R-Type
R-Type is sold and gone
Today at lunch I went home to meet the ebay winner from last week. The auction ended on Thursday, about 18 people were watching it, but it didn’t turn into a bidding war, I had only two bids.
But the guy out of Chicago who won it really wanted it for awhile, so I was just glad someone won it who really loves the game. I love it too, but I don’t need a dedicated cabinet for it, at least not now. My name is signed on the inside in permanent marker, so someday if I decide I want it back when I have my mansion, I can hunt it down. But I imagine even then I won’t be able to beat it:)
Here are some photos of it getting loaded up.
R-Type monitor mounted and working!
I got news on the Jr. Pac-man progress yesterday, and it lit a fire under me to get back at the R-Type again.
This whole hooking up the monitor to an isolation transformer inside the cab would have been something easy for just about anyone. But I was paranoid. I didn’t want to ruin a working monitor, and worse yet, I didn’t want to have something happen to the tube, or something else exploding if something was hooked up wrong.
All that was left when I got home from work yesterday was to put wire nuts on the power lines for the R-Type monitor and power it up.
I got power, the neck glowed, but I got no image on screen. I figured it had to do with the weird RGB configuration and that I would have to make a new connector.
Later, when I got home, I had some time. Sarah needed to use the computer so time to finish the R-Type monitor task. I found a molex connector in my bag of connectors that would work. I took a look at the older connector that I left on the Mr. Do! machine, wired the new one up, and on the first power up I had a picture!
I was pumped. It was flipped so one dip switch fixed that. The image was a little stretched too, so a little pot adjustment and that was taken care of took. I put the WG4700 series monitor in the R-Type and got everything wired back up correctly and played a game.
I feel proud I figured it out, and I took the time to research everything. Hopefully tomorrow I can finally list it on ebay.
Putting WG4700 Series monitor in R-Type
On Sunday night I got the bug to progress with this.
I had to take a whole bunch of stuff apart in the hacked together Mr. Do! cab, so much so that I am not completely sure I could get it back together again after another month or so. I would more than likely probably forget.
I got the monitor out and the isolation transformer. I brought everything out by the R-Type, and took the nice monitor out of the R-Type. I gathered up my supplies and remembered that I didn’t have any solder wick. I was going to need to add longer wires to the Isolation Transformer and I would have to desolder the old wires. I wanted to have a new clean connection, so I would just wait until I got more wick.
On Monday I got some wick and immediately I went ahead and desoldered the old wires and cut new wires. I soldered them on, and then got to looking a little closer. I think the wire I have is probably 20 gauge, and there is a slight enough difference between these and the old wires in size that makes me think the old wires were 18 gauge.
So, I stalled again. Such a stupid simple question, but not something I know. What is the minimum wire gauge you have to use when connecting wires to the 0V and 115V connections on the isolation transformer.
I posted on the original topic I had made in the KLOV forums, and I got little reply in a day. Someone told me that it was bad to go down in gauge, completely not answering my question. I am not sure of the gauge, and not sure how to test it save putting it in the little holes in my stripping tool to see what is closest. That doesn’t seem exact.
So, back to bugging poor old Bob Roberts since he is familiar with this topic already.
He told me that 20 gauge would work, but 18 is better. So, I am going to waste what I did and put some 18 gauge on there, hopefully tonight.
The other issue with the monitor is the RGB connection. It was something pretty weird on the other game, the molex connector having wires going in every other slot, not right next to each other like you typically see with a RGB pigtail. I will have that stupid little hurdle to overcome.
R-Type wiring diagram – Adding older monitor without isolation transformer
I am trying to make sense of how to wire up a spare monitor to my R-Type, so I can keep my Vision Pro before I sell the machine. The vision pro is a nice new monitor, and it also has an isolation transformer built onto the chassis. In the diagram below I have drawn what I already have, and how I am hoping to attach another monitor.
Bob Roberts said this in two emails;
First Email –
You need a 1:1 isolation xformer to run your monitor. The pic you have is of power entrance with an auxiliary outlet & a switcher.
I don’t know if there are different versions of isolation transformers, and if the most common ones are 1:1, but right now, I am assuming the most common transformer is 1:1.
Second Email –
No… you can’t tie in to the AC in feed. You have to have the 1:1 output isolated & there is only one place with 2 terminals to hook that up to without regard to polarity since AC has none.
In the first email I thought I described that I would put an isolation transformer directly off the power supply, and then from the transformer I would run my two power lines. But knowing how crappy some of my emails are sometimes, I must not have done a good job explaining which is my bad.
His second email I take away that I need to have some sort of polarity based voltages, and AC doesn’t have that. Like, I would need +120V and -120V, and this is just +120V directly to the monitor.
It’s a gift that Bob even responded to my emails with an explanation, he sells parts, he isn’t a tech support guy or something. So again, a big thanks out to Bob Roberts and his big heart for helping the lowly collectors trying to figure things out.
I don’t understand the polarity part, so I am posting to the klov group to see if they can help me and explain it a different way.
Finally time to sell the R-Type
I think it is time to sell the R-Type. With the possibility of getting the Jr. Pac-man late next week, I will need the monitor from the R-Type, and I think it just feels like time to sell it. I can put it on the Mame machine. I can move the Pac Mame machine out, put a monitor in it and get all of the parts inside and maybe finally finish that project up.
I looked in back of the machine tonight and…no isolation transformer. I emailed Bob Roberts, he confirmed this. So, I will need to put one in. There is also a switching Power Supply already inside, but it doesn’t have the screw tops, but a molex system instead that I have not the foggiest how to hook up power to the monitor.
So, yet another issue to deal with, and I would like to have the game gone before next weekend. Either I would have to do an abridged auction on ebay, or wait longer.
Thinking about selling the R-Type
Well, it’s sad to think about, but I have been thinking more and more lately about selling this game. I get more and more games all the time, and from what I read on the boards I get the impression that this is a common realization with collectors. They get a good amount of games, and then have neither the space or the time to have them all. Well, in this case, it worked from day one, it was all about the space. I love the game, it pains me that I will give it up and then want it back. But, I don’t play it much right now, I know that it doesn’t have a lot of value because it is a later on game, and even if I did beat it, that would just make me want it less probably.
I have had a ton of fun playing R-Type at some of my drinking parties. Wes seemed to like the game a good deal, and with the Nintendo style cabinet with the flat top, it makes a great place top put the drinks.
Who knows, maybe I will change my mind, but I doubt it.
My R-Type buttons stopped working.
The controls for the release of the protector for the R-Type ship had mysteriously stopped working. One day a couple of weeks back I turned the machine on and they weren’t working.
Justin took a look at them, it was weird, both black buttons just stopped making connections and closing the circuit. He was up late, so after he figured out what the problem was he just adjusted them and they were fine. I had a similar problem with the fire right after I got the game, I was surprised to have this happen all of a sudden, but just glad it works again.
