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Author Topic: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab  (Read 60456 times)

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psychotech

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #40 on: August 19, 2007, 09:54:48 am »
Great stuff  :)

The CP drafts just make me think about these shapes  :o
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/61PJCEFQ9XL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg

And yes, the first one without text..

 :cheers:

psychotech

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #41 on: August 19, 2007, 11:46:13 am »
The more I think about it...

Are you a left handed spinner kind of guy? Tempest was setup for a right handed spinner control. I always played arkanoid with my right hand as well. I just don't have the control with my left hand to work a spinner.
Donkey Kong was one of my first games I really spent a lot of time with.  I also played a bunch of Tron and Disks of Tron in those early days.  I think that wired my brain for buttons-right, control-left.  I loved Tempest, but it always felt weird using my right hand for the spinner. 

More importantly, my right wrist is showing signs of age.  Way back when, I was heavily involved in skateboarding (pools, pipes & half-pipes, none of the flat lander stuff).  We didn't do the gonzo moves done today, but I could do a pretty mean one foot out tail tap.  (But I digress).  Years of high impact wipe-outs have trashed my right wrist.  Using a mouse 4+ hours a day at work is also taking its toll.  This is the primary reason why I don't like fighting style games.  Too much slamming of buttons with the right hand. 

I set up the Partybox with Joystick on left, Trackball on right, buttons center.  It feels great for traditional JS games.  But after a couple of games of bowling my right wrist starts to hurt.  This time I'll try JS and spinner on left.  If that doesn't work out, I guess I'll just have to make another cab.



theCoder

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #42 on: August 19, 2007, 12:07:30 pm »
This project is really coming along.  I would love to get a router table but I haven't won the wife over with my wood working.  I do it all in the garage (Sawdust City) and she is the only one who parks in there.  :laugh2:

Those LED's are amazing.  Are you going with one color or hooking up some kind of LED Wiz to it for effects?
Thanks.  I usually pick up the stuff (tools) when she is not around.  It quietly shows up.  I'm picking up one to two tools a month in an attempt to ween myself from my friends fully stocked wood shop.

No multicolored LED's on this project.  The tricolor LED's look cool, but not on my first time out.  I really like the idea of using a LED Wiz, but $50 is a bit too expensive for the features it provides.  I'd rather spend twice that much picking up a ROM burner and figuring out how to program and wire one by myself.  Does anyone have any experience with those small PIC kits?

theCoder

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #43 on: August 19, 2007, 09:07:55 pm »
Single Pushbutton Power Control
On my PC based cabs (Oldschool and Partybox) I had a switch controlling a power strip, and a momentary button controlling the PC.  The operation is a bit clunky, hit switch, press button to start;  press button, wait for OS to shut down, hit switch to shut down.  Not the best.  You veteran cab builders have probably done this before, but its new to me so...

Based on a good tutorial at: http://home.bendcable.com/werstlein/  I made a PC switched power supply.  The bottom plug is always hot.  The PC is plugged into it.  The PC on/off button is routed to the outside of the cab.  A relay switches power to the other plug when the PC is on.  All other devices are powered from a strip attached to the second plug.  When off, pressing the power button (PC on/off button) turns on the PC, which turns on the PC power supply, which energizes the coil of the relay, which switches on the power strip, which turns on everything else.  When you press the button again, the PC shuts down, killing power to the relay, which kills power to everything else.  Good stuff.   

psychotech

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #44 on: August 19, 2007, 10:05:46 pm »
That's a cool solution  :cheers:

Still, I'd prefer to use a "smartstrip". As much as I like to hack things, it's still my preferred method for one button power control. Cheap and, in my experience, reliable. Plug the PC as the master and everything powers on as soon as the PC power on/off is pushed ..likewise, as soon as the PC powers off (through software or by the PB) everything else is switched off too.



All my cabs have these. Instant one button power on/off solution...

psychotech

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #45 on: August 21, 2007, 02:34:05 am »
That's a cool solution  :cheers:

Still, I'd prefer to use a "smartstrip". As much as I like to hack things, it's still my preferred method for one button power control. Cheap and, in my experience, reliable. Plug the PC as the master and everything powers on as soon as the PC power on/off is pushed ..likewise, as soon as the PC powers off (through software or by the PB) everything else is switched off too.



