MAME in baby steps

[skippy0420]

"Sometimes you just have to pee in the sink"
Charles Bukowski

 

Will be selling the inards of my existing cab and going straight MAME. This will be my first go around at building a MAME cab. I am only building a 2 player cab with 6 buttons for each player and an extra 4 way joystick for the 1 player pac and such. I am unsure about the trackball at this time.

I already have:
TOKN32 (from what I have read a 2 player with limited buttons should work)
2 Ultimate 8 ways
1 4 way(came with cab, unsure of status at this time)
16 horiz HAPP buttons
2 (1-2 player buttons)
3 computers + various parts
3 monitors (various sizes 15, 17 and 17)
Centipede Cab(conv'd to Armed Formation F(?) but gutted, pic to come

[Lutus]

If you plan on converting this thing, please don't do anything crazy that would damage the integrity of the cabinet.  In other words, make it so that someone down the line could convert back to a centipede if they really wanted to in the future.

I say this because I converted a Space Invaders machine into a MAME machine by replacing the control panel with a new piece of wood.  I now am trying to restore it back to an original Space Invaders.  In hind sight I wish I would have kept the thing original to begin with.

You can always do what you want, I am just putting my two cents out there.

By the way, there are numerous project on this forum and other restorations that have filled in holes on metal control panels like yours using bondo, etc... Might want to take a look at some of that.


PS.  You could always restore all the artwork back to centipede (marquee, sideart, bezel) and that way it would like great, and down the road a restoration would be a cinch. 

Just think about it and good luck.   

[skippy0420]

Lutus - I understand what you are getting at. I do not plan on destroying the cabinet as I am a big fan of the Centipede.

The cabinet came with what looks like the control panel to Armed Formation F but I am not sure as I have not located a pic of it anywhere on the internet. So this was already converted from Centipede to something prior to me getting the cab.

The existing control panel has a few latches and a hinge that hold it in place. I am only using the control panel for the measurements to replace it with a custom CP but I will NOT be cutting into the existing cabinet in any way/shape or form. I would like to uphold my new duties as a fellow MAMER(gamer).

I would like to strip the ugly green/blue color from the sides and put the centipede art back on but I am not sure how much the particle board would take.

any suggestions?

[skippy0420]

This is the control panel that I would like to produce to just 'plug' into the area that the original was. This was on a website Vesperworks. There was no e-mail to this person but maybe someone here knows of him/her.

http://vesperworks.com/mame/pictures/IMG_2548.html

[Lutus]

I wonder how much support that thing would have if you leaned on the very front of the control panel.  Doesn't look like it would take much force to make the thing break.  I suggest this only because people do strange things waiting between games for them to load etc...  Most common thing is to place both hands on the control panel and shift your weight to the other foot. 

Or slam the control panel with your fist in frustration!!!   

[SithMaster]

If you have the tools you can make it without much trouble.  The only part id be worried about is cutting the edges at an angle for the joint towards the front.  Measure the dimensions of the top of the panel leaving a little extra towards the front for that angle and so the two parts meet up right.  Do the same for the bottom and then work out the angle cuts for both.

Somebody who has more experience will come along shortly and explain it better (maybe with pictures).

[skippy0420]

Yea, the support was something that I was not to sure about. The person that did this is 'Justin' on this board from what I can tell. I sent a PM with no reponse as of yet.

i did a search here on 'vesperworks' and that is what I got.

Are my goals on building this CP and of resoring this cab at a later time a little too much for a BYOAC virgin?

[Xb0x3r]

In my opinion, I really would have gone with an IPAC or a Thrustvector Afterburner (I feel they deserve a little more credit than they receive, I own one)

Around here we don't talk nicely of the TOKN encoders...just throwing that out there 

[skippy0420]

I know, I know, I know... 

I purchased the TOKN from the e-bay well over a year ago one night when I first had the thought of taking on a MAME project. I did not do ANY research and hope that for the two players and few buttons that I am going to be using I should not have a problem. I got it cheap so I am going to attempt to use it.

Has anyone actually done the testing on the TOKN32 boards?

[skippy0420]

Please refrain from the comments on this. I am putting this pic up so I can get some input on it from Tiger-Heli. Bought it well over a year ago before I knew of this board and other options.....

[skippy0420]

Just wanted to document the encoder's programmed buttons here for anyone that might have a need for the information. It's the TOKN32 pictured above. What are the 'LED's' for???

Input           P2      P1
Joy Up         R      Up Arrow
Joy Down     F      Down Arrow
Joy Left       D      Left Arrow
Joy Rt.        G      Right Arrow
Button 1      A      Lt Ctrl
Button 2      S      Lt Alt
Button 3      Q      Space
Button 4      W      Lt Shift
Button 5      O      Z
Button 6      K      X
Button 7   Enter   C
Button 8   Tab      V
Button 9      T      B
Start           2      1
Coin            6      5
Esc/Pause   Esc   P(pause)
LED                  

[skippy0420]

The wiring.... I am assuming at this time that the 'COM' rows of pins can all be chained together so I have split the grounds to one half and the others to the other side.

