Thief - Arcade Icons

Griffin

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Stumbled across this Thief cab for $50, not in the best shape, but for something so uncommon I should be trying to restore it. It also came with a fully working monitor and Killer Instinct board set so it really was a no-brainer to pick up (No the board set isn't for sale).

15027978_1181266538633870_2182939917262280716_n.jpg


As you can see it's been converted, the only thing left inside seems to be the power supply/iso.

Parts needed to complete the project

- Working Board Set
- Tape Deck <--- Substituting with the MP3 conversion for reliability/flexibility
- Wiring Harness <--- Being repro'd
- Marquee
- Bezel
- CPO
- Side Art
- Bulbs and starters
- LEDs for coin returns
- New locks
- New Feet
- New chrome t-molding
 
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Parts that have arrived so far...

Original Bezel and new chrome T-Molding.
15241168_1193927737367750_7188402951696552149_n.jpg


CPO from This Old Game.
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Working board set, ribbon, tape and original Marquee.
15219571_1186807521413105_8302938038401933300_n.jpg
 
Nice score. I've been keeping my eye out for one of these cabs, as I've recently familiarized myself with repairing the boardsets, and have a couple. (I also could use a couple of additional IO boards, if anyone out there happens to have any, to complete some partial sets.)

FYI, there's a better alternative to the tape deck. Koolmoecraig tipped me off to these, and I just ordered one for my setup. It's the Lepai LP-A68:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/311383773867

It's an amplified automotive audio player, which runs on 12V, and can auto-play and loop an mp3 on powerup, which is loaded on a MicroSD card. This unit basically does everything the deck does, and just needs to be wired into your harness, in the same manner as the deck. It's about as close to a drop-in replacement as you can get.

I got one for $17 shipped on ebay, as there are cheaper ones than the above listing, if you look around.

The other neat thing about it is that you can mount it inside the coin door, and switch SD cards to have different soundtracks (original Thief, Craig's NWA version, John Jacobsen's version, etc). It also makes it easier to switch to the NATO Defense soundtrack, which I've got a mod in the works for, to allow Thief and ND to be run off of the same PCB.
 
FYI, there's a better alternative to the tape deck. Koolmoecraig tipped me off to these, and I just ordered one for my setup. It's the Lepai LP-A68:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/311383773867

It's an amplified automotive audio player, which runs on 12V, and can auto-play and loop an mp3 on powerup, which is loaded on a MicroSD card. This unit basically does everything the deck does, and just needs to be wired into your harness, in the same manner as the deck. It's about as close to a drop-in replacement as you can get.

I got one for $17 shipped on ebay, as there are cheaper ones than the above listing, if you look around.

The other neat thing about it is that you can mount it inside the coin door, and switch SD cards to have different soundtracks (original Thief, Craig's NWA version, John Jacobsen's version, etc). It also makes it easier to switch to the NATO Defense soundtrack, which I've got a mod in the works for, to allow Thief and ND to be run off of the same PCB.

Yeah this is an awesome option, I was wondering how much they cost to put together, sounds cheap and reliable for sure so I'll check it out.

Thanks, this is super helpful. :D
 
It also makes it easier to switch to the NATO Defense soundtrack, which I've got a mod in the works for, to allow Thief and ND to be run off of the same PCB.

:eek:

Sooo....does Shark Attack also run on this?

It appears the others have 2 buttons, which I suppose can somehow get rerouted to player 1 & 2 start buttons ;)

Please put me on your WTB list when ready! :D


-GackAttack
 
Short answer - I don't know if Shark Attack runs on the same boardset. I haven't looked into it. My hunch says no, but that's based on zero actual data (aside from the fact that I didn't seen anyone saying that, when I was researching Thief.)

I did read that NATO Defense was just a ROM swap with Thief, so I want to be able to just single-ROM mod the board, use a double-sized ROM, and have both ROM sets available, via a switch. It's basically the same mod I do on Tempest boards, to run both the standard and Tubes versions of code. Nothing fancy.

I'll do a thread about it if and when I get it to work.
 
Nice score. I've been keeping my eye out for one of these cabs, as I've recently familiarized myself with repairing the boardsets, and have a couple. (I also could use a couple of additional IO boards, if anyone out there happens to have any, to complete some partial sets.)

FYI, there's a better alternative to the tape deck. Koolmoecraig tipped me off to these, and I just ordered one for my setup. It's the Lepai LP-A68:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/311383773867

It's an amplified automotive audio player, which runs on 12V, and can auto-play and loop an mp3 on powerup, which is loaded on a MicroSD card. This unit basically does everything the deck does, and just needs to be wired into your harness, in the same manner as the deck. It's about as close to a drop-in replacement as you can get.

I got one for $17 shipped on ebay, as there are cheaper ones than the above listing, if you look around.

The other neat thing about it is that you can mount it inside the coin door, and switch SD cards to have different soundtracks (original Thief, Craig's NWA version, John Jacobsen's version, etc). It also makes it easier to switch to the NATO Defense soundtrack, which I've got a mod in the works for, to allow Thief and ND to be run off of the same PCB.

