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"vcfed" equivalent for arcade machines?

I

iz8dwf

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2017
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812
Location
Italy
Hi all,
I'm going to get my first arcade PCB to repair (I got one from ebay, just to have fun). It's a Galaga clone, pre-jamma of course. I don't know yet how close to the original schematic this clone is.
However, what would be the right place to ask for informations about these kind of repairs? I assume it's almost the same as any 8-16 bit computers that I'm used to, even if this game used 4 x Z80 CPUs :)
I'm only concerned about custom ICs, so I'm just looking for the right place to post questions on this new (for me) topic.
Thanks
Frank IZ8DWF

PS: I've chosen this game since it's probably the one that stole the highest amount from me when I was a teenager. The first arcades I played (space invaders and asteroids) are now fetching ridiculous prices for a broken PCB only. However, if someone wants to part with early '80s boards like Moon Cresta, Phoenix or Galaxian (clones ok), I would consider getting these too. Williams games as defender and joust that I liked very much also are fetching ridiculous prices... It's a strange world.
 
byoac.com / arcadecontrols.com is (was? I can't connect to that site from here at work) the place to go for arcade info, including PCB repair and everything else you'd need.

galaga was my nemesis too. this is why my arcade (MAME) machine is an old galaga cabinet.
 
arcade-museum (KLOV) is probably the oldest place around. UKVac has a good bunch of regulars, though I don't frequent there too often. ArcadeOtaku I don't regularly mess with unless I'm looking up pinouts or info on Candies. arcade-projects.com is the place to go if you're into shooters, DarkSoft multi's, parts, group buys, and generally a good bunch of guys where the BS you'll find on KLOV and other forums isn't tolerated. Also, check out the arcade groups on facebook, specify Jon Exidy Jamshid's group - a LOT of good info and repair people can be found there, and it's nice being able to put faces to names (and to call out those faces if you get screwed over - just make sure you have proof)
 
Thanks all for the precious suggestions! I've joined UKVac so far, and I've already got on the right track for locating schematics, ROMs, etc.
I'm still waiting for the PCB to arrive, but I'm positive it will be a lot of fun to get my old favourite arcade games play again on original hardware :)

Frank IZ8DWF
 
do you have a cab for it? or a supergun for testing with a 15khz CRT? Galaga is pretty easy to follow. Lot of Galaga bootlegs hack too, but they are often well known. Its common to have a lot of those old 74 latches and logic chips to die and you spend a lot of time tracing things to a single dead output pin on a latch or something.

I'm a big Sega System 8 fan (Wonderboy, Flicky, Pitfall II, Teddy Boy Blues etc). I have a bunch of Arcade PCB's here.
 
BloodyCactus said:
do you have a cab for it? or a supergun for testing with a 15khz CRT? Galaga is pretty easy to follow. Lot of Galaga bootlegs hack too, but they are often well known. Its common to have a lot of those old 74 latches and logic chips to die and you spend a lot of time tracing things to a single dead output pin on a latch or something.

I'm a big Sega System 8 fan (Wonderboy, Flicky, Pitfall II, Teddy Boy Blues etc). I have a bunch of Arcade PCB's here.
Click to expand...

Well, no cabinet, I have space constraints, though I might get one if I make some more room. I plan using an old monitor like CBM 1084 that has a lot of input options. I assume a CRT TV through the RGB input (scart connector) won't sync?
I'm only a fan of what I used to play in my youth years :)
In my list to would-be-nice-to-have there're:

1) Joust
2) Space Invaders
3) Defender
4) Asteroids
5) Galaxian (easy for USA people)
6) Phoenix (kind of easy in USA too)
7) Moon Cresta (also easy in USA)
8) Gyruss

And Galaga that is out of the list unless it resists repairing (unlikely).

Frank IZ8DWF
 
It should sync most of the classics as long as it supports 15khz.
 
edcross said:
It should sync most of the classics as long as it supports 15khz.
Click to expand...

I'll give it a try then :)
I have one lying around since when Italy switched to DVB-T and the chinese decoder hooked on this one died (apparently a MCU problem, as far as I could diagnose) and it was replaced by an LCD one with internal decoder.
So it's perfect for my new arcade machine, should it sync of course.

Frank IZ8DWF
 
Arcade1up has been selling 2/3 scale arcade games for a while now. Walmart is one of the distributors. They (Walmart) offers the Asteroids version for $199. Given it also comes with Tempest, Lunar Lander, and Major Havoc it's not a bad deal.

Some purists complain that the cabs are only 4' high, but the company offers a riser for $40 that makes it playable standing up, or you can build one of your own.
 
Casey said:
Arcade1up has been selling 2/3 scale arcade games for a while now. Walmart is one of the distributors. They (Walmart) offers the Asteroids version for $199. Given it also comes with Tempest, Lunar Lander, and Major Havoc it's not a bad deal.

Some purists complain that the cabs are only 4' high, but the company offers a riser for $40 that makes it playable standing up, or you can build one of your own.
Click to expand...

those fake garbage cabs are just running linux + mame (and some other commercial emulators like MOO). defeats the entire purpose of collecting original PCB's.

why pay 200$ to play mame you can play mame on your pc for free..

now 200$ for an original major havoc pcb set... thats a bargain!
 
I guess it depends on your goals, like running a PC game under DOSBox instead of period-correct equipment. For some folks that's good enough while others insist on the whole vintage "experience."

Not a huge arcade gamer myself aside from Asteroids, and original equipment is far out of my financial reach. If I had the money I might look at the $200 Asteroids cabinet since it's new & working. Actually one of these days I'll find that old copy of Arcade for Windows and put it on one of my Win98SE systems. I've scored a couple of 4:3 19" Dell monitors so that should provide a nice screen to play on. Win7, of course, won't run Arcade since it's 16-bit code. :(
 
Didn't think of it :) I mainly reference that site when I'm converting consumer CRT TVs to accept RGB input for a cheap/large RGB monitor for console gaming, so I never thought of it for arcade use, though I suppose info there could be useful. As I recall, etim and a few other high-end monitor RGB guys hang out there, too
 
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