Reproduction Card reader kits from the guy that makes the led marquee.

leejsmith

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Posts
160
I was asked if this was possible and thanks to a friend I was able to get my hands on one and I have a design based on parts I can easily buy. I can also make up leads if needed, but before I go and spend money, is this something people want ?

It would be like my led marquee kits and you could use existing cables if you have them. I have sourced all the parts to make leads up if you want a complete kit, but it's not going to be cheap and I would be happy to pass on part no from digi key so you could make your own.

pcb 1.PNG

So what do you all think ? is it worth me getting the PCB made up (well 5 of !) and buying a set of parts to make the first one and a set of leads ?
 
kingcuckmelon1

kingcuckmelon1

War Room Troll
Joined
Dec 19, 2017
Posts
2,148
How much would it cost? I'm not sure if I have the wires, there are a few unused wires in my cab
 
leejsmith

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Posts
160
kidchameleon1 said:
How much would it cost? I'm not sure if I have the wires, there are a few unused wires in my cab
Click to expand...

I am not sure of the costs until I know the parts I chose will work. You will know if you have these wires they are two very thick bundles and connected to the front two ports of the MVS. A complete kit with board and wires could be close to £100 and you could also need a metal bracket to mount it.
 
kingcuckmelon1

kingcuckmelon1

War Room Troll
Joined
Dec 19, 2017
Posts
2,148
OK thanks ill have a look and see if I have those wires. Ill be in touch if I am interested. Great project!

*edit* Forgot to mention I have your mini marquees, they are great!!
 
Last edited:
Pinball

Pinball

Kula's Candy
Joined
May 7, 2012
Posts
301
Hi Lee,

I have an Electrocoin 6-slot NeoNeo, and the EL (electroluminescent) panels in the marquee died a while back. I've been looking for replacements for literally years, with no luck whatsoever, but you've done it, and apparently in just one year! Thank you so much. I ordered this tonight :-) Very impressed with your skills, dude. The ease of the paypal checkout is much appreciated too.

Thanks,
John.

http://www.neogeoledmarquee.info

You mentioned in your video you wanted other sites to spread the word. Might I suggest pinside.com. A huge pinball forum (the biggest) that I frequent, with a large 'other' section(s).
 
Last edited:
leejsmith

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Posts
160
Pinball said:
Hi Lee,

I have an Electrocoin 6-slot NeoNeo, and the EL (electroluminescent) panels in the marquee died a while back. I've been looking for replacements for literally years, with no luck whatsoever, but you've done it, and apparently in just one year! Thank you so much. I ordered this tonight :-) Very impressed with your skills, dude.

Thanks,
John.

http://www.neogeoledmarquee.info

You mentioned in your video you wanted other sites to spread the word. Might I suggest pinside.com. A huge pinball forum (the biggest) that I frequent, with a large 'other' section(s).
Click to expand...

I just saw your order , Thanks :) It's been quite a while since I started this, I would say 3 years easy when I had the first idea after making a neo geo themed cab and wanted a working mini marquee. I then spent close to a year refining the panels and trying to find suppliers that would work with me on small qty's. Next was asking for people to help me test the panels in each cabinet style and working out that I needed many different versions, like in your UK 6 slot and how the space is limited because they are stacked top and bottom or the the big red and having to bring them forward otherwise there is a gap. I am still working on tweaking things now, mainly trying to make them easier for me to make as they are very tricky.
 
Ir0n

Ir0n

n00b
Joined
Feb 2, 2018
Posts
26
I also just placed an order for new panels yesterday.

Really glad someone is making replacement parts for these cabs..You're a real life saver..
 
leejsmith

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Posts
160
Thanks IrOn, I made a start on three kits today , I had to place 720 smd components by hand for the led PCB and then built the control boards.
 
