(Topic ID: 186357)

Technical question on AFMr hardware.

By Zennmaster

6 years ago



Topic Stats

  • 10 posts
  • 5 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 years ago by Compy
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#1 6 years ago

I guess I'm not completely clear on the hardware that's in use in AFMr, or MMr for that matter.

I'm trying to plan for the future, and imagining what it might be like trying to find replacement parts if something burns out in five years. I've heard reference to BeagleBone boards being used. Are these actual BB boards, or are they something similar but different? If they're genuine BBs, it seems like a good precaution to order a few now, while they are a current product, rather than try to hunt one down later.

I'm not trying to bypass anything proprietary to CGC, but if there are off-the-shelf parts that I can hoard errrr, I mean "Stock up on" that might come in handy later, I'd just as soon get started.

Same question for any other boards in the AFMr.

Thanks!

#4 6 years ago
Quoted from Kiwipinhead:

I wouldn't worry, there will be something that can run the emulation and probably be half the size in the future

Sure, but it will only have USB-C ports and no ethernet.

#5 6 years ago
Quoted from pintechev:

The things that are different are the boards.

Yeah, that's what I was referring to. For mechanicals and such, I am much more concerned that Alien will use something weird than AFMr.

Obviously the BBB is available anywhere, did you get the driver and light boards from CGC directly?

#8 6 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

You should buy three spares of everything to go along with your $8000 machine. Support the hobby!

On the other side of my game room, I've got two arcade games that spent a bunch of time just taking up floor space while I looked all over the world for custom chips that Atari stopped making over 30 years ago. Found 'em in Poland, as it happens. The search was kinda fun, but I would rather have had my games working. I bought more than I needed, because they're not going to get cheaper or more plentiful, and who knows, maybe someone else nearby will need one or two.

If I can spend a hundred bucks now to keep a complete backup nervous system in the coin box of my pin, I'll do it (especially if I'm getting it off the shelf from Newark/Element14), rather than wait for the day when I go to turn the game on and nothing happens. I'm sure at that point the new version of the BB will be out, and it'll be great, but somehow incompatible with the "legacy" stuff. I'm also sure someone will make a drop-in replacement (a-la Nucore) and it will be great too, but expensive and hard to come by if I happen to miss the production run. I dunno, maybe it's the video game collector in me. When parts are cheap, current and available, it seems like to time to get them.

I also may keep a spare set of rubber rings around. You never know when they might go...

#9 6 years ago
Quoted from pintechev:

I bought the spare boards from PPS

Cool, thanks!

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