Jamma to TV for Testing

Optimus Prime

Hey guys, hoping you might be able to help me out with some advice, ive bought a few jamma boards recently that had issues, no sound, or glitchy graphics etc. ive managed to get 1 or 2 going but ive a pain the ass pulling out a cab from the wall, opening the back swapping boards etc.

So i was wondering what the best way is to hook up a jamma board to a tv. ive seen lads with test rigs etc with arcade monitors but i dont have the space at the minute so was hoping i might be able to hook up to a tv using a supergun? but i havent a clue about them. this is the TV i have at home.

its a sony trintron



Id just like to be able to plug a board in and test it without having to roll cabs along the floor and opening doors!

Andrew76

Afaik a lot of superguns would connect to a tv via RGB SCART - so if your tv has that then your fine. How sound is output from the supergun depends on the SG itself.

If you're just looking for an SG as a temporary testing solution you could always take a loan of mine if you're ever passing by Arklow.

o1s1n

That's the exact telly I used to use with my supergun (until The Last Bandit stole it in the night )

Arcade boards look gorgeous on it.

By the way, that TV deserves only RGB, nothing else. Burn those snes composite cables :P

Edit - The Last Bandit has his own brand of superguns, give him a shout.

The Last Bandit

For the video you need to reduce the signal level on the 3 colour signals. I use 500 Ohm pots for this.
For the sync pass it through a 1K resistor is enough.

Use an external speaker for the audio is the simplest, building a proper isolation/attenuation circuit is not really necessary for a simple test rig.

Don't forgot to connect PIN 8 on the SCART to 12V to put the TV in RGB mode.

Optimus Prime

Thanks Guys, at least i know they will work on the tv! The superguns ive seen on ebay seem to indicate you need to have 2 speakers plugged into them.

When you plug a board into a supergun with that TV oisin, does it just come on or do you have to mess with it to get the picture up correctly, like the pots etc to get it up on an arcade monitor..

Does Last bandit sell them or something?

Optimus Prime

The Last Bandit wrote: »

For the video you need to reduce the signal level on the 3 colour signals. I use 500 Ohm pots for this.
For the sync pass it through a 1K resistor is enough.

Use an external speaker for the audio is the simplest, building a proper isolation/attenuation circuit is not really necessary for a simple test rig.

Don't forgot to connect PIN 8 on the SCART to 12V to put the TV in RGB mode.

Ok, this is like Egyptian to me haha, i havent a clue here.. so its not a case of plug and play!

Andrew76

keithgeo wrote: »

Thanks Guys, at least i know they will work on the tv! The superguns ive seen on ebay seem to indicate you need to have 2 speakers plugged into them.

When you plug a board into a supergun with that TV oisin, does it just come on or do you have to mess with it to get the picture up correctly, like the pots etc to get it up on an arcade monitor..

Does Last bandit sell them or something?

It should be plug and play, no messing with anything to see the picture.

Edit: LastBandit's info more related to you building your own I'm guessing.

The Last Bandit

Ah using a supergun is plug'n play alright.

My 'instructions' were for building a quickie test cable.

The ones I build are simple enough to use, just plug in the Jamma board, controller, TV & power But might be overkill for what you need though.

o1s1n

keithgeo wrote: »

When you plug a board into a supergun with that TV oisin, does it just come on or do you have to mess with it to get the picture up correctly, like the pots etc to get it up on an arcade monitor..

It's plug and play, like a console. You just plug the RGB cable out of the supergun into the TV and up the picture comes on a scart channel.

Optimus Prime

That looks great, probably a bit much for what i need i guess im only looking for one that does jamma pcbs i dont need all the console bits. I was looking at this one on ebay

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/JAMMA-ARCADE-SUPERGUN-PCB-MKIV-/331325073558?pt=UK_Video_Games_Coin_Operated_MJ&hash=item4d24836896

if i bought that, a atxpsu and a joystick of some sort would it work with just a normal scart cable or do i need a special type?

Is the added support for consoles the only difference between this and yours? and obviously the superior build quality of yours, it looks a lot better.

o1s1n

I have an earlier version of the one in the link (it uses Megadrive ports instead) if you're interested?

It's been sitting in my attic for years. Actually I'd put it inside a Megadrive 1 shell but never finished the project :O easily removed though.

The Last Bandit

That should work fine with a regular SCART cable alright, you'll need to hook up an external speaker though and get a Neogeo type controller.

Optimus Prime

Cool, thanks a lot, what about boards that require a bit of tinkering with power? like bootlegs where you have to hire up the voltage, im guessing you cant do that on these ones?

o1s1n

No unfortunately, that's all down to the PSU.

If you use an ATX PSU then you won't be able to do that, but if you use an arcade one then you can regulate the voltage. Will require a bit more effort to wire up an arcade PSU though.

Re voltage, I don't think any of my boards had any issues at all.