All my cabs have these. Instant one button power on/off solution...

psychotech
Very nice.  Today I went looking for one of these.  None of the 5 stores I went to had one.  On-line, I found one for $41 + $12 shipping.  Apparently the maker is pretty proud of their patent.  I'll proceed with my hacked version for now.  Perhaps by the time I build my next cab the price will come down a bit.  Am I just being too cheap, or are they less expensive in your country?

theCoder

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #46 on: August 21, 2007, 02:36:22 am »
I just posted some draft copies of my marquee in the Artwork section.  Thanks for any comments or recommendations.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=70346.0

psychotech

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #47 on: August 21, 2007, 09:20:52 am »
On-line, I found one for $41 + $12 shipping.  Apparently the maker is pretty proud of their patent.  I'll proceed with my hacked version for now.  Perhaps by the time I build my next cab the price will come down a bit.  Am I just being too cheap, or are they less expensive in your country?

I paid 9.95€ (about $13) for the one pictured at a local store.. though I've seen them sold for as much as 34.90€. Oh, something seems to be cheaper here, that's a first  ;D

About the marquee, I vote for number 5 ...but maybe with a slightly different (easier?) font.

(Maybe something like the Babylon font @ http://www.fontseek.com/cgi-bin/fsearch.pl?search=babylon)

Just a thought...

psychotech

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #48 on: August 23, 2007, 11:34:34 am »
I paid 9.95€ (about $13) for the one pictured at a local store..
I'd pay that in a heartbeat.  They are not readily available at my local "stuff mart" yet here in the US.

theCoder

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #49 on: August 23, 2007, 11:45:18 am »
I'm having lunch tomorrow with a guy that (among other things) gets paid to make cool blinky LED stuff.  He works for a local company that makes slot machines.  I'm hoping to come away with some LED control ideas and/or promise of future working meetings. 

I could buy a LED Wiz, but I'm into this hobby for the learning's.  I barely got through Electronics class in school, but my motivation is higher now.  It sure would be cool to know how to do advanced timer/sequencer type electric circuits.

theCoder

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #50 on: August 25, 2007, 01:25:34 am »
I met with the electrical hardware guru today.  He had a lot of great ideas, most of which I will never have the time or brains to get to.  In the mean time, he pointed me to www.microchip.com for a free development environment and tutorials.  If I can just get a simple circuit that will gently pulse an LED on & off I'll be satisfied.  Hopefully that will just be a start of more sophisticated things to come.

In the mean time, I'm zeroing in on the marquee artwork.   I think it symbolizes the idea behind the project title "Time Sink".  Thanks to those on the artwork forum for their input.  Comments?


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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #51 on: August 25, 2007, 11:09:57 am »
I met with the electrical hardware guru today.  He had a lot of great ideas, most of which I will never have the time or brains to get to.  In the mean time, he pointed me to www.microchip.com for a free development environment and tutorials.  If I can just get a simple circuit that will gently pulse an LED on & off I'll be satisfied.  Hopefully that will just be a start of more sophisticated things to come.

In the mean time, I'm zeroing in on the marquee artwork.   I think it symbolizes the idea behind the project title "Time Sink".  Thanks to those on the artwork forum for their input.  Comments?



"Consumer of all excess time" looks like it might be difficult to read? Or perhaps it's hard to gauge the scale from the thumbnail shot. How tall will those letters be when it's all said and done?

I'm not a big fan of that catch phrase for your cabinet. I kind of like it with just the name and the clock slipping into the vortex.

javeryh

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #52 on: August 25, 2007, 01:35:21 pm »
In the mean time, I'm zeroing in on the marquee artwork.   I think it symbolizes the idea behind the project title "Time Sink".  Thanks to those on the artwork forum for their input.  Comments?

Now I think you are on the right track with the art.  I think it would look really cool if you freehanded the words "Time Sink" so that they looked like they were getting sucked into the vortex... like the clock.  I'd also ditch the slogan like lew said - "Time Sink" says it all.

Kaytrim

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #53 on: August 25, 2007, 04:01:29 pm »
Now that is what I was talking about coder.  I like the warping effect you did to the watch.  The subtitle effect you did is also right in line with the watch.  It is also easily readable though a slightly larger font might be an idea to consider.

