Double Project

[jrbean]

Sheesh...How did I end up starting with 2 project cabinets?

First, I bought a reasonable plain cabinet, complete with working NEO GEO 2-slot game (probably a conversion--the cab says it is from Data East). It also came with cartridges for Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move and Samurai Shodown.



I brought it home, which (as expected) made me a big hit with the kids. My wife quickly decided that she really liked playing Bust-A-Move, and that she would rather end up with something nicer looking than a plain black box in the basement. 

She reminded me that I had also found a nifty non-working NBA JAM game, which would be much more appropriate to build my own control panel for than the NEO GEO with its curvy metal panel. Look at that nice big flat control panel surface on the NBA JAM!



So, at this point, I'm going to be working on the NBA JAM cabinet, while everyone else continues to play on the NEO GEO.  Not sure what I'm going to be doing with the NEO GEO once I'm done. Maybe I'll start collecting NEO GEO carts, or something.

I got started with the NBA JAM cabinet over the weekend. I decided that the first order of business was to get the original game and monitor to work...

Monitor

When I bought the system, the monitor (a Hantarex Polo 25) was completely dark. The previous owner told me that it had worked until he moved it, so I was confident that there was very little wrong with it. I heard the telltale snap-snap noise, so I decided (against the advice of a friend) to install a new Flyback Transformer and cap kit to see if I could resurrect it. When I got the chassis board out of there to look closely, I saw that it had lots of burn marks on the board, lots of rework, and several places with traces that had torn loose from the PCB. Hmmmm....

Thinking positively, I went ahead and installed the new parts. Now it is completely dead--0V at B+, but at least it doesn't snap any more  . At this point, I think I'm going to cut my losses and order a new chassis board for it.

Game PCB

Not much to say here either...on powerup it beeps, but then I get no music or anything. I managed to get it into a mode where it makes loud exploding noises when I press buttons.  Not sure what that means because the "Service Manual" I bought doesn't have any useful diagnostic info.

I was hoping to get this working again, because I don't plan to hack up the chassis and harness, and it might be useful if I ever want to put it back together to sell. Looks like I can get a working board for $50, so I don't think I'll put much effort into this. Maybe I'll try again once I bring the monitor back to life.

Plans

From looking at everyone else's cool projects, it looks like I'm starting with a fairly tame MAME conversion...

Cabinet: The cabinet graphics are in good shape, so I'm going to leave it looking like an NBA JAM. Really only need to clean it off because my wife thinks it smells like smoke.

Controls: Start with NBA JAM's original 4 player controls, add a MiniPAC.  Later, add additional control panels for a track ball and spinner, some kind of setup with more buttons, and a racing wheel.

Monitor: Resurrect the Hantarex Polo (RCA Tube) with a new chassis and neck board.

CPU: Start with my recently replaced Athlon XP system, and upgrade from there...

Graphics: ArcadeVGA with Video Amp

Extras: Where to start?? Those neat-o 3-color LED buttons look cool.

I'll post more pics as I go along. If anyone has any requests for pics of anything I'm doing, please say so. I don't think I've done anything interesting so far, but the monitor chassis swapout may be interesting.

[shardian]

I have a friend locally who is trying to sell an nba jam board cheap. Noone bid on it on ebay. I'll pass this thread onto him.

[Cyberflexx]

I have one for sale.. It does not have the sound board.  i put it in my neogeo machine and it will boot to a NBA Jam Test Diag screen.  Other than that I havent tested it.  I could trade for neo geo carts .. email me.. cyberflexx@gmail.com

[jrbean]

After a few false starts on repairing the monitor in the NBA JAM (see http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62023.msg615607 for details), I purchased a new Wei-Ya M825HR from Alva Amusements.

I had previously rewired the NBA JAM control panel with a MiniPAC, so I quickly unpacked the monitor and plugged it in. Wow!


The new monitor was slightly smaller than the old one, so I ended up making some bracket extensions so that I could mount it:





Once I got it mounted and centered, I disassembled the PC, and mounted it all to the original game board with L-brackets and standoffs:




I installed the whole thing...



and fired it up...



Yow!

Note that the Wei-Ya monitor now fits *inside* the bezel that was sized for the Hantarex Polo 25".  There is a 1/4" gap all of the way around the monitor, which I guess is ok, since this monitor is much flatter than the Polo, so the bezel wouldn't fit flush anyways.

I have posted lots of pics of the monitor, and some additional arcade pics in my pbase gallery: http://www.pbase.com/jrbean/arcade

Next on the list:
*Tidy the wiring in the back of the cabinet
*Replace the noisy CPU fan -- the whole cab resonates when the PC is on
*Replace the control panel. I'm thinking of a 2 player panel with a trackball and maybe a spinner in the middle. Maybe with a hardwood surface to look like a basketball court.
*Hook up the coin door & charge the neighborhood kids! (heh-just kidding :-)

John

[needlesmcgirk]

Looking great so far, nice work!

[jrbean]

A quick update...haven't posted in a while.

I tackled the speakers next.  I was using a pair of cheap PC speakers sitting on top of the chassis, but what I really wanted was something with some reasonable volume, and quality good enough for some part time digital jukebox useage.

On the recommendation of a friend, I purchased a CyberAcoustics CA-3550 2.1 speaker set. One unusual thing about this set (at least in this price range--$35.00) is the 10 Watt amp for the L/R speakers. The included speakers were 4 Ohm, so I figured that pairing them with 4 Ohm auto speakers would be best, and purchased some inexpensive 3-way WalMart car speakers ($19.95).

I violently ripped into the speakers to get the amp board and wiring harness, and added long wires to the speakers.

The cabinet was wired for mono sound (a 6" speaker, and a 2.5"):


I didn't want to take apart the cabinet, and wasn't sure I could hold my *heavy* router upside down long enough to cut a hole, so I splurged on a Bosch RotoZip tool (http://www.rotozip.com), and made a wood template using the RotoZip's circle cutting jig that I could bolt into the cabinet using the speaker mounting holes:



I found that you had to keep the RotoZip moving quickly through the particleboard to keep it from burning. Also, the bit is small, so the template must be very smooth to avoid getting jammed (mine wasn't smooth enough). Even so, I did manage to cut pretty respectable holes, and know how to make really nice ones next time.

With the speakers mounted, it looks like this:



The next project is to tidy the speaker wires, and mount the amp/control board inside the control panel for easy access.

John
 

[castlesteve]

Your friend is nuts. 

Looks good John... you make it look too easy.

-s