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Author Topic: Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision  (Read 8409 times)

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killbill

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Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision
« on: May 26, 2014, 04:54:02 pm »
Hi Everyone,

After many years of enjoying my first cab, I've now decided to try something more ambitious. I'm working on a bartop cabinet that will have a automated rotating 20.1" LCD monitor inside. It will be a slight variation on the Weecade design. My first step is to decide on the monitor rotation mechanism. Because this is a bar top, my cab depth is sometwhat limited. I am considering a screw drive like the one in the,link below. As is seems to have a really shallow depth footprint compared with other setups I've seen:

http://youtu.be/HQZNP_fJytA?t=31s

I've also attached a photo. Mine won't be triggered by a button though. It will automatically rotate based on game orientation. What do you guys think? Are there any other hardware options out there I'm missing with the size of a bar top in mind?
I'm a little worried about how slow it turns, but it seems really smooth and patience is a virtue. :)

Any advice or suggestions before I take the plunge would be appreciated.
Thanks.
 
« Last Edit: May 26, 2014, 07:02:47 pm by killbill »

DaOld Man

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Re: Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2014, 11:08:14 pm »
Welcome to the wide world of rotating monitors!
Actuators work pretty good (see my thread), but they can be a little noisy, but so can motors.

killbill

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Re: Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2014, 03:45:03 am »
Hey there, I was looking at your thread. Have you had much success with the serial port circuit for rotation you created? Seems like an alternative for the drama involving Impout32.dll and 64 bit systems. Is Mrotate4 still beta, or have you released it? Thanks for your time.

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Re: Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2014, 11:19:02 am »
Hey there, I was looking at your thread. Have you had much success with the serial port circuit for rotation you created? Seems like an alternative for the drama involving Impout32.dll and 64 bit systems. Is Mrotate4 still beta, or have you released it? Thanks for your time.

I guess Mrotate4 is still beta, not a lot of interest in it. Would you like to try it?
I don't think I have tested it on my 64bit win7 machine, but it seemed to work good on the ole winxp32bit.
The problem I see with the serial port (in the fashion I used it), you only have 2 outputs and two inputs available.
Also the computer polls the serial port during boot up so the outputs flash several times, which would make your monitor jerk back and forth on boot up.
The only way I see around this is to add a timer that will "kill" the power to your drive until the computer fully boots up.
Also, the serial port outputs up to 12 volts, so you will probably need an interface between the port and your drive. Easiest would probably be opto isolaters.
If youd like to try this, download mrotate4 and build a test rig with leds with proper resistors, attached to a 9 pin serial plug. That way you can watch the outputs as you play around with mrotate4.
I think I posted a download of mrotate4 but if I didn't pm me your email addie and I will send it to you.
Id be glad to help anyway I can. You can see how to hook up the leds to the plug in the diagrams I posted in the mrotate4 thread.

killbill

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Re: Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2014, 10:27:12 pm »
Thanks. I'll check out the diagrams and get back to ya. I'm not super electronics savvy. The inferface between the port and the drive is definitely over my head. . .as well as pretty much all of this. I'll have to take it slow I guess. Woudn't want to fry my comp right off the bat.  :) Thanks

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Re: Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2014, 05:25:22 pm »
Looking good so far, I had thoughts about doing an auto rotating monitor bar top as well, I'll be watching for your progress.
I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since DaOld Man and me last worked on Mrotate4, I think we got most if not all the bugs worked out.

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Re: Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2014, 09:49:13 pm »
...
I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since DaOld Man and me last worked on Mrotate4, I think we got most if not all the bugs worked out.

Well, I have been testing it on my win7 64 bit, and there are a few new bugs we will have to work out, but preliminary tests look real good.
Biggest drawbacks are: only two outputs (no automatic degauss), and the outputs flash on bootup. (Only fix I can come up with is a timer to disable the drive until the PC has enough time to boot to windows.)
But on the bright side, this may be a simple way to do rotating rigs in 64 bit, without having to have a USB interface.
will also work in 32 bit.

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Re: Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision
« Reply #7 on: June 10, 2014, 10:18:08 am »
Would something like this work if you needed an additional serial port?
http://www.pololu.com/product/1308
« Last Edit: June 10, 2014, 10:19:44 am by darthpaul »
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Re: Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision
« Reply #8 on: June 15, 2014, 11:53:17 pm »
Would something like this work if you needed an additional serial port?
http://www.pololu.com/product/1308

It probably would. I used a cheap usb to serial port adapter when testing mrotate4, and it seemed to work fine, if memory serves.
Got to load the driver that comes with the adapter first, Im sure the device you linked to would too.
« Last Edit: June 15, 2014, 11:57:31 pm by DaOld Man »

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Re: Bartop Rotating Monitor style decision
« Reply #9 on: June 20, 2014, 11:02:36 pm »
I bought one of those also, I remember you doing some testing with it but I don't remember if you said it would work your Drive.
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