Re: Questions about MultiJAMMA's

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: : First, this is 2 posts I posted in other message boards put tobether so it might look wierd, but please answer both posts if you can. Thanks. : : First Post: : : I have recently been looking into a MultiJAMMA pcb. They seem like a practical thing. Now I am a big fighting game fan, and that's mainly whawt I plan on having in my JAMMA cabinet. I am wondering if people would recommend a MultiJAMMA pcb for someone who likes fighitng games? This means that I would need to have multiple kick harnesses hooked up at one time going to each pcb that's hooked up, which I think I could eventually figure out how to do. But so far, the only person I have talked to does NOT recommend one, and he has about 4 fighters hooked up to it. He says that his cuts off sometimes and resets sometimes, and that the power supply was hard to hook up to it. Can people give me some opinions on the MultiJAMMA in general and also on whether they recommend one for a multi-fighting game JAMMA cab? Thanks. : First off, I am not an expert at multi Jamma cab construction. I will supply a link to a guy that is building one.... : : http://netdirect.net/~astewart/arcade/ : However, from my experience with my initial designs.... its not very practical unless you have a main "motherboard" to interface the multi PCB's, and the person that did talk to you sounds the same as my experiences with it (although I backed off of building it due to problems I forseen). First off, it can be a nightmare to set the power supply/ Jamma connections up correctly. (Youve got 56 pins on each harness not including Jamma+ connex .. not to mention video power feeds). I am unaware of any motherboard on the market that can merge them.. so you would need to find/build an interface. If not done correctly, you will have huge voltage problems. (Ohm's Law is really proven in these little wires). Murphy's Law of error quadruples. In a lot of cases, its more practical just to use 1 Jamma harness and just swap the boards out. Modify (or make your own) each Jamma+ control panel harness to a standard molex 4,6, or 9 male/female pin connection and just plug n' chug. Use either the same 2 player 6 button layout control panel.. or swap CP's (while simply having your jamma+ harness mapped with your molex pins for each panel. : Now, as for multi Jamma cabs, you need some sort of easy system to be able to swap between the multi PCB's easily without going into the cabinet... so rule out switches on the inside.. that defeats the purpose. That is why its not as practical. It "can" be done with good IC programming, switches, etc (if you are technical in that nature).. but in the long run from my experience.. is just not worth the effort, when I can simply unhook 1 Jamma harness, and 1 Jamma+ harness... swap, hook up, and turn on. Its the NEO GEO MVS/ PlayChoice 10 "scenario" as I call it. They wanted a easy way to do it, so just used 1 motherboard to handle multiple PCB's (cartridges). In short... you can do it....with proper technical know-how, and do it so you don't have to enter the cabinet each time.... but in my opinion.. just not practical. Unless you are technical and aren't afraid of spaghetti wiring and schematics... go for it.. otherwise... will be hard if you are new to Jamma cabs. : As for your KI2 PCB+HD... mount it safe.... that's the main thing. meaning, don't just let it hang. secure the HD and PCB to a board/ PCB holder / whatever. Make sure the HD cable doesn't have any stress on it. Make sure you could rock the cabinet, and it still stay secured. that's all you need major for mounting. If your cabinet does not have a fan in the rear.. install one (drill hole) just for secures' sake. Make sure it has good ventilation. My guess is, the hottest object that you are "concerned with other than the power supply" is going to be the sound amp on the PCB itself .. (perhaps that heat sink... I don't have this particular board or health schematics). The heat sink should be designed fine to begin with to cool itself.. unless specified in the manual. All cabinets need good ventilation, and these days... most come with 12V fans in the rear. Don't want your KI Hard Drive ruined.. but usually the heat will be evolved around the sound amp section on the PCB. To be honest... heat in the cabinet really shouldn't be a problem unless you have it sealed up with caulk or something :) : Check Wolf's gaming site out.... email him... he may can help you. I have a lot of tech layouts I drew up.. but after evaluation... twas not worth the money/effort/stability versus 1-4 PCB system. : : : : -------------- : : Second Post: : : Hello Everyone. I am farily new to the whole JAMMA scene, but I recently picked up a Killer Instinct 2 dedicated cabinet and am already hooked on the hobby. I am a huge fighting game fan. Now I am familiar with Kick Harness's and stuff like that, to a degree. I have currently been looking at multijamma pcb's because they seem very practical for me. But I got a few questions. : : : : First, are most Kick Harness's the same size? Like does the kick harness fit onto all boards that require one, although the pinouts may be different? Also, do they make Multi Kick Harness adapters that are similiar to the multijamma pcb's? : : : : Second. I have been looking at the multijamma pcb's. I am not that familiar with how they work yet. If I were to use one, how do you go about wiring up the button to switch in between games? : : : : Third. This is also about the multijamma. Would I have to have a seperate kick harness for each game if the game required a kick : : harness? In other words, to make it just selectable and not have to do any rewiring for the games, would I need a kick harness connected to each pcb? : : : : Fourth. This is again about the multijama. How exactly do you hook up the additional power supply that is needed? I have also heard you need maybe 2 additional power supplies. How do you hook up these ones? : : : : Fifth. Again, multijama question. On my Killer Instinct 2 cabinet, the board and HD are mounted on the side of the cabinet inside it, w/a fan directed towards it. Now if I were to get a multijama, would it be a good idea to have it mounted on the wall, w/the other boards : : connected to it perpendicular to the wall, just kind of hanging? It doesn't seem like it would be good, but I don't know how else I should do it. Would I need another fan or anything? : : : : Sixth. This is the FINAL question. If anyone has a multijamma and wants to sell it, please let me know. I am currently looking for one. Thanks. : : : : That's about it. Thanks guys for helping out a newbie who's already hooked on the hobbie!

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