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Author Topic: Naomi Projects - Update : PCB Holder  (Read 39791 times)

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Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neomi surround opinions?
« Reply #80 on: November 06, 2009, 05:33:59 am »
Yeah it's going to be pretty much dedicated Neo apart from some 360/DC tournaments.

I have thought about painting the bezel black or white. I want to get this on location as quick as possible. I do have a spare bezel that I may paint once it is up and running so I'll just use the grey bezel for now.

It's only going to be students playing it so I shouldn't imagine they will care too much what it will look like but I want to do a good job for when it eventually comes back to me or I sell it on etc.

I would love to do some propper mock ups but I don't have the skills. I seem to remember you doing some mock ups for your Xiong-Ba cab. Do you think you could do a mock up for me if I sent you some decent images?

emphatic

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neomi surround opinions?
« Reply #81 on: November 06, 2009, 08:59:32 am »
Do you think you could do a mock up for me if I sent you some decent images?


Sure, send me a PM at AO or something.

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Volume/Degauss controls
« Reply #82 on: November 09, 2009, 11:04:53 am »
Top man  :) I'll get some pics once I can actually move in my shop  :dizzy:

Well, I have sold the 'SF4' Naomi. I am delivering it to the guy who bought it this week. This will free up some room so I can work more easily on my main Naomi project.

It will also free up a little cash and some room for my eventual visual pinball table  ;D

I have been doing a little work in regards to the volume and degauss controls for the Neomi. Normally both of these are controlled by the pcb in the I/O panel but seeing as I have no JVS setup there is nothing for the panel to plug into. The only controls that I need from the panel are the volume for the Sega amp and the degauss for the monitor.

Thanks to the help from some of the guys over at AO I have managed to get both working.

For the volume control I got a 4k7Ω log pot from Maplins and soldered some wires/terminals onto the ends.



Obviously the shaft is about a mile to long so I just hacksawed that off. I cut the end off the wires that came from the amp and wired them to the pot.

I then just drilled a hole for it and mounted it in the panel. I made a white PTFE/stainless knob for it just to tidy it up a bit.



You can also see the NO SPST momentary button I added for degauss (the one with the black surround).

I found out that you just need to cut the end off the AMP power connector that plugs into the monitor chassis and wire it to the microswitches terminals.

The mounting enclosure looked a bit grubby so I have shot blasted it and I'm going to paint it appliance white.


Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: CPO graphics applied/LED mods
« Reply #83 on: November 15, 2009, 01:09:14 pm »
I have received the CPO and instruction card graphics from Nigel at arcadestickers.co.uk and they are fantastic. I ordered them on Monday and he said he would try to get them posted out on Friday but he must have posted them on Thursday as I actually got them on Friday. I can't fault his service at all and I would recommend him to anyone.

Since I had the graphics I wanted to get the joystick mounting plates mounted to the CP as I didn't want to damage the CPO once it was applied.

I put the CP onto the top CP mount and traced around the mounting areas with a black sharpie and then offered the mounting plates up to the CP to see if they would fit ok. I found that a couple of them would foul slightly so I had to remove some material so that everything would fit.



I masked off the area where the plates will mount and keyed the aluminium with 120grit to give the glue a better surface to stick to.



To make sure that the joysticks shafts were mounted concentric to the hole in the CP I made some Nylon bushes to hold the joysticks in position.



I then used Araldyte to glue the mounting plates in position:



CPO and instruction space graphics applied:







As you can see I have painted the speaker grills and the center panels appliance white.

I also painted the I/O plate:





I added the coin reject plunger, coin inlet and dummy plug. The cab didn't come with a dummy plug so I made a replacement SS one.



I was going to use those LED strips to light the buttons but I had a better idea. I have been trying to come up for a solution to individually light the buttons without getting spotting that you usually get from inserting a LED or two either side of the microswitch. My originall idea was to make a Nylon ring insert with holes drilled at 15 degrees to aim the LEDs at the center of the plunger rather than straight up which gives you the spotting effect:



I did make the inserts and it did work but it was going to be a PITA to mount the LEDs in each button so I came up with another idea.

