Infinicade (fka My Cab Without a Name)

[Tarman]

Lookin' incredible!  You are doing a great job!

[TAG]

Lookin' incredible!  You are doing a great job!

Thanks, I appreciate the support.  It feels like I'm so close to being done with the cab building (not the software and such, of course, as I expect that'll be a neverending project), so I really can't wait til this other issue gets resolved.

[MFfan]

very professional work, great cab

[Silas (son of Silas)]

very professional work, great cab

I agree, good skills! 

[TAG]

Wow, it’s been awhile since my last update!!  Four months??  Funny how time has a habit of getting away from you.

Anyway, the rec room’s been back to normal for some time, now, but I haven’t gotten much more done on the cab.  It seems weird that I’d slow down so close to the “finish” line, but the rec room setback really took some steam out of me.  But with all the great looking new cabs showing up here recently, it kind of got me motivated to get back to work.

Okay, I’ve installed the coin door and replaced the stock yellow coin return buttons with the red ones.  I also replaced the stock bulbs with the red LED clusters from SuperbrightLEDS.com.  What a difference that makes, as you can see in the following pictures:







I wired up the coin acceptors and also added switches behind the coin return buttons so that simply pushing the button will add a credit (I used the forehead-slappingly brilliant idea of wiring to NC rather than NO as mentioned in this thread).



I also wired up the administrative panel buttons and attached the molex connector to the CP end of the wiring (just as I did with the CP end of the coin door wiring).



Not much, but at least it’s a (re-)start!

[Epyx]

TAG,

I really like how you dealt with your monitor angle..build flat and then make an angled platform.

Great job.

[TAG]

I really like how you dealt with your monitor angle..build flat and then make an angled platform.

Thanks, although I assure you that it wasn't on the first draft of my plan!  That's one of many reasons I'm glad that I didn't just jump right in without extended planning.

[TAG]

Updated full cab pic:

[ivwshane]

Yeah! Someone found my info helpful!

I'm curious though, how did you mount your credits switch (as in how is it physically attached to the coin mech)?

Wow, it’s been awhile since my last update!!  Four months??  Funny how time has a habit of getting away from you.

Anyway, the rec room’s been back to normal for some time, now, but I haven’t gotten much more done on the cab.  It seems weird that I’d slow down so close to the “finish” line, but the rec room setback really took some steam out of me.  But with all the great looking new cabs showing up here recently, it kind of got me motivated to get back to work.

Okay, I’ve installed the coin door and replaced the stock yellow coin return buttons with the red ones.  I also replaced the stock bulbs with the red LED clusters from SuperbrightLEDS.com.  What a difference that makes, as you can see in the following pictures:







I wired up the coin acceptors and also added switches behind the coin return buttons so that simply pushing the button will add a credit (I used the forehead-slappingly brilliant idea of wiring to NC rather than NO as mentioned in this thread).



I also wired up the administrative panel buttons and attached the molex connector to the CP end of the wiring (just as I did with the CP end of the coin door wiring).



Not much, but at least it’s a (re-)start!

[TAG]

Yeah! Someone found my info helpful!

I'm curious though, how did you mount your credits switch (as in how is it physically attached to the coin mech)?

Some sort of double-sided adhesive that I had in a drawer out in the workshop.  I thought about gluing the switch to a piece of thin wood and then screwing that into the mech holder, but placement was turning out to be a problem.  The adhesive may not hold up over heavy use, so I may have to find something better down the line.

[TAG]

I had a few uninterrupted hours in a row last week for me to work on extending the power button from the computer to the top back of the cab.  After doing a lot of research, I still wasn’t sure exactly what the best way to do it would be, so I figured I’d need sufficient time to poke around inside the computer without my little girl trying to “help.”

First, I tried working with the wires from the power supply to the motherboard.  I  spliced one wire to the green PS ON wire and another to one of the grounds, then connected those to a regular pushbutton on the back of the cab.  When I pushed it, the power supply came on, but the computer didn’t boot up.  Which obviously did me no good, unless I just wanted to hear the fan blow.

Next, following the information in this thread, I tried unplugging the ribbon cable from the front panel card and bridging the appropriate pins with these.  Since I couldn’t then plug the ribbon cable back in, I’d be giving up being able to see the LEDs on the front of the computer.  Of course, since it’s inside the cab, when would I ever see them, anyway?  Anyway, that worked perfectly, so now I have a working power button on the outside of the cab!

