sega blast city monitor help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[juice0707]

I have my 360 connnected to my blast city, but i have a problem now. the screen/picture will on stay on for about 3 mins or so than it will go black/blank. Everytime when i shut off the whole cabibet and let it rest for 20 mins it would work again but only for a few mins, than it will go blank again? Please help i dont know what to do. Thanks!

[antron]

open the cabinet and look at the monitor chassis (the big circuit board that connects to the tube, not the one on the tube)

is there any goo dripping out of a box onto the circuit board?

[juice0707]

open the cabinet and look at the monitor chassis (the big circuit board that connects to the tube, not the one on the tube)

is there any goo dripping out of a box onto the circuit board?

yes i see some thick black goo dripping out on the circuit board. So what does it mean? Thanks!

[antron]

it's a known issue with that monitor. don't turn it back on.

does anyone know how to get it off?

maybe an electronics cleaner?

Be warned that this part of the monitor can shock you even while unplugged. It can seriously fuck you up.

[juice0707]

it's a known issue with that monitor. don't turn it back on.

does anyone know how to get it off?

maybe an electronics cleaner?

Noone here that i know of. So this monitor is still good? All it need is to be clean? What needs to be clean, just the black goo?

[antron]

just asking anyone else reading this.

Be warned that this part of the monitor can shock you even while unplugged. It can seriously fuck you up.

here is some info:
http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2325

reading that it looks like the goo may not be the problem after all.

[juice0707]

could it be something else beside the goo that is causing it to go blank?

[Alien Soldier]

I've been there, I've seen that and I don't think that it's the goo. The VGA signal from the 360 is not compatible with all the Blast monitors and there is a protecting circuit that will shut it off after 3min. I've read on neo-arcadia that a naomi converter can fix this issue.

[juice0707]

I've been there, I've seen that and I don't think that it's the goo. The VGA signal from the 360 is not compatible with all the Blast monitors and there is a protecting circuit that will shut it off after 3min. I've read on neo-arcadia that a naomi converter can fix this issue.

Thanks alot man. Can you link me to the site that sales that converter you talking about? I cant seem to find it? Thanks!

[juice0707]

Does anyone here knows what converter hes talking about? Thanks!

[manman]

I am also wondering what you guys mean by the converter (or I heard elsewhere an upscaling converter?). You aren't talking about naomi/jamma converters are you? I am having this same issue, but I didn't wire my 360 controlers straight to the CP, I wired them to a jamma fingerboard so it would be easy to swap out 360/j-pac/regular pcbs etc- so I can't use both my 360 and a naomi jamma adapter...

is there any other type of signal converter or anything I could use between the 360 and monitor's vga input to fix this problem? I really don't want to have to get a different cabinet or pay for a whole new chassis, and after all the work i've done with this cab already it would really suck to be stopped at the end with an issue like this...

[mozlamoz]

hi guys,
i had the same problem and opened a thread a while ago on neo-arcadia.com(french speaking site) as Alien Soldier mentionned.
most of the "first gen blascitys(the ones with dipswitches for freq adjustment and no OSD) screens" are not compatible with the video signal output from the 360.
to bypass the problem i used a sega V2 naomi converter(i think the capcom converter would do the job as well):
-set the cab dipswitches to 31khz freq and imput signal to "jamma"
-plug the vga cable of the 360 to the converter (guess you can also plug the RCA audio connectors to it if your
blastcity is not equipped with the audio loom)
-connect the converter to jamma
and: VOILA!

unfortunately the brightness and focus will suffer a bit from such a funky hookup,and you might not be able to read some tiny fonts on some games,but it does the trick ,until you decide to change your screen or get another cab(i traded my blastcity for a trifreq egret2).

hope this would help,
cheers.

[jonny5]

but if you hooked it up via capcom or sega i/o you would be interlacing the signal for jamma?

the interlacing is what you are referring to with the hard to read text and image quality loss

that is what these converters do

this cant be the best solution for this problem....seems silly to run a high res console on a high res capable monitor and interlacing the video via a converter

[manman]

Well, as I mentioned, I am using the jamma harness already since I created a jamma adapter for the 360 controls. I didn't want to wire them up directly or it will be too much work to swtich between 360/mame pc/ regular pcb's etc.

I need a solution that doesn't use the jamma harness. Does anyone know what the actual nature of the problem is? Even though they are older monitor models and are manual sync, they should still accept a 640x480 non-interlaced signal via vga shouldn't they (and unless i'm mistaken vga is a standard, there shouldnt' be voltage differences or anyhting, right?) I don't really get it...

