Author Topic: First MAME project! - 56k warning! [updated 4-9-12] (Read 15541 times)

elkameleon · « **on:** April 28, 2011, 10:34:59 pm »

Hey guys, just wanted to show people the project I've actually been able to start now that the weather is warm enough. I drove down to central Iowa to pick up a Nintendo Playchoice 10 last October that I was gonna receive in a trade for my sega dreamcast store unit. When I got to this guys house, I couldn't believe the collection of games he had, I was in heaven! Anyways, I got my game and we go into his garage to chit-chat, and he's got a bunch of arcades in various states of disrepair. Long story short, I barter with him on this NFL Blitz cab that doesn't have a monitor, that I have the intent of mame-ing, and I was able to take it off him right then and there for 40 bucks. Pretty good deal I think. Anyways, these posts are no good without pictures, so here we go!

Here's my toys after I got them unloaded...

This was my first attempt at a replacement control panel... It didnt fit, it was an 1/8" too wide

I made another cp recently, that one fit, but it wasn't what I wanted anymore after trolling the forums... so i've decided to wait until I actually get my new joysticks and buttons before I design a new cp.

Nephasth · « **Reply #1 on:** April 28, 2011, 10:42:32 pm »

Nice to see you're going the metal CP route!

elkameleon · « **Reply #2 on:** April 28, 2011, 10:46:30 pm »

I picked up a TV for the cause off craigslist for 50 bucks last fall as well, it was a sony wega 24" flat tube, very nice.

I got the TV all decased and measured the location of the mounting ears and made up a few mounting brackets to replace the ones that were in the cab.

Everything came out perfect until I realised I had no place to mount the TV control board! So I came up with this bad mother effer.

And here it is mounted in the cab...

And this is where I sit tonight...

elkameleon · « **Reply #3 on:** April 28, 2011, 10:48:41 pm »

I pulled out all the old wiring and the NFL Blitz board tonight as well, so if anyone wants to pick the stuff up, you can have it! I have the board with hard drive, all the JAMMA wiring, the cp with 49-way joysticks... The game does play blind, since I never had an arcade monitor to try it out on.

Nephasth · « **Reply #4 on:** April 28, 2011, 10:51:13 pm »

Man, metal CP, custom monitor frame... what's your profession? Nice job on the monitor frame BTW.

If I was close enough to you, I'd take that Blitz stuff off your hands, but I live in BFE, I'm close to nobody. $:-\$

Erik · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2011, 10:55:34 pm »

sweet metalwork for sure!

elkameleon · « **Reply #6 on:** April 28, 2011, 10:56:10 pm »

I'm an industrial designer for a large door manufacturer, so whatever I can dream up in SolidWorks, our shop can cut on their plasma table. It's a pretty sweet perk, and its all scrap metal to them anyways, so I get it for free! Here is the cp i've designed so far... still needs some tweaks after I get my actual parts.

Malenko · « **Reply #7 on:** April 28, 2011, 11:01:21 pm »

wanna ship the blitz stuff? I'd pay for shipping and stuffs.

Also, if I had a dollar to bet, I'd say thats a Virtua Fighter cab TV Frame looks fantastic, cant wait to see the end result.

elkameleon · « **Reply #8 on:** April 28, 2011, 11:08:11 pm »

You would win that bet, because it is indeed a virtua fighter cab that was converted to Blitz, still has the sega serial number sticker on the back... The glass still has the classic "caution" black and yellow bezel sticker still on it. I'll be replacing the glass with smoked plexi at some point. As far as shipping the blitz stuff, i'll get back to you on that, my fiancée works in shipping, so she'll be able to give me some options.

emphatic · « **Reply #9 on:** April 29, 2011, 05:42:16 am »

Very nicely done, sir!

elkameleon · « **Reply #10 on:** April 29, 2011, 10:43:03 am »

I just though i'd throw my design for my monitor frame in here since I got so much praise on it, kinda gives ya a better idea of how its made.

elkameleon · « **Reply #11 on:** April 29, 2011, 11:46:43 am »

So I want to paint my cab black, but what do I use, some black latex paint and a roller?

sapro · « **Reply #12 on:** April 29, 2011, 11:49:17 am »

Looking good so far. I'm also doing black on my cab - have you thought about finish? Semigloss? Satin? Flat?

elkameleon · « **Reply #13 on:** April 29, 2011, 12:02:54 pm »

I'm thinking semigloss, cause i'm sure whatever artwork I finally get on this thing will have some kind of gloss to it, that way it kinda blends in. Who knows, I may just do artwork for the entire side.

elkameleon · « **Reply #14 on:** April 29, 2011, 10:30:03 pm »

Today I ordered this audio amplifier for the speakers that were already present in my cab. The speakers were labeled 4ohm @ 13-26watts, and they sounded pretty good when I had the NFL Blitz game running, and they fit, so might as well use 'em!
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=320-304

DCsegaDH · « **Reply #15 on:** April 30, 2011, 12:24:49 am »

It looks like you're running component to the pc, how did you do this? I want to do the same on my project.

elkameleon · « **Reply #16 on:** April 30, 2011, 12:28:01 am »

I'm using a geforce 7600gs video card, it outputs component via breakout cable. Had to screw with drivers in order to get it working correctly though, newer drivers dont support older tvs as well anymore

EDIT: this is basically what i'm using, it came with the video card.