I thought about making some tubes which would encase the button and microswitch etc. The plan then is to use Piranha/Superflux LEDs mounted in the bottom of the tubes to light the whole button from below.

These are the Piranha/Superflux LEDs:



They are rated at a lower MCD rating but they have a much wider viewing angle and so kick out more usefull light for this application.

I made the tubes out of black Nylon 6 and made a drilling jig to drill each button accurately to mount the LEDs  inside the buttons:



The LEDs sit inside the tubes and the legs stick through the bottom. The tubes have a thread screwcut to match the thread on the buttons: The larger 4mm hole is for the microswitch wires.



I have also been working on the hardware mounting in the machines base.

After trying a few different configurations I decided that the best plan was to mount the 4 slot mobo at the front of the base. I made a MDF base for it to sit on and routed out some reliefs that the MDF sits flush and stationary as it is held in place by the original MDF holders although not in the same way.



The 4 slot will then mount to the MDF with PCB mounting feet.

I had to remove the original PSU/amp cradle to allow the 4 slot mobo to be positioned where it is so I am relocating the amp to the rear of the base on another piece of MDF. The Jamma PSU and video converter will also be mounted on this section.



The video converter isn't in that picture as I have lent it to someone to troubleshoot their monitor.

Still plenty to do but its starting to look half decent now :)

emphatic

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Re: Naomaming - Update: CPO graphics applied/LED mods
« Reply #84 on: November 15, 2009, 02:59:04 pm »
Looking pretty tight there, can you really switch out the cart pictured with the mobo in place, or do you have to pull the whole mobo out to do that?

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: CPO graphics applied/LED mods
« Reply #85 on: November 15, 2009, 03:35:49 pm »
It's not as tight as the six slot was going to be  ;D

Yeah you can swap the carts out no problem. there is about four inches or so vertical room now the amp/Sun PSU cradle has been removed.

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: CPO graphics applied/LED mods
« Reply #86 on: November 15, 2009, 04:17:43 pm »
Just for you bud ;)



The idea of having the MVS mobo on a seperate board was to make it easy to swap the mobo out for Jamma boards, 360 or DC so that the amp and Jamma PSU is still in place. It also made more sense for the 360 & DC to be at the front for swapping games.

emphatic

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Re: Naomaming - Update: CPO graphics applied/LED mods
« Reply #87 on: November 15, 2009, 05:26:14 pm »
That angle shows everything much clearer.  :applaud:  Does the red color you've used on the panel surround match the CPO artwork better IRL than it does on the photos? Also, do you plan on more red color on the cab, like some red stripes on the bottom part?

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: CPO graphics applied/LED mods
« Reply #88 on: November 16, 2009, 01:26:04 am »
There is a gradient colour change of the red on the CPO so it matches it closer to the middle than the outside. I needed to get this up and running ASAP so I didn't have time to get colour swatches etc from the printers. I did match the colour as close to the original colour.

Yeah, I bought some plain red vinyl which is matched to the painted colour to do some stripes etc on the base.

I've ordered the correct crimping tool for the AMP UP pins from Japan but I think its going to take a while to get here but luckily one of my friends has posted me his for me to borrow which should be here today. I'm quite looking forward to doing some wiring as I haven't done any for aaages :)

zorg

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Re: Naomaming - Update: CPO graphics applied/LED mods
« Reply #89 on: November 16, 2009, 04:20:56 am »
I then used Araldyte to glue the mounting plates in position:

is this a specific araldyte reference glue ??

how did the gluing process is made.

I'm on the planning stage

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: CPO graphics applied/LED mods
« Reply #90 on: November 16, 2009, 04:45:33 am »
Apologies, I spelt it wrong its Araldite.  :-[

There is some information about Araldite [here]

I use [Araldite Rapid] as its what I have at work.

