Supergun: Buy or Make Myself

[SegaAges]

More and more as I have been getting enough money to afford better and cooler games, I have been wanting some arcade games. I already decided that I am getting a supergun because of space restrictions in my house.

Is it difficult to make a supergun? I have friends that are good with electronics, but don't know how much they would be willing to help me with this, which means I would be on my own.

I have looked into buying pre-made superguns as well. I found out about arcade@home and supernova. supernova is the much better deal for what I would be paying for.

I tried to get people to make me a supergun, but was unsuccessful in that attempt.

I am a little stuck. I want an arcade cab, but don't have the space, which means I am left with having to get a supergun. I am unsure whether I should try to do this myself, try to find an individual who could make one for me, or go and buy the supernova.

My only money restriction right now is that I usually, at any given time, only have about 150 to spend, and when I save my money, it usually stays at 150. I know it will be tough to try and get a supergun for that price, so that is why I am asking you guys what I should do, since you all know way more about arcade machines than I do.

[Arcade Antics]

How are you with soldering? Do you have the right tools for the job?

If you have the time, the desire to learn, a steady hand, and are willing to spend a few bucks on tools (if you don't already have them) before you get to spending money on the parts for the S-Gun, go for it. It's not so much that it's difficult, more that you need to be very patient and careful about what you're doing.

[ClubNinja]

Out of laziness, I built my first supergun completely solder-free. As long as you pay attention to what you're doing, you don't need to be skilled in anything to build a supergun. It's that easy, and you'll save a ton of money doing it yourself. Plus, you'll enjoy it more knowing that you created it.

[heyricochet]

Its nice to see that an EE Major doesn't bother with soldering. Though I guess it could show you learned enough to not solder it.

[ClubNinja]

Its nice to see that an EE Major doesn't bother with soldering. Though I guess it could show you learned enough to not solder it.

Well, soldering could certainly help with a supergun; but for a quick (and functional) job, a little wire twisting and electrical tape goes a long way. The point is that this is an easy task and no one should be intimidated from taking it on.

[DogP]

Its nice to see that an EE Major doesn't bother with soldering. Though I guess it could show you learned enough to not solder it.

Yeah, I find that funny too... I solder everything that I can, and I pretty much always have... but I'm majoring in EE and I don't even think my school owns a soldering iron :P .

About a supergun... I've just never gotten an arcade feeling from them... I've considered building one, but I usually just swap boards into my JAMMA cab, but if I didn't have a JAMMA cab, I'd probably just build a MAME box with arcade controls and a TV output.

I mean... JAMMA boards aren't particularly easy to store (trust me, I've got a shelf full of them, and a bunch more overflowing onto the floor), and maybe it's just me, but I don't think the JAMMA generation is that great. It'd be nice to be able to play some Frogger, DK, Galaga, Ms. Pac, etc... without spending hundreds on boards, and then making JAMMA adapters and whatever else is needed to make them work. I think most of the JAMMA boards that I'd like to play are available in MAME, and if you're playing them on a TV anyway, it's not like you're really losing the arcade feel by playing an emulation.

That's just my opinion... I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me on that though.

DogP

[max 330 mega]

not to threadjack, but if anyone had a good document or instructions they would recommend using for someone with minimal knowledge who wants to build a supergun, please PM me with the info, it would be incredibly appreciated. (i can solder, and have fixed a few small appliances)
so if there is a FAQ or certain document out there you think is the best and simplest please contact me so i can get to work on my new supergun

[Goblin]

not to threadjack, but if anyone had a good document or instructions they would recommend using for someone with minimal knowledge who wants to build a supergun, please PM me with the info, it would be incredibly appreciated. (i can solder, and have fixed a few small appliances)
so if there is a FAQ or certain document out there you think is the best and simplest please contact me so i can get to work on my new supergun

I'm too lazy to do a search for them, but a number of us on the board have built them and posted topics describing our construction. Just search Super Gun on this forum and you should find plenty of infomation.

I went the total home build approach with using an RGB to NTSC conversion IC and etching my own board. Others have bought pre-made cables that do the same thing. There are a 100 ways to do it, and each builder does it differently. It's a good idea to read as much as you can and then make yours unique.

I built mine for the hell of it just to prove I could. I never use it because I own a full size cabinet, but that doesn't matter. I wanted to build my own long before I owned the cabinet, and when I found the right control panel I did it. I hacked a PS2 arcade style control panel I got from Kid Ice in a trade a few years back.

