Arcade Game/PCB Collecting: A Thread for Gamers With More Money Than Sense

[Suteneko]

Thanks guys!

It does look like a new hunt is on though.

I posted up about the monitor on the CRT Collective and someone informed me that SEGA did indeed make special candy cabinet bezels for flat CRT screens!

Part number is: NOA-1502-03

I’ll most likely have to rear mount the monitor for the time being and have to live with some small gaps around the the current bezel made for curved screens (which I was going to do anyway to be fair) but if I could get hold of one of these then it’d be perfect.

Sadly it seems they are very hard to find so not looking likely I’ll manage to locate one.

Also being highly recommend I recap the Wells Gardner ASAP as apparently they used low quality capacitors. I’ll likely leave that for later, though after I get around to testing the monitor I might decide to create a capacitor list for it and do some ESR testing.

[raskulous]

Collector's Quest Saison 3 au Japon (Ep.12) Takai Shokai

This has got to be the largest arcade collection in the world. Absolutely mind blowing…

[Peltz]

I’ve got quarters… do you think he’d invite me over?

[raskulous]

I actually spoke to him, and he is okay with you coming over, but you have to stuff me in your suitcase for the trip.

[raskulous]

Got this delivered today! I have a bunch of work to get it all set up correctly, but it looks pretty good so far with the buttons in place!

It’s a Qanba Q4 Crystal case. I’ll be installing my own joystick, buttons, and USB Controller. I’m using Sanwa 30mm buttons and a Sanwa JFL Joystick.

I’m going to have to design some artwork for the thing too.

[Danexmurder]

Looks like an awesome stick!

[Yakumo]

Very nice.

[Suteneko]

I’ve not gave an update on my cabinets refurbishment for quite some time (or even posted much for that matter) so thought it was about time for an update of sorts.

Initial Monitor Swap Attempts:

To mount a CRT in the NAOMI Universal you have to change over the frame to the one provided by the cabinet, so first thing was to remove the frame from the Wells Gardner:

Then strip all the PCB from that frame:

Then I had to strip the cabinet back substantially and even had to remove the control panel since I was doing this alone and did not want to risk damaging it:

Thankfully the monitor rests in place safely while you are removing the 4 securing bolts, which once removed you can lift the whole frame out by pulling it forward:

Leaving quite the skeleton:

I removed the CRT and Chasis from this frame:

Both frames side by side (SEGA one on the left):

Putting a CRT back in its frame alone is rather difficult and I found the best way was to lie a towel on the floor and gently place the tube face down:

Because this new tube flat versus the original I was told that back mounting it (and possibly using washers) was the way to go to ensure it would fit behind the bezel (albeit with a small gap):

This was then lifted back into the cabinet:

Unfortunately this is where everything went south…

Even with the monitor back-mounted I could not put the front panel/bezel back on the machine without sinking the monitor another 7mm deeper into the frame housing.

Which is even more problematic because already there is no way to secure the chassis on the frame:

And finally the “small gap” ends up being not so small as I can fit my hand down that gap:

A huge waste of time and not to mention this monitor which I paid a premium because it was “burn free” actually has a very light “Insert Coin” burn from a Mortal Kombat PCB title screen…

Maybe if i was able to source the flat mask bezel (which seems impossibly rare) it might be workable to some degree but this is just not going to be viable so I had to revert back to the original monitor again sadly.

I GIVE UP

Fingers cross I can someday find a curved burn free 29" CRT which i can do a chassis exchange with at a reasonable price, but at this point I doubt it is going to happen.

[Suteneko]

So to get away from that depressing topic and the fact that I am still in the middle of trying to sort out all the locks for the cabinet and running into various stupid little problems which I will post about another time, I’d instead rather talk about the NetDimm I recently purchased from Japan to replace my regular Dimm:

The seller had tested this and showed it was running on 3.17 firmware.

It turned out to be a 256mb model and I wanted to upgrade it to 512mb.

