Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: Turambar on January 20, 2010, 02:26:09 pm
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Like many other people, I have spent hours lurking on this forum. I bought Saint's book in May 2009. Well, I finally started working on the machine. The book encouraged to give back by contributing to the forums, so I thought I would try and detail my build. It isn't anything that hasn't been seen before, and it certainly isn't as amazing as some of the incredible builds found here on the byoac forum. My hope is that it will encourage others to take the leap and go for it. I still have a lot to do, and I hope to use this thread to post some thoughts and questions about my build as well. With all of that said, here we go...
(http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/8839/19472231154191191591586.jpg)
I started measuring inside my kitchen (the wife was very forgiving). I wanted to show this pic because it shows Saint's book in action. I wouldn't have done this without his book, so thanks again. Measure twice, and cut once (and be amazed somethings still aren't perfect).
(http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/7296/19472231154226191591586.jpg)
It's business time. By way of encouragement, this picture shows the less than tenth time I have held a circle saw in my life.
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(http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/5615/19472231154231191591586.jpg)
Props to my father-in-law for patience and help.
(http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/3370/19472231137746191591586.jpg)
Most of the build took place outside in a blistering 31 degrees. It was even colder on other days.
(http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/3729/19472231154211191591586.jpg)
Look at that profile...
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(http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/795/19472231154241191591586.jpg)
MDF makes more dust than any other material I have ever cut (not that there has been many). I had not goggles, so I grabbed a pair from a ten buck tool man dress up set I got Jimmy at Christmas. l33t!
(http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/5481/19472231154246191591586.jpg)
Here is a close up of the sides clamped together. As you can see, I let the router get away from me a little bit. The t-molding covered over this sin.
(http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/6952/19472231137776191591586.jpg)
The base assembled
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Welcome! ;D
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That looks like LuSiD's (MK2) design. FYI...it is blasphemy to dirty up a WoW hoody in that fashion, even if it is for arcade building ;D
Welcome to the forums, and keep up the good work!!
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Thanks for the welcome!
(http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/9195/19472231137781191591586.jpg)
We were still working in the dark. One thing I did differently than the book was go ahead and attach the supports for most of the other pieces.
(http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/3641/19472231137791191591586.jpg)
Things were starting to come together.
(http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/3199/19472231137796191591586.jpg)
My son would have been fine if it had stayed like this I think.
(http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/6418/19472231137816191591586.jpg)
Saint's book tells you to be careful. There are tons of posts about being careful. What did I do? Well, I stopped being careful for a minute. If you notice a big red, bloody spot on top of his head, it was my fault. I released a clamp that was holding a piece of wood, gravity took its course, and bam! I still feel bad about this one, but if you are going to make an omelet, you have to... well, you know.
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(http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/5222/19472231137841191591586.jpg)
Had a set of logitech x-230's. They sound great, and since I had them, they were free!
(http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/543/19472231137851191591586.jpg)
I had some trouble thinking about how to mount them, but ultimately decided to just glue them to the board once they were out of their case. They feel very secure.
(http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/475/19472231137826191591586.jpg)
The beast is starting to emerge!
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(http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/1122/19472233473291191591586.jpg)
First coat of primer is on.
(http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/4259/19472238938956191591586.jpg)
Mounted the mobo to wood using happ pcb mounting feet.
(http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/5417/19472238938971191591586.jpg)
This machine had sat unused for over a year. I wanted to make sure it still worked after I mounted it to the wood. This old dusty baby is a P4 2.53, 1 GB of ram, 80 GB HD, 128 MB Geforce 6800 GT running Windows 7 Enterprise x86. Runs like a champ, but the heat sink on the processor sounds like a jet engine taking off.
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(http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/582/19472253381401191591586.jpg)
Black Beauty
(http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/1921/19472258155776191591586.jpg)
I got the speaker grills up as well as the marquee retainers. The t-molding is coming in this week, so that will set it off a little bit. THE MAME MARQUEE IS NOT THE ONE I AM USING. I just printed it off to show how the retainers work. I hope to have my brother-in-law design some amazing artwork. I also need to purchase the plexi for the marquee art as well as the light to back-light it. I also tested the speakers tonight by hooking my iphone up to them. I was worried they wouldn't work since I hacked them up and mounted them, but they were amazing.
(http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4435/19472259924726191591586.jpg)
Started placing the control panel together.
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(http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/7991/19472263224616191591586.jpg)
Installed some t-molding. This is the last pic I have to post. Thanks for reading, and I will put up more pics as I make progress. Thanks to all of the community. Keep up the good work!
