Julian's Arcade 2 player Mame Bartop (lot's o pics)

[magnetik]

UPDATES ON LAST PAGE.


It's not as beautiful or refined as some of the other cabs on here but I don't see many bartops compared to normal cabs and I am more left brained than right.   I live in an apt at the moment and space is limited so it had to meet the waf "wife approval factor" and since it just sat on my sub (which almost didn't pass) I was good to go
The arcade is actually sitting on a subwoofer I built years ago but it's a bartop I swear.

Sorry if the pics are a little out of order.  I will sort them out later.

Specs:

24" Dell 2405FPW (all I had lying around that was bigger than 19")
Athlon FX55
EVGA 8800GTX 768MB
1TB Hitachi 7200rpm HD
IL / Happ Competition J/S & Buttons
Ipac2 keyboard controller
GGG Turbotwist2
Wifi (external antenna) & GigE
2 x 4" Phoenix Gold RSD (had them lying around too)
external usb hub (not in pics) for console controllers
Sunbeam Theta fan controller (controls fans through software)
Quickcam 4000 (to stream my living room or anyone that's playing using ActiveWebcam) hehe
Griffin Powermate (volume controller) hid when not in use.

Overall it was a pretty easy build. I made some mistakes that I won't do next time but overall my friends get a kick out of it.  I will post more pics when I get the control panel lit up.

Notes:

- using Maximus Arcade as the FE which has worked great so far.
- I was real surprised on how easy the keyboard controller was to hook up.  I was also pleased on how my marquee from Mame Marquees turned out.
- used 4 cold cathodes powered by the PC to light up the marquee and put a button on the back to start the computer.  
- powering the speakers with an amp ripped out of a set of dell speakers and control the volume with the knob in the pic of the control panel.
- accidently bought solid core wire, which actually turned out great since I could bend the wire anyway I wanted.  Just have a good set of crimpers.
- ordered a set of Electric Ice buttons since they are in stock now and will be lighting up the control panel soon.
- installed a set of stainless dragon joysticks (not pictured)
- used a sheet of Lexan for the screen with velcro.  I also used leftover laminate for the bezel
- everything is removable from the front by opening up the control panel and pulling out the bezel.  May make it changeable in the future.

I want to thank everyone that post their builds... I probably wouldn't have had the courage to build one without them!

hope this doesn't kill my connection.. hehe

[ghettodish]

I'm gonna steal a few of your design ideas for my next project!

[retrometro]

Very very nice.  It's nice using that LCD panel to save room in your cab.

[magnetik]

I'm gonna steal a few of your design ideas for my next project!

haha steal away.. I know I did the same.

[ivwshane]

Resize and upload the pics to this site please.

(never mind they came up)

[Ummon]

Looks good. I notice you have a griffin. Having any troubles with it turning on every time?

[BobA]

Looks great.  Bartops are my favourite type of cab. 

[DeLuSioNal29]

Love that shelf for the CD-Rom.  Nice cab!  Congrats.   

[magnetik]

Looks good. I notice you have a griffin. Having any troubles with it turning on every time?

other than the led going out a while back it's been working great.

[magnetik]

Love that shelf for the CD-Rom.  Nice cab!  Congrats.   

thanks!

I scavenged the tray from http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108060

I also used the power supply which seems to work even with 4 cathodes and a bunch of usb devices.

[stephenp1983]

Nice looking bartop.  Where did you get the feet for the pcb keyboard encoder?

[magnetik]

I think I bought them from Lizardlick but I've got them off ebay before too.

[stephenp1983]

I was trying to find some without ordering online.  I think I found some plastic type washers at lowes that will work.

[magnetik]

updated the hardware to get ready for SF IV... added a 750w ps and a 8800gt and reoriented the motherboard to make things easier to get to.

[Ginsu Victim]

How did I miss this thread the first time around? Interesting ideas....

[BASS!]

