The Supergun discussion and Q&A thread.

[emphatic]

This power supply was recommended by somebody in this thread (first pages iirc) and I found it on German ebay. It's pretty sweet (especially for naomi), it has 3.3V at 16A, 5V at 14A and 12V at 1.5A. No -5V, but you can always use "negatron" or something similar.

Thanks, seems to be this one: http://www.mpja.com/33V-16A-and-5V-14A- ... /18090+PS/

[RGB]

Man, I think I overpaid a bit : X that was some time ago, though.

[ifog]

Great work on this Supergun , RGB !

[ebeb]

Hi all,

I've been playing shmups for a while now, and I've decided that I want to buy a Supergun, since I don't think I can make one myself.
But I have no idea which Supergun I should get, much less where to buy one. I don't need SCART, since I'm in the US.
Any ideas?

[ebeb]

Anyone?

[shmuppyLove]

Vogateks are a good cheap one to start with, not sure if you can still get them easily on eBay? That's where I got mine from.

I have the MkII, here is a good chart that compares the different models:

http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Vogatek_Supergun

However, you do get what you pay for. For some reason the Test switch terminal no longer works on mine, the terminal block might have come a bit loose, I haven't had a chance to try and fix it yet.

But no major complaints about it otherwise. I have noticed a difference in overall picture quality depending on which power supply I use, but I'm sure that's typical of most superguns.

[ebeb]

Vogateks are a good cheap one to start with, not sure if you can still get them easily on eBay? That's where I got mine from.

I have the MkII, here is a good chart that compares the different models:

http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Vogatek_Supergun

However, you do get what you pay for. For some reason the Test switch terminal no longer works on mine, the terminal block might have come a bit loose, I haven't had a chance to try and fix it yet.

But no major complaints about it otherwise. I have noticed a difference in overall picture quality depending on which power supply I use, but I'm sure that's typical of most superguns.

Thanks! The wiki page says that the Mk II can't use Megadrive or Neo Geo joysticks, so what controller do you use?
And can the Mk II work with a TV that doesn't have a SCART socket?

[shmuppyLove]

Thanks! The wiki page says that the Mk II can't use Megadrive or Neo Geo joysticks, so what controller do you use?
And can the Mk II work with a TV that doesn't have a SCART socket?

What they mean is that there are no sockets to plug a ready-built joystick into -- it has two rows of screw-down terminals where the controls are wired to.

I built a socket out using the female side of a PS2 extension cable, then wired the male side of the cord up to my joystick, but you can use anything really. If you only need 2 or 3 buttons you could just use RJ45 connectors with any 4-pair 8-conductor cable (Cat3/Cat5).

[ebeb]

I built a socket out using the female side of a PS2 extension cable, then wired the male side of the cord up to my joystick, but you can use anything really. If you only need 2 or 3 buttons you could just use RJ45 connectors with any 4-pair 8-conductor cable (Cat3/Cat5).

I have a Neo Geo controller lying around, so I'll solder some wires to a DB15 connector to use it.
I ordered a Mk II and a Raiden DX pcb, can't wait to see if my setup works.

[alamone]

Just to throw this out, I was tearing my hair out trying to troubleshoot what was wrong with my supergun;
there was some vertically scrolling video noise that was especially apparent on white/gray and blue screens.

I beefed up the wire gauge, double checked the connections, added more wires from logic gnd to earth gnd,
etc. to no avail. It turns out that plugging in the JAMMA audio (attenuated to line-level mind you) into my receiver
(an Onkyo TX-SR805) was the culprit. I plugged it into a cheap T-amp instead and voila, no video noise.

I'll be plugging in the JAMMA audio to various other sources to see which ones induce video noise.
I'm guessing its some kind of grounding loop / noise / interference problem?

[juggernaut]

Just curious.. Fire-bug on this board used to make superguns on request, but it seems like he's out of of business. Do you guys have an idea who i should ask to make me a machine? If anyone still makes them, that is...

Thanks.

[Raytrace]

ok I don't even know how to hold a solder and I'm lazy - is there an 'easy' to get premade supergun with RGB SCART output?

thanks

[juggernaut]

Im in the same boat. If i use a solder iron, im sure the house will catch fire....

[Raytrace]

Im in the boat. If i use a solder iron, im sure the house will catch fire....

hehe I hear ye ;p

and also I was wondering - are there any easy convertors to JAMMA joystick input (say from PSX (which would mean I could use my HRAP 2)) or do you absolutely have to get a JAMMA specific one?

[Stan]

This might be of interest to you:
link

But I never ordered from them, so cannot comment on this product.
There is also another online shop, but it seems they completely stoped producing superguns.

[emphatic]

You can get this: http://etokki.com/Arcade/PSX2JAMMA and just solder the wires from the JAMMA inputs to the solder points on the PCB. Toodles has a nice solution here as well: http://www.godlikecontrols.com/ called the FGW Converter. It does require you to get a female PSX port to solder onto it though and comes unassembled. This is what I used for my supergun and it work very well.

