RobbyMac's 1st build (Completed)

[saurian333]

From what I've read, I think you're best off routing out the space for the joysticks anyway.  Some people have mounted their sticks without doing so, and they work, but it looks weird without the extra clearance.  Depends on how thick the CP is, but I think the general consensus is that it should be routed.

Looking great!  The marquee is sexy.  Putting the IR receivers behind the marquee was inspired.  Glad to hear it works well.

[RobbyMac]

If I understand you correctly, I did route out the area for the joystick mounting plates. It's only about 1/8th of an inch, and the cp top is 5/8" hardwood. But I planned on about 1/2" clearance from the bottom of the shaft to the floor of the cp. Unfortunately that shaft is 1/2" longer in real life compared to the line drawing they had. I bumped the control panel forward towards the monitor a bit. Unfortunately, I had already cut holes and routed mounting areas for the top, so my lip or overhang is shorter in the front now. Its about 1" lip, versus 1.5" on the sides. I still have enough 'palm surface' for p1 & p2 so I am not that bothered by it.

I have 1/10th of an inch clearance at the moment, but I will probably run a spade bit where that shaft points toward the floor for another 1/10th or so.

I just finished the tmolding slot on the cp top, and I am doing some more rough sanding now. Then I will do some bondo, and see what framing if any I need to do. I should have pics later tonight.

One thing I am thinking about is an indicator of some sort for the 4/8 way switchable p1 & p2. Theres an arm that shifts when you switch from one to the other. Im thinking run a ground wire off this arm to create 2 leafs switches of sorts. Depending on where the arm make contact, it would indicate 4 way or 8 way leds. Not sure if anyone has done this before... its a ways off, but if I'm approcahing a mountain with this thing, it might as well be big.
(You know, youre driving along, towards a mountain and think 'Hey thats a big mountin, we'll be to it in about an hour or so' and then three hours later you're still not even close? yeah, at this point that is my mame project in a nutshell!)

[wilno45]

(You know, youre driving along, towards a mountain and think 'Hey thats a big mountin, we'll be to it in about an hour or so' and then three hours later you're still not even close? yeah, at this point that is my mame project in a nutshell!)

Yep, know how you feel.

Dude, I would never post a cost list like you did at the start of your thread, if my wife EVER saw that well ........  

Nice project

Cheers

[RobbyMac]

Dude, I would never post a cost list like you did at the start of your thread, if my wife EVER saw that well ........  

Should I remove the price list so your wife doesn't see it?
 

[RobbyMac]

I'm still wondering why your wife would be looking at my project thread...
In all seriousness, my wife realizes this is a big adventure... Though, I'm sure out of fear, she hasn't asked me how much.... yet.
I was figuring between 700-900$. Clearly I am over budget. The glass doors and hardware didn't help matters. But I should be done with buying anything else, and hopefully I'll get around 100$ back when I return some unused items.

I honestly didn't see many posts specifying time or cost, so I thought I would keep track of my project. If anything, it might help new members realize cost and time. Just so long as they keep in mind that I'm pretty slow at this stuff.

Ok, the CP parts are rough sanded (corners rounded out, pencil lines removed, edges matched up etc), t-nuts recessed and installed, bondo and they are drying now. Tomorrow I will sand them down smooth, and then I guess just sit around and wait for my trackball and spinner to come in.

In the meantime, here are some more pics of the CP (Prior to rough sanding or bondo) please ignore nasty gaps and pieces of wood jutting out where it shouldnt be.

Cut in access through the floor. This will allow wiring and latches.


The control panel frame with cut top in place. The acrylic bezel is in place, but still has protective sheeting on it so looks funky. I still have to add spinner, trackball and (possibly) flight stick.


A view from underneath. You can see what I spoke of earlier, having shifted my panel forward reduced the overhang at the fornt of the panel. The good news is, it gave me the clearance i needed for the p1 & p2 sticks.

[mccoy178]

Nice cabinet!  Funny enough, I found this through Scottkeen.   

[saurian333]

If I understand you correctly, I did route out the area for the joystick mounting plates.  ...

OK, gotcha.  Yes, that's what I was talking about.  I guess I didn't realize you were accounting for that at the time, but I see what you were saying now.  Anyway, glad to hear it worked out in the end.

