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Author Topic: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [spinner led trauma]  (Read 63500 times)

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Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [first cpo applied]
« Reply #160 on: August 07, 2017, 05:37:05 am »
Any more progress on this?

Yes, but only very recently.  I had a long break due to life issues, just getting the final 2 panels prepped for artwork after fixing the unpainted bits... that was a real pain but it's done now.  Will post an update after putting the artwork on.

Richie_jones

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [first cpo applied]
« Reply #161 on: August 07, 2017, 03:50:17 pm »
Great , Looking forward to see how this turns out..Those joystick leds look good nice solution

Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [first cpo applied]
« Reply #162 on: August 18, 2017, 06:14:58 pm »
Ok so first proper update in ages...

I needed to get the spinners out since I forgot to paint underneath them... raw plywood colour is not nice as a backdrop for edge-lit plexi.  2 spinners needed to come out on the spinner panel.  Dremel to the rescue...


Finally got them both out, and sanded the panel flat(ish)...


Then painted the bit I forgot!


Then glued them back in, filled and sanded flat ready for painting...




I also had the same issue with the Defender joystick, where the gold/brassy colour of the joystick housing bled through the edge-lit plexi looking ugly.  So, out with the defender joystick too...


And painted it...


Put it back in, sanded and filled ready for painting again...



I have now got the defender panel painted up, and the CPO applied :)





I'll be re-painting the spinner panel next, and applying that artwork.  Then FINALLY all panels will be done, and ready for wiring.  I'll try and get that done in 2017!

Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [defender/4-way cpo applied]
« Reply #163 on: August 19, 2017, 03:49:56 pm »
Got the defender panel now ready for wiring!  2 down, 1 to go! :)



So this panel has a defender joystick on the left, and a pac-pro leaf 4-way in the middle.  The panel will be for defender (obviously), all 2 and 4-way games (plan to enable use of left and right button sets for both right and left handers.  Also will be used for games such as asteroids.

Pac-Pro looks great with the edge-lit plexi... feels lovely too...




Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [defender/4-way cpo applied]
« Reply #164 on: August 24, 2017, 09:09:45 am »
I'm having a dilemma with the name... JIMBOVISION fits the artwork theme (I think), but I don't like putting my name on it, I'd prefer something more generic.  I've considered all the following but can't decide: -

Retrotator
Spindizzy
Old Timer
The Vortex
Whirligig
Gyrostation
Spin-o-Vision
Spin-o-Matic

It needs to fit the retro artwork theme, and potentially hint at rotation...  any ideas welcome!

barrymossel

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [please help me name this thing!]
« Reply #165 on: August 24, 2017, 10:27:02 am »
I would keep the vision part for sure. Not sure about the spin part though. Retrovision? Play-vision? Game-vision?

yamatetsu

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [please help me name this thing!]
« Reply #166 on: August 24, 2017, 01:00:39 pm »
Quarter Killer.
                  

Ian

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [please help me name this thing!]
« Reply #167 on: August 24, 2017, 10:54:13 pm »
Spin Cycle
Fidget Spinner...

It's gotta be one of those two... Probably Fidget Spinner.  >:D
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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [please help me name this thing!]
« Reply #168 on: August 25, 2017, 05:22:42 am »
Spin Cycle
Fidget Spinner...

It's gotta be one of those two... Probably Fidget Spinner.  >:D

Fidget Spinner... lol, that's genius.  I'd use that if I didn't have 3 kids with them and I wasn't completely sick of the sight of them, haha!

I've almost settled on a name now, gonna keep saying it for a few days I think:  The Retro EnCABulator  :)   homage of course to the legendary ...
« Last Edit: August 25, 2017, 05:42:27 am by Jimbo »

markc74

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [please help me name this thing!]
« Reply #169 on: August 26, 2017, 09:30:24 pm »
Late to the party on this one. Normally I wouldn't suggest having 'cade' in the title but how about 'TRICADE'. I'm not totally convinced but you could do something cool with the logo


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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [please help me name this thing!]
« Reply #170 on: August 26, 2017, 10:15:04 pm »
I suggested this years ago to someone and they didn't choose it, but it may apply better here.

