The Supergun discussion and Q&A thread.

[Ed Oscuro]

Retro Gaming Cables seems to still deliver spotty service, and I don't trust "HD" Retrovision at all.

So neither. If you're in North America, which you seem to be, you should be ordering cables from a local source anyway - Retro Console Accessories on eBay has great quality and is based in the US for faster shipping.

Beyond that, make sure you get a cable with the correct pinout for what you're doing. For the Genesis, it looks like you want the "Sega Genesis/Megadrive 1 Stereo JP-21 pin XRGB lead with boosted sync." However, you can order a Euro pinout SCART cable, and get a SCART to Framemeister adapter. Not using Euro SCART cables might limit your ability to use SCART switches, I've read. On the other hand, I have two SCART to BNC adapters (made up by forum user daskrabs) for both pinouts, and they both work well for connecting systems to a PVM. Care just needs to be taken not to plug EURO pinouts into JP21 or the reverse.

[DarkAries]

I have one RetroGamingCables scart cable. Actually two. I got a Genesis Model 1 and their scart to bnc breakout. The Genesis one works for me, but there is a lot of people where it doesn't, and honestly the cord is like uber thin. I've bought the rest of my cords from this guy in Poland on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/thefoo.83/m.html ... pg=&_from=

He makes them himself from what it seems, it's cheap and the quality is actually very nice. It ended up being cheaper for me then RetroConsoleAccesories and reading the few reviews online other people are also very happy. Just throwing out another alternative since mainly people here mention RGC or RCA.

[NGAES]

Got my Sigma scart off Retro Gaming cables UK. Really pleased to say the least. Fast and cheap postage. Friendly emails too.

[NERDtendo]

I just picked up a Pana Custom Long and I am having an issue with the built in speaker volume. The sound volume is very low until you turn the pot to the max and then the sounds comes in, but it cuts out back to very quiet shortly after starting a game. Anyone have this type of issue before that can give me some advice?

[Ed Oscuro]

I just picked up a Pana Custom Long and I am having an issue with the built in speaker volume. The sound volume is very low until you turn the pot to the max and then the sounds comes in, but it cuts out back to very quiet shortly after starting a game. Anyone have this type of issue before that can give me some advice?

Really late to the party, but if you didn't get this diagnosed, I wonder if this isn't related to a failing capacitor on the audio path (either on the game board or in the supergun itself). Over time, I'd expect the audio to fail completely if that's the case.

[XianXi]

I just picked up a Pana Custom Long and I am having an issue with the built in speaker volume. The sound volume is very low until you turn the pot to the max and then the sounds comes in, but it cuts out back to very quiet shortly after starting a game. Anyone have this type of issue before that can give me some advice?

Change it to a higher wattage pot. They used weak ones in the build that fail quite often. I think they used like 1/20th watt pots. I had to repair a couple before and that was usually the problem. You can also try fader lube but would need to desolder the pot so you can open it and apply the fader lube to rejuvenate it if the carbon is still good.

[Ed Oscuro]

Interesting - didn't know pots failed that way.

[Zerp]

I picked up a Sigma AV7000 a little while back and I've been using it with a old Commodore 64 1084-D monitor that has been in the house. Been using the composite input and I've been eyeing that DB9 RGB port in the back. Can I wire up a cable for the Sigma to work with that RGB port? I'm pretty new to RGB stuff so most of it is confusing to me, so I haven't touched it yet. Been looking at the pinouts and I have no idea what "Intensity" means

http://www.hardwarebook.info/Commodore_1084d/1084dS

Also, might be a pretty basic question. If I wire up a 15 pin RGB cable (VGA?) and hook it up to the sigma, would the signal be picked up from modern PC monitors?

[rolins]

Can I wire up a cable for the Sigma to work with that RGB port? I'm pretty new to RGB stuff so most of it is confusing to me, so I haven't touched it yet. Been looking at the pinouts and I have no idea what "Intensity" means

Yes you can. Wire your RGB for "Analog Mode" if you want to display your arcade games or video game consoles. Intensity in "Digital Mode" or RGBI is for the old 80's computers such as Tandy and Commodore.

If you make the RGB cable and don't get a picture or the picture is unstable, then you'll have to make/buy a sync cleaner circuit using a LM1881.

Also, might be a pretty basic question. If I wire up a 15 pin RGB cable (VGA?) and hook it up to the sigma, would the signal be picked up from modern PC monitors?

Depends. The vast majority of arcade games will output a 15Khz RGB signal and so you need scandoubler if you want to display it on a PC monitor. Some newer arcade games like the Sega Naomi supports 31khz and can use any PC monitor with a VGA connector.

