Return to Q&A Database
Mame Cabinet Questions – CPanel/Jamma
Question from Kevin: Hey guys. Number one, thanks for your videos and tutorials. They are terrific! I am a very GREEN Newbie in the world of arcade restoration and modification. I am looking for some guidance and advice before I go a purchasing products to accomplish my goals. I just recently got a hold of a bunch of cabinets for free that I wanted to update/mod for MAME for some friends and neighbors. Two of the cabinets are JAMMA – one being a Sport Shooting USA LED gun game with an AtomisWave board/cartridge setup and the other being a Shuffleshot trackball game with a standard JAMMA board connector. Both JAMMA, just different setups.
I’m looking at purchasing a few different control panel sets online (18 buttons, 2 joysticks, microswitches, etc.) but I wasn’t sure if I should go the JAMMA route and look to wire up my new control panels (6 buttons per player, plus coin/p1p2) direct to a harness and purchase a J-PAC interface card to tie the control panel to my PC and to maintain the 15HZ video output directly to the monitor (http://www.ebay.com/itm/251336973880?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 & http://www.ultimarc.com/jpac.html) OR if I should just buy a standard 2 player setup that comes with a small interface USB kit with easy wiring that I can plug directly into my PC & just purchase a video converter for the output to the arcade monitor from my pc (http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Player-USB-Mame-Arcade-Kit-w-2-Joysticks-4-8-way-and-16-Push-Buttons-60-in-1/221281135290?_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D21248%26meid%3D7899496725039063979%26pid%3D100010%26prg%3D9374%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D24%26sd%3D251336973880 & http://www.jammaboards.com/store/video-converters/).
I think these will both accomplish the same thing, but I don’t know if one is easier than the other from a wiring and setup perspective. I think with the second option, I don’t even deal with the power supply but I’m not sure. Also, I’m not too keen on wiring my control panel to the JAMMA harness and I think that will only allow so many buttons, etc. I think the extra few would need to run to the J-PAC board directly via the screw holes.
Just looking for some good advice on which makes more sense.
Thanks! Kevin
1 answer
Response from Jonathan: Kevin,
First off, thank you for your kind words. We’re glad you enjoy our videos. Make sure you check out our website and podcast as well if you haven’t already. We have a lot of great information in those resources that can help you out with your future projects.
Wow, sounds like you hit the jackpot. Free arcade cabinets are a rarity around here so the fact that you got a bunch of them is pretty sweet. So, let’s talk about what it takes to get a MAME setup up and running in an arcade cabinet:
1.) Keyboard Encoder – In order to get the arcade controls to work with the computer, you need some sort of keyboard encoder to bridge the gap between these two parts. The I-PAC and the KeyWiz are just a couple of examples of keyboard encoders. In your original email, you mentioned the J-PAC. The J-PAC is a keyboard encoder that use a JAMMA interface which allows for an easier installation process if your cabinet is already wired using the JAMMA standard. Something to keep in mind is that JAMMA wiring can vary slightly from game to game depending on the board that was originally installed in the cabinet. For this reason, you will need to double check the wiring in your cabinet if you decide to go the J-PAC route. We should also mention that the J-PAC has a video amplifier built on to it as well. More on that below.
2.) Monitor Interface – Based on your original email, it seems that you’re already somewhat familiar with arcade monitors and their resolution requirements (15 kHz is the standard used by most games). What you may not realize is that the J-PAC is not a video CONVERTER only a video AMPLIFIER. In other words, you will still need something to convert the video signal from the computer if you use the J-PAC. This can be accomplished through software (such as Soft15khz) but I prefer to go with a hardware solution (such as the ArcadeVGA video card). With that said, Gonbes makes a combination video amplifier and converter that you probably saw when you went to the JammaBoards.com link. Here’s a link to the specific board: http://www.jammaboards.com/store/vga-to-cga-pal-ntsc-video-converter-pcb-gbs8100.html. So basically your choices are to go with the J-PAC for the amplifier and a software/hardware converter or use the Gonbes combination amplifier/converter for your MAME video setup.
With all that said, which route you decide to go is really up to you. I would probably base my decision on the wiring currently in the cabinet. If the wiring has been cleaned up and looks to be in good condition, I would probably go the J-PAC route with an ArcadeVGA. If the wiring was messy, I would probably rewire the cabinet to a standard keyboard encoder and use the Gonbes board.
Hope that helps. Thank you for your questions and good luck with your project.
This question has been closed