In all seriousness, my wife realizes this is a big adventure... Though, I'm sure out of fear, she hasn't asked me how much.... yet.

My fiancée knows my cab is kind of a big deal, too.  Fortunately mine is not actually running too big of a bill.  The controls were always going to be the biggest expense; materials were fairly cheap mostly, and the monitor is on hand (at least, the one I'll be using initially).  My decision to get a new MB when I decided the laptop wouldn't cut it didn't seem to worry her.  She knows I'm better about prioritizing the money than I used to be (not to say I'm particularly good at it, mind you ).  Anyway, she knows I've been wanting to do this for a long time; I think she also knows this won't be the only one.  Also, she's not much of a decorator, and I don't think she'd really care if someday I had an upright sitting in the dining room, assuming we have space for it.  Bless her for that.

[RobbyMac]

Nice cabinet!  Funny enough, I found this through Scottkeen.   

Careful now, this is sort of addicting!
I hadn't been over there in some time, but thought of all you guys during the initial construction of this thing for some reason. So I figured I'd post over there to let you all check out the possibilities here.

Not sure how I could've done it for cheaper (other than the glass doors and hardware and a few bits I picked up). The paint, wood, materials nickel/dime ya to death. MDF was 3x the cost of particle board, the acrylic was a bit pricey. Controls, leds & t-molding were almost $600. At this point im just thankful I had the pc on hand.

In other news, I did manage to return some things for a 105$ credit.
However, I just hit a big stump. The Sony Trinitron I just picked up on craigslist (And pretty much built this cab around) is going screwy. The picture goes to about 1/3 of the height (From the top down) for about 5 seconds, then the screen goes black. I still get sound, but no picture...
Last night I kept messing wth powering it on and off, and finally got a picture, Let it run all night long, came out this morning and picture was still there. Shut her off, turned her back on, and no picture again.
Considering the amount of time I spent on re-routing the IR receivers, tapping into the front aux-in jacks, and making a bezel for it... this is the suck.

[RobbyMac]

McCoy, I just looked at your profile! You're doing/did the acrylic juke. Nice work.
Yes, I was on Scott Keen's forum several years ago. I started a poker table and found out about his site a bit late, but stayed for a while... Stopped in the other day to drop that post about arcades.

[mccoy178]

Thanks Mac!  I've built quite a few things here.  Let's see, 6 machines, 5 jukes, 3 poker tables, and I'm in the process of building a Hyperpin pinball table.  If you have been at both Scotts and here, good luck trying to keep any freetime!

[RobbyMac]

Man you look familiar. I swear I remember seeing that avatar pic on Scotts forum, maybe in the show a pic of yourself thread or something?
I was pretty low under the radar. Nick there is RpmQ, and built a fairly simple Oak Racetrack, red velvet center, foam insulation rails on folding legs.
I know I got a pic somewhere, but truly it was nothing fancy.

In other news, GREAT FRIGGIN NEWS! I managed to (temporarily) fix the TV!!! WOOT!!! After tearing her apart, I found I could make the picture work by moving one corner of the main board, which most likely meant a cold solder somewhere. My father mentioned this as a possibility because I had recently moved it next to the sliding glass door and its been friggin cold lately. I can't imagine it was getting very cool, but perhaps enough to cause issues with whatever was loose. Anyways, I hit about every solder joint I could last night with a soldering iron to try to seat whatever was loose. My eyes suck, and lighting is worse, so I took the 'try everything until it works' approach. Put it all back together, and NOTHING. I had NO picture and NO sound now. This was truly the suck. So I am scouring craigslist looking for a possible replacement or parts tv, and today when I get home I figure I will tear it apart and try again (Nothing to lose at this point). I unhook everything again and realise 2 connectors were both 5 pins, and thought maybe I connected them in their wrong sockets. I check the service manual, plug everything back together and TADA! Its workin.
Holy bejeezus... So I recase it, mount it to the hold down board, slide her back in and bolt her down, hook everything back up and so far (knock on wood) so good.
Hopefully this temporary fix is permanent, but I have the worst luck with stuff sometimes, so I am not optimistic, but I am praying it keeps on running.

I also got my trackball today! With luck I will be able to route out the CP tomorrow, at which point I can finally print the cp panel (which I still need to design). The print will be vinyl, but have a clear floor laminate overtop. The stuff is sorta like grip tape? only smoother. Needless to say, it can put up to alot of abuse.