[Kwokalocker]

might be slightly out of chain. I'm new and can anybody tell me the best place to look for buying a 'housed' supergun? thx

[Zerp]

I wired up a DB9 RGB cable only to find out that I should have checked my monitor itself instead of relying on photos on google to check if the port was a male connector instead of a female. Very sad right now, but only a minor setback.

I did however wire up a S-Video cable according to the pinouts on http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Sigma_Supergun_Pinouts
The problem I have now is that it only shows a black and white image. I can't really find an answer searching cause it either gives me information about laptop svideo cables or nothing about "black and white" specifically. Did I wire up something wrong?

[CkRtech]

Zerp - What region are you in? I assume that the Sigma Supergun is NTSC. Are you hooking it up to a PAL display that can accept the 60hz just fine but can't do NTSC?

[Zerp]

Zerp - What region are you in? I assume that the Sigma Supergun is NTSC. Are you hooking it up to a PAL display that can accept the 60hz just fine but can't do NTSC?

USA, I've tried two TVs and tried fiddling with the settings on the TV to check if it was displaying it PAL or something but everything is still showing up NTSC. I'll go home and double check the wiring one more time. The ground for the audio and the Y and C can all be connected to the same pin right?

[CkRtech]

The ground for the audio and the Y and C can all be connected to the same pin right?

Yes. At least I have done something along those lines before with daisy-chained ground. That said - if you have manual connections, check to make sure you aren't grounding out the chroma pin on accident via a bridged connection. Did you use heat shrink over your solder points? I do that to help protect pins from each other.

[Zerp]

Welp, it was just an error on my part. Did not wire up the chrominance wire right, which is why there was no color. Also wired up that DB9 cable for RGB it works no problem. Never knew that it could look that good. Now I just gotta figure out a rig to connect the DB9 connector to a VGA connector so my capture card can pick it up

[Rei]

I think my question might have been answered by rolins earlier when he said

The vast majority of arcade games will output a 15Khz RGB signal and so you need scandoubler if you want to display it on a PC monitor. Some newer arcade games like the Sega Naomi supports 31khz and can use any PC monitor with a VGA connector.

But I want some confirmation/2nd opinions on my issue.

I made a supergun recently and trying to output to an old Viewsonic A70 VGA monitor via JROK component -> HDBoxPro VGA. When I boot up one of my older games like street fighter EX2+ I get this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j56dVzkgE7c

So I guess my question is, do I need a line doubler to play my older games? I think it might be a frequency issue. I might just have to get a different CRT, but I love the way the picture looks on this CRT lol.

[rolins]

I think my question might have been answered by rolins earlier when he said

The vast majority of arcade games will output a 15Khz RGB signal and so you need scandoubler if you want to display it on a PC monitor. Some newer arcade games like the Sega Naomi supports 31khz and can use any PC monitor with a VGA connector.

But I want some confirmation/2nd opinions on my issue.

I made a supergun recently and trying to output to an old Viewsonic A70 VGA monitor via JROK component -> HDBoxPro VGA. When I boot up one of my older games like street fighter EX2+ I get this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j56dVzkgE7c

So I guess my question is, do I need a line doubler to play my older games? I think it might be a frequency issue. I might just have to get a different CRT, but I love the way the picture looks on this CRT lol.

Yes, you'll need a different line doubler that supports 240p input if you want to display Street Fighter EX2 on your VGA monitor. The HDBoxPro VGA only supports inputs from 480i and up. You can try a cheap chinese converters like the GBS-8200 or 8220 models.

[Fudoh]

The HDBoxPro VGA only supports inputs from 480i and up

The HDBoxPro should handle 240p just fine. This said, SFEX2+ isn't low res. I think it was 480i anyway ?

If none of your PCBs work it might be a general compatibility issue between the transcoder you're using and the linedoubler. A GBS 8220 or similar would take RGBs directly, so you wouldn't have to use the transcoder circuit in between.

[DashKrimson]

HI guys, I'm a Supergun n00b who needs a little help.

I recently won a Pana Custom supergun on a Twitch stream raffle, and I think I may have blown it up.

See, I tried to hook it (and the Pandora's Box 4 it was connected to) up to a Trinitron TV using SCART cables I bought from the lovely folks over at Retro Gaming Cables, and when I did, I got no picture at all. While trying to investigate the issue, I heard a quiet but still audible POP from inside the unit, and then nothing from either the Pana or the Pandora. Now, my first thought was "oh god, a fuse has gone", so i called up Retro Gaming Cables for some advice, and the nice man on the other end said he'd send me some fuses in the post. Well, the next day (today), they arrived in the mail, right amperage and everything, but alas, they still did not work - the unit is dead for now, and I don't know why.

