Donkey Kong Forum
General Donkey Kong Discussion => General Donkey Kong Discussion => Topic started by: craighiphopfish on February 10, 2013, 02:33:30 pm
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It's been difficult to find a Nintendo Arcade game out in Denver lately (Popeye, DK, DK Jr, etc.). So, since I am a teacher and I have a bit of extra time in the summer... I'm thinking about building my own Nintendo Cabinet (DK Jr or Mario Bros) for a fun/learning project. I already own an original DK cab so I will have it to use as a reference. Has anyone ever attempted this from scratch?
p.s., How common are affordable 19" Sanyo or Vision Pro monitors these days. I rarely see them now that they haven't been produced in several years. I want to avoid LCD at all costs. ~Craigers
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Looks like the Kong Off doesn't have any local influence apparently
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I know right? Thankfully I got my machine before the Kong off, but it may have had a lingering effect on arcade availability in the Mile High city.
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I would be interested to hear how successful you would be with this project. I think it's very ambitious, but can be done. I'm not sure how cost effective compared to finding a buying a cabinet it would be, though. It's something I've contemplated.
Have you checked out the klov forums? http://forums.arcade-museum.com/ (http://forums.arcade-museum.com/) They have a "wanted" section and I bet somebody in your area has a Nintendo cab for sale.
Anyway, good luck with this.
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i thought about going down this route as dk cabs dont come up often in the uk, but i dont think it is cost effecive, and i dont have the tools or anywhere to work...but it would be a great project for fun and learning...
here is a thread detailing a dk scratch build: http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=783.0 (http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=783.0)
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Just keep in mind the dimensions of whatever monitor you choose if you decide to take on this project. Vision Pro monitors do not fit in a DK cab without cutting a hole in the back panel.
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Sanyo ez 20's monitors (from DK cab) are getting hard to find, expect to pay at least $200. for a used one and hope its rebuilt, if you can find one. They are a good monitor especially after being rebuilt, collectors are snagging them up because they are the only monitor that is plug and play in the DK,DK jr,Popeye, and other Nintendo cabs of that era. Nintendo did everything differently than everyone else back then (not just monitor design), it could of been because they only wanted you using Nintendo parts? The ez 20 runs on 100volts from the power brick, you can't run it on 110 like every other monitor or you will fry it. The audio amp board for DKs and other Nintendo's of that era are built on the ez 20s chassis, all other game boards that I know of back then had an amp on the sound board or the amp was with the pcbs in the game. So you would need an amp and have to do some wiring harness mods to get sound on a non ez 20 monitor. The video signal from Nintendo's of that era, from the games video board is inverted (again a Nintendo thing) so it is unplayable on any other monitor unless you buy a signal inverter. All these pesky issues are why collectors buy and hoard ez 20s, there golden. If you build your game running a factory DK boardset it will be a real headache using anything other than the ez 20. It would definitely cost more to build a replica DK than to buy one outright for let's say $500.-$800. If you went mame, 60-1, or arcade sd board cab you won't have to deal with these issues and it could still look like a DK for cheaper, but it wouldn't really be a DK or be sanctioned for arcade score submittal.
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I'm currently designing one at the moment and the monitor seems to be the stumbling block at the moment, what are the alternatives for a monitor, can you hook up a crt tv with a conversion or is stuff like that just not possible.
Nick
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my setup is original pcb/psu/wiring, for the monitor i use a tv tube and one of the universal chassis on ebay, along with the mikesarcade inverter board...
the board from mikes is a video inverter and sound amp in one and it uses all the nintendo connectors so no wiring mods required, my chassis is free voltage and doesnt require an isolation transformer so i can power it anyway i like, i run it from the original psu.
i dont know about powering a standard monitor from the original psu but i assume you can just incorporate a 120/120 iso transformer alongside the 120/100...
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Nick, I'm no monitor expert but i have a DK and DK jr. I just rebuilt the Jr's ez 20,it had issues that a cap kit (vertical collapse) would not fix so its fresh in my head. If you dont use the ez 20 you will have to address the sound amp issue, voltage (DK 100v) if your using the DK stock power supply and the inverted video issue. You could use a different monitor it would just take some work to make it playable, it's going to be more work than cutting a whole in the back door so the thing will fit. Mikes arcade sells an inversion kit or board.
Thanks for the email Fast Eddie, letting me know the inverter board has sound amp included as I'm typing this, I did not know that.
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Fast Eddie , you could just splice into the 120v before it hits the transformer to power the monitor. I thought I read on klov about a cleaner way to do this from the brick withs some minor alteration .
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yeah thats what i was thinking, but you couldnt do it direct youd still need another iso between the splice and the monitor as most require one...
other than the twin galaxies rules i guess theres no real reason to use an original psu in a cab your putting together, unless you plan to use a sanyo...
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Eddie your right, if you went direct from 120v without conditioning the transformer would blow the hot's ?