Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Arcade cabinet hardware and accessories
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Mokum
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Mokum »

It was, indeed, the multimeter.
Now I can tell you the cab gives proper voltage and there's no issue with the PSU :awe:
alienmame wrote:Christ on a bike man
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

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Crisis averted!
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by ar2r »

i can help with harnesses for additional buttons (p2 and kick) and cps2 connector. PM me if you are interested.
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Mokum »

Today I've got a light bulb (neon?) and a starter.
At first I thought the starter had to be placed on the middle of the light bulb, where a tiny plastic cylinder is placed. I was wrong as that's where another tiny light bulb got to be placed.
So, to sum it all up: where do I put the starter? What light bulb needs to be placed on the tiny plastic cylinder? Where do I check with my voltmeter to see if the light bulb gets enough voltage or if there a problem with it?
Thanks <3
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by nem »

The 'tiny light bulb' is the starter. You need a screw in starter, not a two pronged one that you likely have.
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Mokum »

nem wrote:The 'tiny light bulb' is the starter. You need a screw in starter, not a two pronged one that you likely have.
Dang it! Where I can find one? I seem to find none...
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Paulie »

They are FG-1E starters. Like these https://www.nationallampsandcomponents. ... rter-fg-1e
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

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Paulie wrote:They are FG-1E starters. Like these https://www.nationallampsandcomponents. ... rter-fg-1e
Thank you, ordered a couple :)
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

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:thumbup:
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Mokum »

I've noticed a thing that seems a bit odd.
When connecting my Double Dragon pcb everything plays just fine.
But when I plug my Strikers 1945 boards (both I and II but it occurs more with the first episode), the monitor emits some noise.
It seems like this disappears when the tube gets warmer (I've got the cab in my garage and it's a bit cold in there).
I was thinking about trying to adjust the v-lin pot. What do you think?
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by nem »

V-lin is short for vertical linearity. If your screen is squashed at either the top or the bottom, adjusting can it make it better. I can't see it doing much for the noise though!
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Mokum »

Isn't there something like a v-sync pot or such?
It's not like a screen adjustment issue, I think it's more like a sync one...

Edit: I've read I should look for the v-hold pot but where is it?
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Mokum »

Clicking on the following image you can see the issue I have with my MS9 (look at the white words):

Image

The problem seems to cease when the monitor is well heated up but I've yet to confirm this (the cab is in my garage and it's pretty cold in there so I tend to rarely play with it).

PS. You can also see that the light now fully works :awe:
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Sumez »

Where'd you get the light tube, Mokum?
I'm assuming the tubes you'd normally buy here in Europe won't work, since all the ones I can find in any store are marked with 230v. Obviously the NAC fitting would be rated ~100v
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Rossyra »

Only the ballast matters, you can use a 230v tube.
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

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Rossyra wrote:Only the ballast matters, you can use a 230v tube.
Didn't know that so I just bought tubes/starters in the UK ;)
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Sumez »

Rossyra wrote:Only the ballast matters, you can use a 230v tube.
That's REALLY good to know! Any idea why they label them as 230v then? Sounds misleading, and I'm really afraid I'll blow up something :S
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Mokum »

Sp33dFr34k wrote:
Mokum wrote:Image
That would be sound, P1, P2, Kick and ground.

And yes, the cable you posted is the one you need to connect buttons 4-5-6 for both P1 and P2 to you kick extension in the bottom of your cab.

From there you need a kick harness depending on the game you need it for.
Back on this matter, I'm putting a PC in the cab.
Like I said I'm missing the cables for the 3 extra buttons.
Will the cable I've linked be enough now that I'm not using a jamma pcb?
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by phillv85 »

The cable you linked to will be fine for the control panel end. You'll still need a cable to go to the terminals on your JPAC if you're using a PC. It'll basically be a kick harness with no connector on the end, an AMP UP 10 pin to loose wires. I've made a couple for people before, I can guide you if you want to get the parts yourself, all very simple :awe:
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Re: Got my New Astro City, now questions!

Post by Mokum »

phillv85 wrote:The cable you linked to will be fine for the control panel end. You'll still need a cable to go to the terminals on your JPAC if you're using a PC. It'll basically be a kick harness with no connector on the end, an AMP UP 10 pin to loose wires. I've made a couple for people before, I can guide you if you want to get the parts yourself, all very simple :awe:
I've perfectly got what you mean. Somehow I've got all the parts required as well so it shouldn't be an issue making one...
Thank you!
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