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Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: sr.lucas on July 25, 2014, 12:21:23 am

Title: My First time ever cabinet project! :)
Post by: sr.lucas on July 25, 2014, 12:21:23 am

Hi Everyone!

A friend of mine recently told me they had a cabinet lying around their office that needed restoration and they would give it away for free if I would pick it up.

So I decided to restore and setup a MAME cabinet...

now I've been reading through most of the pages and  the FAQ here but I'd like to share with you some of my concern/thoughts:

1.- I haven't decided yet if I should go CRT or LCD. I would really like to keep the old-school idea of having a CRT but I'd really like to know what is widely used now. I really like the "easy" setup of an LCD and the weight issue...

2.- I can't decide on the side art and markee art for the project.... I was thinking something star wars based (my cousins love SW and i'm building it for them)... any ideas?

3.- I am about to buy the kit on the link, and I'd like to know if it is any good: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Arcade-parts-Bundles-With-Illuminated-button-LED-bulbs-holders-nuts-Joystick-player-buttons-Microswitch-USB-adapter/1592469951.html (http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Arcade-parts-Bundles-With-Illuminated-button-LED-bulbs-holders-nuts-Joystick-player-buttons-Microswitch-USB-adapter/1592469951.html)

Thanks a lot for your help and for making such a great forum!

Title: Re: My First time ever cabinet project! :)
Post by: sr.lucas on July 25, 2014, 12:51:58 am

Here are some pics of it :)

This is how it arrived:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10375132_10152963539038943_4205712578776458757_n.jpg?oh=4f5b9acfbbd46b9901053023cc63301a&oe=544681DC&__gda__=1414780323_8adeb0910919c6849c434665618cb7d0)

After removing the coin door:
(https://scontent-b-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10550895_10152963539243943_5995010425406213869_n.jpg?oh=aec3eab652590228bbe23f7c7430b175&oe=543889A9)

Some side damage:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10556403_10152963539098943_8050619590846237014_n.jpg?oh=e95aa14569e19387a84663083ab95d89&oe=543A1B71&__gda__=1412692500_736a16ea0c65fe7560d6b63a484b8f23)

Coin door is extremely rusty:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t1.0-9/10583983_10152963539093943_8466235281036068554_n.jpg)

Title: Re: My First time ever cabinet project! :)
Post by: danny_galaga on July 25, 2014, 02:16:25 am

Lots of work there, but a prime candidate for MAMEing. I don't know much about the kit you linked to. I would hold off until some of the others comment. It seems awfully cheap. I think one Sanwa joy costs more than that bundle! But like I say, just hold off for a few more informed comments.

I'm close to building another cab myself, and I am going to use an NEC TV I found on the side of the road and get a conversion chassis for it. That makes it an 'arcade' monitor. That is, it runs at 15khz and has 'arcade' input (which for the life of me I can't recall what that is! RGB?). If I wasn't going to use that TV, I have a Dell 19" 4:3 monitor.

That's the big issue in my mind. If you go LCD, wide screen seems like a waste to me, unless you pick up one of those Dells. Those Dells are pretty cheap though, and are quite nice, so that could be an option (",) A drawback would be that 19" is going to be as big as you'll find in 4:3

here's a couple of Dells on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-UltraSharp-1908FPB-19-4-3-1280x1024-LCD-Monitor-/151349939242?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item233d28cc2a (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-UltraSharp-1908FPB-19-4-3-1280x1024-LCD-Monitor-/151349939242?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item233d28cc2a)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-UltraSharp-1908FP-1908FPb-19-4-3-5-4-LCD-Monitor-VGA-DVI-output-/261542225888?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item3ce521a7e0 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-UltraSharp-1908FP-1908FPb-19-4-3-5-4-LCD-Monitor-VGA-DVI-output-/261542225888?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item3ce521a7e0)

Title: Re: My First time ever cabinet project! :)
Post by: Slippyblade on July 25, 2014, 05:04:13 pm

As far as that kit is concerned, the Zippyy sticks are good sticks.  About $9 a pop if bought seperately.  And that looks like a Xin-Mo encoder, which I've used in the past reliably.  Interesting that they've stolen the image of the Xin-Mo off of Groovy Game Gear's website and then watermarked over the top of it.  Losers.

All in all, looks like you got a solid project on your hands that you'll have a lot of fun working on.  Good on ya!