Honestly, how did people ever build these things before BYOAC existed?  You'd need knowledge in design, woodworking, computers, electronics, etc., and I'm lacking in all those fields!  This place is just a treasure trove of information, so thanks to everyone who contributes!

[Ond]

.....that worked perfectly, so now I have a working power button on the outside of the cab!

Honestly, how did people ever build these things before BYOAC existed?  You'd need knowledge in design, woodworking, computers, electronics, etc., and I'm lacking in all those fields!  This place is just a treasure trove of information, so thanks to everyone who contributes!

Glad to see you got that working  , I like what you say about the varied knowledge needed to complete a project and the resources available here, you might start out with sketchy knowledge in various areas but by the time you've finished a cab you'll be a fountain of knowledge! (and inspiration) I look forward to seeing this project progress again.

 

Ond

[TAG]

Glad to see you got that working  , I like what you say about the varied knowledge needed to complete a project and the resources available here, you might start out with sketchy knowledge in various areas but by the time you've finished a cab you'll be a fountain of knowledge! (and inspiration) I look forward to seeing this project progress again.

 

Ond

Considering the cab that you're working on and the mad skills you obviously have, your kind words are very much appreciated!

[Kman-Sweden]

I like it! Keep up the good work. 
I like threads with lots of pics... but yours seems to be running out of pics in the end..? keep 'em pics coming. 

[TAG]

I like it! Keep up the good work. 
I like threads with lots of pics... but yours seems to be running out of pics in the end..? keep 'em pics coming. 

Oh, you caught that, did you?    My digital camera is kind of unavailable at the moment, so I'm not able to put up any pics.  But there'll be some more soon.  Thanks for the encouragement!

[TAG]

Okay, my family was out of town again recently, so I had some more free time to work on the cab. 

The first thing I needed to do was install the Perfect 360 joysticks, as that would finish off the control panel.  What was holding me back was these metal sleeves:



According to Happ’s website, they’re supposed to be 1/2", but the ones I got were 5/8".  As such, when I tried to install the joysticks using them, I could not compress everything enough to get the e-clip on.  I tried to order the correct ones from divemaster, but those turned out to be 5/8", as well.  I guess that’s just the way Happ makes them.  At any rate, a Dremel and a cutting disk (and a lot of sparks...good thing I don’t store gasoline in the shed!) took care of that excess 1/8" in no time.  Once that was done, it was no problem getting the joysticks attached.

I attached all the USB cords from the computer to the various components in the CP, then dropped the CP into place.



Next, I attached the back panels using the quick release pins.  Before attaching the bottom panel, of course, I used the Dremel again to make an opening for the power cord.



The next step was making the bezel to hide the area around the monitor.  Since I’ll eventually be covering the front with Greylite 14 glass, the bezel didn’t have to be too complicated.  I used black foam core board that I got on sale at the Hobby Lobby, cut it to size with an x-acto knife, then cut the opening for the screen.  When I test fit it, I realized that it angled back too far, so I added some additional wood for the bezel (and the glass) to rest against.  That resulted in the bezel being at the same angle as the sides of the cab.





Here’s how it looks at this point.



And here’s the 360 degree wheel and a shifter that will eventually be made into an add-on.



And here’s the 270 degree wheel and the pedals that I hooked up.



And, finally, here’s a Thrustmaster Freestyle that I picked up on eBay that will be perfect for biking and other games.



Another shot of the CP, just for kicks.



All that’s left now is the marquee (which I can’t do until I settle on a name...anyone have a preference between Infinicade and Arcade Overload?), the monitor glass, the speaker grilles, and the button labels.  At that point, it’s a future full of software tweaking and game playing (hopefully more of the latter than the former)!

Thanks again for following this thread!

[Epyx]

Looking good. Im biased but I do like red t-mold on black

[TAG]

Looking good. Im biased but I do like red t-mold on black

Yes, I noticed that I posted my CP pic right below yours on the main board.  It confused me for a second, as in, "Wait, I thought I had more joysticks on...oh, wrong message!"

The marquee (with whatever name I settle on) will be black with red lightning and red letters, and the button labels will be red, as well.  And the trackball also lights up, although I just realized that I don't have pictures of that up, yet.

