question about monitor options for a donkey kong cab

feynman

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question about monitor options for a donkey kong cab

hi all,

i am looking to start gathering parts to build my first arcade cab, donkey kong, but i am in the UK and am going to have to draw the line at having a monitor shipped over here...

i understand the monitors come with an inverter and some kind of audio board? but i have no idea how all this stuff connects, i am a total noob at this btw...

so, what are my options?

is it possible to have a lcd tv or pc monitor in a dk cab? or maybe convert an old crt television?

also i will be using an original power supply so i will need a uk/us step down transformer, can someone tell me how much power a dk cab draws (watts) so i can get the right one...

thank you
 
hi all,

i am looking to start gathering parts to build my first arcade cab, donkey kong, but i am in the UK and am going to have to draw the line at having a monitor shipped over here...

i understand the monitors come with an inverter and some kind of audio board? but i have no idea how all this stuff connects, i am a total noob at this btw...

so, what are my options?

is it possible to have a lcd tv or pc monitor in a dk cab? or maybe convert an old crt television?

also i will be using an original power supply so i will need a uk/us step down transformer, can someone tell me how much power a dk cab draws (watts) so i can get the right one...

thank you


If you are going to frankenstein yourself a Donkey Kong and are not worried about the machine being all original then just JAMMAtize the cab and use a MikesArcade Nintendo-to-JAMMA adapter. Then you can use whatever monitors you have access to for the JAMMA cab and the adaptor does the video color inversion and audio amplification for you. Do everything basic JAMMA and with the adaptor and a DK 2 stack board you'll be set.

http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=NIN2JAMMA
 
hey, thanks for reply...

i have not decided exactly how i am going to finish the cab, but it will certainly be a frankenstein of some kind...

however i do plan to use it to put a score up on the twin galaxies scoreboad and recording rules are quite strict, so i will be using an original power supply and control panel, and preferably a monitor that at least looks right.

if i get a monitor over here and get just the inverter and audio board from a nintendo monitor, can i bodge it all together?

cheers
 
...I have not decided exactly how i am going to finish the cab, but it will certainly be a frankenstein of some kind...

However, I do plan to use it to put a score up on the Twin Galaxies scoreboad and recording rules are quite strict...

Yeah, if you're trying to put up a score you can't use the MikesArcade JAMMA adaptor since it has capacitors and mpdifiers on the adapter. You can get a video color inverter from MikesArcade if you have access to a regular arcade monitor. LCD looks horrible IMO, but if it's all you got then it'll have to do. To use an LCD I think you would need the CGA to CGA converter and possibly the video color inverter as well. Clean up the outside of the cab nice because the inside is going to look like WWIII.
 
How exactly does that work? How do those things change the Donkey Kong game play?

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

It doesn't change the gameplay. Twin Galaxies is just very specific when it comes to Donkey Kong score submissions.


ok so i just need this: http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=NININVAMP and i can use any cga arcade monitor?

cheers

Yes. Just remember that you need to run +12v to it to run the little board and that there is a power difference in a regular monitor vs a Nintendo Sanyo 20EZ (this one runs off 100v instead of the norm).
 
yes i will have to power the monitor from the mains, and hope TG dont have a problem with that...

can i take the 12v from the dk power supply?
 
yes i will have to power the monitor from the mains, and hope TG dont have a problem with that...

can i take the 12v from the dk power supply?

The only way to take the +12v from the DK power supply that I know of would be to check the schematics and hack into the proper source and I don't know whether or not that would cause issues for your score submission. You could set up a small switching power supply to be mounted on the bottom of the cab next to the DK supply to only use for the inverter board. I don't know if you are noticing yet how much of a frank cab this is turning out to be, but when you're on an island where everything has to be brought in...sometimes it's just what has to be done.
 
ok i will not mess with the Power supply...

yeah its not the easiest choice for my first attempt! but its the only arcade game i really play...

thanks for your help...
 
If you're trying to submit scores who knows what Twin Galaxies will do with any modifications. They may reject you if anything looks out of place. According to their rules, their super anal about DK scores, even when it shouldn't matter.
 
It doesn't change the gameplay. Twin Galaxies is just very specific when it comes to Donkey Kong score submissions.


I searched the site and couldn't find these rules or the mentioned "RECORDING FAQ". One would think that all of the DK rules would be right next to the DK scores. (Oh well).

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
yes its possible they will not accept my score, but i can only do my best, eventually i may consider having a monitor or even full cab shipped...

the links to the dk rules have been broken for months and it has been pointed out to them but never fixed, a bit odd...i hope they are considering relaxing them to normal arcade submission rules...
 
The DK rules link has been broken ever since TG rolled out their new website earlier this year.
Feyman, if they don't change the rules, you need to have original controls (Nintendo 4-way stick) and a Nintendo power supply too. They might be more lax on the monitor (don't remember if it was specified or not), since it wouldn't have any effect on gameplay like the other things I mentioned might.
 
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