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Omega MAME: Revenge of Omega Race [COMPLETED! - Work on alt. CP's ongoing!]
Necro:
Internal Refinish
This was actually done before most of the work in the previous post. I removed everything from the cab and stripped it down bare. Repainted (or primed and then painted) the inside black using a Krylon Crafters Paint (took about half a pint...that is the medium-ish can size right?) in Black with a Flat finish. Intent here is to limit the amount of light bouncing around inside the cabinet once I get it back together, which will be important because of the mirror setup. Less ambient light bouncing around means I can better control how transparent/reflective the mirror is just by turning on/off the blacklight.
Monitor Mounting
I'm trying to build a monitor mount, now that I got my 20.1" 4:3 monitor (see pic below) - the biggest problem I'm having now is finding screws that match the VESA mounts on the back of the monitor. Tried normal 'bolts' (8's I think), they didn't fit. Found out they are normally M4 70% thread bolts. That didn't fit. Going to grab a few more random ones to try to get something to fit. Kind of annoying since it's nearly impossible to match this up (thread and size) even though I have the stinking screws that fit originally and just need longer ones.
One thing that was nice - the monitor fit PERFECTLY in the original shelf for the cabinet without having to hack up the shelf at all. I'll just put two additional holes per side, run 3/8's inch lag bolts (fully threaded) through those holes and down into a retainer piece of wood (a 1x6) that the monitor will be mounted to. This should let me vary the height of the monitor (within reason) relative to the shelf in case I find something doesn't work perfectly or I need to adjust it for use with the mirror without having to completely remake a mount.
Necro:
So, the monitor has been mounted and placed into the cab for demoing. Worked perfectly with the mirror in place and should be no problem playing the game.
Next item up is getting the controls (controller in particular) and begining the wiring of the cabinet as I begin to replace the internals I still want in there (the lights) and begin building the control panels.
The biggest delay right now for me has been 3 things. One, Fallout 3 came out. Two, figuring out what controllers to order. Three, debating the cost of the controllers.
As it is, I'm trying to decide on the following:
- Lit buttons with U360's. (~$300)
- Unlit buttons with U360's. (~$240)
- Lit, Sanwa's (~$185)
- Lit, Magstick balltops (~$240)
The other big option I'm trying to decide on is using or not using my X-arcade 'guts' for the new CPs. I can use the X-arcade control board if I wanted, and save $45 on an Ipac2, but is it worth losing the ability to use the X-Arcade on my HDTV and HTPC in the future...not 100% sure as of now...but I need to make a damn decision or this project isn't moving anywhere.
One thing I really want my 'main' CP to not have to be swapped out for every minor game change and to handle a large number of games. For this reason, it's going to be the standard fighter setup (2p, 6 buttons each). I'm eventually going to make a 'classic' panel along the lines of the Multi-Williams panel, but that's a future project at this point.
Regarding the CP - I've managed to obtain two additional OmegaRace CPs to use as the bases for my custom CPs. This should make things easier, even if I need to drill through the metal and repair a few holes in it once I've done that.
Necro:
And everything has been purchased (except the trackball). So...what we have going into this as of right now is the following:
In Cabinet
* Ipac2
* PacDrive
* OptiWiz
* DB Based Connector Panels (3 DB cables - 1 for IPac, 1 for Optiwiz, 1 for PacDrive)
* USB Hub or Connector Panel
* 21" 4:3 LCD Monitor
* As of yet undetermined computer
* 'Pinball Buttons' (2 per side) built into Cab itself
* Microswitch (momentary buttons) panel inside coin door for admin controls
Main Control Panel
* 2 U360's
* Happ Translucent Buttons (6 per player)
* 2 or 4 admin buttons (the Omega Race Start buttons).
Spinner Control Panel
* Oscar Spinner
* Arkanoid Spinner
* Trackball? (to be determined based on space)
* Happ Translucent Buttons (3 per spinner)
* 2 or 4 admin buttons (the Omega Race Start buttons).
Retro Control Panel
To be designed later.
...this all came with a realization of how expensive this is actually going to be.
Necro:
Well, with the wife being pregnant and having to turn a room into a nursery, things have been difficult to move forward on. But it's progressing.
So far I've wired up all of the fluorescent lights (2 of them) and the upper marquee lights (a series of LEDs). The coin door is wires up and ready to go (mostly, need to add in the tilt sensor and the coin counter).
A huge step occured yesterday though (pics coming soon hopefully) - I did the AC wiring for the cab. At least the basics. I ripped the AC input port out of an old computer power supply, rewired it to an 'handy box' (metal junction box) with an outlet wired into it. Also, I replaced the push button switch on the cab (rated for 3 amps) with a toggle/flip switch rated at 20 amps to make sure there won't be any issues in those regards. It's wired in line with the power outlets so it's a 'total cab' switch and is right at the top where the normal switch is.
So far, I've gotten everything very clean and am ready to begin the rest of the power wiring. I'm using a 12V power block (wall wart) to substitute for the computer at this point and to power the upper marquee in testing so I can get everything wired up, then get the wires routed properly, then get working on the computer installation itself. I'm doing a bare board install, with stand offs placed into a removable board that will hold the motherboard.
Still haven't worked much on the first CP. I started stripping the decal off one of the OmegaRace panels I have, but I think I'm going to have to sand the sucker down because only half the decal came off and the rest is a gooky mess still on the panel.
IG-88:
--- Quote from: Necro on February 09, 2009, 12:01:10 pm --- A huge step occured yesterday though (pics coming soon hopefully) - I did the AC wiring for the cab. At least the basics. I ripped the AC input port out of an old computer power supply, rewired it to an 'handy box' (metal junction box) with an outlet wired into it. Also, I replaced the push button switch on the cab (rated for 3 amps) with a toggle/flip switch rated at 20 amps to make sure there won't be any issues in those regards. It's wired in line with the power outlets so it's a 'total cab' switch and is right at the top where the normal switch is.
--- End quote ---
Could I see a pic of how you did all that?
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