[Avatard]

I'm not so sure buying one is a good idea. I've made one before to run Moonwalker, it was Jamma plus a few extra connectors on the board that I had to build custom connectors for them. I don't see how buying a super gun would be any easier because more than likely you'd have to do some rewiring anyhow. Building one isn't so bad if you have all the directions and you plan ahead before just jumping into it. Do it right the first time.

However, when I built one I don't think it was really any cheaper, of course I bought the video converter because building that from scratch on a breadboard is just unthinkable.

[AlanD]

Has any tried using the Sony CXA1145P that is in the Genesis for RGB to composite output? The datasheet is available here

I have considered it as an option but never ripped apart a broken Genny to try it.
Alan

[davidleeroth]

Has any tried using the Sony CXA1145P that is in the Genesis for RGB to composite output? The datasheet is available []here[/url]

I have considered it as an option but never ripped apart a broken Genny to try it.
Alan

It works alright but it's an old part. The CXA1645 chip found in PlayStations and Saturns is way better. I hear the CXA2075 is even better but I've never tried it nor do I know where to get one for cheap.

[AlanD]

Yeah knew it was old. That was why I sold out the Genesis to be easily obtainable. I know I can find bare systems around here for $2 or $3 fairly often. Might be a viable option if someone wants a convertor cheap. Just add the external parts on a small board and go. Again though I haven't tested for quality since I just made my Supergun to use different cables and hook to an arcade monitor directly or an old (I think) Amiga monitor.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Topic: Supergun: buy or make myself
Arqueologia_Digital´s answer: Both...

Matías

[SegaAges]

Here is an update to an old topic that I started.

I found out that I am getting $1600 back from my tax return, and I am throwing probably 300-400 out for a supergun.

At this point, I know for a fact that I do not have enough time to build one, so I am going to buy a premade one.

I was recommended once to get a supernova with a cps2 harness in there.

Also, if anybody wants to build me one, I am willing to pay $300 for it (that is, when my tax return comes in), but if not, I am probably going to go for a supernova.

Does anybody have the link to the supernova site? I did a google search and couldn't find it.

If anybody has any better suggestions, by all means, let me have them.

[MagicMajenta]

If you decide to buy a supergun, Here are some sites for you

http://www.arcadeheaven.co.uk/supergun.html
http://www.massystems.com/SuperNova.html
http://gwtrading.com/hga.shtml

And this guy makes superguns at the neo geo forums

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/member.php?u=4637

[Captain Wrong]

*cough*

http://www.digitpress.com/archives/arc00093.htm

CW's standard response:

"Build one, unless you really like spending money needlessly."

[japancollector]

i am intresting in buying a supergun in the future but there are a lot of sorts.The most exspensive one is a sega astro city.I think whats the differents between a japan supergun of 300 $ and a one of 700 $.Can the sega astro city supergun run more games and also 31 kzh games/systems like naomi and the supergun of 300$ not.And newer games .Is there a switch on it you can run vertical games on a horizontale screen?Why is the price differents so big?

[Flack]

i am intresting in buying a supergun in the future but there are a lot of sorts.The most exspensive one is a sega astro city.I think whats the differents between a japan supergun of 300 $ and a one of 700 $.Can the sega astro city supergun run more games and also 31 kzh games/systems like naomi and the supergun of 300$ not.And newer games .Is there a switch on it you can run vertical games on a horizontale screen?Why is the price differents so big?

A Sega Astro City is a complete video game cabinet that includes a monitor and a cabinet. A normal SuperGun does not include those things -- it hooks up to your television and is in a small self-contained box. That is the reason for the price difference.

I do not know of one that has a switch to all you for playing vertial games on a horizontal screen. Most people I know that have SuperGuns end up rotating their monitor/television 90 degrees to play vertical games.

[CosmicMonkey]

It's unfortunate that you guys n the US don't really have easy access to RGB. Yeah, you can go get an RGB monitor, but it's not as easy as using the living room telly. So, depending on what outputs you want (Composite/Component/S-Vid) you're looking at upto $95 for a NeoBITZ encoder before you even begin. Damn.

Aside from that, and the cost of a PSU like the Jameco SC-200 @ $20 the rest is very very cheap. You're talking a couple of 15pin D plugs for joysticks, power switch, buttons for test/service, Jamma cable (prewired) and a casing of some description/bit of wood depending on how Ghetto you wanna go (plus whatever small bits I've forgotten). Literally about £25/$45ish at the most.

If you use 15pin D plugs for the pad sockets and wire them up for Neo Geo spec, you can use Neo pads/sticks which will save building joysticks for the moment.

Build it. Really, it's not hard at all. Don't pay for what is essentially a box of wires.