Namco System 246

[DJ Infinity]

Hey all,
I have bought a Namco System 246 from someone in this fine community. Unfortunatly I don't know anything about it anymore than what is listed on System 16 and KLOV. If any1 has info on this system could you please come forth and share it. I need to know what kind of JAMMA harness to buy, Whether or not the system will work with Perfect 360 joysticks?, Also could I bypass the adapter board and run the video str8 to the monitor? KLOV says it has VGA resolution on Soul Calibur II and what I am going to do is put that in My Mame cab that has a Monivision monitor. Also how many butoon does Soul Calibur II require? KLOV doesn't say. Thanx in advance  I would like to know this ASAP, in the morning I am going to a local vendor to pick up a power supply and a JAMMA harness for this.

[DJ Infinity]

I called an arcade in Cali. The guy said Soul Calibur II uses 5 buttons per player. Now to my understanding standard JAMMA uses 3 per player. What does one have to do to get the extra buttons? 

[DJ Infinity]

I found this thread useful. Sorry it is on another forum but people either don't have the system or are being tight lipped about it. Hopefully it'll help other 246 owners. It helped me.
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179587

[grantspain]

i wanted to post a reply last night but i was too drunk to type.
as you can see the jamma i/o board uses the standard jamma loom with both player buttons 1,2,3
the extra buttons are connected via the 10 way connection
i don't think it uses 5 buttons
what i/o board are you going to use?and also what monitor are you running on?

[CheffoJeffo]

I found this thread useful. Sorry it is on another forum but people either don't have the system or are being tight lipped about it.

Or weren't logged in ...

[DJ Infinity]

i wanted to post a reply last night but i was too drunk to type.
as you can see the jamma i/o board uses the standard jamma loom with both player buttons 1,2,3
the extra buttons are connected via the 10 way connection
i don't think it uses 5 buttons
what i/o board are you going to use?and also what monitor are you running on?

Lol it's cool. I called an arcade that has it. They told me it takes five buttons. I'll be using whatever I/O board comes with it. I'll be running it on a 27in VGA Monivision monitor.

[grantspain]

o.k well buttons 4 and 5 to the extra connector and vga direct from the 246 mobo to the monitor
good linky

http://www.namco.co.uk/PDF-manuals/namco-manuals/Soul_Calibur2_Kit_Manual.pdf

[DJ Infinity]

o.k well buttons 4 and 5 to the extra connector and vga direct from the 246 mobo to the monitor
good linky

http://www.namco.co.uk/PDF-manuals/namco-manuals/Soul_Calibur2_Kit_Manual.pdf

Ok so I can run to the monitor direct and bypass the JAMMA harness for video. CAn I use perfect 360 joysticks on it?

[grantspain]

yes you can bypass the jamma i/o board for the video but you need to make sure your mobo switch settings are set to 31khz
i am not familiar with the 360 stick but from what i have seen its a usb stick,if thats the case you would need to hack the cable
piece of wee if you are good at wiring

[grantspain]

o.k forget what i said about the stick,i was thinking about the ultimarc 360 stick
the perfect 360 should work perfectly well,just needs connecting to a +5volts dc source on the jamma i/o or edge connector
easy job

[DJ Infinity]

yes you can bypass the jamma i/o board for the video but you need to make sure your mobo switch settings are set to 31khz
i am not familiar with the 360 stick but from what i have seen its a usb stick,if thats the case you would need to hack the cable
piece of wee if you are good at wiring

Hehe the Perfect 360 is not usb   it has switch connectors on the botom. It is However electrical and requires 5v to run. There are plenty of places to get that. Thanx a lot for all your help. What is gonna happen is I'm going to have my Mamecab pull double duty as a Mame and JAMMA cab. I found some switch splitters and am going to get those. This way I'll be able to use the same controller for both Mame & JAMMA. My inital idea was to build a separate controller and I still might do that in the future.

[DJ Infinity]

While I have your attention. Will Perfect 360's work on my "Vegas" board? or my "Seattle" board without an I-40? I need to know this in case my I-40 ever konks out. I don't have 49 way sticks on my "Vegas" board setup so could they work on it without the AUX I/O board?