Its a two part adhesive. You squeeze out equal amounts of the resin and the hardener and mix is together for 30 seconds or so. You then just apply it to the surfaces to be joined, put them together and leave to set.

Its quite runny before it starts to set so you want to make sure the pieces are held/supported whilst it starts to dry. The rapid Araldite hardens within about an hour.

If the surfaces that you want to bond are smooth you need to roughen them to give the adhesive a key to stick to.

zorg

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Re: Naomaming - Update: CPO graphics applied/LED mods
« Reply #91 on: November 18, 2009, 01:09:59 pm »
thanks for the highlight, I would be affraid that gluing this kind of arts will not resist extensive usage (I mean playing of course).

aren't you affraid that it will be to much stress on the fixation that may break down the assembly ?
I'm on the planning stage

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Jamma/MVS harness complete
« Reply #92 on: November 19, 2009, 02:08:50 am »
Your welcome zorg.

I don't have any concerns with the strength of the bond. The glue is very strong and the joysticks would be more likely to fail before the plates come unstuck through impact or compression.

Quick update whilst I'm here.

Thanks to a lot of help of from the guys over at arcadeotaku I have the Jamma/MVS complete.



I used 12 core 16/0.2 cable for the joystick/button signal wires, single core 16/0.2 for the other signal wires and 24/0.2 single core for the power ground cables.

The player one/two D buttons are connected pins to Ac and 25 and the game select button (select down) is connected to Ad.

The other end of the 12 core cable is connected to the AMP plug receptacles which will be housed in the I/O plate under the CP.

To crimp the pins on I borrowed a Hozan P-706 crimp tool from a friend. I have one on order from akihabarashop but I borrowed one as I need to get this wired up fast.

   

The wires are stripped, inserted into the pins and then crimped on the wire and on the cable. The pins then click into position in the AMP plugs.



I have wired some of these up before just using a pair of pliers to crimp the pins but using this tool makes them much stronger and neater. As always, the right tool for the job....

I'm currently wiring up the CP/LEDs and hope to have that finished tonight. I'm also hoping to get the marquee graphic printed over the next couple of days.

HaRuMaN

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Jamma/MVS harness complete
« Reply #93 on: November 19, 2009, 06:24:06 am »
I always solder those amp pins...

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Jamma/MVS harness complete
« Reply #94 on: November 19, 2009, 06:29:57 am »
Crimp and solder or just solder?

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #95 on: February 09, 2010, 01:50:12 am »
Well she is finished and in the bar now :)



I had been meaning to update the thread as I went along but I have been that busy that I haven't had time. I do have some more pictures and build info if anyone is interested.

Kman-Sweden

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #96 on: February 09, 2010, 03:37:12 am »
Hell yeah!  :pics

emphatic

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #97 on: February 09, 2010, 06:20:39 am »
 :cheers:

In that picture, the bezel really looks washed out as your cab is red. A black or white repaint in the future?  ;)

Gatsu

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #98 on: February 09, 2010, 04:51:03 pm »
now thats sexy.

looks real good man. all that work paid off.

javeryh

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #99 on: February 09, 2010, 05:04:27 pm »
Damn Franco - you have a really nice basement(?) area.  Lots and lots of room.  I'm jealous!  Oh yeah, the cab turned out awesome too.   :cheers:

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #100 on: February 10, 2010, 03:22:21 am »
:cheers:

In that picture, the bezel really looks washed out as your cab is red. A black or white repaint in the future?  ;)

Yeah I completely agree, I just wanted to get the damn thing in! I think when I get it back I will chop it down, paint the bezel white, strip the legs and paint them red with white Neo Geo decals or vice versa and strip and repaint a couple of other parts. I'll probably also install the spare 15khz monitor I bought of Grant from IC09.

I'm picking up a minty red base off fire-bug soon which I will swap for this one. I also bought the 'SF4' Naomi back of Red5 so I can put the white base back on that.

now thats sexy.

looks real good man. all that work paid off.

