My first conversion and real build

[TeamTEOR]

Does anyone know if the Act Labs PC Monitor Lightguns will work with a D9200 monitor?

[TeamTEOR]

Hey gang, the summer heat has cooled down, my cab had all summer long to let the primer vent its gas. I am getting back to work on it again!

A few days ago I stopped into my local Betson office and picked up a brand new Kortek 27" Multiscan monitor.

As of right now, I am touching up some spots on the cabinet, and applying a little more black paint to it.  Pictures should follow in a few days.

Sorry I have not been around much, it was a tough warm season for me to be in the garage. Also I picked up this awesome scooter, and I have been having a BLAST riding around town. In the past 5 months or so I racked up about 1000 miles on it. In case any one is interested it is a Kymco Xciting 500.

Tom

[TeamTEOR]

This morning I did the last touches on the repair of the rear of the cab. I also painted a new back door for it as well. The original one was not in good shape, and was not worth all of the bondo & work to fix it. Tomorrow I'll cut a hole out of so that I insert a cooling fan, but I need to test it to make sure it is not going to harm my monitor due to a magnetic field. I will for sure install a fan at the base of the cabinet.

So I started the afternoon (after a parts run)  by installing a metal outlet box, along with an outlet, and a 9 foot heavy duty appliance power cable (so now I have electricity inside the cabinet for the first time since it came home). Next to the installed outlet I mounted a nice power strip. Once that was done I mounted up the subwoofer and speakers in the cabinet. It is a very simple Durabrand 2.1 speaker set, however it sounds pretty good. The subwoofer speaker was hidden, however the two satalites are small 4ohm 10 watt speakers (the speakers that came with the cabinet are 8ohm 10 watts) I didn't want to mess up the system so I used the stock speaked the subwoofer came with. I was also lucky enough to have on hand some speaker fabric, so you do not see the speakers behind the grill.  Since the grill was installed I tested out the fitment of the marquee lexan. I needed to sand it slightly to fit it in, but it is all good now. I'll venture out to the garage in a few to put the light in place for the marquee and power it on. Once the fan is situation is figured out I will start to install the sideart and the marquee followed by the monitor.

I am still a bit at war about what front end to use on the setup. I really wanted something cool and graphical like the Ultracade interface. I wonder if anything new has been made that would work. There are also the new technologies coming up that makes programing more of a drag and drop thing, maybe I can do something with that too.

I am all ears if anyone has any suggestions.
Tom

[TeamTEOR]

Seems the Kortek 27 inch was to big. I tried to shoe horn it in there, but the side art is already on the cab, so I was not daring to try to open up the mounting area.

I called Betson, they have a  24.8 inch TRISYNC Flat screen CRT (BL25C90T) (44-4024-00) on hold for me to pick up on Monday, and while I am there I will pick up a bezel for that monitor as well. That trip is setup for my early morning run, so by the afternoon I'll have it installed.

I will post some pictures on Monday after the monitor & glass are installed.

Mean time, if the wife does not kick me out of the house this afternoon to run around I will start on the control panel.

Tom

[TeamTEOR]

Wow, was I worried about the forum there for a couple of days. I am glad it is all back and working.

Well, here is what I have so far... Some more diamond plate is on order to accent the areas cut short of the side art. I was an error on my part I guess, next time I order side art I'll really order it over sized. A word here about Scott Prior & MameMarquees.com, the man really does great work, and I am very happy with the way my side art came out. He is really there for anyone who needs his help & advice, THANKS SCOTT!

I am not sure if Betson is going to open tomorrow, however I will call, if not Tuesday morning I'll head over for the monitor exchange.







So what do you all think so far?

It looks like I am going to build three control panels to start.

One is going to be a fighter panel, a pair of 8 way joysticks, and 7 buttons each, plus the normal, player & coin buttons, plus admin buttons.

The second I want to set up with a pair of 4 way joystick, I am not to sure how many buttons yet buttons for each joystick but I am thinking 4, along with spinner.

The third panel would have a maybe a flight style grip joystick, on left side, the admin buttons, and a 2.25 inch trackball (or maybe a 3 inch if I can set aside the cash to buy one).

So my task & shopping list is as follows:
two Keywiz controllers
two more sets of player 1 & 2 buttons
maybe a 3 inch trackball
and a couple more buttons

I am rather unsure about typical spacing for this size panel, I am guessing that the controls are all centered between the top and bottom of the usable area. Another thing I am in need of is a set of templates for the spinner, and the trackballs. Routing out the top does not seem like a hard thing to plan out, I do not want to route out too much on the bottom part for it. I am almost contemplating ordering a CNC cut panel for the panel with the panel with the trackball. I hope someone has some templates to share and any advice. This thread has been quiet lately with anyone else chiming in.
Tom

[KDOG]

I like it. Where did you get it printed at?

[TeamTEOR]

I like it. Where did you get it printed at?

Talk to Scott over at http://www.mamemarquees.com
Great guy to work with, and is very quick to email back during business hours.