So for the moment, we are back to work on this thing... Look for pics soon.

[saurian333]

Sweet deal!  I had a 32" Toshiba like that once.  Man, that thing was a beast to move.  I found that it worked fine when it was out of its case (i.e., the back half off), presumably because it leaned backward ever so slightly and bent the circuit board just the right way; otherwise, no picture at all.  So it lived in my entertainment center without the case.  Well, later on, it started getting worse, and I had to bend/prop the corner of the board up a little more...and a little more...and eventually it was just done.  Hauling it out to the curb was a bear.

Glad you got yours fixed, though.  Nothing like saving a little cash!

[RobbyMac]

Okay... I think we are FINALLY in the home stretch...

Spent a couple hours at work printing the acrylic bezel graphics and the Control Panel Graphics...

Acrylic bezel was a multi step process. I printed on clear, then backed it with white. This was then computer cut so the center showed through (Clear vinyl would show slightly, and possible bubbles could occur). White is semi translucent, so then a black vinyl was computer cut and applied to it. This would block any light from the tv from showing through the 1/4" or so that overlaps/bleeds beyond the plywood bezel backer behind it.

Im pretty happy with the results. I tried to darken the bezel a bit because I really didnt want it to detract from normal viewing, but it still turned out a bit brighter than I had anticipated. But it's done, another thing off my checklist. My son is playing the PS2 at the time I took this photo...


Control panel graphics are done! I got my trackball mounting area routed out, plate installed and ready for graphics. SOme quick and dirty design produced this. a 2 step process, 4 color print on non translucent white vinyl which was computer cut (see below) and then laminated with floor laminate. (Heavy duty laminate that leaves no finger prints and puts up with lots of abuse. If you've seen graphics on the floor of your local dept. or grocery store, this is the graphics/laminate that is used). AFter installation, I trimmed out all the holes. I have decided not to install my flight stick (for now anyways) leaving a bit of real estate to the right of the trackball for possible future expansion. To the left of the trackball a spinner will be installed.


I mentioned earlier that I was going to install indicator lighting for the 4/8 way switchable joysticks. I drilled a couple holes to mount 5mm leds in. Then drilled larger diameter holes (sorta like countersinking) so I could make sure I had some 'fudge factor' when applying the graphic. The control panel was computer cut, but the only cuts were the 4 small holes for the leds. Only the print was cut. The laminate was NOT cut leaving a smooth surface on top. But this meant installation was a bit hairy since I had no marker/reference to line up with. I had 1/4" bleed which was fine if I had the help of co-workers, but I did the install here at home and got my daughter to help. Short story long, I landed the graphic close enough and the led windows landed within the 3/8" countersinks (so the led lights will be visible).
I tried to get a decent photo but without a flash it had trouble focusing for some reason. There are two, one red, one blue. I temporarily had a small led held in place for this photo.


Next up. Install t-molding on the cp top. Fix the cp base to the cab via trunk latches, and hinge my CP top to it. Then start installing controls. I also have my marquee out so I can make my remote receiver window holes a bit smaller (Pet peeve that's been bothering me)

[bigpete405]

very awesome so far

[RobbyMac]

Thanks...

Today I got the CP base mounted (trunk latches) and the top hinged to the base. I installed a length of chain (for added support/less stress on the hinge) even though the cp top would 'stop' when tilted back. I installed some (soft side, not sure what its called) adhesive backed velcro on the cp top where it comes in contact and presses against the bezel so as to avoid scratching.


As you can see I got most of my controls installed (Still waiting on a spinner from ultimarc)


I also got the marquee reinstalled with my smaller circular 'windows' for the IR receivers. Looks much better.


Next up... wiring... Lots of it.

[saurian333]

That cab is looking hot.  Love the CPO, and your choice of buttons.

[RobbyMac]

I think the marquee adds a bit too much color... but I will leave it as is.

The 'light kit' for the happ trackball was a bulb with an angle bracket. There was a hole in the trackball that seemed the likely candidate, but no screw/bolt. So I used a panhead screw to fix it to the trackball housing using that hole. However, does anyone know what voltage the bulb is supposed to be? The bulb, nor housing, nor instructions contain info on that.