[Fayk]

Kind of an odd request but:

I ended up (third hand?) owning a fire-bug Supergun -- I know he used DB9 ports to wire up kick harnesses, but since it didn't come with a kick harness (but does have the DB9) does anyone know what pinout he used?

Thanks.

[Ed Oscuro]

Not odd at all actually. I recall asking Fire-bug to provide the pinout info; unfortunately this all happened at the same time that he was non-performing on sending SGs to people who had paid for them, and was in the process of being pushed out of the Forum.

[shmuppyLove]

Kind of an odd request but:

I ended up (third hand?) owning a fire-bug Supergun -- I know he used DB9 ports to wire up kick harnesses, but since it didn't come with a kick harness (but does have the DB9) does anyone know what pinout he used?

Thanks.

Could you probe it out to see where each wire goes to?

I don't have any PCBs that use a kick harness, so not sure what they look like ... I assume there is a lead coming from the supergun that plugs into a connector on the PCB? You should be able to find a pinout diagram from the PCB manual and work your way backwards from there, using a continuity probe.

[moh]

sooo, I've been building my own supergun, and I have a question about which PSU i should use..

I salvaged about 3 PC power supplies from old computers I had laying around, but they all have the same problem... they wont provide the 5V and 12V unless the PSU is plugged into the motherboard.

Is that how all pc power supplies work? does there have to be a significant load before the voltage can be supplied?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Korszca]

If you're using an ATX PSU, you need to bridge pin 14 (PS-ON) to a ground (pin 15 is a ground).
http://wiki.xtronics.com/index.php/ATX_Pinout

Take a piece of wire and connect them together. That's it!

[moh]

If you're using an ATX PSU, you need to bridge pin 14 (PS-ON) to a ground (pin 15 is a ground).
http://wiki.xtronics.com/index.php/ATX_Pinout

Take a piece of wire and connect them together. That's it!

I love you.

[dukenukems]

Any one on here that makes one?I would love to get one.

[Azure]

I've noticed some superguns have rgb pots adjustable without openinghe case. Is it a matter of soldering jumpers from the pots on the video encoder to a second set mounted on the case?


Duke: I build superguns. I have two that that WIPs at the moment, and I am trying to make each build better than the last.

[Amasis]

Hi,

I want to build my first supergun and am looking for a proper arcade power supply. The ones i found (Wei Ya...) seem to be from pretty poor quality and i don't want to fry a board just because the psu could fail of cheap caps or rectifiers etc. . I did a little research and found out that sanwa also manufactures high quality arcade power supplys, that are also switchable beetween 100V <-> 230V which is nice because i'm living in germany. akihabarashop.jp sells the

SWN-7F
DC +5V/7A; +12V/1A; -5V/1A

which i guess is perfect for most of the pcbs but i will get the battletoads pcb which needs (the manual states it) 2A on the 12V line. Is this just proforma and the real current will be lower and i'm fine with SWN-7F or should i get a more powerful one which would be the SWN-10F but that seems to be out of production? Or are there easier to get used PSUs from Candy Cabs or anything similar?

regards

[kowal]

Go to SUZO
http://www.suzo.co.uk/catalogue.php
http://onlinebrochure.vanas.nl/suz/310071/
page 74/292
ID 42PP0606

104W
+5 15A, +12 4A -5 1A
switch 250/120

power supply is very cold

[moh]

I had no problem just using a pc power supply that I stole from a broken computer

[Amasis]

Go to SUZO
http://www.suzo.co.uk/catalogue.php
http://onlinebrochure.vanas.nl/suz/310071/
page 74/292
ID 42PP0606

104W
+5 15A, +12 4A -5 1A
switch 250/120

power supply is very cold

Thanks, this one looks good. Do i have to send them an e-mail to order because they don't seem to have a proper shop-system.

@moh if it's too easy to get or to inexpensive then it isn't a hobby
I thought about a ATX PSU in the first place but a 5V adjustment pot is a nice thing to have.

[Amasis]

Finally found one of decent quality at a german electronics distributor where i usually buy parts from and never thought they would have something like that.

It's a Meanwell T-60A for those who might are also looking for a psu
link

They're also available at ebay

I searched a bit and other switching power supply manufacturers are (if a bit on the pricey side)

• TDK-Lambda (JWT line)
• Densei
• Nemic
• Sun Electronics
• Cosel (PMC line)

Or just look for a triple output switching psu with V1:5V V2:12v V3:-5v and the amperage you need.

[shmuppyLove]

How are people handling kick harnesses with your superguns?

My supergun (a Vogatek Mk II) has 4-button support for the MVS, but doesn't have facilities for a 6-button setup.

I'm currently using a heavily modified Hori Tekken 6 PS3 stick, and have 4 buttons wired up, which connects to the supergun using a modified PS1/PS2 cable.

I'm thinking I'll build another joystick with a hybrid 7-button layout; have the top 4 buttons wired directly to the Vogatek (for NeoGeo goodness) and have 3 buttons on the bottom row connected to the kick harness which would plug directly into the CPS2.

Make sense? Would I be better off wiring the kick buttons to something like an RJ45 connector then building an RJ45 to kick harness cable?