Main > Project Announcements
Omega MAME: Revenge of Omega Race [COMPLETED! - Work on alt. CP's ongoing!]
Necro:
Because I removed it all and thought I didn't take pictures. It ended up I did :) - of ALL steps of art removal. Thank you for that post though, now I'm positive I put the back piece on right.
The main issue I was having is I forgot some art went on the front of the cab (between the front window and the mirror). That was causing no end of headache's until I saw the pictures I took.
I've modified the art so that it can easily be removed - which involved a few feed of velcro placed on the art and on the cab. It eliminates the need for tacks and lets me remove/put on the art at will to determine if things will fit right, how to run wires, etc. Working out very nicely so far.
I picked up the last set of switches I need for re-wiring the cab last night and determined that I can drill through a piece of metal I took from the cab power supply and am going to use as a 'control panel' right inside coin door. The switches were two high current (10A/120V) micro switches for the two fluorescent lights and a low voltage switch for the upper marquee lights. I'm thinking of adding in a third fluorescent light since the black light really doesn't work well on the front art if the room isn't pitch black.
I'm going to be wiring this all up tonight/tomorrow and will be able to put everything back together and have a functioning cabinet...from an electrical standpoint. Then I just need to do the control panel/computer wiring...which should be the real fun part. :)
Necro:
As of tonight, all of the main electrical wiring and audio for the cabinet is complete. Each of the two individual fluorescents (lower marquee and black light) are hooked into mini toggle switches (6-7A each @ 100V) and the upper marquee LEDS are tied into a 3A switch that looks the exact same as the other two. Also, I stripped down an old pair of Altec Lansing speakers someone got me from a computer that was being trashed and took the circuit board from that and installed it next to the switches in my 'control box'. So, I now have a knob to control volume and a knob for treble/bass.
One issue that popped up was the cabinets speakers kind of sucked. A lot. A WHOLE lot. So, after installing everything, I took apart the speaker portion of the cabinet again, took some hard board, and build a 'panel' that lays behind the holes the speakers used to be in and has holes cut into it and the Altec Lansing speakers mounted in. There 3 inch speakers, but sound 100x better than the original POS ones from the original cab. AND, because I didn't mod the cab to do it, it's reversible! Although I'm highly doubting I'm going to hold onto two piece of crap speakers for very long. If it were ever to be retrofitted, the cab would need a new set of speakers that size.
Next step - wire up the admin/config button and switch the coin door (to quick connects) and get that refinished coin door back into the machine.
THEN comes the real fun - the computer and control panel. Already have a MB tray made from the cab's original power supply 'board' (i.e. piece of wood) and just need a mounting mechanism for a HDD and I'll be good to go. I'll most likely use 3 1/4 to 5 1/2 bay converter rails and 1x2's. (Airflow above and below the HDD and just easier to mount.
Necro:
Ok...I need some advice on how to freaking finish this cab. It's still being worked on and in my 'garage room' (back room in my basement - I live in a townhouse so no garage).
Obviously, the coordination of my wife getting pregnant (and then...the gall...having the baby) with me starting this project hasn't made it get completed in the fastest manner (I'm over a year now.. :/)
Anyway...the cab itself is COMPLETELY together. Electrical and lighting is wired. The monitor is in. The computer tray is built and put together. The control boards for the mouse/buttons are in.
So...where am I stuck? The control panel. How in the heck to I demo a whole CP without spending 10 hours wiring up a demo CP? Basically, every time I go to work on the cab I realize this is where I am and go 'I'll do it later....this is too much for now'.
I HAVE to demo because I'm using actual OmegaRace metal CP's, redrilled and modded to new layouts for the final cab....so...any advice (i.e. if people found that just putting controls into MDF and seeing how they 'feel' works) would be great. I want to finish this thing before my kid is asking what the arcade cabinet is doing in the basement :).
(and I don't know how people finish these so fast...with work, new baby, and just life...I only have like an hour or two to put into this every once and awhile...)
OH - I also have 6-8 hardboard 'demos' I can use to make layouts before I drill the final metal CPs. Just in case that influences your advice.
Necro:
Major updates have occurred.
* All non-CP internal wiring is complete, including coin door and extra admin buttons added under lower marquee.
* Computer has been installed and has Win7+MAME+DAPHNE on it and functioning.
* Bezel for monitor was made from thick black artboard (about 1mm thick) and installed.
* Mock CP on hardboard has been fabricated and half populated (1 player) using the U360 and it's inputs to test layout.
* Maximus Arcade installed to demo a FE for the 'mirror' setup. Evaluation of it and Atomic are ongoing.
The current to do list is as follows:
* Design artwork for 'Fighter' CP.
* Order LEDs/Diffusers for CPs
* Cut/drill/make the first metal CP (this is actually going to be the hardest item...)
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting at this point...but things are going well. The inability to 100% mirror my video output was a major setback, but I'm overcoming it. Also, pictures look like crap since they require a flash to come out - and the cab looks best in low light. Trying to do a video but just haven't had the time/chance with work and the baby.
Necro:
...and...I finished the first control panel (Fighter) with LEDs, 2 U360's, Midway/Atari cone buttons for P1/P2, Front End (Maximus), MAME, and LEDBlinky all working.
So....almost three years working on this (very intermittently) and I now have a working cab. Need to just finish up a few things (final mounting of the control panel connectors, lock down a few addon cards to the MB, etc.) and I'm good to go. Oh, and finish the two other, much less wiring intensive, control panels.
Pictures to come soon...went to bed at 1am after working on this for 5 hrs last night and didn't have a chance to get photos.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version