FLYNN'S ARCADE (Project Code Name: Overambitious) - FINISHED

[Louis Tully]

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[AlienInferno]

Looking good man.

[ChanceKJ]

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[mcseforsale]

Yeah, that looks nice!  Should be excellent reflecting in the gloss of the painted cab.

AJ

[ChanceKJ]

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[ChanceKJ]

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[Speed Racer]

The idea is simple, mount the brackets, then mount the speakers to the brackets.

Very nice work so far Chance 

I've been looking at the same logitech speakers for my project, but wasn't sure how well they performed. I know most old games don't have sophisticated sound so they are probably fine. How would you rate them?

[ChanceKJ]

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[monkeychunkuk]

amazing working with that cool silver part of the speaker im surprised you didn't de case them and mount from the bottom?

[mcseforsale]

Wow.  Jugglegear.com.  That's awesome.  Had never heard of contact balls and they have some slick stuff.  What's the diameter that you used?  76mm?

AJ

[ChanceKJ]

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[Rick]

The results speak for themselves!



The clear ball lights really well, and just looks sick when sitting next to these buttons.

They certainly do, holy hell. These look AMAZING. I've definitely bookmarked this site - certainly a worthy upgrade to any stock trackball configuration!!!

[rablack97]

 

I use foam tape weather stripping...for all my light bleeds, just place a strip on the cab behing the marquee and done.



This isnt a new find, there's a thread in here somewhere on using contact juggling balls as trackballs.

The difference here is that this is acrylic, which isn't as durable as the clear polycarbonate ball you would get from happs.  Acrylic is softer and scratches alot easier than polycarb, so a few months of use and this acrylic ball will get scuffed up pretty bad.  However, this is the reason the same site has polishing kits to remove minor acrylic scuffs.

So yes its good for initial eye candy but will show more wear and tear, hence the cheaper price.  The polycarbonate is also heavier ball, so a purist will see the difference in the roll, although it works you will get some slips using the clear ball.

If you plan to light it up, get ready to blind your eyes out, if you fire a light at the bottom through the ball, and hit it at the right angle it's annoying and blinding, and you will have this wonderful dot on your ceiling fromm the magnified light.  In thinking though this may be what you want....in reference to your theme.

I had to design a RBG board and modify the shells of my T-balls so the LED would fire through the sides, for a more diffused solid color in the clear rather than a concentrated magnified beam of light.

They do look sweet though, but just and FYI from a member who has worked with a few of these bad boys.

I would recommend, spending and extra $20.00 and getting the real thing from divemaster to complete the quality aspect of the build, less scratches and the proper weight....

http://www.arcadeemulator.net/cgi-bin/shop/cp-app.cgi?usr=51F2166288&rnd=5241423&rrc=N&affl=&cip=99.127.150.14&act=&aff=&pg=prod&ref=Replacement+Balls+for+Happ+Con&cat=Trackballs&catstr=HOME:Trackballs

Also yes, 76mm is the correct size.  76mm = 3".....

I dunno though, i think the UV reactive/white translucent ball would look better in your machine, it would give off a more Tron-esque glow at night....

[Dance Commander]

The difference here is that this is acrylic, which isn't as durable as the clear polycarbonate ball you would get from happs.  Acrylic is softer and scratches alot easier than polycarb, so a few months of use and this acrylic ball will get scuffed up pretty bad.  However, this is the reason the same site has polishing kits to remove minor acrylic scuffs.

So yes its good for initial eye candy but will show more wear and tear, hence the cheaper price.  The polycarbonate is also heavier ball, so a purist will see the difference in the roll, although it works you will get some slips using the clear ball.

I think you may have your materials mixed up. Polycarbonate is way softer and scratches easier than acrylic. It is more impact resistant though.

[rablack97]

The difference here is that this is acrylic, which isn't as durable as the clear polycarbonate ball you would get from happs.  Acrylic is softer and scratches alot easier than polycarb, so a few months of use and this acrylic ball will get scuffed up pretty bad.  However, this is the reason the same site has polishing kits to remove minor acrylic scuffs.