I'd love to try out this instead of the original tape deck! You wouldn't happen to have, and/or know a link to, the mp3 files for these versions, would you???
Thanks,
Mike
 
Also, depending on how much you care about keeping it 'original', you can easily replace the linear power supply with a switcher. I have my boards running fine on one, and all you need is +5V, -5V, and +12V. Plus you need a separate ISO for the monitor.

If you do keep the original supply (which is also fine), I would definitely recommend recapping it. However, be warned, it's a slight pain to get apart, as there are a bunch of nuts + bolts, plus you need to desolder some parts to actually get the PCB out (which is necessary in order to replace the caps).

It's not impossible, but I wouldn't try doing it without a desoldering gun, as some of the things you need to desolder to get the PCB out are in pretty tight quarters, and I remember thinking to myself as I was doing the one I rebuilt that it would be nearly impossible to do with a manual sucker.
 
I'd love to try out this instead of the original tape deck! You wouldn't happen to have, and/or know a link to, the mp3 files for these versions, would you???
Thanks,
Mike


No, I don't have links, or the files yet myself. I would suggest contacting Craig, and seeing if he'll share them.

I think John's Arcade (blkdog7) posted a link somewhere to his re-recorded version (in his voice), but I'm not sure if he also posted the original. Maybe someone can dig that link up.

These definitely should be made available somewhere though, once we can get them together.
 
Thanks for the MP3 player link, I got one on Amazon Prime for $21 delivered so that's easily a good enough deal to justify going down that route

71-BFFg3DCL._SL1500_.jpg
 
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Complete (I think?) Thief Harness....

....Posting a few pics here for future reference ;)

Appears that the power supply end has had connectors repaired/replaced, might need to find additional pics of one installed for reference:
Czxcg3kVIAArmDt.jpg


Looks like splits off into (2) other harnesses all zip tied together (right side in this pic looks like mostly PCB connections):
Czxcg3jUkAAf7NH.jpg


Left side looks like monitor, control panel, other (tape deck/marquee)? Right side maybe coin door related and on/off switch:
Czxcg3kUQAAG4kY.jpg


Control panel:
Czxdgw6VIAA1FDN.jpg


Not sure if production was like this or done later, but wires are all soldered to the mating leaf springs. I will keep all in tact, just pull leafs with them to send for repro:
Czxdgw5UoAAt1i9.jpg


I'm looking forward to seeing these repro'd - thanks to Golden Age Arcade Parts! :)


-GackAttack
 
I built my own power harness from scratch. It's pretty straightforward, just 0.156 connectors for everything (i.e., the same pitch used on Battlezone and Tempest interconnects). I got all of the parts from Great Plains Electronics.

The power pins are mostly labeled on each of the PCBs, and I just wired them all up to spade connectors, which I hooked to a standard switcher.

HOWEVER, be aware that on the coprocessor board, the silkscreen says 'COM +5', and it makes it look like the +5 corresponds to the pins it is printed next to.

THIS IS NOT THE CASE.

I believe the label is maybe just generically referring to the whole connector, as the two +5 pins are actually at the other end of the 6-pin header, and the two pins next to where the +5 is printed are actually unused pins, and don't go anywhere. (And the two pins in the middle are ground.)

As a result, you will end up getting a bunch of error messages in the lower left corner of the self-test screen if the coprocessor board isn't powered and/or communicating with the CPU board, which is what happened to me, before I figured out what was going on.


ONE MORE TIP:

The coprocessor board actually has locations for a 5V power led and associated resistor, next to the power header. But for some reason they weren't populated on any of the 3 boards I have. I just dropped and LED and 150-200 ohm resistor in the two locations, and now I have a +5V indicator (which REALLY would have come in handy before I figured out the power pins were labeled wrong on the coprocessor power header. Grrr.....)
 
That is the same MP3 player that I used for my conversion a couple years back. Much cheaper now. I paid $83!: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=299198&highlight=Thief+MP3

Couple things -

The SD card will only autoplay when you have one MP3 on it. Any more than that and you have to push the play button which obviously is inconvienent.

The original tape works by muting either speaker during game play. Banter is on the left channel, 2 second crash sound effect is repeatedly looped on the right channel. I made up a couple of 30 minute MP3's for it.

Original Police Banter
NWA F' Tha Police
COPS TV Show theme :)

Being 30 min each, the MP3's are too large to email. I can mail a flash drive with the files to anyone who would like to host them to share with community. Send me a PM.

I have pictures of the wiring harness that you will need to make up for it to be plug and play. It's a 6-pin Molex with a couple of the wires connected to each other. I'll post those pictures here later today.
 
Is there a reason the mp3's need to be 30 mins? Unless there's a significant gap when the player loops them, I think they could be a lot shorter, no?

Or you could just post short versions of the files as attachments in this thread (or a new one), and users could edit them themselves to make longer versions.
 
Awesome stuff! Thanks for all the info Craig, that will be really useful later on.

Meanwhile I have been reconstructing the bottom half of the cab with the hope of doing a transplant for the bottom 12"

f60aa9555042c47908a260ebb18cf1a2.jpg
 
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