I removed the colored plastic shaft surrounds on the happ competition joysticks so that they match the majistick shafts mo bettah. This left large gaping holes in the dust covers, but not an issue since they are black and I am going to make some colored ones anyways.

My son saw the 25c labels on some of the buttons and is now convinced hes going to have to pay to play. He hasn't realized its to enter credits. I am milking this for all its worth and now have him convinced that I'm going to change it to 50c per play for him if he keeps whining about it.

[saurian333]

The 'light kit' for the happ trackball was a bulb with an angle bracket. There was a hole in the trackball that seemed the likely candidate, but no screw/bolt. So I used a panhead screw to fix it to the trackball housing using that hole. However, does anyone know what voltage the bulb is supposed to be? The bulb, nor housing, nor instructions contain info on that.

A "bulb" bulb, you mean?  Or an LED?  Most of the lighting accessories I've seen around are 5V LEDs.  They usually get the 5V directly from your comp's power supply, or from a terminal on the control interface board.

My son saw the 25c labels on some of the buttons and is now convinced hes going to have to pay to play. He hasn't realized its to enter credits. I am milking this for all its worth and now have him convinced that I'm going to change it to 50c per play for him if he keeps whining about it.

  He hasn't noticed that there isn't a slot for a quarter yet?

[RobbyMac]

I figured it out by googling the part# printed on the bulb. its a 12v. I ran one power molex from the chassis to the cp. I'm using the 12v for the trackball bulb (Yes its an incandescent automotive type bulb) and I will use the 5v for my 4/8 way indicator leds. LED wiz gets powered by the usb connection.

All controls are wired, and Ive run into a small problem where the text/font for the mame interface within games (confirmation screen, controls setup via TAB etc) is not legible. So I am trying to work that out. And of course I still have a buttload of led's to solder.

Yes.. I think partly because I've not had the arcade completely built/put together, that he must've been thinking there was a coin slot just waiting to be installed somewheres. This morning I got up and asked him how many quarters he has, because I got the machine tested and wokring last night. He told me he knew it didn't take quarters because he was looking at it this morning and saw that the 25c buttons were for putting quarters in. It was fun while it lasted though, I had him going for the past week.

[saurian333]

I figured it out by googling the part# printed on the bulb. its a 12v. I ran one power molex from the chassis to the cp. I'm using the 12v for the trackball bulb (Yes its an incandescent automotive type bulb) and I will use the 5v for my 4/8 way indicator leds. LED wiz gets powered by the usb connection.

Good deal.  You definitely luck out when you need to draw 5, 7, or 12v on projects like these.

Yes.. I think partly because I've not had the arcade completely built/put together, that he must've been thinking there was a coin slot just waiting to be installed somewheres. This morning I got up and asked him how many quarters he has, because I got the machine tested and wokring last night. He told me he knew it didn't take quarters because he was looking at it this morning and saw that the 25c buttons were for putting quarters in. It was fun while it lasted though, I had him going for the past week.

Aww, I was hoping you'd keep him going until it was done.    I thought that was pretty funny.

[RobbyMac]

Well, I wiped and re-installed mame and no more font problems!! Woohoo. Got all my controllers setup, except for the spinner I am still waiting on ugh. Next up is the front end (Probably maximus).
I'm currently researching/developing how I want to handle the 4-8 way indicator lights. Probably will go with a rocker or a miniature switch with arm. Right up some sort of braket to the arm that swings when the majistick is switched form one to the other. Some sort of dpdt so its always one or the other lit.

I've also given up on using the rubber coating for the leds. Great idea in theory, but real messy and my leds are already installed, so I will orde some heatshrick tubing and wait till that comes in to do the soldering.

My son managed to kick my butt at street fighter tonight. Damn. But in all fairness, its the first time I've ever played it (I'm too old for SF, I'm more of a classics guy).

I suppose it's only fair to mention its the first time he's ever played it also Damn 7 yr olds!!!!

[RobbyMac]

Got my spinner in today, its awesome.


Quick shot (not sure whats up with the camera) of the wiring so far underneath the cp. Everything but led's is done. Though you can see the LED wiz just waiting to be connected to stuff.

[painterinfo]

That CP looks great. Darn it, You have got me planning my next cab already.