[grantspain]

bloody hell you ask a lot of questions,
not that familiar with midway stuff(got a bit) but they are both jamma boards so there are no problems
whats the hell is an i-40,not come across that in 22 years of arcade engineering

[DJ Infinity]

LOL!!! sorry for being a n00b. I am trying to learn so I won't hafta ask so much  the I-40 is a necessary evil when connecting 49 way optical joysticks for Blitz and the like Thanx for all your help. I guess I should just do some experimenting. 

[grantspain]

i see ,the I-40 is a optical converter for the joystick

[DJ Infinity]

o.k well buttons 4 and 5 to the extra connector and vga direct from the 246 mobo to the monitor
good linky

http://www.namco.co.uk/PDF-manuals/namco-manuals/Soul_Calibur2_Kit_Manual.pdf

*Update* My system came today. I am missing that extra connector. Do you happen to know where I can order one?

[grantspain]

http://www.giz10p.co.uk/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=7
otherwise make one yourself

[DJ Infinity]

urm that page didn't have it. I would attempt to DIY but I don't know where to get a plastic piece 

[grantspain]

http://www.giz10p.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=78

[DJ Infinity]

I ordered this actually and I do belive it will work.

http://www.jammaboards.com/store/sf2-kick-harness/prod_48.html

as far as the 4 pin connector goes for stereo sound I cut off a floppy power  cable off a dead power supply. Once I figure out the AC wiring and get this unit in my cab I will work out the additional audio connector. Thank You for all your help 

[grantspain]

don't look right to me mate,find out when it turns up though

[DJ Infinity]

I ordered this actually and I do belive it will work.

http://www.jammaboards.com/store/sf2-kick-harness/prod_48.html

I had to cut off the plastic piece on the end and it works perfectly!

[grantspain]

thats jolly good then

[northerngames]

I had a soul calibur 2 set if you go to namcoarcade.com and go to their tech support they will give you a link to download the manual for soul calibur 2 and also you can request one for the namco system 246 itself.

you should have a namco 246 I/O that has a jamma fingerboard built into it with all the connections you need.

the 15K/31K switch is on the system itself.

the video output is a vga cord if your monitor does not accept a vga plug then get a vga breakout cable connect it to your vga plug and hook it up that way if needed.

I can't believe when I opened mine it was darn near identicale to the Version 5 PS2 motherboards and the controller port and memory ports are the same as a ps2's.

[DJ Infinity]

I had a soul calibur 2 set if you go to namcoarcade.com and go to their tech support they will give you a link to download the manual for soul calibur 2 and also you can request one for the namco system 246 itself.

you should have a namco 246 I/O that has a jamma fingerboard built into it with all the connections you need.

the 15K/31K switch is on the system itself.

the video output is a vga cord if your monitor does not accept a vga plug then get a vga breakout cable connect it to your vga plug and hook it up that way if needed.

I can't believe when I opened mine it was darn near identicale to the Version 5 PS2 motherboards and the controller port and memory ports are the same as a ps2's.

Thank you Northerngames. I have a manual for Soul Calibur II already and I printed it. However I didn't know you could request one for the system itself. That might come in handy. Currently I have the video coming out the front str8 into my LCD and I must say the picture is really nice. A Big thank you goes to Kjoel for selling me this system. So far I have Soul Calibur II & Tekken 4 for it. My Plans for this are to mount inside my Mamecab along with Tekken Tag Tournament, NFL Blitz, and If I do well this weekend a Atomiswave system with King Of Fighters Neowave. This cab will be able to pull double duty Mame & JAMMA with a switch of control panels and a computer hookup for Mame. The panel came in from Mameroom today and I have it all wired up and ready to go. All I have to do there is get a mounting system for it simailar to my Mame control panel. I think when I get it assembled I will do a thread in project announcements. Thanks to everyone on these boards that have helped me out & put up with me being a N00b to JAMMA and answered my dumb questions