And before anyone says anything, yes, I did switch the voltage of the internal power supply to 220v as instructed, and it worked just fine before using a VGA monitor connection from the PB4. I suppose I should've just stuck with that, huh, heh

Can anyone here help me? Or, if I can't fix it myself, can you direct me to someone who can?

Thanks for the help in advance.

[gjm777]

Are you able to open it up and see if it's getting power at all? I recently just had an arcade PSU power up just fine but once i hooked it up to a supergun and actually drew off of it, smoke started coming out of it. I suspect it was just too old and out of use for a long time. Just curious if it's a bad PSU on your end.

[DashKrimson]

Are you able to open it up and see if it's getting power at all? I recently just had an arcade PSU power up just fine but once i hooked it up to a supergun and actually drew off of it, smoke started coming out of it. I suspect it was just too old and out of use for a long time. Just curious if it's a bad PSU on your end.

I am able to open it up, but I cannot see any indication of power running inside the unit. I do suspect that it might be a blown PSU; as you know, a Pana Custom has its own internal PSU. But without being sure of what's wrong, it would be a waste of money to just up and buy a new one, and then have something else be the cause. I will say that whenever the unit is connected to the mains, I can feel a slight throbbing sensation from the back of the units, near the air vents, that stops when the unit is unplugged. Might that indicate anything?

The guys at Retro Gaming Cables have offered me a free examination and quote on repairs to whatever is ailing it, which is really nice of them, so I'm not totally lost, but if possible I'd like to deal with this myself without having to shell out for return postage on such a large and heavy item (and the repair costs on top of that).

[gjm777]

I would say first step is to get a multimeter if at all possible and if the unit turns on, perhaps you can check the jamma edge pins to see if it's getting voltage at the +5 and +12v.

A good guide here with pics so you can at least see what you'll be doing.

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?t=19293

[mojo]

If you have a multimeter then check the resistance between each power line and ground. Sometimes the FETs fail and cause a near short. If the resistance is not >1M ohm it could be that.

[d0s]

Would there be a problem using a Neo-Geo RGB (euro) SCART cable with a Sigma AV5000?

e: Just discovered that the DIN connectors are different, nevermind! Anyone know where I can get an RGB EuroSCART cable for the AV5000? The one website I could find selling them (retrogamingcables) is sold out.

[DashKrimson]

I would say first step is to get a multimeter if at all possible and if the unit turns on, perhaps you can check the jamma edge pins to see if it's getting voltage at the +5 and +12v.

A good guide here with pics so you can at least see what you'll be doing.

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?t=19293

Okay, sorry for the delay, but I finally managed to get my hands on a multimeter (£7 odd on eBay! Nuts!) and tested the +5v and +12v rails. Both showed reading of 0.00, so that means my power supply is buggered, right?

If so, where can I get a good replacement? Which voltage am I looking for, and are there any brands I should look out for? Any help would be appreciated.

[RedDragunee]

Long story short.

Bought a HAS Supergun from RGB, with a '8 pin mini DIN -> BNC cable' for my Sony PVM.
Unfortunately, my PVM died shortly after, and now I'm looking to connect the supergun to my B&O CRT via SCART instead.

I'm trying to figure out, how to resolder my BNC cabel, to have a SCART-male stick instead - the BNC cable have got 4 wires (R,G,B and Sync).
I've made a small drawing to illustrate it. All I want to know is, if I'm doing it right, or if it should be soldered elseway



Thanks.

[Fudoh]

Since the Scart plug is your output (and male), you need to solder the sync wire to pin 20 instead.

Also, some/many TVs require a switching voltage (5V to pin 8 and/or 16). And it can't hurt to wire ground to pin 18 as well.

[RedDragunee]

Thanks Fudoh - I'll try it out tonight

[d0s]

Got my AV5000 and a PCB today, everything works great!




Stuck with the awful composite out until I get a RGB SCART cable I ordered from here, hopefully it's the right one as the listing doesn't explicitly state AV5000 and there seem to be two different types of Sigma RGB cable:

https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/sig ... cart-cable
https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/Sig ... cart-cable

Does anyone know more about this, until seeing these two I always thought all Sigmas used the same cable, worried that the cable I'm getting may not work and the ebay seller doesn't know/won't answer my question.

[Fudoh]

worst case scenario seems that you might be getting a cable with the wrong pinout, but the right connectors. That's easily changed, so don't panic!