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Author Topic: Misspent youth- the lost years............are they ever REALLY complete tho.  (Read 4850 times)

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firedance

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Hi All,

Over the christmas break i knocked together another bartop, well almost, wet weather and too much beer stopped the build but thought i'd share the progress i made in such a small time frame.

didn't take any "bare" mdf construction pics as it more or less follows my other 2 builds  ;)

was given a FREE HP SFF 5800 core2duo 2.66 pc and 15" acer monitor (not shown in pictures), used the same pc in my first build so knew how to strip it, tried to make the bartop as small as possible so the monitor didn't look too odd.

the little cable to the front of the bartop is a 3.5mm volume control adapter, like this one - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Earphone-Headphone-In-Line-Cable-Volume-Control-Audio-Extension-Adapter-3-5mm-/322759270161?hash=item4b25f39f11

Can hardly see it from the front, will paint the inside where the volume control is at some point.

The top mounted fan is a 80mm blue light cheapo from ebay, does the job, the speakers to either side are again cheapo ebay ones that also have blue leds and usb powered. 

Used 12mm car chrome trim again as i had some left over from the last bartop :)


« Last Edit: February 10, 2018, 09:27:04 am by firedance »

firedance

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Re: Misspent youth- the lost years
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2018, 02:36:49 pm »
YES i've gone for "blue pearl", instead of the usual white vinyl, doesnt really show it off in the dull picture, sry.

The plain white vinyl back will have some warning stickers when its nearing completion, had to change the cpu fan from a the 92mm (factory) to a 80mm as i didn't leave enough clearance at the top, wanted to mount the motherboard as a high as possible to give room for all the cables at the bottom.

Will have backlit marquee this time, as i'm a cheap skate it's done to A4 size and printed myself, using some matt white vinyl stickers - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Waterproof-Food-labels-vinyl-self-adhesive-A4-stickers-sheets-Inkjet-Printable/112164191813?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=412321655092&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

stuck it to a spare offcut of 3mm grey tinted plexi, hopefully it shouldn't look too outta place as the monitor is only small   :-[, made a basic marquee box, lined with aluminium foil tape, added a small strip of 3528 cool white leds that will be wired to the 12v of the psu, just hooked it up quickly to test and take pictures.

half done the montior/bezel support, going for the same method as the retrodayz bartop (see signature), may even take some pictures before its finished/painted, dont hold your breath.

any questions just ask i'll be glad to help/answer where i can :)

« Last Edit: January 03, 2018, 02:54:10 pm by firedance »

firedance

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Re: Misspent youth- the lost years
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2018, 02:40:59 pm »
this is the marquee with the light off behind it, to the right is where i had some tape to hold down the vinyl while applying, it wont be seen once its installed.
« Last Edit: January 03, 2018, 02:44:22 pm by firedance »

Titchgamer

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Re: Misspent youth- the lost years
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2018, 03:35:13 pm »
I like the name! :)
Nice clean build.

barrymossel

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    • forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,157647.0.html
Re: Misspent youth- the lost years
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2018, 07:31:17 am »
Would love to see it complete!

firedance

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Re: Misspent youth- the lost years
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2018, 12:38:17 pm »
thanks guys :)

firedance

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Re: Misspent youth- the lost years
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2018, 09:31:42 am »
No woodworking photos as it was freezing outside yesterday so routed as quickly as possible before my hands froze.

Had to fill a few holes where I used slightly longer screws and they came thru the mdf :( plus around the monitor bevelled edge where I nicked it, nothing major used way more filer than needed lol.

When attaching the 1x1 softwood battons I realised I hadn't left enough space for the monitor surround so had to break out my rasp file, few minutes later, job done, guess it may have fitted with a little pressure but wanted it loose so I could remove it if necessary without removing the bezel as well.

