JAMMA harness recommendation?

AtariMaster

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All,

I am not trying to save a couple bucks, if fact quite the opposite. I am willing to pay for quality and not save a few bucks on the Chinese import JAMMA harnesses for $7.00.

Is The Real Bob Roberts harness the way to go?

Thanks,
Andy
 
I love the Bob Roberts harnesses (fully loaded jamma harness).

I usually buy 1 or 2 when I have other parts to order from him.
 
For colours I use
Black for GND
Red for +5VDC
Yellow for +12VDC
White for COIN and switches
Purple for buttons
Blue for Joysicks
Grey for sound
green for video (or use Red green blue if you're fancy)

As long as it makes sense to you, you can do pretty much anything you want.
 
Lots of work to roll your own.

Just make sure any that you do get have the power wire going to all of the power contacts through wire, not just solder.

Bob's harness are great. Every now and then you can find NOS jamma harness on ebay, but they are only a couple buck cheaper (~$25ish over Bob's $30).
 
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In former threads on this subject, I believe, as we have here, that BOB'S are the best bang for the buck. +1 for BOB. :001_sbiggrin:
 
You can always get a cheap (remember that word, *cheap*) Jamma harness anywhere. It's a toss up as to how the quality is going to be.

One thing to keep in mind, is to make sure that if you get a *cheap* jamma harness.. make sure that, with modification, all the ground pins have their own separate grounds, AND ****that the +5v pins have their own 18awg wire*** (same thing goes with -5v and +12v).

Most of the chinese ones you find on ebay have +5v tied up with a thick insulated but THIN gauge wire.. this is bad. So are the thin metal pins they use in the jamma connector, as well as the connectors themselves can chip easily or break the connector pins free leave them out of place


I'm not sure how the quality is from other sources like twisted quarter and what not, maybe they're good.




But hands down, the best Jamma harness I've used, and the most consistently built as far as quality - Bob Roberts. You really cannot get any better - it's money well spent and a big headache you do NOT have to deal with
 
You can always get a cheap (remember that word, *cheap*) Jamma harness anywhere. It's a toss up as to how the quality is going to be.

One thing to keep in mind, is to make sure that if you get a *cheap* jamma harness.. make sure that, with modification, all the ground pins have their own separate grounds, AND ****that the +5v pins have their own 18awg wire*** (same thing goes with -5v and +12v).

Most of the chinese ones you find on ebay have +5v tied up with a thick insulated but THIN gauge wire.. this is bad. So are the thin metal pins they use in the jamma connector, as well as the connectors themselves can chip easily or break the connector pins free leave them out of place


I'm not sure how the quality is from other sources like twisted quarter and what not, maybe they're good.




But hands down, the best Jamma harness I've used, and the most consistently built as far as quality - Bob Roberts. You really cannot get any better - it's money well spent and a big headache you do NOT have to deal with

I saw that Canadian one and that it was chinese... I don't know if that's like 24 gauge wire or what, but I imagine a lot of people that report power problems are using those.

I'm vocal about Bob Roberts monitor parts quality, but those JAMMA harnesses he produces are so lavish that he supposedly sells them at a loss. I bought one years ago and never used it, cause I never found a game worthy of housing one.

Twisted Quarter supposedly sells a decent JAMMA harness. it's not Bob quality, but I've never heard anything bad about them so I'm guessing they probably have like 18 gauge power wiring (the most important part)

I order parts through a business, and Suzo-Happ is all but 10 miles from me, I've been using their JAMMA harnesses for about 3 years now and haven't had any problems with them. it'll be hard for an end user to get them though. it's worth noting I think the power wiring on those are the same gauge as everything else, so about 22 I think, but they ship with 8 ground wires, some harnesses only have a single pair of grounds down by the input side, so that's probably why I never saw any major voltage drops with them. I'm also fairly certain the likes of Galloping Ghost Arcade and Underground Retrocade use Happ's stuff exclusively as well.

I've never used Twisted Quarter's harnesses before, I went to order some but wound up picking their chinese JAMMA extenders instead I guess (these are plagued with the same wiring issues, I don't recommend using these unless you intend on replacing the power wires yourself). I personally feel Bob's are too expensive, regardless of how important a quality JAMMA harness is, I would believe TQ's would be more than enough. anything above that chinese garbage is sufficient.
 
As the OP I really appreciate the responses, all good information.

I'll probably go with the Bob Roberts harnesses and someday order the parts to build my own.

Thanks for the discussion,
Andy
 
I saw that Canadian one and that it was chinese... I don't know if that's like 24 gauge wire or what, but I imagine a lot of people that report power problems are using those.

I haven't used it yet, but it's def made with 18AWG for all the power and ground and 22 for the rest. Seems pretty well put together. Though, I would't know what would constitute poor quality TBH.

Pic!
 
I haven't used it yet, but it's def made with 18AWG for all the power and ground and 22 for the rest. Seems pretty well put together. Though, I would't know what would constitute poor quality TBH.


Are you sure that is 18 awg and not just a lot of insulation? Also, the limited number of wires on the power lines are usually a sign of lesser quality.

Looks like it doesn't really meet the Jamma standard and is really meant for the newer multi boards that aren't really Jamma.
 
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Are you sure that is 18 awg and not just a lot of insulation? Also, the limited number of wires on the power lines are usually a sign of lesser quality.

Looks like it doesn't really meet the Jamma standard and is really meant for the newer multi boards that aren't really Jamma.


Yeah, definitely 18 AWG! It's missing tilt, it seems.
 
fact quite the opposite. I am willing to pay for quality and not save a few bucks on the

at first I used to buy the ready made harnesses
now I find it more fun to build my own

if you buy a harness, hope no mistakes were made in it's construction
how many harnesses you're going to build could be a factor

last photo is of my wire pile. can you see the dollar bill
 

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I'd be more inclined to get Bob Roberts stuff if ordering wasn't such a PITA! What we need is a Bob Roberts reseller :) Getting Money Orders and mailing things is just too painful.
 
at first I used to buy the ready made harnesses
now I find it more fun to build my own

if you buy a harness, hope no mistakes were made in it's construction
how many harnesses you're going to build could be a factor

last photo is of my wire pile. can you see the dollar bill

haha. That's madness
 
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