Here's my original image. I'd keep the two letters in the center big to signify both "Retro" and "Rotate". Just use different colors and fonts to fit your theme.
Stop by my Youtube channel and leave a comment:

Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [please help me name this thing!]
« Reply #171 on: September 02, 2017, 06:28:27 am »
Thanks guys. I like both of those! :)  i also like...

Nostalgicon
Triplex
Time Warp
Get Ready!

Gah... decisions decisions... ;)

Should be applying the CPO for the spinner panel tonight with luck!

chris77

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [please help me name this thing!]
« Reply #172 on: September 02, 2017, 07:31:20 am »
Hey Jimbo,

TIME WARP sounds awesome :notworthy: :cheers:

cheers
Chris

DaOld Man

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [please help me name this thing!]
« Reply #173 on: September 02, 2017, 11:47:28 pm »
Awesome work Jimbo!!

Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [please help me name this thing!]
« Reply #174 on: September 03, 2017, 04:33:23 pm »
Woo!  Finally got all 3 panels with CPO applied and ready for wiring.  Major milestone. :)

I assembled the rotating unit just to check everything still fits nicely, and it does!...

2/4 way panel


  • Defender joystick on the far left
  • Pac-Pro leaf-switch joystick in the centre
  • Electric ICE 2 concave buttons
  • All controls are LED-lit
  • Panel of choice for Defender, Asteroids, and all 2 and 4-way games


Driving/Spinner/U360 panel


  • TurboTwist 2 spinners
  • Ultrastick 360 in centre
  • Electric ICE 2 concave buttons
  • All controls are LED-lit
  • Panel for 1p or 2p driving games, spinner games, U360 games (sinistar!) etc.


8-way panel


  • Dominux8 leaf-switch joys
  • U-Trak translucent trackball
  • Electric ICE 2 concave buttons
  • All controls are LED-lit
  • Panel for all 8-way games, 2p joystick games, Robotron!, all trackball games (perhaps Amiga games too that use a mouse, ScummVM games, etc.)

It's been a long time getting here but at last now I can start planning the wiring. :)

Still not settled on a name... but there's no rush...

stigzler

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [all CPOs applied FINALLY!]
« Reply #175 on: September 03, 2017, 06:16:41 pm »
Looking good.

What were those toy figurines called where there face used to spin round in their helmet?

Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [all CPOs applied FINALLY!]
« Reply #176 on: September 10, 2017, 01:57:34 pm »
Looking good.

What were those toy figurines called where there face used to spin round in their helmet?

Only thing I can think of was Man-E-Faces from He Man! :D  Hmm it does have a kinda ring to it...

Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [all CPOs applied FINALLY!]
« Reply #177 on: September 10, 2017, 02:03:27 pm »
Got a cheap and nasty 'jig' of sorts built last night... it doubles as a set of shelves to store the panels while I work on them too (ignore the cue rack in the background!).  The metal frame of the rotating unit is mounted so the panels will sit at around 10 degrees towards the player, which is what it'll be like in the cab.  I expect a load more holes to be cut in the side of this to allow for access to the sides of the rotating unit, for the brake and motor/pulley etc...



Also made a start thinking about the inputs to the ipac ultimate io.  Will try and post up a diagram later of the proposed layout.

stigzler

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [all CPOs applied FINALLY!]
« Reply #178 on: September 10, 2017, 02:10:32 pm »
Looking good.

What were those toy figurines called where there face used to spin round in their helmet?

Only thing I can think of was Man-E-Faces from He Man! :D  Hmm it does have a kinda ring to it...

That's what I was thinking of!

Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [all CPOs applied FINALLY!]
« Reply #179 on: September 11, 2017, 06:14:55 pm »
So I've mapped out what controls are going to connect to what inputs on the IPAC Ultimate.

