Paul's Modular Control Panel

Main > Project Announcements

<< < (9/14) > >>

Paul Olson:
The patch panel was a clever idea, just not mine. ;D

I spent the last week playing instead of working on this. It is nice, but I really need to get my steering wheels and analog controls mounted on panels so I can make sure everything works right.

I bought a core2 duo e8400, so I will be adding that to the cab as well this week. My Athlon 2500+ can't handle Donkey Kong any more ( past .120) , so it is time for an upgrade.

Teaching my nephew how to play DK made the whole project worth it. I used the infinite lives cheat so we could get some practice. He made it to the 3rd elevators, but I couldn't get him to be patient enough to get past it. I played all the way through to the kill screen. I died a lot, but the practice was a big help to me. I was jumping barrels better than ever before. :)

The kids are leaving tomorrow, and the pinball machine is done until my new flippers come in. I better get something done on this. :banghead:

Paul Olson:
Wow, it has been three years since I posted an update in this thread. Not too surprising since there really hasn't been much done to the cab during that time. I still haven't got any of the analog stuff mounted and working, but the cab has been played quite a bit off and on over that time. I started collecting dedicated games probably 3 years ago, and they take a lot of time that would have been spent on this project. At the beginning of this year, I decided that I was tired of fighting to display all of the games in their native resolution. I also want to show the bezel art around the game, so the logical solution for me was to use an LCD TV. I am pretty happy with the TV now, and I haven't tried to add any of the scanline effects yet, but the blockiness of the sprites really doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

Here is a pic of the new test cab. Not a cab at all yet, but pretty close to how it will be laid out when I am done. The third pic is what I want it to resemble when I am done. I didn't see the point in trying to shove a TV into a regular cab, and I really like the look of these Silver Strike cabs. As a bonus, I should be able to move the cab to the living room for parties and just plug it into the TV out there. I don't really have a timeline set for getting this cab done, but at least now I can test exactly how I want everything setup. The original cab is in the process of becoming an NBA Hangtime. :)

TopJimmyCooks:
Cool rotating wall mount for the lcd.

I don't know if I ever posted/credited this anywhere, but your CP build was an inspiration and a guide for mine. :cheers:

Paul Olson:

--- Quote from: TopJimmyCooks on August 06, 2011, 09:45:18 pm ---Cool rotating wall mount for the lcd.

I don't know if I ever posted/credited this anywhere, but your CP build was an inspiration and a guide for mine. :cheers:

--- End quote ---

I just saw some of the pics of your cab build, and I am really jealous of your woodworking shop! I have had to sell off all but the bare essentials as my arcade started taking up more and more room in the garage.
I am pretty happy with the simplicity of my build, but it is really cool to see your cp operate with the gear. :)

The rotating wall mount is $70 at Amazon, and holds up to 50lbs. As soon as I mounted the TV, I realized that it (the TV) was too small. The arm sticking out is only part of the problem. The main problem is that I really want to use the artwork in mame, so the actual game screen is just too small. I think I will go with either a 42 inch, or 46 inch. At this point, I don't think I can really go too big since I can always pull the cab out a bit.

If anyone is thinking of rotating an LCD TV, make sure the mounting holes are centered on the back of the TV. This one mounts higher, and it makes it difficult to rotate to vertical without adding a lockout.

TopJimmyCooks:
I have seen and priced offset Vesa mount adapters before, like the ones shown on the bottom of this pdf. http://www.lantekrackmount.com/pdf/LTRVM-200.pdf

They give adjustability but are ridiculous $$$$, often $50-60 plus. The one time i had to center rotation I made an 1/8" plate that offset the vesa screws 3/4" from the center of rotation, more for weight balance than layout.

Navigation

 Message Index

Go to full version