Linking 3 Daytona's

steph

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I've asked this question before,
but never got an answer.

It is possible to link THREE Daytona's together ?
(...as opposed to having them in pairs... )

I've got a linked double now, and am about to get another single .

I would assume this can be done,
since it's just a daisy-chain of TX-to-RX connections.

I assume I set one unit as master and the others as slave.

I also assume my "single" is actually a half from a double
so that it has the communication board for the linking.

Can anyone confirm that this would work ? ( Radiac ? ) ;-)

Thanks,
Steph
 
The "standard" 2-player Daytona is a dedicated 2-player unit, it does not separate into two halves. Other than the seats un-bolting to move the unit, it is one game. I would assume that the single you are getting is a "limited edition" Daytona which used a slightly larger monitor (27"?) and did come as a single car. Be warned, it is a monstrous cabinet to move. As far as the linking goes, I would think it is possible to link three, but at the same time, I could also see it necessary to have either 2 or 4 "cars" for proper communication. Also, being that you have (again, assuming) a twin and a single, there may be a different PCB in there, or settings may be (and probably are) different. Just be careful before you jump into this, as the singles are rather uncommon (at least in my experience). Sorry I can't be of more assistance on this.
 
Shawnbo, thanks for the info.

However, I question your comment on the game being a "dedicated double".

I know for a fact that when I had linking problems on my double,
it played perfectly fine as two singles.
(... ie, both were set to "single" with no linking between them
and they ran perfectly fine as two stand-alone's ).

Perhaps I had a different (newer) rom version ?

Also, as far as I know, all Daytonas ( single, doubles, U/R )
all share the exact same boardset, except for a comm board
which is used for linking (...this board is NOT in the U/R version ).

So, given what I know (...which may very well be incorrect..),
I'm led to believe that you can link any number of seats.
...but I have no verifiable proof...

However, I'm getting the single unit for free, (...it has no monitor...)
so I'm not really losing any money either way.

Besides, I have 3 boys, ... so a twin simply won't do ! ;-)

Thanks,
Steph
 
From what I've heard you can link up to 8 units....so 3 should work.Does the single have the optical inputs and outputs?Just set 1 as master and the rest as slave.
 
From what I've heard you can link up to 8 units....so 3 should work.Does the single have the optical inputs and outputs?Just set 1 as master and the rest as slave.

yeah, it's optic. I've only linked 2, so it's as simple as running the in/out on one to the out/in, if you're running 3 (or more, for that matter) though, do you run them as like:

unit 1: out -> unit 2 in
unit 2: unit 2 in from unit 1 out, unit 2 out -> unit 3 in
unit 3: unit 3 in from unit 2 out, unit 3 out -> unit 1 in

does that make sense?

this is actually a really good question, never thought of it this way before.

as far as cabinet types, the ones we have are the twin models with the metal base and the plastic cover for the top, and they bolt together in the middle.

the wooden kind I think is just like one machine where the seats unbolt off.

I think you can link 3 with no problem. only 1 machine functions as the master, so I think the # of slaves doesn't matter. if they had to be run in parallel, then that would imply there would be something like multiple master/slave configurations, and it doesn't work like that.

EDIT: read your message carefully this time... still groggy. I think ALL the Daytona games use the same boardsets, and should all have the communication board. I've seen boardsets sold a lot, never did I see anyone specify what cabinet orientation it came from. I actually didn't have enough cables to do mine (one of the sets, the connector end was ripped off), so I ganked the communication cables from my Daytona 2 (which were EXTREMELY long) and avoided the ports on the back altogether ... I just ran the cables from the master machine board to the back of the slave machine. :)
 
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I think ALL the Daytona games use the same boardsets, and should all have the communication board. I've seen boardsets sold a lot, never did I see anyone specify what cabinet orientation it came from.

You may be right..

I know all the boardsets are the same,
but these consist of 3 or 4 stacked PCBs.

I "thought" that the U/Rs did not have the comm/link board
because they were not intended to be linked
(...so why add an extra board for nothing... ? )

But I could be wrong...

Thanks for the info.

Steph
 
you could very much be right. and yeah, there's a lot of interlocking going on with these. probably the most complex game board arrangement I've seen. (well, Daytona 2 is just as bad...) :)
 
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