ATTN: 1UP .. Question!

[1UP]

Oh, by the way, 1UP... my wife, who barely tolerates my MAME cabinet and has no interest in arcade games AT ALL, thinks your rotating control panel is "totally cool"!  That's probably the highest praise you can get!

I notice a SW Yoke on the computer rendering.  Is that a real yoke?  Do you have any clearance problems with it?

I love your design so much that I'm actually considering selling my cab so I can start over and build one with your panel design...  I don't think mine can be retrofitted with it, and I'm dying to find a way to get a yoke and a 4-way stick connected to it....

--Chris

Maybe your wife likes it because it doesn't take up so much room!    Although, my wife would disagree -- there are still several boxes of spare parts  scattered around...  I think she likes it, though.  I've caught her playing with the Tron controls with the machine turned off!  (For as much crap as she's given me about my hobby, she does like Mame, and holds the current high score for Joust, which none of my guests have beaten...)

SirPoonga is right.  The yoke panel is the last one to come up, and no, it wouldn't be able to clear the monitor.  Actually, I'm going to make a stop on panel end-plate, so it can't be turned far enough to bash the yoke.  (That's gonna be a beeotch though, with everything already mounted...   )

[Brax]

Hey, 1up!

I've looked all over Home Depot and I can't find your "roller latches" anywhere! What department did you get them from? What are they actually for? Can you point me to them on the Home Depot web site? You had a great solution, I'd like to try to find them.

Btw, how goes the cabinet? Any closer to completion?

[1UP]

Hey, 1up!

I've looked all over Home Depot and I can't find your "roller latches" anywhere! What department did you get them from? What are they actually for? Can you point me to them on the Home Depot web site? You had a great solution, I'd like to try to find them.

Btw, how goes the cabinet? Any closer to completion?

They're labeled "Ironman Roller Latch", look for them in the section where you find door hinges, door stops, gate hardware, metal brackets etc.  They were bagged separately and displayed in a shelved bin if that helps.  I've seen them used on wardrobe doors, instead of regular latches.  I can't find them on the HD website, but the store I use has tons.  Here's a similar product that might work: Bullet Catch  You might try other locations, other stores, contractor's supplies, etc.

My cab is at a slowdown now, since I've had to use much of my time to find work.  I have the main CP wired up, and I'm trying to get the Tron CP finished tonight before I have to work tomorrow (I have to cut a new Lexan for it, since I messed up while cutting the hole for my trackball.)  If I can get that far, the only things left will be the boxes that the yoke and T2 guns get mounted on, so those will become my weekend projects!  

[Chris]

Are you going to have those sticks, trackball, and evenually blacklight lit all the time inside the cab, or are you going to wire a switch that only fires up the lights when that panel is in place?

--Chris

[1UP]

Are you going to have those sticks, trackball, and evenually blacklight lit all the time inside the cab, or are you going to wire a switch that only fires up the lights when that panel is in place?

--Chris

The plan was to leave them lit all the time, but I may make a switch.  I don't know, it'd have to be at least 2 switches, since I'm using both PC +5v for the trackball and buttons, and a separate 12v adapter for the glowire in the sticks.

[Chris]

Not necessarily... one switch, one relay.  Use a pinball-style rollover switch, and place a strategic hole to allow the rollover lever to fall into it.  Hook up to the NC terminal instead of the NO terminal, and add a relay to trigger the other circuit.  Thus, once that panel clicks into place, the lights will come up.

--Chris

[1UP]

Not necessarily... one switch, one relay.  Use a pinball-style rollover switch, and place a strategic hole to allow the rollover lever to fall into it.  Hook up to the NC terminal instead of the NO terminal, and add a relay to trigger the other circuit.  Thus, once that panel clicks into place, the lights will come up.

--Chris

Oh, yeah...well...  

[hyiu]

it might be a crazy idea....

but how about some sort of a level switch ??
you know.... like pinball has those level switches for tilting...

when the panel is not in place, the panel is kinda like tilted or upside down.... thus turning the switch off....

but when you rotate it to place, then it'll be levelled, and thus turning it ON !!!....

up to my knowledge, those level switches contains mercury... (which might not be a healthy thing when broken...)
are there any alternatives ?? safer kind of switches of that type ??

if this is good, then you don't need switches at all !!... just roll it in place and when its level enough, will turn it on automatically.... roll it out and off it goes.... haaaa haaa haaa haa.... what a genius idea.....
     

(ok.... getting carried away....)

[1UP]

it might be a crazy idea....

but how about some sort of a level switch ??
you know.... like pinball has those level switches for tilting...

when the panel is not in place, the panel is kinda like tilted or upside down.... thus turning the switch off....

but when you rotate it to place, then it'll be levelled, and thus turning it ON !!!....

up to my knowledge, those level switches contains mercury... (which might not be a healthy thing when broken...)
are there any alternatives ?? safer kind of switches of that type ??

if this is good, then you don't need switches at all !!... just roll it in place and when its level enough, will turn it on automatically.... roll it out and off it goes.... haaaa haaa haaa haa.... what a genius idea.....
     

(ok.... getting carried away....)

That would work!  I actually have a few mercury switches lying around.  I'll probably want to put them in a protective housing to keep from breaking.  Don't know if it's all really necessary though.  The LEDs won't burn out for a loooong time.

[ErikRuud]

I'll just throw out another idea.  Magnetic reed switches!  Mount them to the outside of one panel end  near the holes for the child saftey locks.  Then glue magnet to the inside of the cabinet. When you rotate the panel in place, the magnet closes the reed switches to turn on the lights.