So yes its good for initial eye candy but will show more wear and tear, hence the cheaper price.  The polycarbonate is also heavier ball, so a purist will see the difference in the roll, although it works you will get some slips using the clear ball.

I think you may have your materials mixed up. Polycarbonate is way softer and scratches easier than acrylic. It is more impact resistant though.

Your probably right, I'm not chemist.  However in my testing my happs ball is 5 years old and looks practically new, i stress tested the acrylic for about a week and it looked worse than my 5 years happs ball.  So i was assuming that the acrylic was a softer and lighter material being that it scuffed easier than the polycarb ball.

Learned something today though, thanks for the wisdom regarding polycarb vs. acrylic. 

[ChanceKJ]

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[Louis Tully]

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[Santoro]

Really nice progress, looks fantastic!

[wp34]

Great information thanks for sharing.  I've been kicking around going with a black trackball for my build.  Good to know there are other options.  That steel one looks bad ass!

Speaking of the control panel, the good folks over at jugglegear.com sold me a clear Contact Juggling ball that is the exact same size and weight as the stock U-Trak ball. the best part it was under $20. These guys were awesome. Coming from a background of big box retail and eCommerce Marketing i can definitely say that Peter and his wife are legit!  If you need a cool trackball they have a bunch of cool of options like UV responsive, clear, and even steel. VERY happy with both their service and this purchase.



The results speak for themselves!



The clear ball lights really well, and just looks sick when sitting next to these buttons.

[ChanceKJ]

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[Louis Tully]

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[ChanceKJ]

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[yotsuya]

You're gonna hate me for saying this. But I think it looks quite messy.

Well, we sure as Hell don't hate you because you're beautiful! 

[ChanceKJ]

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[yotsuya]

Stop. You're gonna make a girl blush.

[Malenko]

good tip with using felt above the speaker holes to block light. I used to cut up old black t shirts, but felt is like 30 cents at a the craft store. 

Cab looks to be coming together nicely!

[Louis Tully]

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[ChanceKJ]

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[Louis Tully]

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[Cobrawolf]

Hi Chance.

First, to mirror the comments of many other users on here before me - amazing system you've got going. The time and effort to not only build but document everything step by step is great, and will be a huge help to many people getting into this hobby - much like myself.

I hope to catch you pre-move, but my question is on the Mac Mini. Do you happen to know which model it is? I believe I have the same one at the house, but was planning on turning it into a Plex server. It's also only a 32-bit system, which would throw me off a bit as well. I'm curious which one you have, as it may make me rethink the machine I'm going to put together for the build.

Thanks in advance,
-Dave

[ChanceKJ]

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[Cobrawolf]

Thanks Chance. Mine is about 8 months older, so no upgrade past 2GB, and a hack needed to run in 64bit mode. I'll probably mount that inside the unit as a Plex server, with network storage.

The main rig will be an older Dell XPS, ripped apart and custom mounted.

Still, great build man. Like you, I'm pulling bits and pieces of inspiration from every build on here, and a few deep dark recesses of my own warped imagination.

Can't wait to see the rest of your work.
-Dave

[ChanceKJ]

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[ChanceKJ]

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[Rick]

Damn, that looks slick. Nice, clean job there. Nice work!

[ChanceKJ]

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[yotsuya]

I don't know if it's the lighting in the photo or what, but the lines on the first one look kind of .... weird. Like it reminds me of a Transformer or something.

[ChanceKJ]

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[yotsuya]

Not sure what you mean, I don't see it. Might be the light being bent by the gravitational force of my tubby dog...

I dunno, it's probably the shadows on all the angles on the front. But it looks like it's ready to unfold and turn into the ScottBot or something. 

[wp34]

That turned out great.  It looks fantastic both with the lights on or off.  Well done.