Cheers mate. Yeah it did take a little more work/time than I anticipated but I got there in the end :)

Damn Franco - you have a really nice basement(?) area.  Lots and lots of room.  I'm jealous!  Oh yeah, the cab turned out awesome too.   :cheers:


Ha ha!  :laugh2:

I wish buddy, I really really wish it was mine. It's actually on site at a University bar. :)

It did feel really strange leaving it there.

Hell yeah!  :pics

Ok sir....

I think I left off at the start of the CP wiring.

As I said before I was using the nylon button surrounds to test an idea I had for button lighting for one of my other Naomi projects. I didn't need to use them on this project as I could have just used some LED strips to light the buttons as they don't need to be independently lit but I wanted to try them out before using them for real.

As the micros were going to be inside the button surrounds I needed to solder wires onto the micros so I could thread them through the hole once the surround had been screwed onto the holder:



I put some aluminium foil inside the surrounds to reflect any light from the wide angle LEDs to the buttons:



I then mounted the buttons/surrounds and added quick disconnects purely to help with the rest of the wiring:



The rest of the CP was then wired. The blue wire is the ground loop and the wires from the control loom will connect to the other disconnects.

The single colour superflux LEDs have four legs. Two are anodes and two are cathodes. I wired them in parallel for 5v and added disconnects at the far side for power connection. The bunch of disconnects you can see are from the JLF harness.





I used liquid electrical tape to insulate the bare LED legs.



I punched out some coloured vinyl discs to put in the buttons to make the colours more solid and to block the light shining through the plunger.



One very blurry LED picture:



I made some control harnesses to connect the CP to the AMP connectors in the IO plate:



I wired up all of the components in the base:





The transformer on the left powers the monitor, strip light and Sega amp. The Jamma PSU next to it powers the Jamma/MVS harness, video converter, credit board and CP lighting.

The R,G,B, sync and ground from the Jamma harness connect to the CGA>VGA video converter which is then connected to the monitor with a VGA cable. The audio is taken from the Jamma harness/MVS PCB and connected to the Sega amp via a RCA line level converter cable so that it can be controlled by the volume pot in the IO panel in the CP.

I had a bit of a game trying to get the select game button to work. I eventually found out that there is no link across the MVS>Jamma PCB as they expect you to use the optional crazily priced cables that connect to the headers. As I only wanted to use this extra button I just soldered a wire over the board to link the contacts:



The board was setup so that player one button one and player two button one also worked as a game select button but I did not want them to do that so I cut the traces on the PCB.

You can also see the MB header cable I used to take the audio from the board rather than use the expensive cable you can buy.

I also had an issue with the video jumping just before the cab was about to go on location. After trying various things it was apparent the video converter was faulty so I had to buy a new one. The monitor chassis also decided to start sparking at the flyback the day before it went in but luckily I had a complete spare monitor I could put in.

I had a friend of mine design the marquee for me and I had it printed at a local sign place.





He did me a couple of copies of it and also printed a load of the start button insert graphics for me.



And thats it really I think. Here's a couple of finished pictures together:












I really enjoyed doing this conversion and learnt a hell of a lot about Jamma/MVS wiring etc etc. I couldn't have done a lot of it without some help from the guys here and at Arcade Otaku so I am truly gratefull to you all  :cheers:


Kman-Sweden

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #101 on: February 10, 2010, 05:59:57 am »
I used a regular jamma harness and relabeled it by printing out MVS harness labels and attached them with some double sided tape.
Labels here ---> http://www.hardmvs.com/manuals/JammaLabels.zip

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #102 on: February 10, 2010, 06:41:09 am »
Yeah I saw them. I kept meaning to print them off but I never got round to it.

I wanted to keep the harness as Jamma so that I can just unplug the adapter and plug in a Jamma board.

To be honest the MVS>Jamma adapter is a waste of money for what it is. If I had known then what I know now and had to do something similar I would have made my own adapter from a edge connector and fingerboard.