To open it up you need to first remove these three screws (leave the other screw on top of that panel alone):

You can lift that panel out and there is one screw in the middle to also remove and then you can pull up and out the top PCB of the NetDimm:

Then looking underneath there is two more screws to remove:

Then you can pull the bottom PCB out:

Here we can see it is running a single stick of Samsung PC133 CL3 256MB Ram:

I also just happened to have a spare Crucial PC133 CL3 256MB in my PC spare component box:

So lets try to install it:

after a quick test I could confirm it works:

I now have a 512mb NetDimm.

So, the whole point of getting a NetDimm in the first place was to try to use it to Netboot so first we have to look at certain set of Jumpers on the top PCB:

It was set to GD-ROM Boot so I had to reverse the jumper positions to set it to NetBoot as below:

There are many ways to NetBoot but I choose to use the “WiPi Netbooter” solution as it has a built in time hack that bypasses the need for a Null/Zero Key to be used and allows you to boot games via a nice web interface.

All I needed was a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (2GB) and a 32GB micro SD card.

The WiPi Netbooter IMG file uses practically the entire 32GB of space and unfortunately a Samsung Evo 32GB micro SD card I had spare could not be used to write that disk image to because for whatever reason Samsung think that 1Mb is equal to even less than the usual 1000kb a lot of others use instead of the true 1024Kb = 1mb.

But I digress with that pet peeve and I went out and bought a SanDisk branded 32GB Micro SD card, which worked perfectly. I then upgraded my firmware to the last official SEGA 4.01 release as I don’t require the extra Compaq Flash or CDR support the hacked firmware can offer.

I did initially try to house the Rpi4 B inside my NAOMI Universal Cabinet which seemed fine until I closed the case lid and started getting low level “popping” interference noise on my speakers which was weirdly much more pronounced on the right speaker for some reason.

I tried a few things but always ended up with the same result, so I ended up just mounting it to the outside of the cabinet placed to the rear instead and running the Ethernet cable through the currently unused lock space.

Oh well, but still a success as I can now boot games over the network:

[KC-Slater]

Hey there, I haven’t posted (or visited) these parts in ages, but I recently sold the Naomi Universal cab that I refurbished. Seeing all of your posts brought back the memories (both fond snd not so) of the process. I’m not sure if it helps or makes things worse, but the reality is that most of these Naomi and NetCity displays are going to have at least some slight burn in. (Mine had mild Virtua Tennis burn-in along the top.)

I, too, struggled to find some niche replacement parts for my cab (specifically the inner grey bezel.) I eventually found a good seller that goes by the name YATON. There’s a good Naomi-cab specific Facebook group that I found to be very helpful.

Good luck with the rest of your project!

[Suteneko]

Hey KC-Slater.

As you say avoiding screen burn seems next to impossible as arcade operators really didn’t look after their cabinets and often just left them running over night stuck on title screens and with their brightness levels cranked right up to maximum.

To a degree I have gotten used to just trying to ignore the burn in and enjoy the cabinet as is.

I did try to sell on the Tri-sync monitor and while I got a lot of interest and a lot of people messaging me about it saying they’d pick it up and pay in person, no one ever came.

Really don’t have the space for it and could do with the money back, but I suppose I could get it to work with front mounting if i removed the bezel from the front panel and made some sort of DIY replacement, which really I’d like to avoid.

Finding parts is such a struggle and considering the cost of acquiring parts I don’t think anyone could profit from selling a refurbished cabinet. I’ve used Yaton before, he used to be good but does a lot of unsavoury stuff to PCB’s these days and his prices have sky rocketed.

When I asked about a Flat Mask Bezel he said he had one then tried to sell it to me, but when I asked for photographs first I discovered it was a curved bezel… So while he does have parts, I’d say be cautious when dealing with him.

I’ve still not even contemplated getting the metal parts re-painted. The base has rust in some places and could do with a re-spray. Just really don’t feel like disassembling it to get that sorted properly. Might just touch up a few spots and wait until a time it needs to be moved to do that.

Hope you got a good price for your cabinet!

