Satan, what GFX card are you running in the PC? what resolution do you run mame at? and lastly Which frontend do you use? I'm having a hell of a time getting Mame to display anything (using ArcadeOS 2.5)

are u runnig it through J-pac?

I am, arcadeOS displays fine, buy I can't seem to find a resolution for mame itself

Man, I got rid of dos a LONG time ago,=P

Using Mame32 now.

You know http://www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm obviously...

My mame cab has windows 2000 with a 3 gig processor, 2 gigs of ram.

Daphne runs AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Using a Gateway Desination 35 inch Digital monitor.
Max Res is 800x600, but still the bomb.=)

Mame32 does the guessing, I just resize the monitor.

Easy enough.

OK, what are you using to interface GFX card to jamma?

Nothing, it's a monitor!

Came with a Gateway Destination 2000.

Plugs right into a PC graphic card.
No Software needed besides your normal video drivers.

search ebay for "gateway destination"

I got mine for $220.

aah, OK. I don't want to use a PC monitor, I'm hoping for that "Arcade Authentic" look and am using a 15Khz arcade monitor.

I have the ARCADE AUTHENTIC look.

It's a presentation monitor, digital.
/pretty much what DDR uses.

Just need to change the resolution for each game!

I can do that, mame32 does a fine job.

I took the case off, just planted the tube.

Arcade monitors are analogue and 15Khz as opposed to 31Khz with PC monitors, That's not to say it doesn't look good, just not what I want (I want 80's retro)

OK, After some digging around in the back of the monitor (and nearly blowing myself to kindom come!), I've discovered I have a wells gardner K7000 15Khz monitor.

The ATI card wont cut it though so I've got to fork out for an ArcadeVGA card

I've already got the PC (an atlon 2400+ with 512Mb ram) installed and ready to rock as soon as the AVGA turns up, I'll post some pics soon.

can u post more info on the 15hz monitors and where we can buy them or get them are these monitors just plain tvtubes? are they easy to connect to the vga gfx card... and fix a vga plug to connect to the vga gfx card??

You can buy a 15khz monitor from http://www.happcontrols.com (amongst others), but for more reasonable pricing I would suggest ebay is a better bet.
I'll post some photos later, but the simple answer is no, it's not particularily easy to hook up a PC, you need either an arcadeVGA card or advancemame and alot of time. As far as the hardware goes, you either have to butcher a VGA cable to adapt to the jamma connector or buy a J-pac from http://www.ultimarc.com.

OK, as promised here is the current state of my arcade machine.
This is what it looks like inside (a mess )

When you turn it on it boots up Mamewah frontend :-

from which you can select your emulator using the sticks and buttons on the cab:-

here's Daphne's menu:-

and here it is on with the marquee lit up etc.


Sorry about the quality of the photos, I should have done it when there was a bit more light and I'll get a shot of a game up and running at some point (if anyone's actually interested)

All I have left to do now is wire up the 4,5 and 6 buttons for each player and fit a trackball onto the control panel (althoug I'm not sure where it can go ATM!)

I've enjoyed doing this so far, and the machine is running EXACTLY the same as the arcade games I remember as a kid

Best ?102 I've EVER spent
Oh BTW you're all welcome to come and play, but it's not set to free play and won't be either

Cool - PCA!

I'm defiently interested in seeing your progression with the cab

ah Dragon's liar, what a classic

Looking pretty good from those photos and not that much spent really for what you got now!!!

You provide the beers and I'll bring the coins

Sounds good to me mate

In answer to d0c's earlier question about arcade monitors, you either need one hell of a lot of patience, a normal video card and a copy of advancemame or (and this is MUCH easier) an arcade VGA card

again the easiest way to connect the card to the jamma interface is with a j-pac


The j-pac will handle all the connections from the joysticks and buttons and remap to keypresses (which can be re-programmed) it also ensure sync between monitor and PC gfx card as well as providing pass through for a normal PC keyboard and the abilty to daisy chain for unlimited controllers etc.
In order for analogue controls to work, I'll need to add an opti-pac

and a trackball / spinner / steering wheel etc.

To be honest, once you get over the initial hurdle of getting the monitor up and running, the biggest hurdle is software configuration, but I'm getting there.

Mamewah is a greatfront end, though it can't ping our controlers so you have to manualy del games that require spinners or track balls if you aint got em.

Yeah, that's a bit of a pisser, but not the end of the world.

I'll add a spinner and track ball at some point anyway, so it shouldn't matter too much in the long run.

I've just had a look at 3darcade and that looks lovely though, might take a look at some point.

Jynks, I'm having some issues with NebulaM2, and the arcadeVGA card, have you got any experience / tips with that?

For those of you that want your own arcade cab but don't want to spend any money check this out : http://www.ugiansky.com/trashcade/index.html