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #103 on: February 10, 2010, 07:10:42 am »
Love the way you've lit up the buttons!  :applaud:

Every other time I've seen those buttons modded the light is uneven and there's always a brightly lit spot directly under the LED.  Very clever idea.

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #104 on: February 10, 2010, 07:53:52 am »
Yeah the buttons look amazing.  ;D

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #105 on: February 10, 2010, 08:20:01 am »
Thanks, that was the idea Kop :)

They do look good for this application, however they are not perfect. I have some plans for buttons for my main Naomi project that will involve some heavy modding to achieve what I'm thinking of but they should turn out pretty nice. I'll let you know how I get on with them once they are in progress.

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Neo Geo cab complete
« Reply #106 on: February 10, 2010, 09:34:33 am »
I have some plans for buttons for my main Naomi project that will involve some heavy modding to achieve what I'm thinking of but they should turn out pretty nice. I'll let you know how I get on with them once they are in progress.

Lit only when pressed?

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #107 on: March 26, 2010, 12:18:06 pm »
I'm hoping to hook ond up with some Seimitsu versions of his Happ halo button mod. I said I would post some pictures/info so here goes.

I am going to use these on one of my cabs but ond is definitely going to get there before me so I thought I had better get cracking :)

The happ buttons are fairly easy to mod once you have the translucent disc in as you can just bang a LED in the middle of the button and it will light the disc evenly.

The Jap buttons however are a different kettle of fish as there is no space to fit a LED like you can in the Happ buttons. You can put LEDs in the side of the buttons but you just end up with an nasty spotting effect IMO.

My first thought was to insert a translucent disc into the button and also mount some LEDs inside the button at an angle so that they light the button without the spotting effect.



I did made some nylon LED holders (the black part in that drawing) to hold the LEDs but there was just not going to be enough room to hold and wire the buttons, especially as I want to use RGB LEDs.

I abandoned the idea for a while and decided to try another effect. My next plan when working on my Neo Geo Naomi was to use the translucent Seimitsu PS-14-KN's:



I made some black nylon tubes with a matching button thread (M30x1.5mm or something IIRC, I know it wasn't a standard pitch) to house some Piranha/Superflux LEDs:



The wide angle LEDs were mounted in the bottom and shone though the translucent button to light it up:



While this looked ok there was a couple of problems. Firstly the buttons ended up not being fully lit because of the large microswitch in the PS-14-KNs. They also did not have the more subtle Halo effect that I wanted as they were translucent buttons rather than opaque and there was no disc inside them that could be lit to give the halo affect.

So after a little more thinking on and off I decided to create a button with a opaque shell, a clear bottom, a smaller microswitch to allow more light through and a translucent disc inserted into the top of the button that could be lit.

To do this I needed to use two buttons to make one.



At the top is the older style PS-14K snap in buttons and the bottom is the PS-14-GN which is the opaque version of the PS-14-KNs I had used previously.

The major differences between them (apart from the fact that one is a screw in and one is a snap in) is the size of the microswitch and the mating inner plunger.

I needed to mount the smaller PS-14D microswitch in a transparent disc, remove the bottom of the PS-14-GN and stick the disc to the bottom.

I just held the button in a lathe and skimmed off the bottom:



My phone died on me at this point so I couldn't get anymore pictures at the time, just imagine it is now without a bottom.

I then made a turned, drilled and slotted a template and then used that to template route some 2mm acrylic to create a new bottom.



The template is on the left. The disc on the middle is how the router cuts it. The 1/4" bit leaves a 1/8" radius in the bottom which then needs to be filed out so the micro will fit.

Finished bottom with micro in:



I turned a smaller template and used that to route an insert for the button from translucent 3mm acrylic.



As this was going to sit in the top of the button I needed to remove 3mm from the top of the inner plunger. To do this I made a split bush out of nylon and then held that in a chuck and skimmed 3mm off in a lathe.



