Response from Jonathan: James,

Thanks for writing in and for listening to the podcast. Hopefully we haven’t bored you too much! =) Well, let’s take a look at your questions…

> Is there an easy way to use a jamma board in my dedicated Atari Dig Dug cabinet? Would it be as easy as using a fingerboard adapter like the one shown here on Mikes arcade http://www.jammaboards.com/store/jb-3-jamma-fingerboard-adapter-jb-3.html?sef_rewrite=1 And using the Atari dig dug pin-outs (attached) to convert the wiring to be jamma compliant?

Yes, there is an easy way to use JAMMA boards in a dedicated Dig Dug cabinet. With that said, the fingerboard you linked to is really made for using non-JAMMA boards in JAMMA wired cabinets not the other way around. You would really need a fingerboard that has 22 pins on the side that inserts into the Dig Dug edge connector and the one you linked to has 28 pins like a JAMMA edge connector which means it would not fit. Assuming you found a fingerboard with a 22 pin header on one side and a 28 pin edge connector on the other, it should work fine once wired according to your attached diagram.

Of course, the easiest way to accomplish this would be to get the pre-made adapter from Arcade Shop (http://www.arcadeshop.com). This adapter runs about $39 (before shipping) and will take most of the work out of the process. Here’s the description from their website:

Galaga Cabinet to JAMMA PCB Adapter with -5 V.D.C Power Supply – This adapter will enable a JAMMA PCB to work in these cabinets: Galaga, Galplus, Galaga 3, Bosconian, Mappy, Alien Sector, Baraduke, Dig Dug, Dig Dug II, Libble Rabble, Metro-Cross, Phozon, Sky Kid, & Super Xevious. Adapter also has a connectors for optional buttons!

> Will a 60/1 board work with a my old school linear power supply? In theory I should be able to plug the fingerboard into the original Dig Dug harness and then plug the 60/1 board into the fingerboard without modifying any wiring (beyond the fingerboard conversion) or hacking up my machine? Or is this just wishful thinking?

Yep, that part should not be a problem with the 60-in-1 board. Just remember that some other JAMMA boards require the -5 VDC line to function properly which means they would have problems if installed using your fingerboard method. Good news is that the Arcade Shop adapter has it’s own -5 VDC power supply which would solve this issue.

> After all of the work I’ve done I would never consider making destructive modifications to my cabinet.

That’s awesome. As you know, we try our best to only make non-destructive modifications to cabinets whenever possible. This allows the next owner of the cabinet to easily convert it from a 60-in-1 board back to a Dig Dug (in your case) should they ever want to do so.

> Hopefully this helps other people who may be wondering the same thing. I’ve searched for information for this question online and I haven’t found a clear answer to these questions.

I’m sure it will. We’ll post in in the Q&A Database and I’m sure it will be of some use to others as well

> Thanks, looking forward to your reply.

Not a problem. Hope that helps. Thank you for your questions and good luck with your project.