[KC-Slater]

I found Yaton to be a reputable seller, but communication left a lot to be desired. The stuff always showed up, and it was what I was after, and for a decent price. (I ordered the replacement inner bezel as I mentioned, as well as a replacement lighting unit, and all things considered I didn’t feel as though be was gouging me–especially considering the bulk and weight of the items and the scarcity of finding these specific items in good shape without cannibalizing another machine.) I don’t know here you are at geographically, but I’m outside of Toronto, Canada, and candies are hard to come by without either paying a premium, or taking a chance on a container group buy. Consequently, I was able to do well when I sold my machine a couple weeks ago. (For those curious as to why I sold, I am moving, and while I have space in my new house for the machine, I took the move as an opportunity to de-clutter, and I MASSIVELY paired down my gaming stuff.)

The disassembly is intimidating, but it’s not too bad. The idea of it feels much more overwhelming than the actual process. The Naomi and NetCity are like pieces of IKEA furniture. I was forced to fully disassemble my machine to get it in my house, and I took the opportunity to learn about the cab itself, and gave it a thorough clean and fresh paint job at the time. When it came time to sell it, I had to dismantle it, bring it upstairs and outside piece by piece, reassemble it outside to show the buyer, and then assisted in disassembling it once again for transport. You get really comfortable working with it under those circumstances!

I really enjoyed owning a cab. I learned a ton. I think I enjoyed the “project” aspect of refurbishing it the most. (I spent MANY more hours cleaning and tinkering, than I did actually playing it. Go figure.)

[Suteneko]

I had to disassemble mine to bring it up to my top floor flat/apartment and quite familiar with doing so now, though still it is a case of rather not if I can avoid it for sure.

I’ve had it semi-dismantled several times already to do servicing and electronic repairs, going to recap the chassis in a few weeks time and potentially planning on rotating the screen for a bit to play some shmups.

Yaton used to be a LOT cheaper but since he moved off ebay and has his own webstore earlier in the year his prices sky rocketed.

Owning a cabinet really is a huge learning experience and clearly not for the faint hearted.

[KC-Slater]

Have you tried reaching out to him directly and requesting parts from him outside of his webstore? This is what my experience has been with him. I even went so far as to source specific part numbers and send him photos of the specifics I needed circled/highlighted. As I mentioned, his communication isn’t great, but he has always delivered or made things right. As for pricing, shipping costs have ballooned due to all of the issues the world has experienced in 2021, and coupled with (perceived) increased demand, this is just an unfortunately reality.

Owning a cab is like owning a piano. It’s great until it isn’t.

[Suteneko]

When I was after the flat mask I sent him the pages out of the service manuals including the correct parts numbers and he said he had. Turns out the part he tried to sell me was as I mentioned already was not only the incorrect profile it was from a totally different type of cabinet only me asking for photographs in advance of purchase saved me from wasting a fair bit of money.

Possibly just a mistake on his part and I have reached out to him directly several times already. Results were it’s better just to go to Yahoo Japan auctions as either the prices asked are too high or he simply does not have the part to being with.

He like many other Chinese resellers though are doing hideous things to PCB’s, lots of conversions and bodge job repairs going on.

[Peltz]

Man hearing all of this makes me realize that going with a super gun over a full arcade machine is probably the right move for me. Bummer since I love arcade machines more than anything. But it’s just been too difficult to find one in good condition that is remotely affordable in my area.

[Danexmurder]

I really want to grab an arcade machine at some point. I think ultimately I’d want a Naomi or Big Blue Street Fighter cab but it’s rare that anything pops up out here on the the east coast I’d want to get.

For now I’m happy with my super gun set up.

I got hit by a shady seller for my 1941CPS1 board. sigh Getting tougher to want to buy any arcade stuff from China. So far every time I have done it has been a huge headache.

[Suteneko]

Decided to try to integrate the Tri-Sync into my setup:

Going to have to mount the PSU, Supergun and PCB’s to this back panel under the desk:

Already mounted the PSU but it’s not 100% level… oh well I don’t want to make extra mount holes so it will have to do as is.

Edit

So far so good I think:

[Danexmurder]

Cool!

[IrishNinja]

so y’all saw i recently got a classic shinobi cabinet (woo hoo!), needs some work but also the side panels are bare

this eBay seller is offering side art (laminated or not? not sure which would be preferable) for a good price & just asking for dimensions to print at…anyone know about what’d be right for such a cabinet? google images show it’d be on the lower half - also here’s the listing

Shinobi Side Art | eBay