The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: elkameleon on April 28, 2011, 10:34:59 pm
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Hey guys, just wanted to show people the project I've actually been able to start now that the weather is warm enough. I drove down to central Iowa to pick up a Nintendo Playchoice 10 last October that I was gonna receive in a trade for my sega dreamcast store unit. When I got to this guys house, I couldn't believe the collection of games he had, I was in heaven! Anyways, I got my game and we go into his garage to chit-chat, and he's got a bunch of arcades in various states of disrepair. Long story short, I barter with him on this NFL Blitz cab that doesn't have a monitor, that I have the intent of mame-ing, and I was able to take it off him right then and there for 40 bucks. Pretty good deal I think. Anyways, these posts are no good without pictures, so here we go!
Here's my toys after I got them unloaded...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_20101002_175331.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_20101002_191412.jpg)
This was my first attempt at a replacement control panel... It didnt fit, it was an 1/8" too wide
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_20101019_121351.jpg)
I made another cp recently, that one fit, but it wasn't what I wanted anymore after trolling the forums... so i've decided to wait until I actually get my new joysticks and buttons before I design a new cp.
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Nice to see you're going the metal CP route! :cheers:
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I picked up a TV for the cause off craigslist for 50 bucks last fall as well, it was a sony wega 24" flat tube, very nice.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/41VTKWJG19L.jpg)
I got the TV all decased and measured the location of the mounting ears and made up a few mounting brackets to replace the ones that were in the cab.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_20110414_181014.jpg)
Everything came out perfect until I realised I had no place to mount the TV control board! So I came up with this bad mother effer. :afro:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_20110421_152845.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_20110421_152744.jpg)
And here it is mounted in the cab...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1312.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1311.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_20110421_191909.jpg)
And this is where I sit tonight...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1310.jpg)
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I pulled out all the old wiring and the NFL Blitz board tonight as well, so if anyone wants to pick the stuff up, you can have it! I have the board with hard drive, all the JAMMA wiring, the cp with 49-way joysticks... The game does play blind, since I never had an arcade monitor to try it out on.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1317-1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1319.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1320.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1323.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1322.jpg)
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Man, metal CP, custom monitor frame... what's your profession? Nice job on the monitor frame BTW. :applaud:
If I was close enough to you, I'd take that Blitz stuff off your hands, but I live in BFE, I'm close to nobody. :-\
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sweet metalwork for sure!
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I'm an industrial designer for a large door manufacturer, so whatever I can dream up in SolidWorks, our shop can cut on their plasma table. It's a pretty sweet perk, and its all scrap metal to them anyways, so I get it for free! Here is the cp i've designed so far... still needs some tweaks after I get my actual parts.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/controlpanelmockupassembly.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/controlpanelmockupassembly2.jpg)
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wanna ship the blitz stuff? I'd pay for shipping and stuffs.
Also, if I had a dollar to bet, I'd say thats a Virtua Fighter cab TV Frame looks fantastic, cant wait to see the end result.
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You would win that bet, because it is indeed a virtua fighter cab that was converted to Blitz, still has the sega serial number sticker on the back... The glass still has the classic "caution" black and yellow bezel sticker still on it. I'll be replacing the glass with smoked plexi at some point. As far as shipping the blitz stuff, i'll get back to you on that, my fiancée works in shipping, so she'll be able to give me some options.
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Very nicely done, sir! :notworthy:
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I just though i'd throw my design for my monitor frame in here since I got so much praise on it, kinda gives ya a better idea of how its made.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/Monitorframe.jpg)
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So I want to paint my cab black, but what do I use, some black latex paint and a roller?
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Looking good so far. I'm also doing black on my cab - have you thought about finish? Semigloss? Satin? Flat?
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I'm thinking semigloss, cause i'm sure whatever artwork I finally get on this thing will have some kind of gloss to it, that way it kinda blends in. Who knows, I may just do artwork for the entire side.
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Today I ordered this audio amplifier for the speakers that were already present in my cab. The speakers were labeled 4ohm @ 13-26watts, and they sounded pretty good when I had the NFL Blitz game running, and they fit, so might as well use 'em!
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=320-304 (http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=320-304)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31hpg7b2FVL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
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It looks like you're running component to the pc, how did you do this? I want to do the same on my project.
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I'm using a geforce 7600gs video card, it outputs component via breakout cable. Had to screw with drivers in order to get it working correctly though, newer drivers dont support older tvs as well anymore ;)
EDIT: this is basically what i'm using, it came with the video card.
(http://members.arstechnica.com/x/sliver7/svid-to-component.JPG)
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I'm using a geforce 7600gs video card, it outputs component via breakout cable. Had to screw with drivers in order to get it working correctly though, newer drivers dont support older tvs as well anymore ;)
Cool thanks, maybe I'll get the same card or a component to vga converter if I can't find that card.
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I would try to find the newest card you can that supports component out if I were you, I just happened to have this one laying around.
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I would try to find the newest card you can that supports component out if I were you, I just happened to have this one laying around.
I have an older Geforce card, but the s- video part had only 4 pins, so it had bad over scan. I think my Geforce 9500gt might work if I mess with the drivers like you did. Thanks for the information, sorry for hijacking your thread.
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Yeah, if it supports component out, there should be 7 pins total. A 9500gt should support that, I have an old 8600gt that supports it, but it has blown caps. The card i'm using is also AGP... and that kinda sucks, but thats what my spare motherboard supports.
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for black paint, I would suggest Rustoleum Satin Black.
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I've been toying with this idea for a while now, just wanted to hear what others though about it. I want to use a mirror to basically simulate depth, so it doesnt seem like the monitor is trying to burn through your soul after extended bouts of butt whoopins ;D With my proposed model, it would appear as if the monitor is about 35" from your face, instead of 6"...
EDIT: apparently this site hates large images... so I cropped it down, hope this works better.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/mirroridea2.png)
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2 questions:
1. How do you fix the reverse-text issue from the mirror? Does your video card support rear projection mode or such?
2. If that's to scale, can you still fit a PC inside the cabinet with the monitor housed down there?
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2 questions:
1. How do you fix the reverse-text issue from the mirror? Does your video card support rear projection mode or such?
2. If that's to scale, can you still fit a PC inside the cabinet with the monitor housed down there?
With an arcade monitor, the YOKE cable setting can mirror flip the image. Might work with that TV as well...
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Yeah, you can flip the yoke wires to get the reversed image, and yes, there is room for a pc at the bottom, you could just lay it on its side and it would fit no problem. But after thinking about it, i've already mounted my monitor, so I think i'll just leave it as is, and if I build another cabinet, i'll try this out :lol
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Ok, a small status update: Went to wally world to pick up some items last night, got a "energy saver" powerstrip (what a genius invention), and picked up a few items to get my marquee light working, needed a new bulb, and it also needed a power cord, since the one that was attached to it had a proprietary connector for hooking up to the arcade psu in the cab. I just picked up a grounded shop extension cord I plan to hack up for that purpose. I had an idea for turning on and off my computer in my cab, I want to wire the power switch of the PC to 4 of my pushbuttons in series so that you have to hit them all at the same time to complete the circuit to turn it on and off. Any thoughts/concerns? Since its not a load bearing circuit, I don't see this as much of a challenge. I'll probably use my player 1 and 2 start and my player 1 and 2 credit buttons, theres no chance in hell they would all be pressed at the same time under normal operation anyways.
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Got some time this afternoon to work on my marquee light, got the power cord replaced. Only after I bought a a better wire stripper/crimper that I tried to scrape by with a $1.99 one... That'll teach me to skimp on tools next time, I threw that crap away after about 5 mins of frustration and went a bought a good one. :angry: Anyway, I plugged it in and... nothing. Turns out I had a bad starter that basically crumbled as I tried to remove it. I'll pick another up at Lowes tomorrow.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1325.jpg)
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What's the starter for :dunno
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Its sort of like a capacitor, kinda gives the florescent tube the jolt it needs to get its glow on. :lol Without it, it is basically useless.
EDIT: picked up the starter at the local hardware store this morning. WE HAVE LIGHT! WE ARE GO GO GO! :lol
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I got my audio amp in the mail today, couldnt find any pcb standoff anywhere, so the guy at the hardware store turned me on to these nylon spacers, they worked awesome!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1333.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1334.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1332.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1338.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1341.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1339.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1340.jpg)
tapped into the 12v on the psu to power the amp
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Its sort of like a capacitor, kinda gives the florescent tube the jolt it needs to get its glow on. :lol Without it, it is basically useless.
Gotcha. You were talking about your wire stripper/crimpers so I thought you had found some crazy motorized wire crimper tool :dizzy:
Your build is looking good
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Now that I read it again, it does kinda sound that way, haha!
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With all of the effort that you are putting into your project, I sugest that you simply just buy a power switch. I picked up a good sized momentary switch at a local electronics store for about 5 bucks, mounted it on the top of my cabinet where the switches usually were on old machines, and just tapped into the wires from the motherboard to the pc switch. It works great, single touch on and off, and if anything goes wonky I can hold it down for 5 seconds to shut off the system.
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That would be the basic operation of what I was gonna do, just without adding another button, you know, stealth mode 8) then people would ask how the ---fudgesicle--- do you turn this thing on? :lol
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Got my custom power supply mount made up and installed, its rock solid!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1343.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1345.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1344.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1346.jpg)
I received all my controls from Ultimarc on monday. (shout out to Andy for the awesomely fast shipping!) I'm still waiting for my final revision of my cp to come back from the shop. I checked on it today, its been cut on the plasma table, just needs to hit the metal worker to get bent up. Hopefully tomorrow i'll be installing controls. :laugh:
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Ok, a small status update: Went to wally world to pick up some items last night, got a "energy saver" powerstrip (what a genius invention), and picked up a few items to get my marquee light working, needed a new bulb, and it also needed a power cord, since the one that was attached to it had a proprietary connector for hooking up to the arcade psu in the cab. I just picked up a grounded shop extension cord I plan to hack up for that purpose. I had an idea for turning on and off my computer in my cab, I want to wire the power switch of the PC to 4 of my pushbuttons in series so that you have to hit them all at the same time to complete the circuit to turn it on and off. Any thoughts/concerns? Since its not a load bearing circuit, I don't see this as much of a challenge. I'll probably use my player 1 and 2 start and my player 1 and 2 credit buttons, theres no chance in hell they would all be pressed at the same time under normal operation anyways.
Simper, put a button on the top of hte cab. I have two. One is power down and one is shift. To power on, I just open the front door which does not look like a door. But the buttons on top are awesome. Anyone can use them and they are out of the way and out of sight.
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Got my cp all welded up and ready to rock!, gonna throw a coat of rust stop on it and wait until I can play. :cry: I'll post photos when I get home tonight.
EDIT: The guy that bent up my joystick standoffs apparently doesnt know what 'HOLD DIMENSION' means, so now my mounting holes are 3/8" closer together than i designed, making my weekend a ---smurfing--- BUST! I guess I need to pay for my metal working next time, instead of with cases of beer. :banghead:
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Got my motherboard and hard drive mounted tonight, had to re-drill the holes for the motherboard standoffs twice, their placement is pretty unforgiving :dizzy:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1347.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1348.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1350.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1351.jpg)
what my control panel would look like, if it wasnt wrong!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1352.jpg)
joystick mounting brackets :banghead:
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Wow, I'm loving all the metal work going into this. Great job. My two cents on the method you want to use for the power button. Unless you are using separate switches on the buttons you would end up chaining the buttons which would effectively have some always on from a controller stand point, not to mention depending on how it was hooked up to the mobo you could be sourcing or sinking current you didn't intend to. I like the idea of having a secret button combo to turn the box on though. If your bios supports it you might be able to configure your cp controller to send a system power event on a key press combo.
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Had a hard drive failure last night in my cab... :angry: I bumped my cab moving some of the kids' toys around in the garage, and my back door fell open and hit the wall, then decided to come off the lip on the bottom and forcefully slid into the hard drive. Motherfudger.
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I upgraded the computer in my cab and got my new control panel made up and prime painted. I also took my monitor apart and had that primed as well since it was starting to show surface rust. I got everything installed and running, works pretty smooth! I'll take some photos tonight and get them posted. All thats left is paint, glass and artwork that im aware of... :cheers:
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Bummer about the Hard Drive at least it's an easy replacement
That's cool that you are using the power supply to power the sound amp are you going to get a 12v Marquee light?
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About powering the amp with the pc power supply... it created a nasty ground loop, so I heard pretty much everything through the speakers, like that hard drive being accessed and crap. :angry: I ended up cutting up an old set of pc speakers and using the 12v brick that came with them to power it, now I have crisp clean sound.
That's cool that you are using the power supply to power the sound amp are you going to get a 12v Marquee light?
I already have a regular florescent light installed, so no need for a 12v marquee light.
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Very nice build!
About powering the amp with the pc power supply... it created a nasty ground loop, so I heard pretty much everything through the speakers, like that hard drive being accessed and crap. :angry: I ended up cutting up an old set of pc speakers and using the 12v brick that came with it to power it, now I have crisp clean sound.
Been there, done that :lol
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Hey, just in for a quick update, I do have some pictures taken, but me and my kids have been too busy actually playing the arcade that I havent been able to do much else. :lol My 12 year old is hooked on it. I suppose its better that then him sitting in his room playing halo multiplayer by himself. I just need to get around to painting the thing now once we actually have a day with predictable weather. This past Sunday the weather changed like 10 times in one day!
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lol playing halo multiplayer by himself. It just so happens that I had a conversation about multiplayer gaming last night where I was saying that to play multiplayer these days you play alone. It really doesn't have the same feel as it did back in the day with 4 people crowded around an arcade machine or a console sharing a screen and having a blast.
I love the metalwork! Do you have any ideas for the artwork yet?
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When I meant multiplayer alone, I really meant alone, he doesn't have xbox live or an internet connection :P He just sets up a local player and shoots at him... I don't have any clue on artwork yet. I do love the Metal Slug series of games, so i'm thinking about just making it a "Metal Slug Arcade", even though its a MAME cabinet.
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Heres the photos I promised, only a week or so late. :lol Please excuse the mess in my garage, seems everyone thinks it's some place to just dump whatever they arent using. :angry:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1355.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1357.jpg)
Keyboard is temporary of course, still working out some bugs.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1358.jpg)
Yeah, I know. It's not gonna win any awards for tidiness. I just wanna play!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1360.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1359.jpg)
Upgraded hardware, yay!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1361.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/kameleon_green/IMG_1364.jpg)
Kid tested, mother approved. Approved enough for her to get the high score on pacman today...
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The progress is looking great. :applaud:
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Thanks! I know I still have a long way to go in the visual department, Hopefully I can get the thing painted here soon before it gets too hot to do anything in the garage.
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You would win that bet, because it is indeed a virtua fighter cab that was converted to Blitz, still has the sega serial number sticker on the back... The glass still has the classic "caution" black and yellow bezel sticker still on it. I'll be replacing the glass with smoked plexi at some point. As far as shipping the blitz stuff, i'll get back to you on that, my fiancée works in shipping, so she'll be able to give me some options.
Any word on shipping? ;)
Panel looks great, if those buttons next to start are for coining up, one thing I did on a previous project was super glue quarters to the coin up buttons, perfect and then everyone knows what the button does.
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I was actually just talking to my fiancée about the shipping for that thing yesterday. I'll have her check it out on Tuesday when she goes back to work. Yep, those are my coin buttons, once I get a cpo that I like, it'll be properly labelled. 8)
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Well, its been a while since I posted about this project. In the meantime, I've had a major hardware failure. I was recently able to procure a new motherboard from my place of employment, got it installed, and almost back to working order yesterday. Had to re-install windows, cause apparently during the time it was down, my version of XP I had on there expired and I could't reactivate it. Still haven't done anything in the visual department, and probably won't for a while. I'm in the process of buying a house with a MUCH larger garage, so maybe i'll have the work space to finish one of these projects off :P
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All that metal work looks incredible man, good job!