[TeamTEOR]

Ok, just got back from the Betson office. The new 25 inch monitor fits like a glove! It is not the Kortek monitor that I thought they were going to give me, but a BilLabs monitor, and yes, it is still tri-sync unit. It is sitting in the cab right now, but I need to go and pick up some washers so I can screw it down into place properly. They did not have the 25 inch bezel in stock, so they will order it up for me. Pictures with the unit turned on later tonight if I can get things done in time.
Tom

*****Update
HA! One thing to note, if anyone is picking up a BilLabs monitor, you will need an appliance power cord. It comes with a 3 way molex power adaptor, 1 plugs into the monitor, and the other two plug into whatever type arcade power cord you have. One the wire harness it is made with three wires, one is green and the other two are purple. The green is ground, and purple are for the 110v-240v AC power. I am going now to ACE Hardware to pick up the power cord, washers and screws.

[leapinlew]

 

[TeamTEOR]

OK, I know that I took the easy way out on the control panel, I didn't make any templates to carve things out all pretty, but this is my first one, and I want to get it operational so I can see if it is something that I am going to stick with.

I took out about  a quarter of an inch of the MDF with my router on the bottom of the wood for the joysticks and the buttons. I probably went a little crazy on clearing the wood for the buttons as well, but I wanted to make sure I had enough of the threads used to fasten them down. Since I am rather embarrassed about the sloppiness of the routing on the bottom I won't show a picture. Give me a break here, I never used a router before this project, I feel I am doing pretty good so far. I know that I am not done, a couple more panels and a juke box are in my future, I'll get better and do nicer jobs.

In any case, when routing, do it outside, wear a mask, and have a shop vac on hand to clean up things as you go (you will thank me for that advice). So here is what the top side of the CP is looking like so far. I used a set of paper templates that I found one another builder's website, once they were taped into place I used a fine point nail set to mark the center point for each drilling location. If I had not done that I would have been lost as the paper likes to shred with that spade type drill bit. I used a 3 foot level to make sure my workbench outside was level, then I used the bubble level on the end of my drill to make sure I was drilling straight down.



The black joystick is perfect, the blue one is feeling rather ODD, so I am going to order up another one, and keep this one as spare parts. Since the black one is perfect I filled in the screws over the course of the evening, in the morning it will gets its final sanding. Keep in mind here the buttons were just sitting in place for the picture, they are already out so I can finish the prep work. I do have a control panel artwork to top the CP, but will use it for the trackball. I want to order up one for this one in the fighter theme. I am wondering if I can sneak in the spinner on the lower part of the panel in the center. I did pick up some extra red buttons along with some extra player 1 & 2 buttons so I can work on the other panels as well.

I am not sure if I touched on this before, on the back door I cut some new wood to make it look nice, painted it down and to make it easy for removal I installed a simple 3/8 inch bar knob at the top of it. It feels really solid, and I no longer need to pry out the door with a small screw driver. I was chipping the wood, and not I need to re paint two or three spots.

Feel free to jump in here guys with any ideas.

[TeamTEOR]

Well, I ordered up a new blue joystick, along with a Opti-Wiz (My mouse hack didn't work the way I wanted it to for my spinner) and extra Key-Wiz Max controller. At the same time to cut back on all of the headaches of the video problems I ordered up an ArcadeVGA card. So I guess I am stalled out for the next week or so. I'll try to move ahead on the control panel work. Does anyone have a template for a 2.25 happs trackball & plate that they can share?
Tom

[TeamTEOR]

While the above items are in route, I have done some stuff that I have been putting off... Such as cleaning the garage! LOL! After getting out a bunch of garbage I plugged in my electric leaf blower and blew out almost all of the saw dust that was building up in the garage along with the leaves that tend to collect in there. The wife and kid are both happier, and I am sure am myself as well. It seems that I won't be seeing a 25 inch monitor bezel for a flat screen any time soon, I am going to have one made one up. I centered my monitor screen today, and then took some measurements, in the morning I will make a phone call to a local framing store to see what I can come up with. I bet they will charge $5-10 for a black photo matte cardboard frame to be cut to fit. My family is coming over tomorrow around noon, so I'll have just enough time to run out and pick it up along with some food so I can cook for them.

I have heard back from Scott over at MameMarquees, I am going to look a few designs over and send for the CP cover as well.
Tom

[TeamTEOR]

WOW, I got my ArcadeVGA card today! Talk about fast shipping! Just a 3-4 day turnaround for it to be in my hands from the UK, and I am in Arizona.

Well, I went into safemode on the computer running XP, deleted all of my ATI 9600 drivers and software, ran a hardware scan and it pulled up the ArcadeVGA card, and loaded it right from the drivers. It did load up once into VGA mode, but I need to figure out a way to block the use of unsupported modes so that I can stop all of the blue screening & rebooting (it complains of a bad video driver)

Tom

[TeamTEOR]

"It is Dead Jim" The ArcadeVGA card took out my motherboard as well, and I have no idea why. (It happens, and I am waiting to hear from Ultimarc.