DCsegaDH · « **Reply #17 on:** April 30, 2011, 12:30:47 am »

Quote from: elkameleon on April 30, 2011, 12:28:01 am

I'm using a geforce 7600gs video card, it outputs component via breakout cable. Had to screw with drivers in order to get it working correctly though, newer drivers dont support older tvs as well anymore

Cool thanks, maybe I'll get the same card or a component to vga converter if I can't find that card.

elkameleon · « **Reply #18 on:** April 30, 2011, 12:33:46 am »

I would try to find the newest card you can that supports component out if I were you, I just happened to have this one laying around.

DCsegaDH · « **Reply #19 on:** April 30, 2011, 12:40:05 am »

Quote from: elkameleon on April 30, 2011, 12:33:46 am

I would try to find the newest card you can that supports component out if I were you, I just happened to have this one laying around.

I have an older Geforce card, but the s- video part had only 4 pins, so it had bad over scan. I think my Geforce 9500gt might work if I mess with the drivers like you did. Thanks for the information, sorry for hijacking your thread.

elkameleon · « **Reply #20 on:** April 30, 2011, 12:43:28 am »

Yeah, if it supports component out, there should be 7 pins total. A 9500gt should support that, I have an old 8600gt that supports it, but it has blown caps. The card i'm using is also AGP... and that kinda sucks, but thats what my spare motherboard supports.

mgb · « **Reply #21 on:** April 30, 2011, 01:37:22 am »

for black paint, I would suggest Rustoleum Satin Black.

elkameleon · « **Reply #22 on:** May 01, 2011, 12:12:18 am »

I've been toying with this idea for a while now, just wanted to hear what others though about it. I want to use a mirror to basically simulate depth, so it doesnt seem like the monitor is trying to burn through your soul after extended bouts of butt whoopins

With my proposed model, it would appear as if the monitor is about 35" from your face, instead of 6"...

EDIT: apparently this site hates large images... so I cropped it down, hope this works better.

sapro · « **Reply #23 on:** May 01, 2011, 09:21:24 am »

2 questions:

1. How do you fix the reverse-text issue from the mirror? Does your video card support rear projection mode or such?

2. If that's to scale, can you still fit a PC inside the cabinet with the monitor housed down there?

emphatic · « **Reply #24 on:** May 01, 2011, 09:40:23 am »

Quote from: sapro on May 01, 2011, 09:21:24 am

2 questions:

1. How do you fix the reverse-text issue from the mirror? Does your video card support rear projection mode or such?

2. If that's to scale, can you still fit a PC inside the cabinet with the monitor housed down there?

With an arcade monitor, the YOKE cable setting can mirror flip the image. Might work with that TV as well...

elkameleon · « **Reply #25 on:** May 01, 2011, 10:53:56 am »

Yeah, you can flip the yoke wires to get the reversed image, and yes, there is room for a pc at the bottom, you could just lay it on its side and it would fit no problem. But after thinking about it, i've already mounted my monitor, so I think i'll just leave it as is, and if I build another cabinet, i'll try this out

elkameleon · « **Reply #26 on:** May 06, 2011, 11:24:20 am »

Ok, a small status update: Went to wally world to pick up some items last night, got a "energy saver" powerstrip (what a genius invention), and picked up a few items to get my marquee light working, needed a new bulb, and it also needed a power cord, since the one that was attached to it had a proprietary connector for hooking up to the arcade psu in the cab. I just picked up a grounded shop extension cord I plan to hack up for that purpose. I had an idea for turning on and off my computer in my cab, I want to wire the power switch of the PC to 4 of my pushbuttons in series so that you have to hit them all at the same time to complete the circuit to turn it on and off. Any thoughts/concerns? Since its not a load bearing circuit, I don't see this as much of a challenge. I'll probably use my player 1 and 2 start and my player 1 and 2 credit buttons, theres no chance in hell they would all be pressed at the same time under normal operation anyways.

elkameleon · « **Reply #27 on:** May 06, 2011, 09:39:39 pm »

Got some time this afternoon to work on my marquee light, got the power cord replaced. Only after I bought a a better wire stripper/crimper that I tried to scrape by with a $1.99 one... That'll teach me to skimp on tools next time, I threw that crap away after about 5 mins of frustration and went a bought a good one.

Anyway, I plugged it in and... nothing. Turns out I had a bad starter that basically crumbled as I tried to remove it. I'll pick another up at Lowes tomorrow.

sapro · « **Reply #28 on:** May 07, 2011, 08:36:40 am »

What's the starter for

elkameleon · « **Reply #29 on:** May 07, 2011, 08:50:22 am »

Its sort of like a capacitor, kinda gives the florescent tube the jolt it needs to get its glow on.