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Looks good. The paint really turned out nice.
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Looks good. The paint really turned out nice.
Thanks, Doc. Probably going to sand a little more in a few places and do a little touch-up yet.
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Sogeking? Planning a One Piece theme?
The cabinet is looking good so far. I did a similar thing when I built my cabinet, letting the router get away from me while I was slot cutting, and the t-moulding covered that mistake up for good, too.
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Most of the build took place outside in a blistering 31 degrees. It was even colder on other days.
At that temperature I am still wearing T-shirts outside up here in Toronto, Canada-eh :laugh2: Everything is looking great so far and can't wait to see more progress.
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Sogeking? Planning a One Piece theme?
Indeed I am, Benevolance. :D
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Welcome, you've made great progress so far, I'm interested to see what artwork your brother in law comes up with.
:cheers:
Ond
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Sogeking?! Zoro all the way!! Just joking ;D, nice cab though.
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Well, it has been a bit, and this project was pushed to a corner in the Man Cave, but progress is starting again. I agonized forever over monitor selection, and then a core2 duo system with a nvidia 8600 was dropped into my lap. The card had an svideo out. I have read, reread, researched, bla bla bla over the different types of displays people used in mame cabs. I know the arguments from the purists, and I know that an actual arcade monitor is the way to go, but due to financial constraints and a desire to get this project up and going again, I went with a Daewoo 27 inch from craigslist with svideo input for $35.00. I have 4 (yes 4) Pentranic (sp?) 33'' monitors sitting in my garage right now that will inhabit showcase cabs (I hope) at a later date. For now, I went on the cheap.
A note here: I have loved Saint's book for this project, and I recommend it to everyone. This is one of the areas that it just got fuzzy as to what to do. So I am posting a pic of how I mounted this tube.
I did de-case it (as you will see), and this took much courage after this forum had put the fear of God in me about discharging a tv. So for you pros who think it is no big deal, get up off me. For noobs like me out there who are also scared, utilize every precaution, but know that you can do this.
(http://i.imgur.com/nNKwD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/nNKwD.jpg)
Basically, I cross mounted two 2x4s into the cabinet. Then I used the brackets on the tube to suspend mount it between the 2x4s.
This pics really don't do it justice. Everyone who has seen the monitor loves the look.
Another thing the forum was incredibly helpful on was creating a bezel. I got some ideas, and I made my own. I have a piece of smoked plexi on its way as well. Here is a pic of the unpainted bezel (I am totally redoing the control panel... the one in the pic was made 2 yrs ago, and I have learned much from this forum since then as you will hopefully see soon).
(http://i.imgur.com/52E4U.jpg)
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Most of the build took place outside in a blistering 31 degrees. It was even colder on other days.
At that temperature I am still wearing T-shirts outside up here in Toronto, Canada-eh :laugh2: Everything is looking great so far and can't wait to see more progress.
Yeah but you would die if you had to make a cabinet in the same temps I did.
I had to have a sweat rag for the MDF to prevent any swelling up.
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Don't see too many traditional cabs these days - glad to see a classic. Looks good! :)
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(http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/795/19472231154241191591586.jpg)
MDF makes more dust than any other material I have ever cut (not that there has been many). I had not goggles, so I grabbed a pair from a ten buck tool man dress up set I got Jimmy at Christmas. l33t!
(http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/5481/19472231154246191591586.jpg)
Great looking cab, may i add that you should have worn a dust mask as well as goggles as MDF is made of loads man-made chemicals as well as sawdust, defo something you shouldn't be breathing in.
maybe also ear protection as i know routers are very loud.
i'll get off my health and safety soapbox now :)
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Thank you for the concern over another forum member's health :) This was done outside in a very well ventilated area (2 years ago). My router is not terribly loud, but riding around in high school in too many rides with car audio systems pretty much already took care of my hearing (my wife would tell you I am deaf, but I think all wives think that).
Thanks for the encouragement from others as well. Things actually are progressing. The artwork is soon to be unveiled (I am very excited about it). I will be sending that to game on graphics. I have decided to not cover the cp with plexi but instead just used the adhesive backed vinyl from gog. Once the artwork is done, I will have the template from gog and I am recutting my cp.