Hahahaha 56k. Awesome machine though

[magnetik]

it turns out I can't even play SF IV two player with just my kb controller.  The second player has to be something other than the keyboard.  I've tried recommendations like ppjoy but could never get it working completely right.  I could get the buttons to register in control panel but the directions never worked.  I dunno.. guess I can only play two player online or with another pad .. glad I have it connected to the network at least.    what a humongous letdown considering that's what I upgraded the cab for.  Playing against my bros.

Single player works great however but who wants to play single player? 

[Gatsu]

get a 360 controller and hack that for the 2nd player. a little more work but it'll get you what you are looking for.

[magnetik]

not much of a solderer.. my hands shake too much.  any place have this mod prebuilt?

some more pics while I'm here.. after playing with it a little bit.. I had to make a couple of changes..

pics of the inside of the display.  I used 4 cold cathodes and you can see
the amp for the speakers on the left. (I ripped the amp out of a dell speaker
set and heatshrinked it.


close up of the amp.  I also put a blue hd activity light on the bezel bracket.  (on the left)


all lit up.. used some aluminum foil on the top and bottom. (all I had at the time) 
4 cathodes light it up nice.

[magnetik]

my ah crap moment.. I closed the lid and realized the joystick hit the brackets. had to improvise


added foam padding so when i whup that ass and they go slamming the joystick


pic of the belkin usb hub.  it's nice cause it's tiny and has plenty of ports for
bluetooth (wii controller mods) and any usb controllers I need for mame


changed the color scheme a bit.  I got the j/s from dragonjoystick and the
buttons are electric ice. I plan on lighting them up but just haven't decided how yet.


bracket I made for the video card.  now everything is nice and tight.  Don't
have an issue anymore with the pc rebooting when the joysick is slammed down.


added a little bit bigger fan to help cool the cpu down.

[severdhed]

very nice, i like how you utilized the subwoofer enclosure as a stand for the bartop.  there are some nice design elements to this cabinet as well, good job.

[magnetik]

thanks!!!

here's the obligatory pic of the rear of the cab.  the fans suck hot air out pretty well.. I would have went with one 120mm fan to keep the noise down if I could do it again.  Unfortunately "what I had around" is not always the best option. 

[magnetik]

took a few pics before the wire cleanup... will post more when it's all finished.   I also upgraded from the 7800 to an 8800gtx.  Now get A's with the SFIV benchmark.  

[OhSnap!]

Stellar job ol' boy! 

[magnetik]

finally got the wiring pretty much done.  The floor of the bartop is pretty clean of wires now and removing
the lcd take 2 seconds.  I plan on adding a dual Aimtrak lightgun setup soon.  Will update once I get the parts.  
I kinda wish I would have made the control panel a little wider to make room for a trackball.  



added a 10 port hub and a N64 USB adapter.  The hub was a little larger than I was expecting but
it's worked with everything I've thrown at it.  (hopefully it will work  with the aimtrak)  I also finished
up wiring the leds.  




still need a few more controllers to complete the collection.. these are all are usb.  


another view.. reoriented the surge strip to give me more room. You can also see the wireless keyboard
usb adapter if you look real hard.  This cleaned up a lot of wires too and works fine inside the cabinet.


usb hub closeup


replaced the crappy foam in earlier pics with high density rubber.  live and learn.

[jipp]

looking good.  is the usb wireless?  i see two little stubs coming off the top of it.. only thing i can think is wireless.. anyhow, im glad im not the only who has bought a usb game pad even tho i went with NES for my first.

chris.

[magnetik]

not wireless.. I just drilled a small hole on the other side of the usb hub to feed the ac adapter and usb wire through.  The two things sticking out are extra usb ports.  I can snap them back down when not using them. 

[HatTrick77]

nicely done, magnetik   how is the sound system on your machine?  i'd like to do a similar speaker setup, but i wonder if that little amp capable of driving those speakers sufficiently?  i'm sure you know more about audio than i do having seen the base for your bartop.

