Dual Project, Frankensplit. Part 1 Complete

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Bloviator:

--- Quote from: vertexguy on January 04, 2021, 08:00:34 pm ---I don't have an answer for your latest question, but was just reviewing this thread again and admiring the woodworking skills. There are some nice tricks in here like your router fence approach that I need to try. I noticed your issue with not being able to get the LEDs from Paradise. I'll be curious what you come up with. I bought some a year ago but don't have enough to complete my project with them either. :/ It also looks like you're planning on using the same lit acrylic tube approach as chance on your panel? One consideration there is how close your LED is to the tube. I've struggled to find the right distance and spread to get only 2 LEDs to really diffuse evenly. My ring design is a little different but I'm thinking 3 or even 4 may be needed to get it evenly lit without hotspots.

Keep up the good work and keep posting progress! :cheers:

--- End quote ---

Thanks, and Sry for late reply, works been a bit crazy

I ended up using addressable LEDs and an ultimarc nano-led to control them. Seems to be working as intended so far. It is working with the Pacleds and LEDBlinky so far. I had to expand my slots for them and the wires a bit, but at least I didnt have to start it over. With the leds on the sides, they dont bother me, so I'm not too worried about them showing. Diffusion is pretty good with the acrylic very well scuffed up. It might be worse if you can see them directly in front of your eyes by adding more than 2. Pics incoming. Also been waiting on IL buttons leds to come back in stock. I found a different image for my control panel that I wanted to use and the white buttons just weren't going to work with it, so I'll be using those on my next project. Nice progress on your project, btw!

Bloviator:
So with the old style non-addressable 10mm LED boards nowhere to be found, I thought I'd try stringing together some of the Addressable ones. Good thing these come in sheets of 100, so I could get plenty of practice. Not the easiest thing to learn to solder on, they are tiny!

I tested 22 and 24 guage solid and stranded wire. I found the Solid to be much easier to work with, as a novice, especially when doing the second row. I ended up using the 22g, just to make sure I didnt have any problems.

first row:

second row:

Bloviator:
I ended up making these in three sections and connecting them with twist connectors, for several reasons. They were getting very awkward to work with by the time you have a string of 4 of them connected, on the outside chance I ended up needing to insert a voltage boost (I didn't), and to make maintenance easier, which I actually already had to do. One of the leds was bad (or destroyed by me) after I got them all together and I had to replace it.

I ended up protecting them with sections of unshrunk heat shrink tubing (except the one I forgot and was too lazy to redo). I tried some of the nylon stretch tubing, but was not really happy with it

Here they are ready to be installed:

Bloviator:
I also installed a small 2x2 block with 2 switches in it, above the inside of the coin door. One turns on a work/showoff light made from leftover section of my marquee led strip. The other is at the end of a button ground daisy chain. This is a simple open/close switch. The wire leaving the switch goes back up to the 4 coin buttons on the control panel. I am hoping this will allow me to deactivate those buttons when I want to force token usage

Bloviator:
Finished a while back but wanted to do some testing then got busy/lazy
Things that worked:
-Push to open drawer slides on the hidden drawer worked out great
-Switch inside the coin door to activate/deactivate the Coin buttons on the control panel are working well, although, as others have said, I pretty much always deactivate them to force use of the coin door. Could have done without them.
-Defender and SmashTV layout work great
-4 Player games actually work out much better than expected due to the P3 and P4 button arrangement and positioning that many here have meticulously harped on ;) I would probably add an inch or even 2 between the P1-3 and P2-4 joysticks to make it even more so without significantly increasing the overall profile of the machine.
-I really like having the dedicated 4-way joystick offset more toward the front. Its more intuitive for visitors and is in a more natural position for those games. Plus the P1-2 thumb buttons are in a perfect position for single button games.
-The Ultimarc Nanoled is working well with the addressable LEDs for the joystick lights, however, occasionally all of the lights at the end of the chain will get stuck on after exiting a game and can only be reset with a computer restart. I do not think I have a short or bad connection. It occurs starting at different LEDs in the chain and does not seem to be from specific games. It usually only occurs after numerous games and most sessions, it never happens.

Things I don't necessarily love:
-I knew going in that the defender reverse button might be an annoyance, and it is a minor one when using the right hand on 4-way games. Visitors never seem to be bothered or comment on it, but I notice it. I don't think it impacts game play and it's not anywhere near enough to be a deal breaker for me, since I wanted the tradeoff of a good Defender layout, but it's there. I don't notice it anywhere near as much as I thought I might using the P2 joystick.
-I was a little worried the extra width between the P1 and P2 joysticks might bother me on Robotron, but that has not really been an issue for me, as an average, at best, player. Serious players might not like it, but probably wont like any of it! ;) I'm not about to play off center to get around it.
-The screen seems a little too close because of the low profile. Looks like I could move it back an inch or two without obscuring the view from the sides. I had left those parts unglued, just in case.

Thanks again for all the great info and advice on here!

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