PCE>Jamma questions

[pas]

So my friend brought the board over today.  Its definatly one person...and there are some issues I am definatly going to have to work out with it.  The first thing was that one of the pins on the expansion port was broken off and had a poor attemt at a repair using a paper clip...so I need to get that fixed. Second it does not have a real JAMMA connection.  It is a JAMMA style connection on the board but the video pads are actualy inputs from the PCE instead of outputs to the monitor (the ouput runs off of a connector on the board separate from the JAMMA connector) and the power for the PCE also come off of the connector.  The third problem is that the audio does not combine the stereo output of the PCE to a mono output for a JAMMA setup...rather it only uses the right side signal.  So I put in an order through jammaboards.com and am going to make my own little board to convert the connector to a standard JAMMA connector so I dont have to rewire a cab to use it.  It should be prity easy...but its anoying that it isnt already set up that way.  Also I will be building an stereo-mono circuit to add to the setup so I can at least get proper mono sound...hate to miss anything that comes out of the left speaker.

As for the earlier question about single/dual player support it only supports a single player.  The board converts the joystick/button inputs from the arcade controller and only has traces for player 1 controls and only has one output which plugs into the board and uses a cable to plug into the front of the PCE for control.  I bet a controller could be rewired to the player 2 controls of a cab and a tap used to add a second player but thats a little farther than I really want to go seing as I will probably never play with a second player.  And if I ever plan to that could always be added later.

I will keep people updated...probably slowly as this may take some time...and maybe just to reference a web page I put together for it...unless anyone has any specific questions.

[esteban]

So my friend brought the board over today.  Its definatly one person...and there are some issues I am definatly going to have to work out with it.  The first thing was that one of the pins on the expansion port was broken off and had a poor attemt at a repair using a paper clip...so I need to get that fixed. Second it does not have a real JAMMA connection.  It is a JAMMA style connection on the board but the video pads are actualy inputs from the PCE instead of outputs to the monitor (the ouput runs off of a connector on the board separate from the JAMMA connector) and the power for the PCE also come off of the connector.  The third problem is that the audio does not combine the stereo output of the PCE to a mono output for a JAMMA setup...rather it only uses the right side signal.  So I put in an order through jammaboards.com and am going to make my own little board to convert the connector to a standard JAMMA connector so I dont have to rewire a cab to use it.  It should be prity easy...but its anoying that it isnt already set up that way.  Also I will be building an stereo-mono circuit to add to the setup so I can at least get proper mono sound...hate to miss anything that comes out of the left speaker.

As for the earlier question about single/dual player support it only supports a single player.  The board converts the joystick/button inputs from the arcade controller and only has traces for player 1 controls and only has one output which plugs into the board and uses a cable to plug into the front of the PCE for control.  I bet a controller could be rewired to the player 2 controls of a cab and a tap used to add a second player but thats a little farther than I really want to go seing as I will probably never play with a second player.  And if I ever plan to that could always be added later.

I will keep people updated...probably slowly as this may take some time...and maybe just to reference a web page I put together for it...unless anyone has any specific questions.

Well, I love hearing about all of these details, so if you feel inspired, you should definitely document your findings here (or on a web page, as you mentioned). If you don't have a permanent place to host the page, send me a PM. I think it would be neat to see "before & after" photos of any work you do.

[Turbo D]

Thanks for the update. Its great to hear your progress. This is something I would like to get into in the near future.

[pas]

What is the normal volts/amps for a PCE?  The unit in this setup is wired to run off 12V directly off the cabinates power supply.  If its like the TG-16 (10.5V 730mA is what mine is rated) than 12V should be close enough and it wont draw much amperage from the power supply...but I was just wondering out of curiousity.

[pas]

I got my fingerboard from jammaboards.com today.  I soldered it all up just like the wiring had been.  However it would seem that my PCE is bad.  I get no image and a horable squealing noise out of the speaker.  I tried connecting my tg-16 power supply and rf converter to find the same problem on my tv.  Guess I have to save up for awhile and get a PCE now 

[Turbo D]

dang, sorry to hear that. I hope you can fix your problem.

[pas]

Well the good news is that I figured out that it is not a problem with the PCE!  The bad news is that I although I now get video and some sound (what can be heard over the squealing) the noise problem is still present.  Im not sure that this thing was wired correctly...or even what all the wires are for truthfully.  I tried searching the manual but no listing of pinouts of the amp connectors or the boards edge connector.  It gives an standard jamma layout which is funny because this thing is deffinatly not standard jamma 

[Turbo D]

There are some pin layouts of the pcengine at http://www.gamesx.com/. Maybe this can help you out.

[pas]

Yeah I got the PCE side figured out now and am prity sure I have every wire correct.  I have narrowed the sound problem down to the arcade adapter board.  It sounds almost like there is voltage leaking into the amp section that should not be there.  I tried hooking up only the power and speaker wires and leaving every other wire to/from the board detached (including the audio in from the PCE) and the sound was still present.  I think I am going to try recapping the board, and if I can find one, replaceing the amp chip (transistor housing style amp...I guess you would still call it a chip).  I checked all the traces and solder points and everything looks perfect.  No caps are visably leaking or broken but that doesnt mean they are good inside or that there isnt a brake on the bottom either.  Anyhow the board went into the closet for awhile...proabably until we sell our house and move.  I will dig it back out and work on it then when I have some more time and money.  I need to recap the monitor in my jamma cab, the amp board from my rampage cab, and proably should do the power supply and monitor power block in my asteroids deluxe cab as well so I figure just do one big cap and misc parts order and do all the work at once.  I will get some images up soon to show the work I have done so far.

[pas]

Have the unit ALMOST working  I fixed the sound problem...there was a bad cap on the board so I just replaced them all and the timer chip was bad so I replaced it.  However now I have to re-pot the board as the pots are not working properly (you have to adjust them just right to have signal go through them) and the down direction does not work. The joystick traces back to the 74157 chip fine but I cant trace it any further right now...and the cable from the board to the PCE tests continuity good on all pins as well.  So my guess is either the PCE isnt working properly in respects to seeing the controls, the 74157 chip is bad, or there is something messed up from the 74157 chip to the controller cable.

Does anyone have a super cheap PCE controler that they could send me or I could buy so I can narrow this down a little further?

[override]

DUDE's I just saw this thread for the first time, THIS IS KICK ASS! I was actually thinking of one day down the road taking a TG-16, building a cabinet for it and turning it into an arcade! BUT THIS! This is kick ass! Oh did I already say that....Man Im like stoked...I want to see more, why is there not more to read? I want to see pics more pics!

Dammit!

[SignOfZeta]

I don't see what's so special about it other than the convenience of not having to do the work yourself.