My "New Astro City"

ondafly

I'm going to try and update this thread from time to time, with pics/videos etc of my first candy cabinet and games I manage to pick up etc. Its a 1995 New Astro City made by Sega.

A quick video I made over the weekend - apologies for the audio, need to learn how to do all this stuff !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPicC3k-QQQ

Feel free to subscribe to me on youtube :pac:

Pyongyang

I just had a crisis.

Pyongyang

By the way, little tip on the audio. I use a Kodak Zi8 for my videos (record in 1080p or 720p depending on what I'm doing). Going to switch to my Nikon DSLR for HD video soon as I get a new tripod. My current Gorillapod won't take the weight of a DSLR.

For audio I use an external stereo mic. Look for the fake Sony ones from HK. They are allegedly made to the same specs and checking audio comparisons on YouTube shows little to no difference in quality.

Real deal is about 40-50 Enda Kenny luncheon vouchers. Fakes cost around 2 Brian Cowen scratcher dockets.

Hama make a juicy little clip on mic too for around 17 IMF tokens. Grab that on Amazon UK.

ondafly

I'm using a Canon hf10 on a tripod, and it was recorded in 1080p, but alas my DSL would take years to upload, so I downgraded the video to 480p

Pyongyang

ondafly wrote: »

I'm using a Canon hf10 on a tripod, and it was recorded in 1080p, but alas my DSL would take years to upload, so I downgraded the video to 480p

480p is usually more than enough. I tend to worry more about sound quality. Investing in an external mic is money well spent if you plan on making lots of videos.

Andrew76

Thanks for the video ondafly, looking forward to seeing some more.

Just a few noob questions about your speaker setup - the xbox is connected to the logitech amp, then the speaker wires coming from the amp are snipped and fed into a "sega" plug. That then feeds directly into the cabinet connector for its speakers, have I got that right? That doesn't damage the cab speakers does it? Or why did you not just stick with the logitech speakers themselves - no mounting space? Lastly, where can I get that sega plug (or whatever it's name) from? Cheers.

ondafly

Cheers ! I have 2 more videos to put up, but my DSL is soooo slow. (don't forget to subscribe to my channel <--shameless plug )

so think of your standard PC speaker setup, they always give you that one green 3.5mm plug ? well I've connected that plug to a 3.5mm to 2 phono leads (red&white/L&R), obviously these are both male connections, so I've joined them using a gender convertor. (all quite rude really ) This will also enable me to take audio from pretty much any modern console, even simpler again, if I put in a pc, I can just connect the 3.5mm audio lead straight into the PC


So that takes care of the audio input. For the audio output, there are 2 wires coming out of the sub (left and right), and these were connected to the 2 logitech speakers. They are quite small and don't really pack a punch at all, and the overall power output will never blow the cabinet's standard speakers. I felt it was cleaner to connect them up to the cabinet speakers, and I wouldn't have to worry about mounting the logitechs.

This is the actual speakers - note that they have a wired remote for audio.

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/LOGITECH-LS21-21-Speaker-System/297865/8.13

I picked up the sega plugs from below - plus the pins. For the actual wiring, I just used what was on the logitech speakers.

http://www.starcab.net/index.php?cPath=90_201

If you're placing an order, can you let me know, and I'll go halves on shipping, as theres a few things, only a few euro worth, I want to pick up.

PS - haven't forgotten about the 50yen coins should be able to have a tonne more after my trip later this year too.

Andrew76

Brilliant thanks for all that info (and yes I had already subscribed ). Yeah audio from PC was the reason I was asking, thought I heard you saying in the video that any 3.5mm jack source would work, it's a nice solution using the cab speakers. If you had the time it would be nice to get a short video showing the trail from xbox/pc to cab connectors etc (just leave the machine off this time so we can hear you ).
Ah no worries about those coins, if you can grab a handful over there I'll gladly take some off ya. Will give you a shout about ordering, just a bit slow getting the list of items I want together - will defo compare prices between starcabs and arcadeshop.de though.

unky chop chop

Ahh now it makes sense.

I bought a cheap 12v amp from ebay..