TTFN
Kaytrim

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #54 on: August 25, 2007, 05:51:05 pm »
nice work with the home built circuit. thanks for the link too i had lost it.

i currently own a smartstrip but the us version is pretty large. at least twice as wide as a regular power strip and about the same length. its really bulky for what i need. i like the simple smaller solution that you have done here.

great work.

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #55 on: August 31, 2007, 03:09:29 am »
nice work with the home built circuit. thanks for the link too i had lost it.
i currently own a smartstrip but the us version is pretty large. at least twice as wide as a regular power strip and about the same length. its really bulky for what i need. i like the simple smaller solution that you have done here.
great work.
Apparently the first guy to write this up put the relay directly into the power strip.  Now that's compact.

Thanks for the input on the artwork.  Based on your feedback, I've dropped the tag line.  I also tried "twisting" the main words into the vortex, but in all versions, it is too hard to read. 

Not much tangable progress.  I've been playing with PIC programming to get something going with the light sequencer and artwork.  This is going to take a while.

My glass came in today.  I got the front & back pieces for the marquee.  I can't believe how cheap glass is.  The back piece is frosted, and the front is clear.  Both cost me a whopping $5.50.  For the monitor piece I went with gray tinted & tempered glass.  It is a bit more expensive than Plexiglas ($27), but it won't scratch.  The tempering makes the glass 7x stronger.  Unfortunately, (or fortunately??) they forgot to use tinted glass.  They are making me a new one now.  The good news is they let me keep the non-tinted piece.  I've never had a cab with tinted glass.  If I don't like it, I can go with the non-tinted piece. 

Any comments on tinted vs. non-tinted glass?  I'm going to have both options for no extra money.

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #56 on: August 31, 2007, 09:13:38 am »
I really like the look of tinted glass.  It softens the image and makes everything look smoother...

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #57 on: August 31, 2007, 09:54:01 am »
Tinted glass for me too.  I like the touches on the watch you keep adding but this time it looks like it is being pulled in two directions when there is only one gravitational source.

Looking forward to seeing some build pics.

TTFN

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #58 on: August 31, 2007, 08:39:04 pm »
Side Lit Engraved Plexiglas
In addition to creating structured light on this project, I also wanted to experiment with the engraving feature of my friends CNC machine.  I'm going to put a side lit logo just below the monitor.   It will include the words “Time Sink” and a vortex like swirl.  This should look pretty cool gently pulsating from dark to bright green.

The first picture shows a number of trials.  The plastic was just melting at high speeds and slow feeds.  I got good results at very low RPM (around 50) and around 10 fpm feed.  In most cases, cleaning the burrs off created small scratches.  The best results were achieved using an angled engraving tip and just dragging it across the surface.  The second picture shows the raw piece of plastic on my desk.  The third picture is more like what it will look like when installed.  I need to make more progress on the control electronics to make it pulse.

psychotech

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #59 on: August 31, 2007, 08:59:01 pm »
That's simply awesome!

You're the Man  :notworthy:

psychotech

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #60 on: August 31, 2007, 10:59:22 pm »
That is so sick it's cool :dizzy:

TTFN

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #61 on: August 31, 2007, 11:38:56 pm »
I also wanted to experiment with the engraving feature of my friends CNC machine. 
Any chance your friend needs another friend  ;D

That side lit plexi is a really nice addition!!!

Jay  :cheers:

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #62 on: September 01, 2007, 04:28:17 pm »
I also wanted to experiment with the engraving feature of my friends CNC machine.
Any chance your friend needs another friend  ;D
I'm sure he'd be your friend.  Just call before you come over.

This morning I squeaked in a little time.   The wires of the marquee light were just dangling down when I got it.   I wired it to an extra cord I had laying around.  Hot/White to the skinny plug side (US).  Cross fingers, plug in.  No pops or smoke.  But no light.  It has a little fuse that just needed to be tightened down.  Ah, the light...

I also lined the light box with crinkled tin foil.  Hopefully this will distribute the light around a bit and minimize the hotspot you usually get in the center.

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #63 on: September 01, 2007, 05:23:12 pm »
Please help me out.    I am so glad I found this post.