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I'll be embedding about six images here. Of all the things that make a build a "good build" imo is the monitor bezel area of an arcade. You can execute other things well, but if the monitor area sucks (the display is too small, the bezel doesn't fit right, etc) then the whole project looks lackluster. My abilities in no way come close to those of others on here, but I tried really hard to get my monitor area right. The bezel is just made from wood and painted black. The smoked plexi is from tap plastics. Pics are with my phone... I'll grab my camera later.
(http://i.imgur.com/kxjCyh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oDsqCh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/aPz9bh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/KxrCdh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/eXtXuh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/tqIXxh.jpg)
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Nice looking build. It is good to see one of the old school cabs being built again. :applaud: :applaud:
Keep going it will be great.
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Looks awesome! Do you know how you are going to get the TV to power on with the computer/rest of the cabinet? The picture looks really nice and since you an get them so cheap (and arcade monitors are scarce) this is definitely something to think about for my next cabinet. I just want to be sure I an rig up a one-button power on/off. :cheers:
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Looks awesome! Do you know how you are going to get the TV to power on with the computer/rest of the cabinet? The picture looks really nice and since you an get them so cheap (and arcade monitors are scarce) this is definitely something to think about for my next cabinet. I just want to be sure I an rig up a one-button power on/off. :cheers:
That's exactly was this is: the arcade button on top of the cabinet powers on the computer. The computer is plugged into the control plug on the smart strip. The TV has an option (I don't remember right now if it is in the normal menu or the service mode menu of the tv) that does a power on after power has been cut off. So, everything works with a single button. When I press the button on top again, Windows exits and the computer shuts down. This turns off everything else on the smartstrip.
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Looks awesome! Do you know how you are going to get the TV to power on with the computer/rest of the cabinet? The picture looks really nice and since you an get them so cheap (and arcade monitors are scarce) this is definitely something to think about for my next cabinet. I just want to be sure I an rig up a one-button power on/off. :cheers:
That's exactly was this is: the arcade button on top of the cabinet powers on the computer. The computer is plugged into the control plug on the smart strip. The TV has an option (I don't remember right now if it is in the normal menu or the service mode menu of the tv) that does a power on after power has been cut off. So, everything works with a single button. When I press the button on top again, Windows exits and the computer shuts down. This turns off everything else on the smartstrip.
Nice pirate flag. Go Luffy!
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+1 for the smoked plexi from tap, makes for a really finished look and i think enhances the picture quality making seem more authentic.
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Looks awesome! Do you know how you are going to get the TV to power on with the computer/rest of the cabinet? The picture looks really nice and since you an get them so cheap (and arcade monitors are scarce) this is definitely something to think about for my next cabinet. I just want to be sure I an rig up a one-button power on/off. :cheers:
That's exactly was this is: the arcade button on top of the cabinet powers on the computer. The computer is plugged into the control plug on the smart strip. The TV has an option (I don't remember right now if it is in the normal menu or the service mode menu of the tv) that does a power on after power has been cut off. So, everything works with a single button. When I press the button on top again, Windows exits and the computer shuts down. This turns off everything else on the smartstrip.
So it is dependent on the features of the TV? That makes it a little tougher but still doable. The one button power on is key!
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So it is dependent on the features of the TV? That makes it a little tougher but still doable. The one button power on is key!
I totally agree with you about the one power button on. I honestly have no idea whether it is a feature that most crt televisions have or if I just got lucky. The tv I used was a daewoo 27'' flat screen television. I got it for just 35 dollars off of craigslist.
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Okay... time for a big reveal... Control panel art. A ton of effort has gone into this art, and I will tell the story of it in a bit. For now, here is a low res version for you to check out. Obviously, the full size one is 300 dpi and incredibly detailed.
(http://i.imgur.com/DhoEJ.jpg)
I will also be changing the tmolding on the cabinet to orange to better fit with the theme of the control panel art. Marquee work has begun as well.
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How I love One Piece! :D
Cab looks really solid and ofcourse the artwork is badass! It's a bit too crowded for my taste, but I'd love to hear your story behind it.
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How I love One Piece! :D
Cab looks really solid and ofcourse the artwork is badass! It's a bit too crowded for my taste, but I'd love to hear your story behind it.