[magnetik]

I actually added a small pimeta headphone amp (I had lying around) inline with the audio out. (not in pic but can post a picture if needed)  Now it get's blisteringly loud and only can turn it about halfway before it's too loud.

The one thing I'm missing is a little bass.  The speakers are crossed over but I may be able to fenagle a small sub somewhere.  If they can manage to stuff subs in laptops, I'm sure I can find a place.

Or I could just run sub outs from my soundcard and go right into the ht sub the arcade is sitting on.

Julian

[taylormadelv]

That is actually pretty nice work. The inside is pretty amazing and very tidy!
It's sooo close to being almost perfect, just those little touches. Like:
place the piano hinge on the side we can't see, if that's possible. Or at least paint it black.
A piece of T-moulding on the end of your CP, unless I can't see it installed now.
Simple mesh speaker covers.
Carriage bolts on your joysticks instead of hex bolts.
A tiny bit more room to the left of your left joystick so you can get you left hand on the cp.
If you used rustoleum paint/vinyl, it looks pretty good.

[JohnEDollar]

still need a few more controllers to complete the collection.. these are all are usb.  

magnetik:

Do you have a link/source where you purchased your USB Console Controllers?

(Those would be great for a future bartop I'm planning....)

Thanks.

- John

[Generic Eric]

still need a few more controllers to complete the collection.. these are all are usb.  

http://www.retrousb.com/


magnetik:

Do you have a link/source where you purchased your USB Console Controllers?

(Those would be great for a future bartop I'm planning....)

Thanks.

- John

[magnetik]

That is actually pretty nice work. The inside is pretty amazing and very tidy!
It's sooo close to being almost perfect, just those little touches. Like:
place the piano hinge on the side we can't see, if that's possible. Or at least paint it black.
A piece of T-moulding on the end of your CP, unless I can't see it installed now.
Simple mesh speaker covers.
Carriage bolts on your joysticks instead of hex bolts.
A tiny bit more room to the left of your left joystick so you can get you left hand on the cp.
If you used rustoleum paint/vinyl, it looks pretty good.

thanks for the tips.. actually I've been pondering a few of them for a while.  Esp what to do with the piano hinge and if the hex bolts really bother me while playing.  I may try finding some tmolding for the control panel but it's not standard 3/4 so I have to find some thinner tmolding.

[magnetik]

nicely done, magnetik  how is the sound system on your machine?  i'd like to do a similar speaker setup, but i wonder if that little amp capable of driving those speakers sufficiently?  i'm sure you know more about audio than i do having seen the base for your bartop.

here's a pic of the headphone amp I used.  It boost the sound pretty well.  


here's pics of the guts if your into audio at all..

[hayabusa_fmw]

very nice!

I like the idea of having the cabinet on top of a stand ,

it's a nice way to make a cab if you don't want to cut huge piece (when you don't have the space / tools)

do you plan on snapping both in place so they don't move while playing? if so how do you plan to do it

[magnetik]

do you plan on snapping both in place so they don't move while playing? if so how do you plan to do it

nah it's pretty heavy with most of it 3/4 mdf.  I also glued huge rubber matts to the bottom of the bartop.  It doesn't move at all while sitting on the laminated top of the sub. 

[magnetik]

Finally got a little more time to tinker with the 'cade.  Swapped out the 3.5" drive for a 2.5" 500gb drive that I scavenged out of a dead laptop. It's a lot quieter and a lot cooler running than the 500gb Hitachi that was in there before.  Still deciding if I want to move to SSD for the boot drive.

Also added a GGG Turbotwist2 spinner to the bartop... now I can finally play Arkanoid. woohoo.  This thing is solid and I'm very satisfied with the resolution for Arkanoid.





up next I think.. will be an Aimtrak setup and probably my GTX 295 once the 7970's are available.