I want to have a pexiglass frame stick out 1/2" around my coin door with a LED back light. I was going to sandwich it between the cab and coin door. My goal is to have the edge of the plexi at a 45 degree angle and have it glow like I saw on some cutom speakers.

So I want to sand the 45 angle around the edges if that is the part i want to glow? :dunno 
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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #64 on: September 01, 2007, 07:32:12 pm »
Text or no text?  Other recommendations?

I'd go with the 2nd one, but I would change the text to be in the "grid plane" instead of "vertical" and I would drop the shadow.  I think it would give a better perspective...

Looking good!  :cheers:

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #65 on: September 01, 2007, 11:40:07 pm »
Please help me out.    I am so glad I found this post.

I want to have a pexiglass frame stick out 1/2" around my coin door with a LED back light. I was going to sandwich it between the cab and coin door. My goal is to have the edge of the plexi at a 45 degree angle and have it glow like I saw on some cutom speakers.

So I want to sand the 45 angle around the edges if that is the part i want to glow? :dunno 
Yes.  The color will show through on any scratches in the Plexiglas.  So make sure to rough up the 45 degree surface with 100 to 300 grit sandpaper.  The original smooth surface will show very little light (compared to the roughed surface).  You mentioned having it stick out 1/2".  I'd recommend making it stick out as little as possible to avoid the smooth surface getting scratched.  I'd also use a power tool to get the angle.  Assuming you will have rounded corners, I'd probably go with a router with a angled bit instead of a table saw. 

You might consider a small diameter round-over instead of a 45 degree and rough up all of the exposed surface.  Something to experiment with.  My local glass shop has a bin of Plexiglas remnants.  The CNC experiments were done on a small portion of a 8" x 36" x 1/8" remnant that cost me $2.00.  My initial LED lighting experiments and final pieces for the light strips were done with a $10.00 remnant. 

You might want to pick up a piece and make some trial pieces.  I learned a lot when I did. 

Great idea on lighting around the coin door.  Make sure to post your results somewhere.

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #66 on: September 02, 2007, 12:39:30 am »
Love the bling and clean craftsmanship... watching with interest.

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #67 on: September 02, 2007, 06:15:53 pm »
Thanks for the info thecoder.
I'm going to have a plastic shop cut the frame and Ill sand the edges. I guess I will reduce the amount it sticks out to 1/4. :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #68 on: September 03, 2007, 09:25:35 pm »
Sound & Volume Pot
Today I picked up a 2.1 amp and hacked the volume pot.  It is a cheap 30 watt system I picked up at StuffMart.  I was originally planning on using a little 4 watt amp from Goodwill.  But hey, what's another $25 to get another decent mp3 player in the house?  It's nowhere like the 230 watt boomer I've got in the Xcelerator driving cab, but based on previous parties I've had, it will be occupied nonstop with driving games… no time for Led Zeppelin.

De-soldering is a pain.  I needed to get the volume pot off the PCB, and solder it back with about 2 feet of wire in-line.  Using thin gauge stranded wire as a wick; I got most all of the solder off.  I also used a sucker to get some as well.  To get the last of it, I would blow really hard on it (boy did I set myself up with that one).  When complete, the bass did not work, and one of the tweeters was scratchy.  The scratchy tweeter was from a single strand of wire under the pot intermittently shorting to the frame.  The problem with the bass took me a bit longer and a jewelers loop to find.  When I blew on the molten solder, some of the splatter landed on the board and shorted two joints. 

I'm thinking the bass speaker box should be mounted firmly against the side to maximize the sound transmission.  But it comes with large spongy feet.  I've seen people just setting theirs in the bottom and others bolted theirs to the front.  Any recommendations on mounting the bass speaker box in the cab? 

Here I sit, writing this entry, listening to Houses of the Holy cranked on my new, volume knob hacked amp.  All is right in the world.

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #69 on: September 08, 2007, 04:28:10 am »
Getting closer on the artwork.  Here's the latest marquee and matching CP.  The black thing (center-left) is the spinner.

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #70 on: September 08, 2007, 10:20:52 am »
 :o Coder I am amazed at your skills with this art.  The tie in with the CP and marquee are execellent.  Are you going to do side art like this as well?

Wish I had the time to learn how to do this it would sure come in handy with my Kustom Sticks.

