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Portable with changeable control panels - Complete (More or less)
javeryh:
How's the slant on the CP? It looks a little steep to me. Where are you located? I'm guessing east coast USA because you are describing the weather I've been having too...
Hawkweber:
--- Quote ---How's the slant on the CP? It looks a little steep to me. Where are you located? I'm guessing east coast USA because you are describing the weather I've been having too...
--- End quote ---
The slant is steeper than I had hoped for - about 14 degrees, but that is due to how I originally had the motherboard placed within the sketchup - the video card would hit the trackball case if it was less than that, or I would have to increase the front edge height to reduce the slant but that would increase the overall size and weight. I test placed the mobo on the other side and changed the orientation of it so now the video card won't hit the trackball, but that stargate panel joystick might. Still might be able to reduce the angle a bit if that is the case, but I'm hoping I can get it down to 10 degrees or so.
I am in Northern VA. We got about 2 feet of snow one day in December. Then one week in February we had a blizzard that dumped 34" on us over the weekend and then another 12-14" the following Wednesday. There are still snow piles on the streets and in parking lots.
Hawkweber:
A couple of beautiful days and some more work done. I decided to see what I could do to reduce the overall height of the case and also reduce the angle of the panel. I was able to knock off 1/4" from the front and 2" from the back so it now goes from 4.25" in the front to 6.5" high in the back. The angle of the panel is now about 8 degrees instead of the original 14 degrees. Much better. The concern about the stargate/defender joystick hitting the video card is no more - it misses it. It does come close particularly with one of the microswitches, but since I'm only going to be using that as a 2-way, the switch can be removed.
Speaking of the 2-way, I have an 8-way Happ super that I am going to use. I was unable to find a 2-way restrictor plate for it (I have a 4-way from Groovy Game Gear) but they don't sell a 2-way. So, I made an outline of the 4-way on 1/4" poplar project board and cut it out. Then cut out the center to make it strictly up/down and installed it on the joystick. It isn't the prettiest thing and no way does it compare to the beauty of the laser cut acrylic plate from GGG, but it will do the trick. Besides, it is under the panel and no is gonna see it anyway! ;)
I drilled the joystick bolt holes and also did some round-over routing on the control panel tops to reduce the sharp edges.
I cut out the opening in the back for the power supply. I also decided to drill holes for the fan (next to the PS) instead of using a grille. Not sure how well it is going to allow air flow (I will have to test it) and priming and painting inside the holes might be interesting. I may have to drill more holes. But, if it isn't going to work, I can just cut it out and install a grille. I'm planning on doing the same thing on the left side for a smaller fan. So, as fans go, the small left side will be intake and the large center one as well as the one on the power supply will be exhaust.
Pinball Wizard:
Very cool! I got hit with the same blizzard just in Maryland instead of Virginia. Can't wait for warm weather that will stay. :hissy: :hissy: :hissy:
Can't wait to see the control change-over especially since my cabinet (that I really need to get back into) is supposed to have changeable panels and I have completely figured it out yet.
Hawkweber:
Well, my idea of drilling holes for the fans didn't work too well. While it looked nice, it made my silent fan sound not very silent - too restrictive with the air movement. I drilled all the holes larger and added more in between the ones already there and it still wasn't allowing enough airflow. So, I will have to cut out the fan areas from the boards and install grilles. I have some concerns about the fact that I already drilled some holes real close to the bottom of the back panel (I was planning on having the fan "resting" on the bottom) and hope I can secure the fan grille (I ordered 2 inexpensive "standard" ones) without problems.
I was also thinking about changing my plans for the color scheme - the original was going to be all black with gold edge and lettering (all painted). But now that I've rounded the panel edges, painting them properly in a different color will be a bit tricky. Also I was thinking of what a pain it was going to be to paint the lettering as well. Saw a thread about vinyl panel labels that Pongo makes and am considering going that route - perhaps with some customization of the font. But the vinyl colors he has doesn't include gold. So, maybe the top panels will be all black and the base will be another color (red, blue, yellow, green, ?) and use that color vinyl on top of the panels. Hmm...