[TAG]

Spare time has been in short supply these last couple of months, but I found some this weekend and was able to work on the cab.

At some point since my last update, I settled on Infinicade as a name.  My wife likes it, and it grew on me, as well.  So I went ahead and ordered an all-red lightning design from Scott at Mame Marquees.  I got the completed marquee in about a week and a half, and it’s exactly what I wanted (the red even matches perfectly with the red t-molding and buttons).



Highest possible recommendation for Scott and his products!

So, this weekend I went to work on the marquee assembly.  I picked up some plexiglass at Home Depot and measured it up.  Following the technique most others have used, I scored it with a plexiglass cutting tool, clamped it down, then broke it cleanly along the lines:



It turned out great, with nice clean edges.

Next came the retainers.  I wasn’t wild about the Happ marquee retainers, so I decided to make my own.  Since I was short on space on the speaker shelf (the speaker grilles will take up several inches), the bottom retainer couldn’t be very wide.  I picked up some angled aluminum at Home Depot:



Drilled the holes:



Primed and painted it:



And then realized that it wouldn’t work.  Because of the angled speaker shelf, the bottom retainer has to bend out about 15 degrees.  Try as I might, I couldn’t get the aluminum to bend.  Plus, the aluminum wasn’t quite wide enough to be able to screw it into the speaker shelf far enough from the edge to take hold.

Luckily, I also bought some plastic corner guard, which WILL bend enough to allow that 15 degree angle:



I drilled the holes again, then primed and painted:



Once painted, they looked great, honestly, probably even better than the aluminum.  After they dried, I took them inside to install on the cab.  I screwed the bottom one onto the speaker shelf, then slid the marquee in:



Then I screwed the top retainer into the top of the cab:



Here it is lit up (with the custom XP boot screen):



And the cab as it now looks:



Crossing the marquee off the list, that leaves installing the monitor glass, the speaker grilles, and the button labels.  I’m still deciding how dark of a tint I want for the glass, though.  The Greylite 14 is what I’m leaning towards, but I wish I could find someone in town who has some scraps that I could use to test before I buy the whole sheet.

[Donpatchi]

I like how well you are documenting this, it has become a guide on its own. Nice job on the cab too.

[Hewskie]

wow! This looks great, I've got a question if you don't mind. How are you powering on your tv? Are you using a smart strip? Does your tv remember to be in video mode after you power it off? I'm hesitant to close my tv in with a nice bezel and glass because I havn't solved that problem yet.

Thanks

Hewskie

[TAG]

wow! This looks great, I've got a question if you don't mind. How are you powering on your tv? Are you using a smart strip? Does your tv remember to be in video mode after you power it off? I'm hesitant to close my tv in with a nice bezel and glass because I havn't solved that problem yet.

Thanks

Hewskie

Thanks.  I'm using a Smart Strip and the TV stays in video mode while off.  That was a feature I specifically looked for when I was hunting for a TV for the cab.

[TAG]

I like how well you are documenting this, it has become a guide on its own. Nice job on the cab too.

Thanks.  My favorite project postings are the ones with construction details and lots of in-progress pics, so that's what I tried to do (although I know I kind of slacked off during the CP phase). 

[TAG]

Just a quick update to show off the vinyl decals from Pongo.  The picture is a bit bright, but the decals look great in person!



(Also, I need to dust....)

Now all I have left is installing the monitor glass (which I'll do after I get the Aimtrak set up) and then the speaker grilles.  Most of my cab time recently has been spent tweaking things from the software side.

[jimmy2x2x]

Quality build, well done!

Really enjoyed reading though your progress

Quick question about the TV solution - Does the TV rotate at all, if not how do vertical games look (galaga, galaxian etc)?

Cheers

[Funnel]

Dude congrats on this excellent build! I got a question though... why so many admin buttons?

[TAG]

Quality build, well done!

Really enjoyed reading though your progress

Quick question about the TV solution - Does the TV rotate at all, if not how do vertical games look (galaga, galaxian etc)?

Cheers

Thanks.  The TV doesn't rotate, but the 27" screen is enough for the vertical games to look big enough to suit me.

[TAG]

Dude congrats on this excellent build! I got a question though... why so many admin buttons?

Thanks.  Not counting the 1P and 2P buttons as admin, I only have 2 for each player (exit and pause).  I know the ones on the right side are hard to read in the picture.