Blog

CanadaPost went on strike again as of Friday May 23. This was clearly coming. The issues from the last strike were never resolved and employees were just forced to return to work by the federal government.

This strike is much differnt that the last one. This time around, at least for now… deliveries are being processed but no overtime work is being done. This means that there are going to be inevitable delays, although I haven’t yet seen any serious impacts to delivery times.

Please consider this when placing your orders. CanadaPost is the only viable choice in my area. Couriers like UPS and Fedex exist but the prices are up to 500% more for a similar CanadaPost shipment, and low cost alternatives service only the big metropolitan regions.

I’ll make updates here as the situation develops. As always, thank you for your patience.

Made an hdmi_timings calculator for custom medium resolution video modes.

Use this to get your PJ adapter to output medium resolution graphics or for other arcade hacks involving the Rasperry Pi. If you don’t know what this is, your most likely don’t need it.

The tool is here:

Medium Resolution Arcade Monitor Calculator

The Etsy store has been set to “on vacation” mode for the last while. I’m considering stopping it altogether though.

While I like the idea of Etsy and think that the community of small makers fits the type of work I’m doing here, the company does not care to support the community. They make it more difficult to list and sell products, and their fees are some of the highest out there. It’s not what those small sellers need the most when building their brand.

Etsy charges a high fee for “marketing”, and it seems that a large percentage of my stuff sells through their ads which triggers the marketing surcharge. That is all fine, but my annual Etsy sales are a small fraction of what my other e-stores do without marketing, and the average fees have been around double. Last year for example the fees, taxes and marketing ended up being about 25% of total gross sales, compared to Ebay’s 13% or so.

The last straw was asking to constantly provide documentation in order to satisfy legal requirements in overseas markets that I do not want to be selling to.

I’d rather not maintain a 3rd e-store, sell less and pass the savings onto you guys.

CanadaPost went on strike as of Friday Nov 15. Packages are no longer being moved, so everything in the system so far is stuck in its present location. If you have ordered from me just before the week of Nov 11, please accept my apologies. Your stuff will be delayed. There is nothing I can do about this at the moment.

There are no other viable shipping options in my area. There is UPS and Fedex but the prices are 3x-5x for a similar CanadaPost shipment.

My solution right now is to cross the border into the US and send with USPS. Normally this would be no big deal, but as a small business I have follow commercial procedures. This requires a manifest and import forms to be filled out, and the crossing must be done as a commercial vehicle, which could mean waiting in line for hours with the rest of the trucks. In addition there are commercial fees which I’m really trying to avoid. I can only do this once a week at most.

So… Please hold off on ordering if you expect to get your items fast. If you don’t mind waiting a week or more, go ahead and order. Normally these strikes don’t last this long but the last one in 2019 I think, lasted about 4-5 weeks.

I created and posted a new arcade PCB ROM Identification tool. This may just be the best and fastest web based ROM Ident tool out there? You be the judge!

This one allows you to submit multiple ROM files at once, search by using CRC values instead of file contents, and to navigate through all the compatible romsets and hardware to explore potential board cloning options.

ROM Ident Tool

Current database contains:

• 145.5 K ROM entries
• 44.8 K ROM Set / Machine entries

I will be updating the database periodically.

Sean S was kind enough to share with us a 3d printed case that he designed for the Arcade Montor Tester. The link to the design files and more pics can be found at the following link:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6801254

This is just a simple frame and backing plate that snaps in place around the tester PCB and prevents it from scratching your surfaces and shorting out the battery. It fits great with the minimalist philosophy for this tester. Very nice indeed!

The link to the video tester project page is here in case you want more information on these devices.

I rewrote and updated the IC label tool to run on the current web platform. The tool is now back and functioning again.

The repository for common device pinouts is here. Let me know if you would like to see other devices added.

The tool itself is here:

• Single Image Pin Label Tool
• Tiled Image Pin Label Tool

Single image requires the correct DPI of your printer to generate label of the correct size. Tiled image can be scaled to fit the size of your printer’s paper.

In addition to this rewrite, I put in several code and functional enchancements:

• Changed the default DPI setting to 600 instead of the usual 203 for thermal label printers.
• Added PDF generation capability which should help with printing at the correct size.
• Fixed a bug with fontsize scaling when changing DPI.
• Font size can now also be changed in the tool.
• Default font is larger and more clear.
• Added device name to the generated lablel.
• Added pin 1 marker.
• Added padding to each image tile to make cutting labels easier.
• Cleaned up the tool HTML pages to make it more intuitive.
• Fixed several other bugs.

Enjoy!