EDIT: Scrapping this idea as I have now learned that I will have to run each pair of pins to each switch. That was a good bit of information to know. Thanks Heli!
...and to clarify this encoder is a TOKN KB32L (came with the diodes on the board)

[skippy0420]

Just picked up two 3Com 8 port Ethernet hub's for $20 from Craigslist. I hope that they can make a decent little project box for the control wiring. Looking at the Cat6 patch cables for the actual wiring to the switch.

Anyone have issues with Cat6 stranded patch cables?

[skippy0420]

Worked on removing the paint with Citristrip this weekend but was not able to save the artwork underneath. It was Centipede but it was messed up before I got to it. Looks like someone attempted to remove it by sanding it off before deciding to painting over it. 

Time for the heat gun......


***By the way... Citristrip works very well on Latex paint.....***

[TelcoLou]

Let's see some pics! 

[skippy0420]

Alright. Here are the pics of the stripping of the paint. I have a few pics of the stuff used and the side of the cabinet after a few applications. The artwork under the paint was faded a bit like someone had taken some sand paper to it before putting on the two other coats of paint. I have to take it all off and start somewhere else.

[skippy0420]

Alrighty...Here is my attempt at soldering and the wiring of the control panel. I tore up one of the 3COM 8 port ethernet hubs and took the Dremel to everything but the actual hubs and the ends through the board.

I also cut a long thin rectangle out of the board so I can mount the TOKN on the same side as the ports with the wired running through the board and soldered to the pins on the board below.

I used a Cold Heat soldering gun from Coleman and abused it enough that the tip actually began to disintigrate on me this evening. Looks like I have to buy a REAL soldering gun now.

You get the idea with the pic's below. Sorry the one is blurry but you get the idea!

***Ohh...won 10 7" Cat6 cables (3 RED, 3 BLUE, 2 BLACK, 2 WHITE) to fit the panel below***

[skippy0420]

CP idea but still no clue how I would mount it yet. This is scaled and is roughly 30" wide and 15" deep. I don't have the trackball, 4 way or the extra buttons. The parts I do have are the Red and Blue joystick and buttons as well as the 4 green buttons and the 1 & 2 players. The red boxes on the top are the appoximate distance of the side panels.

The wheels keep on turnin!

[TelcoLou]

Looks good; comfortable layout. OOoo, shame about the Centipede side art though What are your plans for that .. painting or vinyl?

[skippy0420]

I am going to pull all the vinyl off and paint the sides. Not even sure of the colors yet at this point but I want to keep it a neutral kind of theme in case I would like to get rid of the cabinet and start working on another.

I don't think there is a market/want in Wisconsin for a CUBS, BEARS or Fighting Illini cabinet! 

[skippy0420]

Alright...some more work last night. Got out the hair dryer and got all the vinyl off the sides. It took some time but worked very well. No heat gun needed...

Also attached the encoder to my hacked ethernet hub. Going to build a small 5"x5"x2" wodden box to enclose it all in...

Just waiting for more garage time this weekend! 

[SithMaster]

Looks good; comfortable layout. OOoo, shame about the Centipede side art though What are your plans for that .. painting or vinyl?

I say paint it white.  It is a neutral color (said to go with everything) and if you aren't a very good painter you can't really mess it up.

[skippy0420]

Edited - no bezels here

Did some serious work this beautiful evening. Garage wide open with Two and a Half Men in the background and a few Screwdrivers of the Vodka type.

First is a pic of the 1 Player mockup of the control panel layout for the joystick and 4 buttons.....

[skippy0420]

Next is the wiring 'under the hood' of the CP. This is my first go around at the wiring and all of this so I tried to do good by some of the examples that I have seen and buttoned it up as best I could in the small space. I am prety proud of it!

[skippy0420]

This is the part I am most proud of. This is my first large undertaking of wiring and soldering so when I completed the control panel I had to take a quick nip from the bottle for good measure.

-Plugged the Cat6 cables from the control panel to the Ethernet ports.
-Then plugged the ethernet port wires into the keyboard encoder.
-I then grabbed the Multimeter.

I had a second set of hands run through the inputs on the control panel as I had the multimeter to the bottom of the keyboard encoder. Long story short, I heard a beep every time that I should. That was a great feeling!

[skippy0420]

Made yet another box. It's a homemade version of some of those super duper wiring boxes that I have seen! I am recycling an old wine rack to make this box to save a few $$ and to practice up on my woodworking skills for the CP! 

 I have mounted the 8 port Ethernet to the box and then the KB32L to the PCB of the ethernet board.(see inside)

I have glued all but one side and will be sanding and painting it in the near future.

[skippy0420]

It's been a while but I have been collecting parts to continue my project. I picked up:

Used HAPP 3" trackball(red board, have yet to crack it open to see why it's a bit rough rolling)
and
25' Black T-molding

Still trying to get my head around the CP area I will need for it all to be comfortable but I plan on working that out in the next few weeks. Other than that I have attempted to get a faster computer up and running and it's giving me some issues. I plan on concentrating on the cabinet for the next few weeks to clean up the rough corners and get a few coats of paint on it. From what I have read once the CP is done and the 'guts' are in people tend to forget about the outside! :-)