
--- Quote from: alfonzotan on May 07, 2025, 03:56:10 pm ---I would go with vstcm. I've tried a Masteroids board and wound up selling it, although I understand firmware updates since then have corrected a lot of the stuff I didn't like (not least including sound in Asteroids itself). vstcm would give you access to virtually every vector game, and more flexibility in the wiring hardness and controller interface (and on-screen interface, for that matter). And the open source origins of vstcm should mean improvements in the software available there, assuming it continues to get a bigger user base.
With the Masteroids the simplest thing would be to score an Asteroids or Deluxe wiring harness and adapt that to your build.
--- End quote ---
Nice, someone who has used both.
So one thing I was wondering is if you noticed a difference in things like how bright the bullets in asteroids are? I've only seen one video of the vstcm doing asteroids on a b&w monitor and the bullets didn't look brighter vs the videos I saw of the masteroids board.
alfonzotan:
--- Quote from: Tithis on May 07, 2025, 05:48:13 pm ---
--- Quote from: alfonzotan on May 07, 2025, 03:56:10 pm ---I would go with vstcm. I've tried a Masteroids board and wound up selling it, although I understand firmware updates since then have corrected a lot of the stuff I didn't like (not least including sound in Asteroids itself). vstcm would give you access to virtually every vector game, and more flexibility in the wiring hardness and controller interface (and on-screen interface, for that matter). And the open source origins of vstcm should mean improvements in the software available there, assuming it continues to get a bigger user base.
With the Masteroids the simplest thing would be to score an Asteroids or Deluxe wiring harness and adapt that to your build.
--- End quote ---
Nice, someone who has used both.
So one thing I was wondering is if you noticed a difference in things like how bright the bullets in asteroids are? I've only seen one video of the vstcm doing asteroids on a b&w monitor and the bullets didn't look brighter vs the videos I saw of the masteroids board.
--- End quote ---
To be fair, I have not used a vstcm yet; I have the boards and parts but not the time to build one so far. But it's very similar to the USB-DVG, and I have used that board, a lot.
I think the issue with Asteroids bullets is due to color vs. B&W vector monitor. No question, on a color screen, the USB-DVG Asteroids bullets are... lame. But I suspect on a B&W they would be fine; I actually commented out both Asteroids games on my color multivector--because I have a real Asteroids Deluxe with a Braze kit sitting next to it, and both games play MUCH better on the real McCoy. I don't remember one way or the other whether bullet brightness was an issue with Masteroids, and based on it not making an impression I think they must have looked okay.
Tithis:
Decided to go with the VSTCM, the creator said it does handle the brightness correctly, and its cheaper and more versatile than the masteroids.
Had to modify the code a bit to compile, it has some undeclared variables in the vecsim.cpp file, which looks to be the built in emulator section.
Tried to get it working on my oscilloscope, but not even sure if it really has an XY mode or not. Both channels showed activity though.
Would have liked to see the tiny menu up on there, but most I get is a strange diffuse glowing. I've never used XY mode on this scope, so no idea if it works or not.
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