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Twist's POWcade: a Mario Bros.-themed MAME Bartop! *IT'S DONE!!*
ablizno:
I think the side art looks nicer without the POWcade logo, but the CPO looks nice with it..
EndTwist:
leapinlew: I did just that, using a 1k ohm resistor:
and now it looks great:
It's more like a soft glow instead of a bright red flashlight. Way better than before; it was unbearably bright.
I came up with a method to diffuse it that allows it to be softened, but without having the diffuser right against the top (so you don't really see it and the "glassy" effect remains consistent).
Basically, I just used a folded-over piece of tape on a few of the springs, then cut it to size. It doesn't affect the spring at all, doesn't make any noise, and you don't see it unless you look for it. It's basically perfect.
I finished up the wood puttying on the botched up side:
And put on the vinyl and t-molding:
That botched up edge looks alright, not amazing (you can see that the wood is expanded there), but no one will notice it. It's the bottom right corner, who will look there?
Took off the top and started on that as well:
And my LCD came! (Not a touchscreen, but it doesn't matter.)
The monitor actually has an on-off switch instead of a momentary-contact button, which is fantastic! I just leave it in "on" mode and it'll always turn on when I turn the machine on. On top of that, it turns itself off within seconds of not having a signal...pretty convenient.
I've had to decase it due to the fact that the metal bezel (what the PCBs are currently screwed to) was too wide. I'm going to be remounting the PCBs on a new metal board and will probably have to extend a few wires so I can mount it properly. Once I manage to do all that, it should fit in perfectly. I know decasing it as much as I have isn't the best idea, but there really isn't any other way to get it to fit. It should be fine once mounted, anyway.
BUCKETHEAD:
This is looking excellent!
Great job !
EndTwist:
Nothing too exciting today, but I got the LCD remounted onto my custom "matteboard sandwich." Basically, 3 sheets of matteboard, with a sheet of aluminum foil in between each (but not on the outside). Mainly, that was for the sake of grounding, as well as giving the matteboard a little extra strength between layers.
Mounting was a fairly easy task and it works great!
EndTwist:
So, my updates have been lacking the past couple days. What have I been up to?
Well, before mounting the LCD, I positioned the computer inside:
On the left is the coinbox, which I created from a hacked-apart power supply case. I needed something skinnier than the original one from this machine, but I wanted to keep the metal "clink" that you hear when a coin drops in (doesn't seem quite right without it), and the PSU casing was perfect for the job.
The power supply is mounted onto the coinbox using some L-brackets joined together to create U-brackets (with the help of my father, who came up with the idea).
Finally, I screwed everything in, mounted the LCD, put the top back on, and wired everything up:
That is a tight squeeze!
It looks like a bartop now (finally!):
(This shot doesn't show it, but I've also mounted the coin slot and wired it up.)
Today, I mounted the powered speaker PCB (amplifier) to the right side, making it an even tighter fit, and using up my last empty side. Fortunately, I can still reach the speaker controls if I ever need to adjust them.
I get a bit of static due to the hard drive being so close, but nothing that'll be too irritating. There really isn't any way for me to shield anything in there, so it is what it is.
It's ALIVE!
What's left?
- Control panel
- Cam Locks (ordered)
- Side Art and CPO (out for printing at MameMarquees.com, should be here soon)
- Finishing up the software setup (change the shell to MaLa, alter the skin a bit, test all my games, etc)
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