[RobbyMac]

Just a small update.
Im in a holding pattern for a few reasons.
TV that I 'fixed' worked great for about 2 weeks then started doing it again. I can pull it apart and try hitting a bunch more joints/locating the cold solder... But this is our busy season at work (and we can all use a little busy season nowadays) so I just haven't had time.
I've been scouring through craigslist checking for replacement tv's or even parts for the mainboard with little success. I wont get too frenzied until the work slows down to a normal pace and I have time again to work on it.
As a last resort I have another 27" tv, but it will be a little more difficult to create a new foamcore bezel and mount the tv now that I have my acrylic bezel mounted. Hopefully I can avoid doing this (ie get a cheap replacement for the sony).

I have been pouring through, setting up mame, etc... This has been alot more work than I anticipated, but Ive been doing a little each day and finally have my list of games, setup, etc... on to getting maximus setup.

I also still have to wire up my leds/tinker with led wiz

The kids certainly enjoyed the short time it was running, and even the wife spent quite a bit of time on puzzle bobble. They're anxious to have me finish it, but it's going to be a few weeks.

I'll post more pics and a vid then.

[painterinfo]

I have heard of a similar TV fault and it is made worse by moisture, turning the TV on and off for sort periods, cold air cooling a warm place causing condensation, etc. (you said it is very cold where you are)

Have a look at the Flyback Transformer in complete darkness (it is the dangerous part attached to the tube) and see if you can see any arcing.

If you are hitting the circuit board with solder you know about discharging it, if it is that component you may be able to clean and seal a hole with silicon.

PS glass shelves inside would look good I recon.

Good luck with the TV, think of sending it to a repair shop considering you have taken the time to custom fit the bezel.

[RobbyMac]

There were some google results that mentioned some sort of condensation relay checking thingamajig. I tried the hairdryer trick without success. It is a bit colder in that room. Its heated decently, but the cold floor really causes fluctuations of temperature between heat cycles. We arent getting any condensation on the patio door or windows or anything so it's not an obvious solution.
I guess it wouldnt take much to cause that issue anyways though when it comes to electronics.

I will check it. That transformer is situated near one corner of the mainboard. Coincidently, thats the corner that I was pushing and pulling on when I discovered I could make the picture come on/go off the first time around, which led me to think I had a cold solder joint somehweres. The solder joints were pretty hefty/easy to resolder, but I will check them again and I will try firing it up with all the lights out to see if anything comes up.
Just waiting on some free time in order to pull it out &, get it apart again.
Thanks for the idea... maybe I'll get lucky and it will pan out.

[RobbyMac]

Woot! Just won an upgrade (slightly) on ebay for $17.50
It's got one more input in the back which makes things a little easier. Same series, casing, etc... so the swap should be easy

[RobbyMac]

Fat cat sitting happy....
Ive got a picture of it on my wall.. 3 frames;
Frame 1: Fat cat sitting happy

Today, I went to radio shack looking for more 100 ohm resistors. There must be a bunch of people using these things cuz theyre the only slot thats empty. Last week I had my wife check and she brought back 2 packs. TOday theres nothing... then I think 'let me check the 100k slot' and BOOYAH! 4 packs sitting in there. Just as I though, someone wasn't paying attention when they put them back into the wrong slot.

I pick up 2 micro switches with levers... Its 4-8 way joystick switching indicator time. They work like a charm. spdt for 2 diff color led indicators.

I dedicated about 9 hours soldering all my led's up this weekend (finishing this afternoon with the resistors). Check all the leds connections with my ohm meter, no shorts. I find one led giving 18m hm resistance instead of NC. It's in the LED, swap it out, good to go.

My wife, is visiting with her sister in Illinois. Which is conveniently 1 hr from the new tv I won on ebay for $17.50. Shes picking it up this morning before she returns home.

I've had the house to myself this weekend, spent odd hours soldering, drinking, and listening to my fav 1930's-40's music relaxing and NOT thinking of work. You know, Doris Day, Kitty Katlen, Vera Lynn? Surely you all have those on your jukeboxes!!!! Life is good.

Frame 2: Fat cat starting to wobble
I bring the 'new to me' tv in the house. Holy Crap a huge gouge in the glass? whew, no its just some sort of adhesive tape residue... that was sorta scary...