TTFN
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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #71 on: September 08, 2007, 08:44:30 pm »
:o Coder I am amazed at your skills with this art.  The tie in with the CP and marquee are execellent.  Are you going to do side art like this as well?

Wish I had the time to learn how to do this it would sure come in handy with my Kustom Sticks.

TTFN
Kaytrim
Thanks.  I just fake it.  There are a lot of guys on this forum that can make Photoshop sing and dance.  Yes, I am going to do side art as well.  I'm going to get it done at the same time I do the side art for the Xcelerator project.

I've always wanted to be able to do cool looking computer art.  I set out to learn Photoshop on the Partybox project.  Like I said, I'm no expert, but what I do know I got from doing one 20 minute tutorial a night for a few months.  There are tons of them available on the web.  If you truly want to learn it, commit to it and put in the time.

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #72 on: September 08, 2007, 08:51:51 pm »
CP Light Bar Installation
Today I glued in the Plexiglas bar into the front edge of the CP.  All went smooth.  After the Bondo dried, I sanded it flush to the wood surface.  Then I went over some of the rough spots and end grain with a sloppy mixture of wood putty.  The day (daylight) ended with a coat of paint on the CP and bezel pieces.  Tonight comes the first of many LED wiring jobs.

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #73 on: September 08, 2007, 08:59:44 pm »
That is quite a mess there but it is all for the good. :cheers:  Strange what you think will take an hour or so takes all day. :dizzy:

TTFN

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #74 on: September 08, 2007, 09:58:17 pm »
You realize we'll all be stealing this great idea soon, right?  :D

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #75 on: September 12, 2007, 04:11:04 am »
You realize we'll all be stealing this great idea soon, right?  :D

Glad to contribute.  Let me know if you have any questions.

If you're thinking about stealing that idea, how about...

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #76 on: September 12, 2007, 04:15:13 am »
Alternating Color Power Button
As long as I’ve got bags of cheap LED’s now lying around, I decided to do something lighting related with the cab power button.  The cab needs to be simple to turn on & off, no instructions required is the goal.  A blinking green light on an otherwise dead machine screams, “Push me to start.”  And while the system is on, a red light typically means stop.  I want it to be green when the power is off and red when the power is on.  The switched power supply will have an “always on” power strip, and an “on only when PC is on” power strip.  The cab power button will be wired to the PC on/off button.  The PC energized relay controlling the switched strip has an extra set of contacts.  The green led will be connected to the normally closed contacts, and the red led will be connected to the normally open contacts.  When the PC is off, the relay will not be energized, providing current to the green LED.  When the PC is on the red LED will be lit. 

<< edit - after lots of thought and forum input, it will pulse red when off, and be steady green when on.  Also, it will have the universal power symbol (circle with verticle line) instead of the text "POWER".  >>

I’m in the process of learning how to make my own low-budget PIC controller / circuit to slowly pulsate both LED’s.  The PIC code is roughed in and compiles.  Now I just need to design a circuit around it and debug it all.  Lots of trial/error and fried components to come in my future.  I’d probably save a LOT of time (and perhaps money when all is said and done) just purchasing an LED WIZ from Randy at GroovyGameGear.com, but where’s the fun in that?   

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #77 on: September 15, 2007, 02:37:18 am »
Marquee Installation – Needs Work

Today I installed the marquee artwork/glass.  The artwork is sandwiched between two pieces of glass.  The back piece is textured to diffuse the light and the front piece is clear.  Right away I noticed three problems.

1)   The corner supports are blocking the light.  Others have solved this by shaving off most of the supports at an angle.  This problem wasn't apparent to me until I turned on the light.  A little Dremel work should solve this.
2)   The texture on the back piece of glass is too coarse.  The artwork has small pocks and shadows especially noticeable in the white areas.  I will replace this pane of glass with a piece with a frosted texture instead of a traditional shower door texture.  The good news is this sized glass is very cheap (around $4.00)
3)   The swirl detail around the letters is washed out.  I'll go in and increase the contrast a bit and have it reprinted.

It doesn't look nearly as good as I'd like.  Some rework is required.  Oh, well, lessons learned.

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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #78 on: September 17, 2007, 12:56:13 am »
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Re: TimeSink - Dedicated Vertical Cab
« Reply #79 on: September 17, 2007, 12:56:39 am »
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