Getting started with PCB's

This is the main shmups forum. Chat about shmups in here - keep it on-topic please!
Post Reply
User avatar
Never_Scurred
Posts: 1800
Joined: Thu May 18, 2006 1:09 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Getting started with PCB's

Post by Never_Scurred »

Went to Coinexpress to look at some prices and was suprised to find that most of the games I have in Mame and Final Burn can be had for just a few hundred dollars. Not too bad, I can get all the Donpachis(excluding Bee Storm) for a lil' under $800.
What will I need to get started playing these games and what other resources do you guys suggest?
User avatar
SAM
Posts: 1788
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2005 5:27 am
Location: A tiny nameless island in South China Sea

Re: Getting started with PCB's

Post by SAM »

Never_Scurred wrote:Went to Coinexpress to look at some prices and was suprised to find that most of the games I have in Mame and Final Burn can be had for just a few hundred dollars. Not too bad, I can get all the Donpachis(excluding Bee Storm) for a lil' under $800.
Buying PCBs though Coinexpress is a bit costy. You could save some money by buying the PCBs from a member here, (i.e. post a WTB thread at the trading section here) or look for the PCBs at online auction site.

IIRC, DDP costs 18,000 yen (US$157) and DDP DOJ costs 35,000 yen (US$304) at yahoo auction.
Never_Scurred wrote:What will I need to get started playing these games and what other resources do you guys suggest?
The simplist and best result is geting a Cab or a RGB monitor. :o

If you want to use a normal TV, you would need a Video signal encoder. If you know how to solder and got very basic electronic knowage, you could DIY it cost very little, here is a few examples:
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=7854
(My spare JORK unit had just been sold.)

Otherwise you have to buy some kinds of prebuilt unit, i.e. Supergun, that would cost $$$. And got all sorts of problem in PSU, and buttons wiring... :x
*Meow* I am as serious as a cat could possible be. *Meow*
User avatar
Rastan78
Posts: 2067
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:08 am

Post by Rastan78 »

You should also check out excellentcom.net for PCBs. I would recommend them over coinopexpress. If you email them, they'll send you updated price lists every so often. Don't go by the price list that's on their web site.

Keep in mind that regardless of whether you go with a cab or supergun, at some point you will need some soldering skills etc. in order to deal with the technical side of things. You don't have to be an electrician, but you will have to deal with changing button or speaker wiring and that kind of stuff at some point.

I'm with SAM. I think either a dedicated arcade cab or a do-it-yourself supergun with RGB monitor are the best options. Buying an expensive supergun with video convertor to play PCBs on a regular TV is pointless since you can just buy a cheap RGB monitor and do everything yourself for less and still have 10x better picture quality.
droid
Posts: 204
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2005 3:42 pm

Post by droid »

I'll pass on the same good advice I received from BIG, when I first got into pcbs..I recommend getting a sega astrocity or sega new astrocity cab. Pretty easy to rotate, great picture, inexpensive as far as cabs go, looks and plays great.

Droid
Post Reply