n00b got a Gyruss bootleg boardset....

[RoadWarrior]

Hi guys,

I'm a n00b at this whole thing. What kicked me off is, I bought a box full of electronic junk, thinking I might get some useful parts, and realised the two big boards in there looked like they came out of an arcade machine. Many hours of research later, I've come to the conclusion they are a Gyruss bootleg board set.

They've got some parts missing so I've got some work to do. Looks like 2 74x138s and 3 ROMs are missing so far. I aquired some ROM images in case I need them.

So I was wondering if original Gyruss troubleshooting info and schematics are close enough to the bootlegs that I won't get into trouble too much referring to them. Also I was wondering about how to power it up, since I haven't got a cabinet of any sort. I've got plenty of old AT PSUs, are those beefy enough?

Also I was curious about the video output, I've got the edge connector pinout, but I don't see much on the board that to my mind looks like video circuitry, so I was wondering if it's an analog RGB signal there, or a TTL RGB signal or what. I've got an Amiga 1084S monitor that takes RGB. I've also got a SEGA modulator I could hack.

I'd also like to have an idea, of how much these boards are worth, working. I'm likely to do it just for the hell of it, but it would be nice to know whether I'm spending time and money out of proportion to it's value on it. Also what they are worth dead would be good to know too, in case I find I'm out of my depth, and wanna trade it in for something more n00b friendly.

Heh, asking lots in one post, but I was wondering also, if I get it running, what kind of cabinets are suited to it? Can it work with JAMMA adapters? I'd like to get something not too large for it if I could. I might just end up putting it into an old desktop PC case and wiring a monitor plug and "joyboard" plug into it, and having the controls on a seperate console like a keyboard.

Thanks muchly in adavance for any advice etc,

Road Warrior

[rchadd]

heres a pic of the cabinet

theres some link to manuals here http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=G&game_id=8060

[paigeoliver]

If you aren't already well versed in board repairs then just take your $5 for it on ebay. A fully working bootleg Gyruss board should be worth about $30. A non-bootleg should go about $50.

A bootleg board missing parts is essentially only good for parts, and NOT something to base a project around.

[rchadd]

gyruss is excellent game though

[RoadWarrior]

gyruss is excellent game though

Yeah, I only decided to bother with it when I found out what fun it was. If it had turned out to be some sports license or something I'd have probably pulled the board apart for the chips.

I'm not really "well versed" in board repair, but I've got half a clue. At least I can reasonably be expected to solder the missing logic chips back in without burning off the pads. I'm an electronics tinkerer, built a few circuits, managed to fix the odd thing etc. Did a practical lab with 8 bit CPUs at school etc. So I think it's worth me giving it a shot until it turns out to be too much grief.

Unless an empty cabinet falls in my lap cheap, I think I'm going to more or less "console-ise" it for the time being. Put it in a box with the PSU and plugs for video, audio, and probably an atari type joystick socket (if the wiring works out for that)

I might be tempted into building a cocktail cab for it eventually. Possibly with a changeover switch, so I can rebuild the JAKKs Pacific galaxian/pacman/bosconian/RallyX/DigDug stick I've got into it too. Will only really need to switch video and audio over I think if Gyruss is vertical, because I'll just have the Jakks controller on the side and the Gyruss stick on the end. I wanted to make a cocktail style unit for the Jakks thing anyway.

thanks for the responses so far,

Road Warrior

[paigeoliver]

Also, if the board is missing parts then it probably already has something ELSE wrong with it. And even if you DO get it working, it is a bootleg, and will probably have crappy audio quality, and/or other issues.

Really, you have a parts board that is worth $5 or less. Buy a good non-bootleg board if you want a project.