The finished X-Wing (:P) plunger and a stock one next to it.



Pic of the plunger and insert in the plunger cap:



I then glued the bottom section onto the button. You can see how much light can get through:



This time I decided to use four 5mm LEDs as the Superflux LEDs I used before were not bright enough and the standard 5mm RGBs will be much easier to wire.

I made another drill jig to drill the buttons. The center hole is for the micro wires.



I then wired up some LEDs. I just used some blue ones I have as I don't have any RGBs left.



I also punched out a piece of red vinyl using a hardened steel punch I made and inserted it into the plunger cap.





And the final lit pictures:





I couldn't be happier with the results, its exactly what I was after. It will be a lot of work to do the 12 buttons for my (eventual!) project but I think its worth it and its damned good fun too :)

Ond

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #108 on: March 26, 2010, 01:58:22 pm »
Very nice! I think you've nailed it Franco.  I understand the thinking behind your approach too.  Smaller switch, transparent switch bottom, translucent insert in the plunger top capped with something opaque.  It is a fair bit more effort than for the Happs, but the even effect is achievable.  I like it.  Damn, does this mean I have to get cracking on that artwork?  J/K I'm looking forward to doing more of that.

 :cheers: man and thanks for sharing your amazing innovation.

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #109 on: March 26, 2010, 02:08:00 pm »
Those buttons...  :notworthy:

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #110 on: March 26, 2010, 02:13:54 pm »
Quote
Those buttons...
:notworthy:  :notworthy:

Ya FrancoB and Ond make you realize that despite what you/me/us may have learned to date there is a whole new level that many of us will never get to.
 :cheers:

Last Project



Epyx Tutorials:
Tutorials

kop

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #111 on: March 27, 2010, 04:21:06 am »
Just awesome.  :applaud: 

As close to perfection as you're ever going to get lighting a Seimitsu button.  Looks so good!

filuren33

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #112 on: March 27, 2010, 05:49:44 am »
WOW!

Why donīt I have the patience to make stuff like this... :banghead:

Great work I like  :applaud:

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #113 on: March 27, 2010, 08:54:22 am »
Very nice! I think you've nailed it Franco.  I understand the thinking behind your approach too.  Smaller switch, transparent switch bottom, translucent insert in the plunger top capped with something opaque.  It is a fair bit more effort than for the Happs, but the even effect is achievable.  I like it.  Damn, does this mean I have to get cracking on that artwork?  J/K I'm looking forward to doing more of that.

 :cheers: man and thanks for sharing your amazing innovation.

Got it in one buddy  :)

I wouldn't exactly call it an amazing innovation but I am happy with the results. I have you to thank for the inspiration anyway  :cheers:

No rush for the artwork, I still have a bit of a backlog of work to get through before I can get to work on my main Naomi project but I'm really looking forward to it. I have some nice ideas for it that I want to try out.

@ everyone else:

Thanks for the kind words.

Its a shame that you have to sacrifice two buttons to make one. You can readily buy the smaller PS-14D microswitch but AFAIK you cannot buy the longer inner plunger on its own.

What makes it worse is that the only button I have seen these plungers in are the PS-14K that I used and they are now discontinued. I have managed to secure the remaining stock of them from one vendor though so I have enough for a couple projects worth of buttons.

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #114 on: March 27, 2010, 09:52:38 am »
I love all the metalwork and custom buttons.  I can't believe I missed this thread last year.   :(

thatitalian

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #115 on: April 09, 2010, 10:30:36 am »
Uhhhhhhhhhhhh, very nice! Any chance you will be making a few extra for sale?

Franco B

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #116 on: April 09, 2010, 11:14:39 am »
Not unless you want to spend crazy money.

You need two buttons to make one and Seimitsu buttons are not exactly cheap. The KN's are about Ģ2.50 each. The K's that you need to steal the plunger and micro from were about the same price but you cannot buy them anymore as they are discontinued and they are the only button I know with the long plunger that you need.

