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Ready to order controls! (first part of cabinet) -- Need some help!
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krick:

--- Quote from: sofakng on May 23, 2004, 10:58:12 pm ---
How much does it cost to build the actual cabinet?  (with t-moldings and all the works to make it look professional)


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There's nothing wrong with building your own cabinet but you might want to consider buying an old cabinet and MAME-ing it instead of building your own.  You can pick up old cabinets at auctions for as little as $10.  It's a great place to start.  Then later when you've gotten a little deeper in the hobby (and your wallet has recovered), you can tackle construction of a cabinet from scratch.

I bought a complete working game (GigaWing) for $250.  It had a clean 25" arcade monitor and a 37" wide control panel.  It was originally a 4 player Sega cabinet from 1992, possibly "Arabian Fight" though all the original artwork is gone.
http://www.3feetunder.com/krick/mame/gigawing.jpg

When I first got my cabinet, I just bought an arcadeVGA card and a J-PAC from Ultimarc.  I just plugged the J-PAC into the cabinet's existing JAMMA wiring harness and and I was playing games in about an hour.

I had to rig up computer speakers for temporary sound but now I have the sound pumped through the cabinet speakers using the "amplifier hack".


--- Quote from: sofakng on May 23, 2004, 10:58:12 pm ---
Does anybody see anything I missed when ordering?


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There's a lot of little stuff that was mentioned in the last post.  However, if you start with an already functioning cabinet, you get a lot of that stuff.
sofakng:

--- Quote from: Chris on May 23, 2004, 11:27:07 pm ---- Arcade cabinet leg levelers
- Control panel clamps
- Lots of .187 18-22 ga. (red) female quick disconnects (two for each button or joystick direction)
- Lots of 18-22 ga. wire
- a 6-pin Molex connector to connect to your trackball

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Ok, the wire and quick disconnects I'm pretty sure I have under control.  I ordered the "Wiring Kit" ($19) from Ultimarc and that includes a bunch of cable, crimpers, and I believe they are disconnects (I just need that block from Radioshack now)

Do I need to buy that 6-pin Molex connecter in order to use my trackball?  Where can I buy one at?

Also, what are the control panel leg levelers that you mentioned?

Krick-- Thanks for the suggestions.  I'd be tempted to buy a used cabinet but I would be *only* interested in the arcade monitor.  I don't like the look of a lot of older cabinets, and a newer cabinet would cost way too much.  I'm still debating between an arcade monitor vs a TV, but thats a discussion for another thread :)
Chris:

--- Quote from: sofakng on May 24, 2004, 05:38:44 pm ---Do I need to buy that 6-pin Molex connecter in order to use my trackball?  Where can I buy one at?

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Radio Shack will have it.  They'll probably call it a "6-position interlocking connector".  Should be a couple of bucks.

--- Quote ---Also, what are the control panel leg levelers that you mentioned?

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Control panel clamps and leg levelers.  I don't know what cabinet design you're using, so your design may or may not need clamps. http://www.happcontrols.com/amusement/acesor/49005900.htm

Leg levelers are what the cabinet sits on.  Cabinets are HEAVY.  You may prefer to go with casters.  Arcade leg levelers usually have a 200 pound load rating, which is a bit of overkill, but make sure whatever you get it can take the weight.... http://www.happcontrols.com/amusement/acesor/49100200.htm

There's lots of other stuff, I was just trying to think of the things most often forgotten...

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