The sound is actually excellent. I saw it recommended on another cab site and it really does pack a punch
Unfortunatly it came with the bass adjust broken so i'll get another
I'm gonna connect this to 12v from jamma for power, connect the two RCA leads from Xbox vga lead to the amp and then do what you've done with sega connector and speakers to eliminate the need for extra speakers.

unky chop chop

Hey Ondafly,

What do you use to crimp the AMP pins.
Can I just use a needle nose pliers and bend the bits over like on a Jamma Pin or is it advisable to get something else

ondafly

unky chop chop wrote: »

Hey Ondafly,

What do you use to crimp the AMP pins.
Can I just use a needle nose pliers and bend the bits over like on a Jamma Pin or is it advisable to get something else

thats all I did - well I stripped off a bit of wire, and fed it through as far as possible into the pins, than clamped them down (they have small metal tabs). I then threw a bit of solder over the connections - this is probably overkill though :pac:

ondafly

hopefully have a video up today detailing the xbox360 audio/video setup (damn slow DSL). In the meantime heres a slightly related video I did about removing the CPS2 chips - for Phoenix'ing

Trailer :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHsXNGEH700

Real deal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkRb4S4b9RY

ondafly

as promised & requested by Andrew76. Longish video detailing the xbox360 connected to the cab. Hopefully next week I'll have an additional video showing the control panel connections for Xbox360 etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oN_wZVqCCE

Andrew76

ondafly wrote: »

as promised & requested by Andrew76. Longish video detailing the xbox360 connected to the cab. Hopefully next week I'll have an additional video showing the control panel connections for Xbox360 etc.

vid

That video doesn't load - saying it's private?

ondafly

Andrew76 wrote: »

That video doesn't load - saying it's private?

fixed - imovie by default makes them private on youtube.

Andrew76

ondafly wrote: »

fixed - imovie by default makes them private on youtube.

Thanks for doing that dude, much appreciated. Clear as crystal how it all connects up now.

unky chop chop

Cheers man.I couldnt find a vga gender bender for love or money.maplins petes harvey norman,you name it,all sold out.Ordered off amazon in the end

Steve X2

That video sure cleared up in my mind how to connect a PC/Xbox to the cab.

The only thing I'm not sure of is which AMP UP thingy I need to get from this site:
http://www.starcab.net/index.php?cPath=90_201

Also, the black audio connection you show at 1min 47 seconds, does that just plug into the "sega plug" or did you hard wire it in?

If you had a close up pic of that particular bit that would really help me out.

I'll be picking up a few bits from starcab in the next week or 2 so if you do want anything let me know and I'll stick it on the order and we can sort out the postage etc.

ondafly

Steve SI wrote: »

The only thing I'm not sure of is which AMP UP thingy I need to get from this site:
http://www.starcab.net/index.php?cPath=90_201

I'm not 100% sure the Egrets use the same connections as the Sega Astros ? I used a 4pin socket with the 4 pins. Also a good point is, the pictures on that site do not match what the actual plugs look like !

Steve SI wrote: »

Also, the black audio connection you show at 1min 47 seconds, does that just plug into the "sega plug" or did you hard wire it in?

If you had a close up pic of that particular bit that would really help me out.

I'll be picking up a few bits from starcab in the next week or 2 so if you do want anything let me know and I'll stick it on the order and we can sort out the postage etc.

The black audio connection is literally the left and right wires from back of the logitech speakers, it does look like a plug, but its actually my super L33t electrical tape covering the above AMP UP socket

Andrew76

ondafly wrote: »

I'm not 100% sure the Egrets use the same connections as the Sega Astros ? I used a 4pin socket with the 4 pins.

I think you're right about that, was looking into this last night and came across this link to hook up a Taito stereo amp. Looks like the stereo connector is that F plug below.

ondafly

and looks like you can buy them here

http://www.starcab.net/index.php?cPath=90_199

Steve X2

ondafly wrote: »

and looks like you can buy them here

http://www.starcab.net/index.php?cPath=90_199

Cheers,
Looks like the one I will probably want is this one
http://www.starcab.net/product_info.php?cPath=90_199&products_id=677

It's kind of hard to plan anything like this without having the actual cab but I'm going to try and have everything I need to hook up a PC/Xbox360/modded PS3 as well as the MVS before the cab arrives. Not forgetting my Robocop Jamma PCB of course

My 64GB SSD drive and 3TB standard hard drive arrived this morning for the Hyperspin PC I'm building to go inside the cab so thats almost done, just need to get the arcadeVGA card and a few other small bits and that side of things is done.
Not sure whether to mount the PC motherboard on a wooden or plastic base. Few guys online say to go with heat resistant plastic (IKEA chopping boards were mentioned) and then most people go with wood in the end.

I've decided to stick an order in to starcab tomorrow for a few things so if you or anyone else can recommend any other bits I might need I'd appreciate it.

.

Andrew76

Doesn't look like they have the 2 pin JST VH fella though?