It *seems* pretty straight forward but if anyone has any concerns I might have missed something, or spotted something that may cause me a headache with configuration down the line, please tell me.

2 Player/trackball panel...



Defender/Asteroids/4-way panel...
(on 4-way games, I plan to map rotateL and rotateR to be fire buttons 1 and 2 so you can play 4-way games left or right handed)



Driving/Spinner/U360 Panel...



I'm also planning on having the following buttons wired up to the following IPAC inputs *outside* of the rotating unit, on a thin "nav" panel below the CRT...

  • Player 1 Start - 1START
  • Player 2 Start - 2START
  • Pause - 1A
  • Info (to toggle game marquee and instructions on the LCD marquee) - 2A
  • Exit - 2B
  • Volume Up - 2SW5
  • Volume Down - 2SW6

And the following 2 buttons hidden from everyday use...

  • Tab - 2SW7
  • Enter - 2SW8

There will be 2 coin slots... mapped to COIN1 and COIN2.

Not sure what to do about PC power on/off... best to connect that straight to motherboard or use an ipac input (mapped to a switch on the side/back of the cab)?

This all seems pretty straight forward, but I have a mammoth task sorting out the LEDs for all the controls.  If anyone can see something I might have missed, please let me know!  Thanks :)

Drnick

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [feedback on wiring plan appreciated!]
« Reply #180 on: September 12, 2017, 02:39:09 am »
Looks like a solid plan to me  :applaud:  Power button you wire straight back to the motherboard header or solder to points on front panel depending on the pc you are using (Dell I'm looking at you  :angry:)

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [feedback on wiring plan appreciated!]
« Reply #181 on: September 12, 2017, 07:59:10 pm »
DrNick nailed it. Wire it to the header pins on the MB. Get one of these to switch on/off everything else once the PC has started up. I use them in all my builds:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/OneClick-DSK105-Intelliplug-Desktop-Version/dp/B000MPJSL0

(there's cheaper ones available - that was just the first link I found. Mine cost about £8)

Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [feedback on wiring plan appreciated!]
« Reply #182 on: September 15, 2017, 09:30:08 am »
Just a quick update...

Played around with some LEDs last night.  The IPAC Ultimate has 96 outputs for LEDs, which is not enough for all controls on all panels if I want to go RGB.  I have a few options: -

1) Share the joystick LEDs across one IPAC output...  i.e. 4 RGB LEDs for a joystick powered by one RGB output on the IPAC (dimmer LEDs)
2) Only ever have one panel connected to the IPAC outputs at a time - (may look weird when the panels are rotating)
3) Forget RGB and just have white LEDs (which goes with the cab artwork, but won't look as sexy when the lights are off, and I can't then theme the LEDs to the selected game and marquee).
4) Put an extra IPAC in there (maybe not enough room, more complicated software setup?, more expensive)

I'm also going to download and have a play with https://github.com/katie-snow/Ultimarc-linux to see if I can get some LEDs doing stuff.  That looks like fun :)
« Last Edit: September 15, 2017, 02:37:52 pm by Jimbo »

Ian

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [panel LED decisions...]
« Reply #183 on: September 15, 2017, 05:19:27 pm »
I am still stuck on the name... It keeps me up at night.

How about Roll Back?
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

Ian

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [panel LED decisions...]
« Reply #184 on: September 15, 2017, 05:22:55 pm »
Or Retro Roller, Retroroller, RetroRolla,

Tumble Dry

SpinCycle
80'sRollback
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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [panel LED decisions...]
« Reply #185 on: September 15, 2017, 05:24:25 pm »
it's making my head spin.... ooooh that is a good one Headspin  :banghead:
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [panel LED decisions...]
« Reply #186 on: September 15, 2017, 05:34:05 pm »
Cheers guys... to the motherboard it is... Mark - I have one of those things in my existing cab... turns off the monitor/marquee light/etc a few secs after PC shuts off.  Very cool :)

Still not decided on the name... it'll probably be the last thing anyway!

