Restarting my half-finished MAME cabinet from a few years back. A bit lost now.

Hello!!

So a few years ago (I would estimate this was 2007) I purchased a Street Fighter Alpha 3 arcade cabinet for only $300. I remember at the time that this was a standard price for a machine that wasn't an original (the machine itself is completely black so I cannot even tell what it was originally).

I bought everything I needed for it. I made sure it was the proper refresh rate (I seem to recall something about making sure not to buy NFL Blitz that the guy was selling because the CRTs those used didn't have the proper refresh rate or something. My memory is trying to piece this all together now that I am starting this project up again).

Anyway I had my machine working great for MAME and I kind of never really put the control panel together because it had translucent buttons and I never got around to wiring them up so they lit up depending on the game. So it sat in my garage for a long time.

I finally dug it out and I accidentally broke the monitor by snapping off the glass tube that sticks out the back. I'm an idiot and it's my fault for trying to move all of this by myself. Luckily I actually had a spare monitor because I am a very paranoid person and expected the monitor (a 25" Wells Gardner) to break on its own one day because I heard horror stories. So for like 75 bucks the guy also sold me a spare 25" arcade monitor. Thank God I bought it because these things are a fortune now! No one sells new ones for less than $500 and I can't even find used ones on Craigslist any longer! Keep in mind that back in 2008 I would find at least one new monitor or cabinet listing a day just in my area. Now...literally nothing! What happened?? 2008 was not that long ago!! I am one of these people who cannot stand the look of LCDs no matter how good they are. I need the low resolution and zero motion blur that only an arcade CRT can provide. Should I be buying one of the few remaining new CRTs I see on ebay? The price is really high, but I am guessing it could get higher the longer I wait? Or maybe even impossible to get? I have no idea if the brand is even any good, if it looks authentic, or whatever. I just do not want this thing to be a huge waste of space if and when the monitor I am now using dies in 10 years or whenever.

Anyway I hooked up the replacement monitor (which was a huge pain because they used completely different chasisses for my machine) and now I am lost. I have the device that converts Jamma to USB and also has a VGA hookup. I bought this a long time ago so I completely forgot how the monitor hooks up to it? I am assuming the arcade monitor has video outputs but it's not obvious. I really really do not want to screw this monitor up, especially since it looks like it's impossible to replace.

Secondly, I donated the computer I was using in this cabinet because I felt bad that it was sitting in there doing nothing for so long. Except I stupidly forgot it had a special video card in it so I could use it properly on this monitor. It is called the ArcadeVGA and it looks like they are almost $100

Is the ArcadeVGA still necessary? Searching online it seems as though many people say no it is not. However, others say you risk damage to the monitor and that the ArcadeVGA gives the best image. Is this still true? Just trying to save myself some money where possible.

If someone could let me know of the answers to these questions I would be eternally grateful. I apologize for the long post but I am very excited to get back into something I've had on hold for so long. Especially since I already bought all the needed parts and accessories years ago. I just am at a loss for how rare these cabinets and monitors became in such a short time. And I can't believe I can't figure out how the monitor hooks up to the JPAC thing I bought. I also want to make sure it's hooked up properly to an iso transformer and grounded and all that. And if anyone has any way that I can try to determine if this machine was ever a previous game and not just something someone built with plywood, let me know how to check and I will. I'm incredibly curious!

One last thing is that I plan on putting this in a outside den. Keep in mind it is completely sealed off and no rain gets inside or anything like that and the walls are fully insulated. However, there is no heat in there, so it gets very cold in the winter. Not as cold as a garage or anything, but it gets cold. Is there any risk to the machine because of this?

Thank you so much for reading and even more if you can reply to even some of my inquiries.