Will that SSD make much difference for HS? Or is it more for loading the PC games? I toyed with the idea of getting one a while back to improve boot time but they didn't seem massively faster.

Steve X2

Andrew76 wrote: »

Doesn't look like they have the 2 pin JST VH fella though?

Will that SSD make much difference for HS? Or is it more for loading the PC games? I toyed with the idea of getting one a while back to improve boot time but they didn't seem massively faster.

Well I use good SSD's on my main PC and the difference is huge(boot speed, performance, sound levels, temperatures).
I'll stick the main OS on the SSD and also the main hyperspin installation, without the bulk of the media and games of course. I'll see how much room I have left and move the most used systems and games onto the SSD.
SSD's are dropping in price these days and they make such a difference to the performance of PC that it should definitely be considered if your building a new one.

.

ondafly

SSDs are fantastic - they are possible the only working snake oil in existence !

@Steve - I'll certainly jump in on that order with you to Starcabs, as I've a few small things I want to order. I'll drop you a PM later on with the item details.

Steve X2

ondafly wrote: »

SSDs are fantastic - they are possible the only working snake oil in existence !

@Steve - I'll certainly jump in on that order with you to Starcabs, as I've a few small things I want to order. I'll drop you a PM later on with the item details.

Yeah, just let me know what you want to stick on the order.

While I'm at it is there anything on that site that I should pick up for my Egret 3?
Any parts or other bits that I might need that you can think of?

.

ondafly

I'm sure theres a few things - maybe just think through exactly what you want to do.

for instance I'm doing the following for controls

Xbox360 MadCatz FightPad ----plugs into----> Dual Strike 2 PCB (€25) ----which has 1 USB port into PC/XBOX/PS3/MAC PLUS wires to each button on the arcade cabinet that are used by Player1. I do the same again for Player2

so I literally have a usb cable that plugs into whatever machine I want to use, I obviously need to connect up audio and video too. I used 4 AMP UP connectors to build it up, and then my CPS2 arrived, and I ended up using one of the AMP UP connectors DOH. So my suggestion is order plenty of spares !

Steve X2

ondafly wrote: »

I'm sure theres a few things - maybe just think through exactly what you want to do.

for instance I'm doing the following for controls

Xbox360 MadCatz FightPad ----plugs into----> Dual Strike 2 PCB (€25) ----which has 1 USB port into PC/XBOX/PS3/MAC PLUS wires to each button on the arcade cabinet that are used by Player1. I do the same again for Player2

so I literally have a usb cable that plugs into whatever machine I want to use, I obviously need to connect up audio and video too. I used 4 AMP UP connectors to build it up, and then my CPS2 arrived, and I ended up using one of the AMP UP connectors DOH. So my suggestion is order plenty of spares !

Still not really sure what these AMP UP connectors are or which ones I need to get.
I guess it will all be clear when I get the cab and start doing the practical work rather than the theory work

Would be nice to have all these things before it arrives so I don't need to re-order and wait for stuff though.

.

Andrew76

Steve SI wrote: »

Cheers,
Looks like the one I will probably want is this one
http://www.starcab.net/product_info.php?cPath=90_199&products_id=677

It's kind of hard to plan anything like this without having the actual cab but I'm going to try and have everything I need to hook up a PC/Xbox360/modded PS3 as well as the MVS before the cab arrives. Not forgetting my Robocop Jamma PCB of course

My 64GB SSD drive and 3TB standard hard drive arrived this morning for the Hyperspin PC I'm building to go inside the cab so thats almost done, just need to get the arcadeVGA card and a few other small bits and that side of things is done.
Not sure whether to mount the PC motherboard on a wooden or plastic base. Few guys online say to go with heat resistant plastic (IKEA chopping boards were mentioned) and then most people go with wood in the end.

I've decided to stick an order in to starcab tomorrow for a few things so if you or anyone else can recommend any other bits I might need I'd appreciate it.

.

Assume you've got your J-Pac, PS/2 keyboard sorted and the usual wiring, crimper tool, connectors for hooking up buttons 4,5,6 and anything else? Wiring kits and J-Pac can be gotten from ultimarc along with your arcadevga. All obvious things but sometimes can be forgotten amongst all the details.

Lots of info on ultimarc about the J-Pac but here's a nice youtube video showing it getting hooked up in a candy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gczl5j6Xqgk

Steve X2

Andrew76 wrote: »

Lots of info on ultimarc about the J-Pac but here's a nice youtube video showing it getting hooked up in a candy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gczl5j6Xqgk

Nice video that actually. It looks fairly easy to set the whole thing up.

cheers