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| First-Time Project Dreamer Seeking A Few Answers. |
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| RayB:
+1 for pre-made. Get one that matches your needs. "empty" can be had for dirt cheap. With working monitor, is possible for dirt cheap. You get a shell, glass, controls, coin door, marquee lighting etc.... and tons of time saved. No need for most of those tools either. |
| DJTommyTheCat:
I've decided to continue planning for the empty cab purchase and put my own panel on it, which, due to hardware shops willing to make cuts on a large piece for 50 cents per, would eliminate the need for me to purchase a circular saw at the very very least. Actually the jig saw is out too, as long as my first panel doesn't use any fancy curves (I don't plan for it to do.) I'm still not sure if I need a router. Will I get away with the power drill and bit sets (regular and forstner) just for doing the control holes? Well, and the hole saw for the trackball. I know people fancy routers for a lot of things, and I will definitely need something to put neat, clean holes in my plexi CP top, can I do -that- with a drill? I can have a router for about 100 dollars, so it's not exactly a budget murderer, but hey, if I can get away without it to start.. What games use a 'push/pull' action for a spinner? Is this simply an additional button input in an emulator like MAME? I don't notice the feature being touted on the TurboTwist 2 spinner, so is it something that isn't necessary? Has anyone used the push-pull feature to be able to say it's vital or just right nice to have? Finally (for now anyway,) just how simplified does an LED-Wiz make my planned lighting setup? Someone said I should keep in mind that a single Wiz will only cover me for 16 light placements, so I'd be purchasing two, and that's okay, but will I still need to solder ground and 5-volt to a PC molex, or will all my RGB Drive leads just run to the Wiz(es) and those to USB? I'm further assuming I'd be using the RGB Drive LED boards in the NovaGem buttons I plan to purchase.. or do Novas come -with- LEDs? The entire lighting thing is one of the most confusing aspects of this project for me. Cheers! |
| Turnarcades:
If you go for a gutted cab over scratch-built, there are tons of bargains - just be sure you ask the important question if they have water damage. Scratches are superficial and chips can be filled quite easily, but water damage is unusually common (were all US arcades built in puddles?) and very difficult to work with - ruining a good cab beyond repair in most instances. You will spot water damage a mile off as there will be a horrid smell, lots of unusual-coloured mould and the cab-killing moisture absorbtion - this will rise and you will see the very fabric of the wood swell and break down over time. |
| Endaar:
The NovaGems come with SINGLE color LEDs. If you want the RGB drive boards, you will either need to order them separately or speak to Randy to see if he can bundle them how you want. If you order them separately, bear in mind the NovaGems will have the single-color LEDs hot-glued on. It's not a problem at all to remove them, though. One LED-Wiz board will support *10* RGB LEDs plus two single-color LEDs. The general consensus seems to be you need to feed the LED-Wiz 5v, but I didn't. I have a powered USB hub with three LED-Wizs, a U-Trak, a Turbo-Twist spinner, an IPAC-4 and a U360 all connected. Everything works fine and the LEDs are as bright as they should be - I tested. Endaar |
| DillonFoulds:
More importantly, and this is coming from a newb to this hobby as well, is to NETWORK. Talk to as many people in the area as you can, and get as many numbers as you can. There's a huge network of guys in to trading, collecting, restoring cabs everywhere, you just gotta network. I haven't seen any cabs in my area for under 2000, literally. On CL, Ebay, Kijiji, anywhere! To get my hands on my first cab, i phoned everything remotely vending related within 100 miles. From there i found a guy that runs an arcade company on the side, he gave me the number for his electronics tech, who gave me the number for a guy i'll be picking a cocktail up off for a tenth of the price i'd find in the papers. NETWORK! Talk to as many people as you can, and you'll find way better deals and enthusiasts than you'll find on the internet. No offense guys! :) i mean CL, Ebay, etc. |
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