Building a CMVS - Part 2

So now that the Neo Geo arcade had its awesomeness ratio upped to "super awesome", I was ready for the next thing : the Supergun/CMVS (I refer you to the Wikipedia entry on supergun for more details : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperGun, CMVS means Consolized MVS, which is the name of the arcade version of the Neo Geo).

I had to choose between the Supergun or the CMVS but when I saw a Neo Geo board for cheap (35 shipped), I had made my choice.

When you consolize a MVS, you mainly need 3 things:

• A MVS board (check).
• A power supply. I acquired a couple with the correct rating last year so I was already set for that (check).
• A video encoder (not check).

Video encoders are why this projects can get expensive. Unless you're willing to build one yourself, you have to get this from one of the three following source:

• JRok - http://jrok.com/hardware/RGB.html
• JMKurtz - http://neobitz.com/
• Y-Plus - http://www.arcademvs.com/ARCADE_ACESSERIOR.htm (Product A-22)

The JRok and Neobitz encoders are now able to output component (which is the last step before HDMI) so obviously, they command a higher price. I first contacted JRok and after one reply, he never contacted me back. Either my emails were sent directly to spam or I was asking too much questions. Y-Plus sell only a composite/s-video encoder, which is why it's cheaper.

So I went with the Neobitz encoder. I got better service from him and the board arrived while I was on vacation (good thing it's small, it was in the mailbox, not on my front door step). Shipped, that small thing was 100$ US.

The last thing I was missing was a controller. Another good thing about MVS boards is that some of them come with controller connector, like SNK was expecting people to use the board in different way than in an arcade cabinet. So ordering a controller on eBay was not too difficult, the only issue I had was that I payed more for shipping than for the controller itself.

Once you have all this, you still need a couple of things, but nothing that can't be found at your local part store (I go to http://www.active123.com/ for most of my stuff, except LEDs, one LED for 5$ is not a good deal).

Here's a final picture with everything needed. The Neo Geo cart is kind of a given, since you do need something to test. The output connectors were included with the video encoder so that was nice as I didn't really want to make a Digi-Key order (I find their order system to be a pain if you don't have the part number).

Of course, the board was first tested in my own arcade cabinet and once I was satisfied with it (took 30sec), I was ready to start building !

And that will all be covered in the next post !

Building a CMVS - Part 1

Yeah, new post ! Took me less time to post something than the previous times (we're talking June 2009 to March 2010).

So recently I sold a bunch of stuff on eBay and held off on buying new shiny things for my collection. So once I had enough money in my Paypal account, I went for it: finishing projects that I pushed for too long !

First off was the translucent arcade buttons. This is something that i had pushed back for a long time since it's only a cosmetic thing. I've been wanting to change the buttons of my Neo Geo arcade for so long and after seeing the translucent buttons, I thought it would be cool to have buttons that light up. You can't deny the awesomeness of those buttons.

While the concept is fairly simple, doing was another thing. The quality control on these buttons is not the same as the regular Happ buttons (even if they come from the same mold). You also have to consider that the type of plastic/vinyl used to make the buttons is weaker than a regular plain color buttons. Translucent = weak. The color also affect the weakness. Yellow is the worst, followed by blue.

Anyway, on to the project itself. I first decided that I wanted these to run of the 5V line already coming from the main power supply, no battery or external output. That would have been too much pain just to do that. Using a LED array wizard (http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz), I was able to figure build the needed circuit (it was mainly to know which resistor I needed to use).

One the circuit done and the buttons received, the rest was easier said than done. I installed the buttons and with my drill (I rarely used a Dremel anymore since the holes are all of the same size of an existing drill bit), I made a hole in the bottom and inserted a white LED. Then I soldered everything back to the small circuit, connected everything to the main Jamma connector and I was DONE !

It looks great and I like it. Next : the real CMVS !