Been a lurker for a bit, now I want to build...

[gourami]

Hello
Name is Jim, from central NJ. I have been lurking unregistered here for a white, and I finally feel confident enough to start building. I'd like to start of with an old, empty cab, and keep things cheap. I have a computer to use, a CRT monitor, and some controls (including an arkanoid spinner). What I need now is a cab, a trackball, and a keyboard and mouse interface. Once this is finished, I plan on donating to an organization I belong to, a volunteer first aid squad. Its kinda boring there with our 11 hour overnight shift, I want to build a 2 person control panel with a trackball ad spinner. I have a pair of nintendo arcade joysticks and a bunch of red buttons. I figure I'll give the cabinet an EMS theme, with Stars of Life, ambulances, etc.

Mainly, I want to know where to find an empty cabinet to start off with. I think I've found where to get the rest of the controls and such, but I can't figuire out where to get an empty cab. I'm low on cash, so basically the cheaper the better. I'm in Central NJ, in Ocean County.

Jim aka gourami

[Jdurg]

I would take a look on craigslist.org.  That's a site where anything and everything in your general area is listed.  Take a search on there for 'arcade cabinet' and you should find a bunch in your area. 

Have fun!   

[Daniel B.]

I second the craigslist suggestion. However, I had to post that I was looking for arcade cab's. Don't post it in the wanted to buy - post it in the sale forums like you have one to sell, then inside post that you are looking for them. I posted both full/working/non-working/empty because you never know what someone wants to sell for a cheap price.

Give it a week or two, I'm sure you will find one.

[Jdurg]

Also, I myself thought that I would just have a cab built for me, or take an empty cab and do the conversion myself.  In the end, it's much more fun to build it completely yourself.  It gives you a bit more pride and a greater feeling of accomplishment when it's all done.  Plus, you get to do it any way you want. 

[gourami]

I'd consider building a cabinet from scratch, but any of my previous attempts at woodworking, turned out like the TOwer of Pisa: Pretty to look at, but something about them ain't quite right.

[ArtMAME]

Just search on craigslist for "arcade" or "video game" and you should be able to find something.  Or try searching on Ebay within a 50 or 100 mile radius of your zipcode and watch for something suitable.  I got a $1 non-working cabinet last week on Ebay because the seller had no room for it and nobody else wanted it.  You should be able to find something.

Also, if you have any work buddies or volunteer buddies who may be handy with tools, enlist their help for any wood working tasks.  Make it a team effort.

Let us know what games you intend to play and what kind of PC, monitor, hardware, etc. you have so that we may steer you right.

[gourami]

I have searched CL and ebay to no avail. I'll keep an eye out, but I'm considering building it myself now. As for hardware, this is what I plan on using:

Monitor: 19" Viewsonic CRT
Computer: As of now, a 700MHz celeron system. Will probably end up buying a cheap newer celeron or sempron system.
Joysticks: 2 ball topped nintendo joy sticks I got from a friend who had them left over from his mame project. They both work well
Buttons: A bunch of red HAPP microswitch buttons
Spinner: Arkanoid Spinner
Audio: Altec Lansing Computer Speakers with subwoofer
NEED:
Trackball, mouse interface, keyboard interface, maybe a newer computer, if I'm building the cab, lots of wood and screws, paint, etc

[pmc]

Might want to look for a bigger display (depending on the size of your cabinet of course).

-pmc

[gourami]

Well, a 25" would be ideal, but the only affordable way to do that is with a TV, and I don't want to loose picture quality for when I want to do normal computer stuff.  If I could find a used Wells Gardner 25" VGA, I suppose that could work, but they are usually pretty expensive, IIRC.

[ArtMAME]

I think your 19" display will be fine.  I have built several cabinets with 19" displays and they are great and very affordable.

Your 700MHz PC will be fine for classic 80s games, but if you also want to do Mortal Kombat or Street fighter or later 90s games, I would recommend 1GHz processor or better, and stay away from Celerons if you can help it.  You can 1GHz PCs pretty cheap if you hunt around, heck someone you know may be throwing one away...

Also, about building vs converting a used cabinet:

Building from scratch will take an unbelievable amount of time and effort and expense.  Believe me, I have done both, plus I have a nicely equipped wood shop, and building was still a major pain in the bahonkus.  And if you don't have the proper tools, it will be even more frustrating.

Converting a cabinet will take some time also for patching, sanding, painting, etc.  But it will take most of the guesswork out of it so you don't end up re-inventing the wheel.  If you find a good used cabinet, you may get lucky and get good usable parts with it such as front glass, control panel top, speakers, marquee, etc.  The cost for each these components will really add up if you are building from scratch.

[mybrainhurtz]

Another thing you can try is to call amusement vendors in the phonebook and ask if they have any empty cabs laying around that you can buy from them.

What finally worked for me though was to post on the following usenet groups:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video.arcade.marketplace/topics?hl=en

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video.arcade.collecting/topics?hl=en

just say you are looking for an empty cab and where you are located and someone is bound to have a few laying around.

Good Luck! It took me over a month after some intensive searching to finally find a cab in my area, so just keep at it!

Oh and on the 19" monitor subject... once again, check craigslist for big crts that people are selling for cheap since many people are replacing them with lcds

[gourami]

I'll keep an eye out for big monitors. I could probably come up with a 21-22" somewhere. I also do not plan on using Windows, assuming I can get ubuntu running right with mame. DOS could also work, but drivers and DOS are a nightmare.

[Green Giant]

Well, a 25" would be ideal, but the only affordable way to do that is with a TV, and I don't want to loose picture quality for when I want to do normal computer stuff.  If I could find a used Wells Gardner 25" VGA, I suppose that could work, but they are usually pretty expensive, IIRC.

What exactly are you looking to do outside of running emulators and possibly a jukebox?  There isn't much else a control panel is good for.