Roll back's pretty cool tho :)
« Last Edit: September 15, 2017, 05:35:38 pm by Jimbo »

Jimbo

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [panel LED decisions...]
« Reply #187 on: September 23, 2017, 06:03:26 pm »
I thought about the wiring in more detail tonight.

I've bought 3 of these 64-pin IDC breakout boards off ebay...



Plan is, on each panel, wire up all the controls and LEDs to one of the above IDC terminal blocks, and daisy chain them together.  Then also connect the IPAC to one of them.  Luckily there is space for these boards on the backs of the panels!  Something like this...



I have worked out that there should also be enough pins to send the USB down the ribbon cable also for the USB controls (spinners/u360). So I should hopefully just have one IDC cable to disconnect whenever I want to get a panel out for working on (well, and LED power/USB connector on the panel with the IPAC).

Gotta wait now for these boards and the 64-pin ribbon cable to come from China now, but in the mean time I'm going to play about with some RGB LEDs to see how bright I can get them lighting up the plexi around the joysticks and spinners (thinking of using some clear casting acrylic to set the LEDs in so there's minimal light bleeding out where I don't want it.
« Last Edit: September 23, 2017, 06:05:42 pm by Jimbo »

yotsuya

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [wiring plans]
« Reply #188 on: September 23, 2017, 08:07:09 pm »
The Vortex is the best non-cheesy one.
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

ZoOl007

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [wiring plans]
« Reply #189 on: September 24, 2017, 01:58:58 am »
cool project you are working on.

in one of the pictures at the top of the post (Pac-Pro looks great with the edge-lit plexi... feels lovely too...) due to the close up you can see some fine grain in the control panel itself.
What material is that board made of (name + some links)? I used vinyl stickers with a acryl panel to protect it but yours is much better looking.

thank you.


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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [wiring plans]
« Reply #190 on: September 24, 2017, 04:11:28 am »
cool project you are working on.

in one of the pictures at the top of the post (Pac-Pro looks great with the edge-lit plexi... feels lovely too...) due to the close up you can see some fine grain in the control panel itself.
What material is that board made of (name + some links)? I used vinyl stickers with a acryl panel to protect it but yours is much better looking.

thank you.

Cheers... I got the "textured" CPO from Scott at http://www.gameongrafix.com.  It's quite thick and feels great - I'm going to get my side art from here too I think when I'm ready.

BTW, this is the project that I want to use audio-animations with the inactive LEDs... hint hint ;)

James

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [wiring plans]
« Reply #191 on: September 24, 2017, 05:03:54 pm »
The Vortex is the best non-cheesy one.

Fidget Spinner was not cheesy SIR!
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [wiring plans]
« Reply #192 on: September 24, 2017, 06:15:10 pm »
The Vortex is the best non-cheesy one.

Fidget Spinner was not cheesy SIR!

Fidget spinners are so April 2017.

MAME cabs should have awesome, mysterious 21st century names. You favorite sports team/TV show/ last name+cade sux.
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

Ian

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [wiring plans]
« Reply #193 on: September 25, 2017, 09:25:16 am »
The Vortex is the best non-cheesy one.

Fidget Spinner was not cheesy SIR!

Fidget spinners are so April 2017.

MAME cabs should have awesome, mysterious 21st century names. You favorite sports team/TV show/ last name+cade sux.

 :cheers:
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [wiring plans]
« Reply #194 on: August 09, 2018, 07:24:03 pm »
So... another small update for the part of this project that is taking ages... sorting out the edge-lit controls.  The problem is the spinners are proving difficult to get enough light on the to-be-edge-lit area on the top of the panel.

So first off, we made a test panel...



We then mixed some clear casting resin/catalyst to fill the LED holes and set an LED in each one.  4 clear RGB LEDs and 4 diffused ones.



It became a pain connecting all these LEDs up for testing, so it was made a bit easier...



Unfortunately, the light still was not that great.  We think the direction of the LED light is just not directed well enough to the top roughed up plexi.