Without it, it is basically useless.

EDIT: picked up the starter at the local hardware store this morning. WE HAVE LIGHT! WE ARE GO GO GO!

elkameleon · « **Reply #30 on:** May 08, 2011, 12:26:11 am »

I got my audio amp in the mail today, couldnt find any pcb standoff anywhere, so the guy at the hardware store turned me on to these nylon spacers, they worked awesome!

tapped into the 12v on the psu to power the amp

sapro · « **Reply #31 on:** May 08, 2011, 07:58:58 am »

Quote from: elkameleon on May 07, 2011, 08:50:22 am

Its sort of like a capacitor, kinda gives the florescent tube the jolt it needs to get its glow on. Without it, it is basically useless.

Gotcha. You were talking about your wire stripper/crimpers so I thought you had found some crazy motorized wire crimper tool

Your build is looking good

elkameleon · « **Reply #32 on:** May 08, 2011, 10:38:29 am »

Now that I read it again, it does kinda sound that way, haha!

CapriRS302 · « **Reply #33 on:** May 11, 2011, 04:33:21 pm »

With all of the effort that you are putting into your project, I sugest that you simply just buy a power switch. I picked up a good sized momentary switch at a local electronics store for about 5 bucks, mounted it on the top of my cabinet where the switches usually were on old machines, and just tapped into the wires from the motherboard to the pc switch. It works great, single touch on and off, and if anything goes wonky I can hold it down for 5 seconds to shut off the system.

elkameleon · « **Reply #34 on:** May 11, 2011, 04:36:03 pm »

That would be the basic operation of what I was gonna do, just without adding another button, you know, stealth mode

then people would ask how the ---fudgesicle--- do you turn this thing on?

elkameleon · « **Reply #35 on:** May 12, 2011, 11:21:04 pm »

Got my custom power supply mount made up and installed, its rock solid!

I received all my controls from Ultimarc on monday. (shout out to Andy for the awesomely fast shipping!) I'm still waiting for my final revision of my cp to come back from the shop. I checked on it today, its been cut on the plasma table, just needs to hit the metal worker to get bent up. Hopefully tomorrow i'll be installing controls.

ragnar · « **Reply #36 on:** May 12, 2011, 11:34:29 pm »

Quote from: elkameleon on May 06, 2011, 11:24:20 am

Ok, a small status update: Went to wally world to pick up some items last night, got a "energy saver" powerstrip (what a genius invention), and picked up a few items to get my marquee light working, needed a new bulb, and it also needed a power cord, since the one that was attached to it had a proprietary connector for hooking up to the arcade psu in the cab. I just picked up a grounded shop extension cord I plan to hack up for that purpose. I had an idea for turning on and off my computer in my cab, I want to wire the power switch of the PC to 4 of my pushbuttons in series so that you have to hit them all at the same time to complete the circuit to turn it on and off. Any thoughts/concerns? Since its not a load bearing circuit, I don't see this as much of a challenge. I'll probably use my player 1 and 2 start and my player 1 and 2 credit buttons, theres no chance in hell they would all be pressed at the same time under normal operation anyways.

Simper, put a button on the top of hte cab. I have two. One is power down and one is shift. To power on, I just open the front door which does not look like a door. But the buttons on top are awesome. Anyone can use them and they are out of the way and out of sight.

elkameleon · « **Reply #37 on:** May 13, 2011, 03:44:59 pm »

Got my cp all welded up and ready to rock!, gonna throw a coat of rust stop on it and wait until I can play.

I'll post photos when I get home tonight.

EDIT: The guy that bent up my joystick standoffs apparently doesnt know what 'HOLD DIMENSION' means, so now my mounting holes are 3/8" closer together than i designed, making my weekend a ---smurfing--- BUST! I guess I need to pay for my metal working next time, instead of with cases of beer.

elkameleon · « **Reply #38 on:** May 14, 2011, 12:17:33 am »

Got my motherboard and hard drive mounted tonight, had to re-drill the holes for the motherboard standoffs twice, their placement is pretty unforgiving

what my control panel would look like, if it wasnt wrong!

joystick mounting brackets

melvinbates · « **Reply #39 on:** May 14, 2011, 03:05:28 pm »

Wow, I'm loving all the metal work going into this. Great job. My two cents on the method you want to use for the power button. Unless you are using separate switches on the buttons you would end up chaining the buttons which would effectively have some always on from a controller stand point, not to mention depending on how it was hooked up to the mobo you could be sourcing or sinking current you didn't intend to. I like the idea of having a secret button combo to turn the box on though. If your bios supports it you might be able to configure your cp controller to send a system power event on a key press combo.


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Author Topic: First MAME project! - 56k warning! [updated 4-9-12] (Read 15541 times)

Nephasth

Nephasth