I have read that a regular scan conver box (i.e. not i/o board) can fix the problem, does anyone have any experience using one for this purpose, and/or know what type/brand works?

[Dave_K.]

but if you hooked it up via capcom or sega i/o you would be interlacing the signal for jamma?

The sega I/O converts Jamma to JVS, it does not convert the video signal - just passes through to the jamma connector. At most it may be combining the H/V sync with a bit of amplification, which sounds like its solving his issue at the cost of a brighter picture.

I think the Extron sync converter / stabilizer might be what you are looking for. You'll need to check each model's specs on the Extron website first to ensure it works with 31khz signals.

[manman]

I will take a look at those, thanks!

edit:
the scs 300 looks like the closest thing they have, but it doesn't have vga input. Is there a type of cable for the 360 that would work with that, or a converter like this that does vga in and out? having trouble finding something like this...

[manman]

would something like this maybe work?

http://www.hdtvsupply.com/vgato5bncca7.html

use that with the gender changer that comes with the xbox vga cable as input to the scs300, then vga out to the monitor? It does look like it handles 31kHz signals.

[Dave_K.]

VGA to BNC video cables are quite common. No need for a high end "1080p" one since you are dealing with 480p/640x480 only, although thats probably just marketing expense right there.

BTW: the Extron SC 200 specs might work as well as the SC 300. Zakk seems to have a lot of knowledge about these Extron boxes.

[manman]

oh yeah- I was just using that for quick reference, I would have gone with a much more basic one like you pointed out

Anyway, thanks for the info, it's been really helpful!

[jonny5]

but if you hooked it up via capcom or sega i/o you would be interlacing the signal for jamma?

The sega I/O converts Jamma to JVS, it does not convert the video signal - just passes through to the jamma connector. At most it may be combining the H/V sync with a bit of amplification, which sounds like its solving his issue at the cost of a brighter picture.

i think you have that backwards dave

http://www.sega-naomi.com/Iframes/hardw ... Converters

those i/o's are for converting 31khz 480p naomi(hi-res) JVS video signals into jamma at 15khz 480i...

or are we talking about a different i/o?

it sounds to me like what he is doing is feeding his monitor a 480i 15khz video signal....his description of the quality makes it pretty clear its interlaced

i still dont get why it isnt just working without having to use the adapter?

is it an official 360 vga cable?

[manman]

but if you hooked it up via capcom or sega i/o you would be interlacing the signal for jamma?

The sega I/O converts Jamma to JVS, it does not convert the video signal - just passes through to the jamma connector. At most it may be combining the H/V sync with a bit of amplification, which sounds like its solving his issue at the cost of a brighter picture.

i think you have that backwards dave

http://www.sega-naomi.com/Iframes/hardw ... Converters

those i/o's are for converting 31khz 480p naomi(hi-res) JVS video signals into jamma at 15khz 480i...

or are we talking about a different i/o?

it sounds to me like what he is doing is feeding his monitor a 480i 15khz video signal....his description of the quality makes it pretty clear its interlaced

i still dont get why it isnt just working without having to use the adapter?

is it an official 360 vga cable?

I don't get it either, but from all the info I've been able to find the consesus appears to be that there is just an incompatibility with a subset of older manual-sync (ms-2930) blast city monitors and the xbox vga output signal. It doesn't make sense to me either since it seems like some manual-syncs work fine with it, and all ms-2931's work fine with it. I haven't come across anyone who has a solid explanation for what the issue is, but since people report that the capcom i/o board solves it (i've seen other people report this too), and others like in here recommend scan converters, I guess it must have something to do with composite/separate h v sync signals. But... you're right if that's the case it doesn't make sense why the other nanao chassis work fine...

Anyway- I never really thought about it- but, is that really how the capcom i/o board works? I thought you could just use it to hook up jamma based controls to naomi/jvs systems, but keep the video signal going directly from the naomi to your monitor, is that not true? The capcom i/o board is recommended as the best way to hook up a naomi to a jamma wired blast city cab, but since it has a tri-sync monitor, why would you want to convert the video to 15kHz... that doesn't make sense to me...

[Dave_K.]

i think you have that backwards dave

http://www.sega-naomi.com/Iframes/hardw ... Converters

those i/o's are for converting 31khz 480p naomi(hi-res) JVS video signals into jamma at 15khz 480i...

or are we talking about a different i/o?