Plan B... make some clear acrylic "Light Rods" out of casting resin with tapered/angled tops that direct the light more appropriately. You can see the idea here...



First we 3D printed some formers to put in the moulds to make the light rods.  We printed a few at different angles to test which worked best.  Then we made some silicon moulds from them...



Then we poured some clear casting resin into the moulds (after coating them with mould release agent) and set the LEDs into them (4 diffused, 5 clear).



They are now curing over night.  Very curious to see which (if any) direct better light to the spinner edge-lit ring.

All this to get 2 spinners to light up a bit more... phew.  Well it's been good fun though and a learning experience.

wp34

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [spinner led trauma]
« Reply #195 on: August 09, 2018, 07:31:01 pm »
I like where you are going with those LED's.  Looks like some fun R&D.  :cheers:

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [spinner led trauma]
« Reply #196 on: August 10, 2018, 04:04:28 am »
If only I could claim R&D costs... lol :)

Here's how they turned out this morning.  Pointy LEDs... lets hope they work...



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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [spinner led trauma]
« Reply #197 on: August 10, 2018, 08:49:55 am »
I think we've solved the issues with lighting up the spinners (and joysticks for that matter) :D

The lightpipes we made were from 3d printed formers, which we made a mould from and filled with casting acrylic - we tried 5 different steps of angle for the light to exit... 5, 15, 30, 45 and 60 degrees: -



The top area I'm trying to get lit is a small ring around the spinner base...



Here's the underside so you can see where the LEDs go in (x 4):



And here's a crude cross-section drawing to help explain things: -



You can see the light needs to go up at a diagonal angle to get to the roughed up bit of plexi for good edge-lighting.  Previous attempts failed to direct the light properly and the plexi ended up very dim - even in a dark room.

So we tried each one but the 60 degree one was the best.  This has been covered in tipex apart from the angled bit on the top where the light escapes...



You can see even in daylight, with just 1 LED at low current, the light shines nicely when pointed with the 60 degree light-pipe :)



Aaand... with the spinner in...




FINALLY happy we can edge light these babies nicely :)

Next step is to make some optimised proper light-pipes now the concept is proven and we've done a successful test.  Once these are done (we'll make lots of spares) I can FINALLY start to wire up these panels...

Drnick

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [spinner led trauma]
« Reply #198 on: August 10, 2018, 08:50:58 am »
I would say put some heatshrink tubing on them to help contain the light but it may be fiddly as balls, maybe a paint dip would probably be easier, just getting frog tape on the bit you want to keep clear would be fun.
 :)  And then whilst typing this I see you edited and have already tipexed :)

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Re: JIMBOVISION: Rotating CP [spinner led trauma]
« Reply #199 on: March 18, 2021, 01:51:21 pm »
I posted this in another topic, but figured I'd post it here...

Things have changed a lot for me since I started this project.  I went from a small house with hardly any space, and needing to fit all my gaming needs into 1 cabinet, to having a bit more disposable income and a larger house with a decent sized garage.  I've since bought a few cabs and no longer have the need to have everything in one.  I really enjoyed this project though and I learned a lot.  I still have the sketchup plans if anyone wants them.  Right now I'm looking at building up the cabs in my garage/gameroom.  I have a few originals (recently restored an Out Run), but I still have the urge to scratch-build stuff - and I haven't really built anything since my Videotron bartop project.  My next scratch build will probably be a multi-vector machine.  Hopefully later this year as I am still trying to get some Electrocoin Midi's restored and mamed up with groovyarcade.  They've been a fun project actually, maybe I'll post about those too!

Thanks for all the interest along the way anyway.   I still have the Jimbovision control panels. but I never got further than the rotating controls unit.  My guess is they will be pilfered for controls over the next few years.  Sorry it never got finished.  I can at least hope that it has inspired someone else or at the very least given people food for thought when considering building a rotating CP cab (hint: don't) ;)

 :cheers:
« Last Edit: March 18, 2021, 01:53:07 pm by Jimbo »