My Latest Man Cave Addition... (feat. a foreword by Greg Evigan)

Pyongyang

Foreword by Greg Evigan



Hello. My name is Greg Evigan, you may remember me from the hit 80's sitcom 'My Two Dads' and my brief, failed music career that followed shortly after the series wrapped.

I speak to you today on behalf of Pyongyang who has decided to buy a Sega New Astro City arcade cabinet. More affectionately known as, Candy Cabs (not to be confused with the failed TV series of the same name).

I was always an enthusiastic gamer. I grew my hair out. Business at the front, party at the back. Unfortunately my addiction to prescription multivitamins and Recca led to calls for work drying up and my ultimate stardom demise. I am now a quantative surveyor and spend my evenings in my camper van in San Pablo, Laguna examining the interfrastical properties of photosynthetic kenisis derived from Vanilla McDonalds milkshakes.

Enjoy this event/show and/or product.*

Greg.

(*delete as applicable)


My Candy Cab by Pyongyang (Aged 31 and 3/4)

So I decided to go the whole hog and get a cab (mostly thanks to my experience with using MVS on a plasma TV). The Windy dream however, is dead. It's simply near on impossible to get replacement parts for and there is nowhere near as much info and help or a community quite like the Astro City one. So in the end I made what I believe was a sensible choice.

I sourced a cabinet in the UK, it's all been resprayed professionally, fixed up a treat. Apparently the monitor has 1 pixel red out in the bottom right of the monitor. It's an MS9 dual sync, I opted for this to keep costs down and have had a VGA > CGA hardware card fitted professionally instead. I'll maybe get a tri-sync another day, for now I just wanted a cab for a good price in good nick!

It's been set up with 4 buttons per player, all Sanwa and holes 5,6 capped for later use. It's all power converted to 240v too so no faffing with transformers and the like just plug in and go.

My baby is arriving on Friday so I have to finish my man cave in time! Here's a few snaps of my system taken yesterday. Not very nice shots, more to show me the details before it's shipped this afternoon, but I'll take more when it's delivered. I just hope it doesn't rain on Friday as I need to take it apart to fit in my front door!










Finally, here's some better photos of my cabinet that were taken before it was worked on. I have a screen test photo too but seem to have misplaced it.

Andrew76

Pyongyang

Thanks mate! Forgot to mention in the original post, a big thank you to Andrew76 and SteveSI who helped me out with loads of questions on cabs. Nice one lads!

o1s1n

YOU DID IT?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID IT!!!

well done dude, looks like a beauty

Pyongyang

o1s1n wrote: »

YOU DID IT?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID IT!!!

well done dude, looks like a beauty

Yep. Got the full blessing from the wife too (although I owe her like, 800 million pairs of shoes I think was the deal). Delighted with the setup. Yer man says that with the dual sync and the hardware card I've had fitted to sit alongside the JAMMA I can connect anything VGA to it and convert to CGA for use on the monitor. Means I can add Dreamcast, PC Engine, XBOX 360 etc using a straight VGA or throw in my scaler, sync strike etc.

Opting for dual instead of tri really kept the cost down so I'm happy out with that. I can always upgrade another day.

Can't quite believe I'm getting a cab either haha!

Steve X2

Congrats dude.
It looks great and welcome to the club

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMICD3aMZpw

.

Myrddin

Steve SI wrote: »

Congrats dude.
It looks great and welcome to the club

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMICD3aMZpw

.

Hopefully that song doesn't become a harbinger of candy death. The last time it was played was for o1s1n...

purplec

Magic sponge and some novus and a bit of elbow grease and it will look really well.

Jack burton

Are candy cabs the new vectrex around here? Seems everyone is getting them now

Of course Purplec was right, its addictive. I really want to get a another jamma cab to keep it company. Mabye Street Fighter 2, good luck to that though, dont even remember seeing s SF 2 cab around here when I was younger

Andrew76

purplec wrote: »

Magic sponge and some novus and a bit of elbow grease and it will look really well.

Where can you get those chaps do you know?

80s Synth Pop

Very nice cab Pyongyang. Would love a cab myself. A candy cab or an Electrocoin Duet if one could ever be found....

Pyongyang

I remember those Electrocoin cabs. Happy memories.

Is it Friday yet?

Is it Friday now?

Now?

..................................Now?


























..............................Now?

Pyongyang

Andrew76 wrote: »

Where can you get those chaps do you know?

Pound shop usually has them. I'm going on a spree on Thursday afternoon. Socket set, lots of WD-40 and a magic sponge.

Almost sounds pervy. :pac:

Jack burton

WOAH! Never saw one of them before. Well look I'd settle for a standing cab :P So anyone out there with one I'll take it sure

Pyongyang

Jack burton wrote: »

Of course Purplec was right, its addictive. I really want to get a another jamma cab to keep it company.

I know the feeling. One day these will be mine! (I wish).

purplec

@Andrew yep pound shop for the sponge and eBay for novus 1 to 3

@pyongyang I would also suggest a torx security set halfords or maplins

Take the monitor out before you move the cab upstairs also it will be 50 kg less and I think it's in a cage so should be easy

Pyongyang

purplec wrote: »

@pyongyang I would also suggest a torx security set halfords or maplins

Take the monitor out before you move the cab upstairs also it will be 50 kg less and I think it's in a cage so should be easy

Thanks purplec. I found a really good guide with photos on how to dismantle an Astro completely. Looks reasonably simple. I just don't want to have to rush if it's lashing outside.