I fire up the control panel... ALOT of tinkering before I get everything configured to work (I shouldve read through all the instructions first). FInally, I see life in my cp with some random LWAX thinga mo bob type animations. wee

But wait... hmm, somethings not quite right... 3 of my buttons dont seem to be functioning? Wonder whats up? I pull the cp out, start investigating... and find.. some 'not so goodness' happening. I used cat 5 cable for my controls. It appears that the heat gun I used on the led shrink tubing has melted some of the ultra thin insulation on the 'very close by' control wiring, and I am shorting out to other buttons. This is the suck. I completely re-wire p1 b1-6. fix and tape p4b4. All is honkey dorey again.

Frame 3: Fat Cat has tumbled. All that's visible anymore is his upside down rear paws. He's  toppled over...

Ok, let's fire her back up... wee All my buttons work... but wait.. now I'm losing my keyboard while trying to tinker and test mame?
Well, my joystick works sorta... oh wait. Did my computer just reboot when I pushd down on the joystick?
Yeah... I neglected to check my joystick wiring because generally it's not near any of the led wiring... there are however, a few stragllers, and they managed to fuse to some 5v led wiring. Again, heat gun treating was not so good for the joystick wiring. At this point, I give up and close the cp for the evening. I will come back to it as soon as I can, and ring out every dam wire. Thankfully, I don't think I destroyed the i-pac, as it still seems to function so long as I don't use the p1 joystick.

Ok, well, lets test that new sony the wife picked up... wait a second... why is the picture rotated about 5 degrees? and why are my corners all fuzzy, and colors not lining up anywhere except dead center in the screen? Let me test coax connection... ok let me test other inputs... great. I am guessing the yoke/flyback is knocked/loose/dusty or osmething from what very little I have read on the subject here on the forum. Next ste, see if I can pull the board out and swap it into my other tv. But at this point I am not too optimistic, nor am I too ambitious.

I won't give up that's for sure. But today, the arcade has won the battle. And I have lived to fight another day (and still have time to win the war).

Lessons learned:
Go with 22ga wire. Or at least do the leds FIRST, then crimp all the controls LAST.
Buy a new tv and screw this hand me down fix it after 50 hours of work like my fathers done all his life.
I hate cats.

[painterinfo]

Keep with it, the battle won will be more satisfying.

It sounds like the yoke on the TV has twisted in transit, I don't think tubes or circuit boards are compatible between different TV models.

I noticed CAT5 insulation susceptible to heat too (soldering) But have never put a heat gun on it.

[RobbyMac]

Results are in, the ipac is toast. A few inputs are permanently crossed with other inputs, and a half dozen don't recognize any input whatsoever.
Enough that I am now short on inputs. Bit the bullet and ordered another. One expensive lesson learned. It's good enough for a 2 player cp, so I'll keep it around for a possible future project.
22 guage wire is here, and .187 terminals are on order. I will rewire the cp.
Haven't had time to get to the tv's yet. hopefully this weekend.

Games are all chosen and organized into folders. Maximus is setup but I haven't customized it or xp startup yet.

Led blinky functions, but havent customized any of it yet.

[SNAAKE]

just when I thought UA2 was played out. looks good well done

[RobbyMac]

Thanks!

UPDATE: Got the new ipac installed, cp completely re-wired, new led's, etc. It's all working again.
Except I need to read up on led blinky. for some reason, not all the ocntrols are lighting up. And i'm getting p3 b3 instead of p4coin lit up.
It's def. not the wiring (checked, double checked, re-checked, and those 2 players are on opposite sides of the board) so I will need to tinker.
It's all so very confusing with xmls configs inis etc

Back to messing with the tv next.

[RobbyMac]

Finally... The CP is fixed and is functional, lights are working, etc... (I had an animation running at the time of these photos, so some buttons appear lit/some are not)

p1 & 2 MagicStick Switchable 4/8 ways
P3 & 4 Happ Competition 8 ways. Stripped shafts, colored dust shields made
Ultimarc Spinner
Happ 3" Trackball (Illuminated)



A view from the underside



The p1&2 Switchable joysticks have indicator leds. Blue led indicates the 8way mode. Leds are powered by a micro lever switch on the backside of the cp. The lever on the side of the joystick activates the microswitch lever. In one position (engaged) it lights one led, and when disengaged it lights the other.


Red indicates 4 way mode

Next up, rip apart the 2 tvs I have to see if I can get either of them working correctly.