Quickly brushed a coat of satin black paint when back into the warmth, dried very quickly, did a mock up of the marquee using a 9v battery (as shown), the painted rear shot of the bezel shows the deeper routed space for the monitor buttons, used 3mm grey tinted plexi again as I had some spare from the last bartop, quite a snug fit so may need to sand the edge down as it’s slightly bowed when fitted, well I did want a tight fit, will take some interior shots of the bezel behind when I have tided the wiring better ;)

on a side note, at some point the monitor may need replacing as there are a few pressure marks and even a small hole near the bottom of the screen, only notice it now and again, depends on the background colour, cant really complain too much as it was free after all.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2018, 09:47:31 am by firedance »

firedance

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Re: Misspent youth- the lost years
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2018, 09:33:30 am »
Think its about 98% complete, hardware/woodwork wise, In a few places there are a few imperfections, so no close up shots, nothing too major, I like to think of them as character ;), fits in well with the retro arcade used style type theme, that's my story and i’m sticking to it :) :)

Need to sort out a better fan controller as the one I got from china flickers the led lights when the hard drive is accessed !!!! ( anyone know why that is, bad earth ??) plus the pot on the back of controller gets stupidly hot, almost burnt my finger.

Similar item on ebay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cooler-Cooling-Fan-Speed-Controller-3-Channels-PC-for-CPU-Case-HDD-DDR-VGA-MO-/152519174045?hash=item2382d9e79d

Haven’t fixed the control panel down as yet as I may need to get access to the buttons when setting up the software, upgraded my mame setup from 0.149 to 0.192 just before I actually started building the bartop, using hyperspin frontend again, getting my head around rocket launcher as well, so far good with that, will also be adding a few more emulators such as pc engine, gamecube, Nintendo 64, etc depends how good or bad they play on the old hardware, might not be possible as the pci-e slot seems not to be working with the low profile card I have, further testing needed.

The marquee isn’t lit up in the photos, when on it's maybe a little bit too bright, so have a ordered a led controller just in case, only cost just over £1, should be here in a couple of weeks,see how it works out.

« Last Edit: January 21, 2018, 11:16:09 am by firedance »

firedance

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Re: Misspent youth- the lost years - complete.......almost
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2018, 09:13:35 am »
Sorry for the late update, finished off the last few hardware items that needed sorting, the fan controller that was getting hot didn't like the 5v fans( sucking air in from the bottom) that i had connected so it died ( was the regulator and not the pot) should have researched that better  :-\, used 2 Rectifier Diodes (1N4001) instead to drop the voltage to 3.6v or so this link said it would https://www.element14.com/community/thread/15391/l/i-have-a-5v-usb-fan-and-i-want-to-reduce-the-speed?displayFullThread=true

Also sorted out the wiring best i could  ;D


Will need to open up the PSU at some point to reverse the fan direction as all the other fans are upwards, got quite loud after only a few minutes play, although it was on a soft surface so blocking the fans on the bottom, further testing need i think.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2018, 09:40:50 am by firedance »

firedance

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Re: Misspent youth- the lost years - 98% complete
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2018, 09:26:18 am »
Tried to photograph the marquee, looks washed out in most pictures but isn't in person, didn't need reduce the brightness as it isn't that distracting, did order some controllers, gone in my parts'n'bits boxes for future projects  ;).

Running Hyperspin frontend again, rocketlauncher was fairly easy once i followed a few guides on youtube  :D, tried a few different graphic cards but sadly looks like the slot as died, cant really complain as it was a free pc after all. currently installed so far are -

Mame 0.192
Sega megadrive
Sega 32x
Sega master system
NES
SNES
PC engine
NEO GEO (running thru mame)

without a graphic card i dont think it would run any other systems  :(

have attached a rough price guide, am sure i've missed somethings off and guestimated a few costings so call it £60 (not including labour)  8)

so that's about it for now  ;D
 



« Last Edit: February 10, 2018, 09:30:54 am by firedance »

Drnick

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For under 60 quid that's a pretty nice job :)  The bezel and marquee panel looks good too  :applaud: :applaud:

firedance

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Thanks  ;D

yeah the marquee came out very well, i will say tho that i made the box a little small so can see a slight shadow to the right side, don't notice it at all when playing :)