<div class="bbWrapper">Hi,<br />
<br />
Just joined here and only just found out about the place from a guy on Jamma+ so I'm not a returning oldbie.<br />
<br />
I've recently started collecting some Jamma boards, shoot-em-ups were always my favourites but honestly I like anything really. Been meaning to get into it for years but never found the time somehow. Just learning as I go. Also been a keen computer/console gamer. I'd hate to see an analysis of how much of my life has been spent in gloomy rooms blasting away.<br />
<br />
A bit about me.. meh. I'm a software engineer/analyst and work developing trading applications at JPMorgan, currently lost somewhere in Bournemouth. Originally from Aberdeen! Yay! I play games ;-)<br />
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Have a nice day!<br />
<br />
Andy</div>
<div class="bbWrapper">Hi Andy and welcome. You played any of the pre Jamma shmups? There are some crackers in there from pre 1985.<br />
<br />
DanP</div>
<div class="bbWrapper">Never heard of Juno First but yeah Gyruss was good.. played other non-Jamma games (Konami & Williams stuff), but not sure if they're all pre-Jamma or just not-Jamma <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></div>
<div class="bbWrapper">Hehehe. Hi Andy, from somebody who isn't Andy <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Good to have you onboard and I'm sure you'll get a full education on the pre-JAMMA classic shmups!<br />
<br />
Personally my fave shmups are the Raiden Fighters series. I also like EspGaluda which is my first Cave game, but it's on my iPhone as the PCBs go for shocking prices most of the time.<br />
<br />
Are you looking to get into the tech side of the hobby or you just into playing the games? I make it my mission to tempt as many people as possible into twiddling with boards <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Anyway, welcome to ukvac and I hope you enjoy it here.<br />
<br />
cheers<br />
<br />
tim</div>
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trmatthe said:
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<br />
Are you looking to get into the tech side of the hobby or you just into playing the games? I make it my mission to tempt as many people as possible into twiddling with boards <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Anyway, welcome to ukvac and I hope you enjoy it here.<br />
<br />
cheers<br />
<br />
tim
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Thanks Tim. I have a plan..<br />
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1) For now just buying some boards to use on a supergun (which I hope to have soon..). My flat is nice but too small to hold cabinets really, at least that's how I feel. Also the internal doors are too narrow for a lot of cabs I checked, so I just don't want to go there yet.<br />
<br />
2) Buy or rent a house. Preferably with garage.. or a big spare room..<br />
<br />
3) Then I'll start to go for some cabs, and hopefully delve into the technical side a lot more. I did a digital electronics course in uni (part of comp sci), but it wasn't very deep and mostly involved things like taking a set problem, and using a TI catalogue etc to find the right chips and bits to plug into a pin board and do various noddy things. Nothing like taking a real dusty board full of chips and diagnosing it to identify a break, fixing dry solder joints or replacing the components. Fun though. I expect it'll be a costly and mistake ridden process!<br />
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I've been meaning to do all this for years, so not in a major rush!<br />
<br />
Andy</div>
<div class="bbWrapper">Hi Andy,<br />
<br />
Personally I think the range of digital electronics you need to know to enjoy fixing boards is quite easy to pick up, especially if you've had <b>any </b>grounding in it before (excuse the pun <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />. And you'll find a massive amount of collective experience here so you're going to get the best help available anywhere.<br />
<br />
One of the plus points is that the gear you need to work on boards doesn't take up much room. Well, until you decide you <b>must </b>have that ancient suitcase sized logic analyser to help with troubleshooting <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><br />
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Your supergun makes a superb test rig (my test rig is basically a home made supergun with a couple of custom tweaks as I come across ideas that turn out really useful - like video inputs so you can make a video probe) and then it's a logic probe and possibly a basic oscilloscope so it's definitely not a case of needing masses of room to get into board fixing.<br />
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In fact, my stash of dead/donor boards takes up way more room that all of my test gear put together! But as I said, you're in the perfect place to start learning so hopefully we'll see some threads in Tech <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><br />
<br />
cheers<br />
<br />
tim</div>