Luckily I managed to secure the remaining stock of Ks from arcadeshop.de :)

Then you have the price of the black Nylon, cost of machining that, cost of machining the other parts, assembly, LEDs etc.

Basically you would be looking at about Ģ20 per button provided you wanted 6+

rablack97

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Re: Naomaming - Update: Seimitsu LED button mod
« Reply #117 on: April 09, 2010, 11:51:34 am »
wow, too rich for my blood for a button....but regardless of price they are a work of art.......... :applaud:

Franco B

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Re: Naomi Projects - Update : PCB Holder
« Reply #118 on: September 17, 2010, 10:05:40 am »
I'm now working on my main Naomi project.

My main aim for this project is to be able to run all of my games though my cabinet. To do this I need to be able to support Naomi Carts, Jamma PCBs, MVS Carts as well as being able to play Xbox360, Dreamcast, Saturn, MAME etc.

Seeing as there is a lot of hardware to deal with and that there is no chance of fitting it all in the cabinet I have decided to only have arcade hardware in the cabinet and then have an I/O board on the rear of the cabinet to interface the consoles/PC etc.

This is the inside of the cabinet originally:



You can see the transformer in the left hand corner, Naomi mobo in the middle and then the Sun ATX PSU and Sega amp on the cradle above.

As you can see there isn't actually a lot of space to pay with in the first place but I would also like to be able to run Jamma PCBs and MVS carts in the machine.

I am plannig on arranging the components like this:



I'm going to remove the cradle and move the Sun ATX PSU and Sega amp to the rear of my cabinet to give some extra height to play so I can build a two stage tier for the Naomi mobo and Jamma PCBs to sit on.

I'm going to bring the transformer forward a little so that I can mount the MVS one slot behind that.

The Naomi is wired to the JVS standard and to be able to play Jamma games I need to use a converter and so I bought a Namco Jamma>JVS convertor. The 1 slot MVS mobo is also Jamma wired and so will work with the convertor.



I have been working on the two stage tier for the last couple of months on and off and this is what I have come up with:











It consists of two tiers of acrylic. Each tier is made three 5mm sheets, one white and two clear. The tiers are supported by some columns made from stainless steel, clear acrylic tube and white Delrin.

The item on the bottom tier is a decased Naomi motherboard. I had to decase the motherboard to reduce the height required between the two tiers so that it would fit in the base of the Naomi. I added a fan in an acrylic enclosure to keep it cool.

The top tier holds PCBs. I made two sliding clamps so that it will hold my smallest and largest boards whilst keeping the Jamma edge at the rear of the holder.







The vertical PCB attached to the top tier is a Namco Jamma>JVS adapter. Its mounted vertically due to space constraints.

Here are a couple of photos of the holder in the cab:





As you can see I have removed the PSU ATX/amp cradle to allow the holder to fit. The PSU and amp will be relocated to the back of the cabinet on an acrylic base. The transformer will be mounted to an acrylic base and a one slot MVS mobo wil sit behind that.

I mounted a Jamma fingerboard to the bottom of the PCB holder as you can see here:




The fingerboard will be wired to the MVS mobo so that I can swap between Jamma and MVS by moving the edge connector of the Namco adapter to the mounted fingerboard.

The dimensions of the holder were quite tricky to determine as it needed to be tall enough to swap Naomi Carts but short enough to fit in the base. It also needed to be long enough to hold my largest PCBs but not leaving space at the rear of the cabinet for the other components.

It will just accommodate the largest thing I plan on running, CPS2 boards:





Here are a few other random photos from the build:





















The stainless steel parts were CNC turned. Everything else was hand routed.

There is still ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- loads to do in the project but the PCB holder was quite a large part of it and I can get on with the next parts now :)

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Re: Naomi Projects - Update : PCB Holder
« Reply #119 on: September 17, 2010, 10:08:43 am »
Bloody hell. :applaud: Fantastic!