Any examples of external storage of controllers on frankencabs?

[JustAskJack]

I've been planning to have a couple sets of original controllers attached to my cab, (set of atari 2600, nes, snes and pc).

I've been scouring the site and reading suggestions, and trying to find what is going to end up being the best solution.

I haven't found any pictures of anyone who has done any external storage... maybe nobody has been able to pull it off cleanly?

I am bouncing back and forth between adding a small gutter under the drawer that they can sit in while unused.... or was also trying to look into getting some of those arms that you see on gaming kiosks in stores... but I don't know the correct term for that part so been having alot of difficulty finding examples of them online.

I have seen suggestions to store them inside the cabinet, but I am trying to stay casual with the design so there's no fishing stuff out from inside... more along the ideal of being able to pick it up, play, put it down...

So somewhere easily accessible from the front is going to be the way I go...

For reference, here's a bad mockup of the 2 options I was thinking...





Thanks in advance

[zanna5910]

i have extra room on my slideout keyboard tray and I just leave them on that.  Your idea could be taken to the next level with 45* pivot drawer and technically speaking, should work great and give a clean, hidden look.  You may want to consider separate cubby holes for your controllers, or it could be a side access as well if you had a coin door or something.  You could also mount some type of hooks/holders.  Alot of people seem to just put a basket next to the arcade and store them there.

[jasonbar]

As I finish the housing for my final rarely-used-but-I-still-want-it control that clamps onto my panel to accommodate a handful of games, I was considering storing them in the back of the cab, where there much available volume. The're contained, safe, free from meddlers, & don't get dusty. They'll need some sort of internal hook/caddy system keep tidy so they don't end up in a pile on the floor like my son's toybox. I do have quite a few: 1 steering wheel & pedals, 2: Sega Saturn Twin Virtua On stick rewired & mounted for my cab ( http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133751.msg1378477.html ), 3: a second trackball (a little X-Arcade...blush...at least I swapped its T-Molding to match the rest of my machine...), 4: Star Wars Yoke--still working on fabbing a clampy mount--my sheet metal design is too ambitious even for shops w/ fancy laser cutters & CNC Press Brakes...  :\

I am however, tempted to try to instead hinge much/most of my kick panel & coin door front face to hide & reveal the bonus rare controls. Here's an obsolete pic that showed how I hung the extra trackball & steering wheel off the side of the cab w/ garage storage hooks. I've since abandoned that scheme, painted my cab, & have sideart & kick panel art (and bezel) art on the way. Still, this pic shows the layout. http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97/infernolab/Arcade%20Game/01fullcabinet.jpg

Some piano hinge, some magnet detents, hooks, repainting or capping cut surfaces. Will do the trick. I do have a fair mount of wiring behind the kick panel that would need to be addresses...

===

On a related note, what are the consequences of plugging & unplugging controls, either then the PC is running or not. I fear unfortunate reassignments of device IDs when unplugging & replugging. As such, I have available a dedicated unique USB port for each of my temporary controllers, so I need not unplug or replug anything if I am able to be adequately clever with storage & accessibility of the bonus controllers.

Thanks,
-Jason

[jasonbar]

On a related note, what are the consequences of plugging & unplugging controls, either then the PC is running or not. I fear unfortunate reassignments of device IDs when unplugging & replugging. As such, I have available a dedicated unique USB port for each of my temporary controllers, so I need not unplug or replug anything if I am able to be adequately clever with storage & accessibility of the bonus controllers.

Found a swell answer to my question: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,108767.0/all.html

-Jason

[JustAskJack]

Just a quick update on this... I decided to go with a front controller storage cabinet to house the controllers.

This is how it turned out (need a bit of refinement, but does the job)





I used these wall clips to mount the controllers:
http://www.laboratory424.com/project/wall-clip

Worked pretty great...




Full build gallery here:
http://imgur.com/a/hcqGO

[jasonbar]

Bravo! I love it. Are all controllers always plugged in? I think I see some hubs. How many USB devices do you have going at once there?

What do you do about cord length & retracting/managing the cables after play?

Thanks,
-Jason

[JustAskJack]

Bravo! I love it. Are all controllers always plugged in? I think I see some hubs. How many USB devices do you have going at once there?

What do you do about cord length & retracting/managing the cables after play?

Thanks,
-Jason

Yes, all controllers will always be plugged in. I have USB devices going in a few different places. All the console controllers you see in the storage are plugged into a powered USB hub. The IR bar and aimtraks are plugged into a seperate PCI USB controller. Mouse/keyboard plugged into front USB controller. Trackball/spinner/ipac plugged into main/rear MB USB controllers.

The cord length/retracting issue will be the next problem I'll probably have to tackle. It hasn't been too big of an issue yet, but I do see it becoming tedious to have to keep tucking the cords back up. I was looking in some past threads for the solutions people have been using but haven't decided which way to go yet.

[jasonbar]

Nice! I did some cord retraction research when I was setting up my guns. I ended up using "telephone" style coiled USB extension cords, but here's some info to chew on if you want to do some slick retraction scheme:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,132047.msg1384130.html#msg1384130

-Jason