Pinball

Pinball

Kula's Candy
Joined
May 7, 2012
Posts
301
I did find replacement EL panels a couple of years ago (original type not LED), but they were individual panels and couldn't be connected to the SNK 3-panel boards. Also, I couldn't find the SNK boards anywhere. So to my knowledge your solution is the ONLY solution currently available.
 
Sememmon

Sememmon

Crazed MVS Addict
Joined
Jun 14, 2005
Posts
145
I actually have no idea if my card reader works or not. I don't have a card to test with. =( Are they difficult to come by?

If my reader ends up being dead, I would definitely be interested .. just from a "gotta have it all working" perspective.
 
leejsmith

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Posts
160
Sememmon said:
I actually have no idea if my card reader works or not. I don't have a card to test with. =( Are they difficult to come by?

If my reader ends up being dead, I would definitely be interested .. just from a "gotta have it all working" perspective.
Click to expand...

I managed to find one in the UK for £35, I looked for alternatives like CASIO sram ect, but the original was just as cheap.

Tested with actual games today and it said they saved ok, Dont have all 4 buttons on my test setup so have not had time to look at the memory manager.
 
Sememmon

Sememmon

Crazed MVS Addict
Joined
Jun 14, 2005
Posts
145
leejsmith said:
I managed to find one in the UK for £35,
Click to expand...

Nice! Can you recommend some place online to find them beyond eBay and here? I will have to track one down.

Looking forward to my EL marquee replacement order, btw. =]
 
leejsmith

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Posts
160
Sememmon said:
Nice! Can you recommend some place online to find them beyond eBay and here? I will have to track one down.

Looking forward to my EL marquee replacement order, btw. =]
Click to expand...

sorry I am new to this card reader stuff so not much help.

Thanks for your order, I posted it yesterday and you should have had the tracking no via papal.
 
leejsmith

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Posts
160
Spent some time playing Puzzle Bobble and saving games today, It worked just fine, but my card's battery is totally empty of charge so although it would save and load in the game as soon as I restarted and pressed A,B,C and D to look at the save games it would say not formatted. Took my card apart and the coin cell is showing 0v.

I am also looking at adding a SRAM socket to this so you could save games without the card.
 
Sememmon

Sememmon

Crazed MVS Addict
Joined
Jun 14, 2005
Posts
145
leejsmith said:
sorry I am new to this card reader stuff so not much help.
Click to expand...
No problem. While looking around for original memory cards (I guess they're pretty rare these days?), I found this guy's little project. Hopefully the next revision of his NeoSaveMasta will be available soon.
leejsmith said:
Thanks for your order, I posted it yesterday and you should have had the tracking no via papal.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your efforts! I'm looking forward to trying out your product in my cabinet.:multi_co:
 
leejsmith

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Posts
160
Sememmon said:
No problem. While looking around for original memory cards (I guess they're pretty rare these days?), I found this guy's little project. Hopefully the next revision of his NeoSaveMasta will be available soon.

Thank you for your efforts! I'm looking forward to trying out your product in my cabinet.:multi_co:
Click to expand...

I am looking at add save game to my board without a card as well.
 
titchgamer

titchgamer

Guerilla Warrior
Joined
May 31, 2018
Posts
1,731
Sememmon said:
No problem. While looking around for original memory cards (I guess they're pretty rare these days?), I found this guy's little project. Hopefully the next revision of his NeoSaveMasta will be available soon.

Thank you for your efforts! I'm looking forward to trying out your product in my cabinet.:multi_co:
Click to expand...

The originals are hard to come by (especially working) As they have a internal battery that dies and is a bitch to change.
But I use one of these on my 2 slot CMVS.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Es-1-Mem...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
 
leejsmith

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Posts
160
leejsmith

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Posts
160
All current kits are complete and will be sent to the post office tomorrow.

I have just designed a NVRAM based plugin PCB for save games and will be making a very rough prototype soon. The same NVRAM can be added to the card reader via a socket so you have the option to use a card or plug in the NVRAM.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top