Trust me, I own several Naomi's and tri-sync cabinets. Scroll up a bit on that page, and you'll see its the Naomi motherboard itself which has a switch to output 31khz/15khz resolution, its similar to a dreamcast. All of those I/O's listed don't convert any video, just does JVS to Jamma. The VGA port you see on the I/O is for taking the Naomi output (which only has a VGA port out) and sends it to the jamma, which is only really used when you have the Naomi set to 15khz, otherwise at 31khz you hook it directly to your tri-sync monitor.

it sounds to me like what he is doing is feeding his monitor a 480i 15khz video signal....his description of the quality makes it pretty clear its interlaced

Actually he said he hard wired the monitor for 31khz, so it can't be displaying a 15khz signal.

When he runs the 360 VGA output directly to the monitor it shuts off after a bit. He then tried running the signal through an I/O, which is sending 31khz through the jamma adapter, which is changing the signal to combined sync. This is why its working, displaying a picture that doesn't shut off, although through this path the video is getting amplified, and as he says looks bright and unfocused.

[mozlamoz]

When he runs the 360 VGA output directly to the monitor it shuts off after a bit. He then tried running the signal through an I/O, which is sending 31khz through the jamma adapter, which is changing the signal to combined sync. This is why its working, displaying a picture that doesn't shut off, although through this path the video is getting amplified, and as he says looks bright and unfocused.

exactly! although the image looks "dark" and unfocused (using sega V2)

[jonny5]

i think you have that backwards dave

http://www.sega-naomi.com/Iframes/hardw ... Converters

those i/o's are for converting 31khz 480p naomi(hi-res) JVS video signals into jamma at 15khz 480i...

or are we talking about a different i/o?

Trust me, I own several Naomi's and tri-sync cabinets. Scroll up a bit on that page, and you'll see its the Naomi motherboard itself which has a switch to output 31khz/15khz resolution, its similar to a dreamcast. All of those I/O's listed don't convert any video, just does JVS to Jamma. The VGA port you see on the I/O is for taking the Naomi output (which only has a VGA port out) and sends it to the jamma, which is only really used when you have the Naomi set to 15khz, otherwise at 31khz you hook it directly to your tri-sync monitor.

it sounds to me like what he is doing is feeding his monitor a 480i 15khz video signal....his description of the quality makes it pretty clear its interlaced

Actually he said he hard wired the monitor for 31khz, so it can't be displaying a 15khz signal.

When he runs the 360 VGA output directly to the monitor it shuts off after a bit. He then tried running the signal through an I/O, which is sending 31khz through the jamma adapter, which is changing the signal to combined sync. This is why its working, displaying a picture that doesn't shut off, although through this path the video is getting amplified, and as he says looks bright and unfocused.

oops ...seems you are correct....why did i think these coverted video signals?

maybe because ive use them in mame setups....forgot about using soft15khz though, which wold make converting the output unnecessary

didnt realize the mobo on the JVS stuff was doing the conversions....would this be the same with system 246 stuff and the namco i/o?

either way....my bad....sorry to have confused things

[mozlamoz]

oops ...seems you are correct....why did i think these coverted video signals?

i guess the name "converter" is a tricky one

[zakk]

I'll just more or less answer your PM here; since I'm too lazy to click to my inbox right now.

I don't know if an extron will solve this issue; I've never owned a blast city monitor so I don't know exactly what is causing this problem.

I've only ever owned the SC210 (I still have a pile of them, actually!) I seem to recall having some weird issue with 31khz, but it wasn't sync related. The 31khz dreamcast would produce funky colors if run through it; but the sync was ok. I can't rule out there being some other problems in the signal path either; I don't remember what it was/how it was setup. If it'll deal with the sync fine you can just hook only the sync up and bypass the extron for the RGB connections.

[manman]

ok, so I ended up getting an ss-200 instead of the scs-300. Was able to score one dirt cheap, only 15 bucks because it had no ac adapter, but I found one myself for another 12 or so.

have it set up now via the vga breakaway in/vga out to blast monitor, and so far it's been working great for a few hours which is longer than I've seen it go before. I have it set to separate h/v sync, but I'm not sure if that is why it's working or not. Someone else I mentioned thought that any powered vga passthrough might fix it, so it could just be that. I'll leave it on for another few hours just to confirm- but if anyone else is having this issue and looking for a solution that doesn't involve upgrading your monitor/chassis or going through the capcom i/o and converting to 15kHz, this might be for you. I'll update after I've had it going for longer.