There’s been barely any time to work on new designs but I’ve made some progress. The following new adapters have been designed and are in prototype stage at the moment:

• Nintendo Cabinet Adapter – to play JAMMA boards in your DK upright or other cabs.
• Nintendo TKG3 Cabinet Adapter – to play JAMMA boards in your DK cocktail.
• Nintendo TKG3 to TKG4 Adapter – converts TKG3 (small) DK board to TKG4 (big) pinout.
• Taito Grand Champion – for the Taito driving game.
• Taito Buggy Challenge – for the other Taito driving game.
• Cinematronics Ataxx – for the trackball Cinematronics strategy joystick / trackball game.
• MCR Cabinet Adapter – play JAMMA games in your Midway MCR cabs.

These have been completed and tested and are now either available for sale or soon to be released.

• Atari Cloak and Dagger – for the 2 joystick Atari Classic
• Atari Liberator – for the Atari trackball game.
• Artic Mars – the the uncommon Artic game that is not a bootleg.
• The Pit – The Zilec / Centuri boulder dash like game.
• Jack the Giant Killer – Cinematronics. Should also be compatible with other Cinematronics / Hara Industries games.
• SNK Marvin’s Maze – For SNK’s game of the same title, and a couple of other ones.
• Polaris – Taito. May work on other Tatio games.
• Cook Race – Common bootleg version of Burgertime.
• Zaccaria. For games like Jackrabbit, Money Money.
• Atari Pole Position. For the popular driving game licensed from Namco / Atari
• Bally Sente SAC-1. Main adapter board tested and working but adapter requires additional control mappers..
• Bally Midway Super Pacman – For Midway’s North American release of Super Pacman.
• Astro Invaders – Stern / Konami. Cage system developed for Stern by Konami.
• Astro Fighter – DECO / Sega Gremlin. Unique pinout.
• Nintendo Donkey Kong TKG3 – For the small 3 stack variant of Donkey Kong and Radar Scope.
• DECO Mad Rider / Mad Alien. DECO cage system. Unique pinout.
• DECO Cassette – For the DECO Cassette cage system.
• Operation Thunderbolt – for the Taito gun game.

These are still work in progress.

• Taito L-Shape Space Invaders – This is for the original Taito, non-North American version of Space Invaders. Prototype stage.
• Tehkan World Cup – This also covers the other two games in the pinout class, including Tee’d Off, Gridiron Fight, and of course Tehkan World Cup. This is for the non-bootleg boards that use trackballs. Joystick -> trackball conversion is built in.
• Gorf – The Midway cage system. Adapter includes video conversion (YUV -> RGB) and sound amplification. All cage games like Wizard of Wor, Gorf, Robby Roto have unique pinouts. Working prototype stage.
• Wizard of Wor – Midway cage. See above. Working prototype stage.
• Atari Warlords – For the uncommon atari spinner game. Joystick to spinner conversion included for testing. Prototype stage.
• Bally Midway MCR. For the MCR-1, 2, and MCR-3 system boards. This adapter also requires control mapper boards. Working prototype stage.
• Bally Midway Monoboard. For MCR monoboards. A number of MCR games exist on this system (Two Tigers, Sarge, Demolition Derby), as well as unique games (Rampage, RPM Racing, Xenophobe, Spy Hunter II). Control mappers required. Prototype stage.
• Sega Gremlin G80 – Cage system. For games like Astro Blaster. Supporting only raster for now. Working prototype.
• Sega Gremlin VIC / Dual – For games like Invinco, Head On 1/2, Depth Charge and many others. Both Black and White and color games will be supported. Early prototype.

Probably one or two more that I’m forgetting about. I have also switched pcb fabrication to another vendor which produces better boards. There were too many quality issues with the old vendor. Many of the older adapters, about 2 dozen of them, were updated with additional features, better silkscreen quality and improved soldermask.

Keep an eye out for these on my store or this site. Thanks for checking this out and your continued support!

I’ve completed and am about to release JAMMA adapters for the earliest DECO hardware. This includes the following:

• Mad Alien
• Astro Fighter
• DECO Cassette System

With the release of the above, about 95% of the DECO / early Data East pre JAMMA boards can now be converted with my adapters. I will still need to verify compatibility for Space Fighter and Super Break which I believe are compatible with Astro Fighter.

Thanks to Brian (Scuba) and Patrick+Sam for helping make this happen!

I have been sitting on these for too long. I have had barely any time these days to update this site and support any more new products, but with the quite obvious slowdown in the hobby, this is probably a good time.

The new JAMMA adapters are:

• Zaccaria
• Cinematronics / Jack the Giantkiller
• The Pit

Between the three, there is a total of about a dozen new games that can be converted. Check the updated conversion guide for more info.