I posted this in the art section, but I will go into more detail at the end here. The characters are from an anime called One Piece. This is going to sound silly, but at least a couple of hundred hours went into this panel. I knew that I wanted a One Piece themed cab, but finding artwork was difficult. One Piece manga is released weekly, and at the end of each issue is user-submitted art. One of the guys who redoes all of the lines and does incredible coloring had posted on there. His deviant art name is DEIVISCC http://deiviscc.deviantart.com/ (http://deiviscc.deviantart.com/). I gave him this image from One Piece 628:
(http://naruto-spoilers.com/onepiece-628/mangas/Read%20One%20Piece%20628/One%20Piece%20628/one-piece-2414095.jpg)
To print at game on grafix, the work is supposed to be 300 dpi. The image I gave DEIVISCC was 72 dpi. He put in a couple hundred hours of work that ended up being over 1600 layers to reproduce the image in 300 dpi glory.
My brother-in-law took his work and then arranged it and designed the control panel. I am incredibly pleased with the result.
So to add more here than what I put in the artwork thread:
Like everyone, I really loved Martijn's original cab (and his new one, too, of course). I liked how his original control panel looked like a character select screen, but a lot of the art around the sticks and buttons hid the actual art of the characters. When Oda made the color image that served for the basis of my artwork, I wanted to make sure that I 1)kept as much of it out from under the art surrounding the buttons/sticks, and 2) I didn't want to leave out any of the characters.
All of that being said, there is a lot going on in the art, but when you see it printed full-size, it isn't bad. If you are a fan of OP, then you you might have caught a couple of other things. The art around the trackball is the tattoo of the sun pirates that Jinbe has on his chest. the art around the player 1 and 2 buttons, along with all of the joysticks is the mark of Trafalgar Law.
Since the marquee won't be an attempt to recreate any art in particular, it will be less "busy." Still, I am very excited about how it all came out.
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Bottem left/right also show some Trafalgar Law love :P
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3sU0MnRawMI/TPduMJpMyKI/AAAAAAAABkE/1-TVvHpuJV0/s1600/cute%2Btrafalgar%2Blaw2.jpg)
Also DEIVISCC did a really great job on getting it to 300dpi! Really like the work he's put out on Deviant. And you're brother-in-law did a good job aswell seeing as all the heads are kept intact while creating the CP.
Congrats on getting creating your own kickass CP :applaud:
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And you're brother-in-law did a good job aswell seeing as all the heads are kept intact while creating the CP.
Congrats on getting creating your own kickass CP :applaud:
That was the main thing... making sure everyone's faces were clearly seen.
Getting ready to drill the new CP.
(http://i.imgur.com/SvcFj.jpg)
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Looks awesome. I have a question.. that button on top of the machine..what does it lead to? How do you set that up to turn on the whole machine??
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Looks awesome. I have a question.. that button on top of the machine..what does it lead to? How do you set that up to turn on the whole machine??
I have unplugged the case power button from the panel connection on the computer motherboard. The wire from that arcade button is spliced into a panel connection plug and then plugged into the motherboard where the power switch went. The computer sees it as a power button.
The computer power cable is plugged into the control plug of a smartstrip. When the computer is powered on, it turns on the monitor and speakers. The marquee light and coindoor lights will be powered by the computer powersupply, so they will turn on instantly when the computer is turned on.
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And now for the $64k question. What are you going with for the sideart and marquee?
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The marquee has something to do with this image:
(http://i.imgur.com/YpPYS.png)
Side art is going to have to wait until the entire project is complete due to financial constraints. Being that it is black, however, I have thought about doing half of Luffy's Mark on either side.
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Did a good bit of work on the CP for top mounting Sanwa joysticks. Thanks to Franco B and Markronz for help.
(http://i.imgur.com/jpGqK.jpg)
This was my first time ever working with Bondo. I think it came out pretty good... everything isn't totally flush but it is very close.
(http://i.imgur.com/9XxuM.jpg)
Results:
(http://i.imgur.com/CcYcH.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/zuEXJ.jpg)
I am not using plexi on top. I just got the artwork with the adhesive back from gameongrafix.
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Amazing artwork :applaud: . You're a braver man than me not going with plexi though, after the time/effort thats gone into that, i'd be using bulletproof glass :D Looking forward to seeing more of this build.
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Looks great my man! Looks like the bondo worked out well for you as well. Regarding not using plexi, I don't think you have anything to worry about there. I've now made two different control panels. On one I did use plexiglass, and I'm not sure if I would do it again. It's cool, but for me I didn't think it was worth the extra work. On the other CP I did not use plexiglass. The super tough material they use at game on grafix is impressive, and I haven't had any problems with it in over 2 years. So I wouldn't worry too much about scratching it.
Amazing artwork :applaud: . You're a braver man than me not going with plexi though, after the time/effort thats gone into that, i'd be using bulletproof glass :D Looking forward to seeing more of this build.