[blueznl]

A video card that takes out the Mobo? First time I've ever heard of that. You're serious?

[mr.Curmudgeon]

That side art looks AMAZING! Great job on the cab so far! 

[TeamTEOR]

Blueznl: Yup, I am serious, and I have no idea how it happened. It was suggested by a few others that the card might have slipped out partially, or that the motherboard gave out, and took the card with it. Another suggestion was that the monitor in switching modes to figure out what to run at may have spiked the card somehow. All I know is it is dead, and I lost a 2giz board and proc in the process. These things do happen, it happened to me this time, and that is fine. It is not anyone's fault. The products are all good products, so it could have just been age of the motherboard. Caps go out on monitors with age, they will as well on a motherboard, and it is possible that there was a cold solder joint on the VGA card. None the less, the ArcadeVGA card has a very nice fit & finish, it is made by ATI, and it is a quality product.

Mr.Curmudgeon: Thanks, it is not perfect, but it is close & I am happy with it. The jukebox machine I make next will be from scratch, and I'll make sure that as I get things for it that it is a little more better planned since I am a bit more experienced now.

[TeamTEOR]

Well gang, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I didn't get a chance to order up the control panel overlay or the screen border just yet. The Holiday Season here at home was way crazy, and I am glad it is over.

I have the machine close to done, I finished off the control panel for now, but I will need to take it apart to install the overlay onto it. Today is the first day I actually turned it on and played using the actual arcade controls. I am very happy with the feel of it.

Over in the monitor threads I am getting some help with the video setup, but if you just was there to play, you would not care. Most Arcade machines in NY where I grew up all had their video a little off anyway.

The next modifications I need to make next is to install an On/Off switch and volume control on the top of the Arcade, and also to find one of those special smart power strips that turn everything off once the computer shuts down. Maybe one of you can point me in the right direction for the power strip?

Also, I'd like to get some opinions on what I should do to the control panel. What overlay should I use for the fighter style control panel. I am kinda stuck with the odd size of the control panel in getting something like the Half red half blue setup over at MameMarquees.com. I was thinking of one of the standard fighter panels that they sell, but was afraid it would kinda wash out the look of the panel.  If you all look at the picture on my November 13th post you will see the way it is setup, I made no changes to that setup. It is working out really well.

[TeamTEOR]

Ok, two current pics.

I need to get some new black paper to make a screen border that covers more area, I can clearly see behind the screen right now. The first pictures shows things better on the rotation problem I am having.

[DaOld Man]

Great job!!!
 

I love that side art!!!!!!!

[TeamTEOR]

I still play on the machine once or twice a week, but I am getting tired of the machine vibrating loud as hell from the fans needed to cool that AMD proc. I can feel that the system heat up as the wood gets really warm. I am temped to take the back cover panel off and leave it in the closet.

In any case my wife upgraded her computer and gave me her older 3.Ghz Core2 Duo motherboard, proc, and ram.  I am also going to try to use her old ATI 4550 PCI-E video card as well since drivers have surfaced for it to run on 15khz. That means she gets another upgrade for her computer.

Another thing I'll be doing is to install a wireless mouse as I am tired of the corded one.

I really need to get a hold of a set of templates and a walk through so I can make a new panel to house my trackball. I already have the control panel itself cut out.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

Bit the bullet and add the trackball instead of getting a mouse. (:

I run my 3.16Ghz C2D with a FreezerPro heatsink/fan in an Antec 300 case in my cabinet. It lives in a very small enclosed space in my cab, but barely gets warm with the fans running almost silent, even if left on all day. If you've got the room/funds for it you might look at those:

Freezer Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Antec 300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

The Antec has two large fans with three speed settings. It moves a gracious volume of air over the HSF even at low rpm.

[TeamTEOR]

Good stuff! Looks like a great cpu cooler, and those Antec cases are nice. If the Core 2 Duo system heats up at all in there (I doubt it as it always seemed to run cool & quiet) I'll look for a new heat pipe cpu cooler like that.  The tower it is in is decent, so no worries there.

That old AMD needed that fan to run cool, and it is on a copper heatsink with silver paste. Never understood why AMD always ran so hot. Their heat issues is also the reason stopped buying them.

If you look in the other thread my wife fitted over her ATI 4550 video being pulled from her tower, so I picked up a new ArcadeVGA 3000 on eBay for $60 (shipped).

What I would love to find is if there was a fan I could mount onto the top of the arcade itself that would not send magnetic waves to the monitor. That is my next search.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

Well with the new stuff going on with modified ATI drivers you can get away with a passive card like many of the HD4350s. I've got one of those and have run both 15kHz and 31kHz monitors with it. Mame is flawless and newer 3d games like SF4 run full speed.

As for the fan, you could take the route I saw in another thread and use some kind of ducting to direct air flow.. Put a few large diameter, low RPM fans at the bottom drawing in cooler air and direct it upwards toward your opening in some kind of a vent to stir the air in that direction.