mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
I've made a deposit for a bunch of chewlix that I'm coordinating a group buy for, and it's currently being produced now. I'm hoping it'll get here around January next year, so needless to say I'm pretty damn excited
.
Awesome! Make sure you take pics and post in the thread
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
It seems what most people do after getting their chewlix is to rip the jamma out and install a brooks UFB in for versatility. I don't console game...so what I'm planning to do is to keep my pandora box for the older games, but also put in either a small form PC, or a steam link that I have laying around. This way I have access to my steam library, plus I can mame/emu down the road if I want. To that end... I'm hoping to keep the Chinese JAMMA harness in. Since I'm now playing the waiting game I figure I'd ask the opinions of experts.
For me, since my primary use was going to be a console, it was the natural thing to put a Brook UFB inside it.
If I could go back, I wouldn't even bother with JAMMA since I'll never put a pandora's box inside it. Granted, I purchased my Chewlix without ANY experience on JAMMMA/PC emulation etc.. so I just went with the "norm".
I know of people getting a Chewlix that's JVS ready and also Raspberry Pi ready. If I was to do it again, I'd probably get a JVS ready Chewlix (but it'd also depend on how much it'd cost)
IMO, there's absolutely no reason to have a Chinese Jamma installed on the Chewlix - unless your main purpose is for a pandora's box.
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
What I'm hoping to do:
- set up my PC or steam link by getting a cheap JAMMA to USB converter from ebay, so I can connect either the pandora box or the PC through the jamma harness.
Can't say I've heard or seen that used. It'd be interesting if it works as well as something like a JPAC. If it's cheap and easy enough, I say go for it!
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
- get a HDMI splitter to connect to the monitor, and potentially an amp for sound if the JAMMA to USB converter can't do sound.
If your main source will be HDMI, then you'll be able to pass through audio. What I've done to get the HDMI audio onto the cab speakers is from the splitter, I attach a "HDMI Audio Extractor" to one of the outputs of the splitter and then a 3.5mm into the speaker amp.
I personally wouldn't bother with the JAMMA audio since it'd be mono.
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
- I've specially asked the manufacturer to swap out the China power outlets to a North American one. They even charged me an extra $3 per machine to do it. If they screw me and still have the China plugs, I might consider swapping it, especially since it's kind of scary to think there would be no ground if I used an adapter on all of the devices...
Just make sure it's the correct voltage. My monitor is 240v which makes it easier for them to plug directly into a power board inside the cabinet.
If all they're changing is a connector, you will want to make sure you have the correct voltage before plugging in anything.
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
Problems I think I'll run into:
- because it's Jamma I won't have access to a Xbox or PS button, so for games that I'll need those extra buttons for (like practice mode for tekken, dbfz) I'm not sure exactly what I'll do. I'm not sure if it's possible to program those keys with a pcb board...maybe a J-Pac?
As you would've seen with mine, I added additional buttons at the top. But you mentioned earlier you weren't putting a console in, so you don't have to worry about such buttons. You can always have a wireless keyboard with a built in mouse (Logitech K400 Plus for example, it's far cheaper than a JPAC)
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
- I won't have a smooth interface like hyperspin or whatnot, and every time I want to switch between the pandora box and PC I'd need to manually switch the JAMMA harness. Not sure how great that is from a durability perspective.
I'm still saying scratch JAMMA
Everything that a pandora can run, can be run on a pi and/or low end pc and the emulation on those are FAR superior than a Pandora
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
- even though I read about the coin mechanism part of the thread, I have no idea how mine will be like. I suspect it'll be the same as everyone else's, but I'll probably be too lazy to even bother trying to get the coin mech to work, since I don't have a nostalgic factor for those...
I'm one of those.. I just haven't bothered.. lol.
I'm predominantly a console player, so there's really no need. On my Astro City setups running groovymame, on the otherhand, I like to have a working coin mech. One of them has a working coin mech for $1.00 AUD coins and it's awesome!
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
- if I'm using the China harness that the chewlix comes with, would I need just one JAMMA to USB board? There's only one harness right? Im hoping that the cheap pcb boards off ebay or aliexpress would work, but to be safe should I go with a JPAC? not that they're that expensive, but considering shipping and conversion (in Canada), it's basically 3-4x the price of a cheap China converter. Any have experience with those PCBs? Are there other alternatives?
If it's anything like the JPAC, you would only need one. But you still would need to wire it up from the encoder/jpac to the buttons.
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
- I read that the chewlix JAMMA harnesses are slightly different than the original ones. If I get a Jpac will it work right off the hop, or will I need to tweak it in configuration?
Chinese Jamma is generally wired up for 6 buttons compared to the original jamma which is only designed for 3 or 4 buttons. Since I don't use a JPAC on my chewlix, I can't really comment any further.
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
- I've seen the posts of put connectors underneath the control panel so it's easier to swap out the controls between the JAMMA and a brooks UFB. I don't have any knowledge of how to do that, but would anyone be able to provide pointers on how to make quick connects on the jamma harnesses? That way I can just connect between the two if I want to switch between the pandora box or the PC.
Connectors are easy enough to swap out, you just need to make sure you use the correct connector and terminal crimps. Both my chewlix had 16 pin molex connectors. They weren't in any standardised format, so I had to make my own connectors.
Again, in hindsight, if they were JVS connectors, it's simple enough to make. Either way, you're best to invest in a crimping tool and buy some connectors off Digi-key or something.
mallowpie wrote: ↑November 16th, 2018, 10:36 pm
I'm sure the answer is somewhere in this forum, but I am like super green when it comes to the arcade world... So I know very little about controls and such. Sorry in advance for some stupid questions, but hopefully people in the future can just refer to this
. Plus I'm sure I'll have more later on...
I was you when I first started this thread, but since then, I've acquired a decent amount of skills/knowledge and the information is out there and there are many of us that's willing to help. There are never any stupid questions, if you don't know, then chances are someone else doesn't know, but if you ask, there's always a possibility it'd get answered
If you have any questions, I'm mnore than happy to help if I can.
Like I said, since this thread got started, I've learnt many things along the way with the projects I've come across so feel free to ask.