It sounds like it'd be dangerous, but once you've felt the material they use, you'd feel a lot more comfortable going without plexi.
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More progress:
(http://i.imgur.com/WhdmF.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/tqL8P.jpg)
I'm getting rid of all of the blue t-molding on the cab and going with orange instead to favor the art more. I'm will not be using the blue buttons in the pics, either. I am going to swap them with red ones.
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I really like the artwork. This with the orange t-mold will pop big time. I am interested to see what the buttons look like red. (i kinda like the blue) :P Can't wait to see it done. :)
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This CP is killer! Nice work.
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So I was browsing older posts, when I came across a thread trying to reintroduce crapmame to the BYOAC forums. Who doesn't live in fear of seeing their cab on there?! Anyway, I came across this tidbit from Donkbaca
I think we would all agree on simple pointers, like, no batting in the corners of your marquee so that there is no shadows in the corners
It got me thinking about my cab, because that is exactly how mine was currently designed. I got new t-molding in, so I thought I would give the cab an extra coat of paint, install the t-molding, and take care of that problem as well. Joystick lube comes in Monday, so I will have better shots, but here is what the cab looks like with the orange (pics taken with android phone):
(http://i.imgur.com/o0xzs.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/jc7aB.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/iOb1Y.jpg)
Where I fixed the "batting" in the marquee area:
(http://i.imgur.com/SlOnd.jpg)
A couple of things to point out... First, I am waiting on buttons from paradise arcade to replace the blue ones with red ones and the white ones on the CP box with black ones. I am using an IPac 4, so I didn't realize it had shift functionality when I first put the buttons in the side of my CP box almost 2.5 years ago. I am going to go ahead and put in black ones... to be wired up for... something...
You probably caught that the CP box is missing its front in the pics. I have the European style hinges that will hinge the CP to the box, but the forstner bit to sink them won't be here until Monday. Also don't have the CP controls fully installed because I am waiting on joystick lube which will arrive Monday.
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So I got 99% of the wiring done. I need a little help, though. It all centers around the GGG Electric Ice-T. First, like many people, I have had difficulty getting it to travel smoothly. I have tried to shim it up a little bit with rubber washers, and still it seems to be a little rough. There is no wood touching it on any side, and it is just mounted to the mounting plate. If I tighten the bolts down... not even that tight... it doesn't want to move at all. I have to keep them somewhat loose. Any advice here would be great.
Secondly, the Electric Ice-T comes with an opti-wiz and some LED's to light the trackball. I have the trackball hooked up to the opti-wiz with no problems. Thus far, I have not been able to get the LED's to light up. I just want the ball to glow red, so I am trying to hook it up to a 5v line off of the PSU. Thus far, it is a no go. I have my coin door lights running off of a 12v line from the same connector, so I know it is getting power. The opti-wiz has an extra place for 5v... could it be hooked up there? If so, where can I buy those 2 pin connectors?
Thanks for help... I am getting close.
Wiring pic:
(http://i.imgur.com/JT8RM.jpg)
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the feature you have for your tv is called "power return" in most cases. My 27in panasonic has it. like you was i am scared to discharge my tv so it is sitting idle and not in my cab also the fact i would have to remove the buttons that control it once i get it decased. which shouldnt be a problem with channel memory (or what ever that feature is called). do you have any pics of the tv before you decased it or the model # for it. also any tips for a fellow scaredy cat discharging a tv for the first time.
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ball-uhr cabbie, nice art!
I dig the color scheme!
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I'm not real familiar with the elec ice trackball but I have an optiwiz and you should be able to hook right up to the 5v line and the ground running right off of that. The trackball should have at least 4 wires running off of it for the LEDs. One for ground and then one for power to each color led (red green and blue). So if you want it to be red just hook up the red led wire to 5v and the ground and leave the other two wires unhooked. Try that and let me know.if it works. I actually ordered a pile of those pins connectors but can't remember where I got them from but I will try to find my receipt.
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Gonna sit and answer a couple of questions asked here, but I wanted to show that the cabinet is now playable.
(http://i.imgur.com/8UHZV.jpg)
Of course the week I finish my cab the hyperspin forums are down (I even payed the 25 a few months ago). I've managed to get most of my mame stuff fixed, but I am having trouble with naomi stuff. Hopefully Hyperspin will be back soon. Even though I am having trouble with Demul, the completed Naomi wheel in hyperspin is beautiful.