I was planning on going to Halfords for the socket set. Can you get torx there too you reckon?

I read somewhere taking the monitor out is a good idea. Though I'm worried to do it now due to the problems young Steven Emmanuelle Ulysses SI is having with his monitor swap.

Plan is:

Get the front base off outside the gaf. Shove it in the doorway. If the driver is sound I'm hoping he/she will help me get the front off and the cab in the gaf.

Chuck the driver a few bob if they help me out.

Plug it in in the hallway.

Endure endless thumps in the arm and "get it out of my house!" scoldings from the wife.

Test the cab.

Clean it in the hallway.

Pull the monitor out.

Get wife to help me hoof the cab upstairs and the monitor.

Put it all together.

Play Blazing Star in my y-fronts for the rest of the day.

Steve X2

Pyongyang wrote: »

Thanks purplec. I found a really good guide with photos on how to dismantle an Astro completely. Looks reasonably simple. I just don't want to have to rush if it's lashing outside.

I was planning on going to Halfords for the socket set. Can you get torx there too you reckon?

I read somewhere taking the monitor out is a good idea. Though I'm worried to do it now due to the problems young Steven Emmanuelle Ulysses SI is having with his monitor swap.

For a start how did you know my full name

And as for the problem with the monitor swap I actually think it's just a dodgy Voltage Converter and nothing to do with the monitor. Maybe just bad luck/was on the way out/Evil ghosties messing around.
I'll get a new (better one) in maplins tomorrow and then see what the story is.

I'd say you're more likely to damage the monitor taking it upstairs when its in the cab. Very heavy cab plus a few bumps and knocks etc.

.

Optimus Prime

80s Synth Pop wrote: »

Very nice cab Pyongyang. Would love a cab myself. A candy cab or an Electrocoin Duet if one could ever be found....

They had 3 of these machines in the Superbowl in liffy valley years ago, exact same as the one pictured here. would love one!

Myrddin

They were the ones on Palmerstown Bowl too were they Keith? Three of them beside each other...an SF2T with an SF2CE each side...drool

Pyongyang

@SteveSI: That's eased my monitor worries somewhat. I think that's why I like the Astro City cabs so much because they look like a Kinder Egg prize. Clip them together and away you go.

I'm going to buy stacks of WD-40 for Friday as I have read in places the part where you need to separate the cab in half has some pretty harsh bolts to remove.

I'll hit Halfords tomorrow and get my 'arcade toolkit' ready. Always best to be prepared I think.

Pyongyang

Just a heads up for anyone in the market for a socket set (as I'm sure you all obviously are). This beauty is pretty much half price at Hellfords.

Optimus Prime

EnterNow wrote: »

They were the ones on Palmerstown Bowl too were they Keith? Three of them beside each other...an SF2T with an SF2CE each side...drool

yes! I actually meant that palmerstown place, i dunno why i typed liffy valley! I think one of em might have been a football game too.

EDIT: Actually i think one of them was a football game originally, but they changed the board when the newer street fighter came out, so there was 3 of them there.

also: Remember a while back we where talking about the two sided sit down machine they had there that was Gemini Wing on one side and another game on the otherside? I came across the other game on my machine, cant remember the name now but it was basically a dude on a motorbike with a sidecar shooting tanks and stuff.

ondafly

Pyongyang wrote: »

Just a heads up for anyone in the market for a socket set (as I'm sure you all obviously are). This beauty is pretty much half price at Hellfords.

I wouldn't waste your money on that set to be honest. Get a decent Tenq sent from BandQ.

I've already taken apart my New Astro, and I'll be happy to help, but I won't be back till next week. If the machine has already been taken apart, its possible the screws have been replaced with the european counterparts, the J-standard screws that were in mind shattered 2 screw driver heads, they are THAT strong ! and I suspect the screw bits in that halfords kit will be extremely soft.

Jack burton

Well I have this set here http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=11377938&fh_view_size=10&fh_start_index=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3c%7b9372016%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372052%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9822022%7d%2fspecificationsProductType%3dtoolsets&fh_eds=%c3%9f&isSearch=false

Its alright. The screw heads in it are a bit soft but i've seen a lot worse. Sockets and stuff seem to hold up alright for me though and I've done a nice bita hard work with them.

Cant beat CK tools though, best of the best if you ask me

Pyongyang

Cheers for the offer of help there ondafly, might hold you to that in future! I bought that Halfords set yesterday. Quality looks a lot better than I thought it would. I got to test it last night putting some Project: Man Cave stuff together, seems grand enough.

My cab has been 240'ed, workshopped and resprayed so I assume there is a chance the fixings were changed. I think it comes with LS-32's but I can't wait to get the LS-56's in there, the CP button wiring looks easy enough to change. Nearly got the new LS-58's just released but have not heard any reviews on them from shooting game nutters so decided against it. The LS-58-01 CX version looks odd anyway.

Ah well, day off today, waiting around for the cab to be delivered. I hope it doesn't turn out like my recent experience with the Virtual Boy console. :mad: