Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum

Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: paigeoliver on September 18, 2003, 09:46:17 pm

Title: Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on September 18, 2003, 09:46:17 pm: I finally made a decision on what I am going to do with that Cherry Master cabinet that has been gathering dust in my shed for 6 months.

I am going to make a PONG!

I just ordered this Pong console.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3046744655

The console itself will go inside the cabinet, and I will relocate the controls and start buttons to the control panel.

For a display I am going to search around the thrift stores for a good B&W 19" set (or color failing that), and decase it, and use a standard plastic arcade monitor bezel and a green plastic overlay.

I have set my total budget for this project at $50. So far I have spent $12.50 (for the Pong console).

I figured this would be a fun super cheap project, and a good way to use up that cabinet that wasn't really suitable for anything else I wanted to do.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: Apollo on September 18, 2003, 09:54:27 pm: Why?
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on September 18, 2003, 10:20:45 pm: Why not?

Thought it would be a cool thing to have. Already have a decent amount of cabinets, but I don't have anything that can play Pong. Plus I used to have that exact same Pong console when I was a kid. I think I sold it for $10.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: Apollo on September 18, 2003, 10:58:54 pm: True. I never played Pong as a kid so I kinda just thought why? LOL.
It is the one with the ball and the 2 lines at each end of the screen isn't it, like tennis?
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on September 18, 2003, 11:12:50 pm: Yes, and if I remember correctly the unit I had/am getting has 4 variations on the theme.

Older people love it, because they remember it from the 70s.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: Apollo on September 18, 2003, 11:14:38 pm: It's so nice to belong to a forum where 34 years old is not considered crusty, lol.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on September 18, 2003, 11:30:44 pm: Here is a picture of an original.

I am going to use a similar woodgrain cabinet, and try to make a similar yellow front to it (maybe).
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: Chris on September 19, 2003, 12:07:25 am: I used to play pong a lot as a kid! Then we got a pong console, and we'd play it for hours!

I'm 34 too....

--Chris
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: CitznFish on September 19, 2003, 01:42:31 am: that console reminds me of Omni
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: pathdoc2 on September 19, 2003, 02:17:05 am: Pong was the first video game I remember and I'm 37. I first saw it at Sears. Blew my mind at the time.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: TheGatesofBill on September 19, 2003, 05:35:29 am: Never touched a Pong console or cabinet (what do you expect, I'm 16). However, it is my second favorite game of all time (Rogue is my first).
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: Carsten Carlos on September 19, 2003, 05:40:17 am: Quote
(or color failing that)

Never use a color tv for this - even if the color is failing. Color tubes have a mask in them which a b&w-tv is missing - you want this thing to look rather authentic!
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: TheGatesofBill on September 19, 2003, 05:42:16 am: You could probably pick up a nice working B&W tv from your local dump. I've picked up a few from mine (I sold them off though).
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on September 19, 2003, 05:45:30 am: Most of my local thrift stores want too much for old TVs, but one of them sells them next to nothing, and always has a decent selection. I may have to do a cap kit though. Finding a 13" B&W will be no problem, it is just the 19" sets that are harder to come by.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: pointdablame on September 20, 2003, 12:25:46 am: Very cool idea. I love pong. Dad held on to his old concole Pong game, so I got to grow up with it too, even though I'm only 19
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: OSCAR on September 20, 2003, 01:48:27 am: Very cool! You are really tempting me to dig out my Pong console and fire it up to see if it still works. A few days ago I opened up my Atari 2600 and cleaned all the slide switches, and then proceeded to play a bit of Pitfall and Spider Fighter... The wife thought I had gone totally nuts when she walked into the basement and saw me playing the 2600 swearing at the alligators in Pitfall... ;D

Good luck on your project, looks like a lot of fun!
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: night on September 20, 2003, 10:43:15 pm: i have an Atari Pong in my closet. takes D batteries ;D. havent dug it out in a while
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: SirPoonga on September 22, 2003, 01:38:55 am: I have two different pong-type consoles. One form Coleco with a simple lightgun game too.

The other, which I prefer, is just a simple pong type game.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on September 27, 2003, 07:49:40 pm: Pong Console came today. It is in beautiful condition. I didn't try it with a TV yet, but upon pushing the start button I heard it start playing (at which point I immediately took the probably 2 decades old batteries out of the thing, I am going to use the AC adaptor anyway).

The paddles will be even easier to put on a control panel than I thought. They detach from the base unit. Installing them in the control panel is just a matter if drilling a small hole in the panel, and then screwing them in.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: Sasquatch! on September 28, 2003, 10:49:54 am: Very interesting project! I love the ideas that everyone here comes up with! :)
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on September 28, 2003, 08:34:31 pm: Another update. I tested it with my portable 5" black & white TV. it works absolutely fine, although the left paddle is a little wiggly sometimes, I'll just replace the POT, that should take care of that.

I will probably also replace any caps that happen to be inside the unit, since they are 25+ years old.

It has 4 variations. I forgot exactly what it called them, but here they are.

Pong - Normal pong.

Solo - Hit it against the wall, one player only.

Handball - Both players on the same side hitting it against the wall.

Hockey/Soccer - Two paddles per player and smaller goals in the middle of each side.

There are three selectable ball speeds as well.

The switches for ball speed and game select will stay inside the cabinet. But the serve and reset buttons will make it onto the control panel. Or I might wire a toggle switch to switch between solo mode and standard Pong.

I am still not sure if this is a color or a black and white pong, as I haven't tried it on a color set yet.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: mclaught on October 01, 2003, 11:04:35 am: found this auction on ebay for a B&W wells garner monitor, don't know if you're interested or not, but just thought I'd pass it on.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13718&item=3244678418
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on October 01, 2003, 05:56:24 pm: No thanks, the original Pongs had television sets in them, and my unit puts out the game on channel 3 anyway, and thus wouldn't even display on that monitor. Plus, I just sold one of those monitors not too long ago.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on October 28, 2003, 03:25:48 am: Picked up a 13" 70s era black and white television at the thrift store for $5. It has a PERFECT removable tinted molded plexiglass cover that is going to make bezel construction a breeze.

The only real missing piece of the puzzle now is a couple of original Pong knobs. The ones I have now are fine, but I would like to pick up a couple of metal arcade ones if at all possible.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: AlanS17 on October 30, 2003, 12:48:12 am: I don't know what an original pong knob looks like, but have you checked out all the knobs on the oscar website?
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on October 30, 2003, 01:32:26 am: Quote from: AlanS17 on October 30, 2003, 12:48:12 am
I don't know what an original pong knob looks like, but have you checked out all the knobs on the oscar website?

Oscars knobs look fine, but I would have to do some custom work to mate them to the pots. I used to have a pot based spinner. It had a standard knob that rotated a plastic circle that was held against another plastic circle with a spring. The second plastic circle was connected directly to the pot. The way that worked was nice, as it was impossible to damage the pot by turning it too far.

It would probably just be cheaper to pick up a pair of pot based spinners that were complete rather than trying to make new ones.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: rdagger on October 30, 2003, 03:18:50 pm: You could build the Pong game into any Mame cabinet with a standard monitor. All you need is a video card with a TV tuner. Stick the Pong console in the cabinet and output to channel 3. Then just wire the knobs to your control panel. If I remember correctly, the Pong controls used pots.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on October 31, 2003, 01:08:56 am: Quote from: rdagger on October 30, 2003, 03:18:50 pm
You could build the Pong game into any Mame cabinet with a standard monitor. All you need is a video card with a TV tuner. Stick the Pong console in the cabinet and output to channel 3. Then just wire the knobs to your control panel. If I remember correctly, the Pong controls used pots.

Yes, every Pong console I have ever seen used pots. But it is cheapest to build it with a TV monitor. I could actually put mine together right now, and I am in less than $25 total for parts/cabinet. The only reason I haven't done it yet is that I am holding out for some metal spinners.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on November 11, 2003, 05:16:52 am: Ok, I am giving up on metal spinners for now. I am just going to try and get up kind of early tommorrow and bang this bad boy out. Or at least get it functional.
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: iwillfearnoevil on November 11, 2003, 09:39:38 am: 28 and i remember playing the pong console as a child. then it broke somehow but we ended up with a coleco vision at the next Christmas :)
Title: Re:Let me see that PONG, that Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong, Pong!
Post by: paigeoliver on November 12, 2003, 01:21:53 am: Oops, project delayed again. I just located a matching pair of NOS metal spinners, and they are even local!