[saurian333]

That is freakin' sweet!  I thought it was a little too expensive to go for an LEDWiz and all the NovaGems and what-not, but your CP makes it look well worth it.    I still think that artwork is badass, too.

[RobbyMac]

Thanks much!
Finally, it's done... fixed the TV again. Found a loose connect on the neck board, and I added some support under the rear of the tv case. I am wondering if the tv being on an angle was putting some stress on the mainboard or something before. I would have thought the case would have held it ok, but apparantly not. The angle of the screen has changed much, so that I had to remove the wood support bezel form behind the acrylic bezel. But everything is still pretty stiff, so it's all good. We'll see how long it lasts.

Got maximus all configured, custom game lists, etc... All thats left is to tweak the startup and maximus theme.

Thanks everyone for your help. This board is a godsend.

My son, introduced to metal slug this evening...


Lights out;


I really wish I could've added a coindoor... At least I could limit the amount of time he plays the thing that way!

[painterinfo]

That cab's hot, I can almost feel the heat radiating from it. 

[Kurt]

Awesome finish well done.

[Kman-Sweden]

I've popped in regularly to view your progress but never commented before...
The CP is Freakin' Awesome!  The overlay kicks ass.
I have to say that I'm not a fan of the 4-player CP's but your overlay makes me overlook it.

Congratz.

[Bender]

Really Nice!
Love the little 4-way and 8-way leds and graphic symbols, beautiful touch!

[RobbyMac]

I've decided to post some images/info on small details I've used or added, and to expand on some items that I had trouble finding detailed info on.

Cord retractor. My son got 2 of these somehow. They are keychain retractors. Wound cord with a clasp on the end to put onto keys, or what haveyou, that retracts (like a tape measure sorta). I used this in my cab, connected to the umbilical cord running to the cp, so that it retracts/pulls the cord into the opening in the cp bottom. Otherwise sometimes the umbilical would curl/lay on the bottom of the cp. Alternatively I suppose I could have cut a wider opening. ignore my mess inside there.


Detail on 4-8 way led indicator switch. Radio shack spdt lever microswitch. I glued a piece of wood to the cp lid and attached the micro switch to the block of wood using small brad nails. The lever is slightly bent so it engages when the joystick is switched in one mode. Power is supplied to the led via +5v in a molex connector (separate from led wiz).
Switch engaged:


Switch dis-engaged:


Happ Translucent LED lighting. I found some info on lighting leaf buttons, and some text on lighting microswitch buttons, but learned a bit doing my own.
After removing the button, spring and microswitch, I first drill two holes using a small drillbit towards one side (rather than centered), in the bottom of the button. I then insert an led using pliers, so that one leg goes through each hole, and leaving about 1/4" on the short leg I bend them 90 degrees. This makes it easier for the microswitch install, and they do not make contact with the spring.
View of button bottom with led mounted:


This will leave the led protruding about 1/2" up from the bottom of the button.
inside view of mounted led:


You can then solder and tube wrap the legs, and then re-insert the microswitch.
Microswitch re-installed. No soldering/heatshrink tubing in this photo.


When I tested led lighting, I thought I would need different depths to get the lighting 'even' form one color button to the next. Green buttons were very dark, and did not let light transmit as easily as yellow or white buttons. But I found that using diffusers evened out the light distribution ALOT. There is no noticeable difference in lighting strength amongst any of the buttons except for perhaps white. White seems brighter than the rest of my buttons, but I can live with it since they are admin buttons.

Admin buttons. While I do have hidden admin features using Ipac's shift function (p1 start + other p1 buttons), I have 3 primary buttons on the cp for negotiating the various menus in Maximus arcade. Decals were printed on clear vinyl and installed onto the diffusers, which are installed between the spring and button. In this way there is no decal felt on the button surface.

The left button acts like ENTER, and will select games/menus/etc in maximus and acts like ENTER in mame.
The center button performs 2 functions. In maximus, it will cycle through my custom games lists, and in Mame it will pause the current game.
The right button performs 2 functions. In maximus, it will go back to the previous menu and in Mame it will exit back to Maximus.
These are very basic functions that allow my kids and wife the ability to navigate through games without screwing too much up.

And for kids that like to push all the buttons and joytsicks while the computer is booting (happened often enough) there is this: