Galaga Bartop 3 (Completed 8/22/2011)

[BobA]

(MAME plus others in Galaga Shaped Vertical Cab)
Here I go again.  Putting together a multi emulator cabinet based on one of my Galaga shaped bartops

Basic parts list
Galaga shaped bartop cabinet
17 inch LCD monitor
1 4/8 way joystick
4 play buttons
1 coin button (LED)
player 1 and 2 buttons
1 end button
1 back button
1 enter button
Xin Mo 1 player controller  1 joy plus 12 buttons
usb gamepad for 2nd player
Intel D525MW ITX Motherboard Intel Atom/DDR3 1066/800/GBLan/Audio/VGA/PCI-E
2 GB memory
hdisk drive
1 usb ext cable (for gamepad)
1 atx power supply (reverse fan)
2.1 PC speakers and woofer
LED strip for marquee 12V
fan 12V and grill for ventilation
lock and hinge for back panel
t molding 5/8 inch
plexi for bezel and marquee
touchup and bezel paint
misc hardware and connectors
marquee
side art

Pic1 LED strip and speakers mounted at top of cab
Pic2 Bass spkr mounted at bottom of cab
Pic3 LED strip and exhaust fan mounted behind
Pic4 Computer setup
Pic5 Xin Mo Controller

[IG-88]

You are a machine Bob! You getting those xin mo controllers from Paradise? What do you think of them? (controller and paradise) 

[BobA]

Yes they are from Paradise.   I see Paradise and GGG have a delux 2 player but this is a 1 player.  I did a short review in the review section. I like Paradise and would order from them again.

[BobA]

One of the major disadvantages to decasing and LCD is the loss of the vesa 100 mount on the back of the case.  You also lose the nice bezel that the manufacturer put on the LCD.  However if you just have to have that 3/4 or 1/2 inch then you can work around it.  The bezel can be painted on the back of the plexi or lexan to make a nice bezel.   The loss of the mount is a bit harder.   I had to mount the mdf support to the back of the LCD without vesa holes.  To do this I screwed from inside the metal shield into the mdf support.  4 screws and construction grade adhesive holds the mdf to the back of the LCD screen.

[donnie1979]

Nice build man, you really need to check this out it will look fantasticon this bartop. http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10242

[BobA]

I hope that V2 of Hyperspin uses less resources and has vertical built in.   Still waiting for the release.  If not Maximus Arcade seems to be doing the job right now.

[BobA]

LCD mounted and CPanel drilled.  You can see by the fit why the case for the LCD had to be removed.

[BobA]

Control panel done.  Now to put all the computer bits into the back of the cab and tidy up the wiring.

[IG-88]

I'm guessing that is a 17" monitor 5:4?

[BobA]

Yes and it was a really tight fit in a 12 inch space.  
I never could have guessed how good horizontal games look on it as well.

[IG-88]

Yes and it was a really tight fit in a 12 inch space.  
I never could have guessed how good horizontal games look on it as well.

Agreed. I think the horizontals look fine also.

Are you noticing how the widescreen lcd's are now quite a bit cheaper than the 5:4's or 4:3's? I wonder if these old "standard" sized screens are going to be gone just like the crt's are? Only place I really see them in the wild any more are in retail stores.

[BobA]

Those wide screens end up giving you less screen area so they are the cheapest.   I have been lucky and have been able to collect 5 or 6 older format screens which make nicer cabs unless you want to go really big.

[BobA]

All the computer bits fastened and wiring tied down.
Total Time 6 days

To Do:

Hinged Back Panel and Lock
Computer on button in back panel
USB Ports to back of cabinet
Plexi Bezel
Artwork

[ark_ader]

I think the design needs a rethink.  the CP looks too high and deep with lots of room wasted. 

I did the same design a few years ago and was frustrated with the confined area.  I can see that LCD being a problem game wise.

Also there are alternatives with the PSU for ITX mainboards.

You could have easily placed the mainboard on the back on the LCD and still provide adequate airflow.

What additional fans are you going to implement too cool that environment?

Is this a gift for someone or are you going to use it?

[BobA]

I have been looking for other designs while still keeping the galaga/pacman shape.   I think the attached picture addresses your feeling of being closed in.  I do not use other ITX supplies to save space at this time as I have many of the standard supplies and would like to make use of them so that I do not have to buy specialized parts.   Since all the LCD screens I have are different I usually end up custom mounting many of them instead of being able to use a VESA mount.  The LCD works very well as both a vertical monitor and for horizontal games.  If I mounted the screen horizontally I would go for a weecade type style.  I do not have the aversion to not having the true arcade monitor experience and would not mount a CRT in a bartop due to weight and size.  Mounting the LCD vertically gets rid of any of the bottom fade out that you get on some LCDs.   The fan on the PS sucks in air and the fan at the top blows it out.   The CPU does not require a fan, only air flow.   Not sure what I am going to do this this unit yet.

Yes the CPU could have been mounted behind the LCD and the space below could have been reduced but since I am using precut cabs (I cut them in batches) there is no need to save the space since it is already there.   For the cab that I posted the pic of positioning components and maybe special ITX supplies would have to be considered very carefully.


Thanks for your input.

[BobA]

As per Ark_ader's suggestion I redid the inside of the cab moving the motherboard to the back of the LCD screen.  It makes the motherboard alot easier to access and cleans up the air flow path.   Back door is now hinged with lock. Analysis of the space shows that the bottom part of the cabinet could be reduced to 3.5 inches from the current 6 if the power supply was mounted horizontally.

Thanks  

Total Time 9 days

[jmike]

This looks fantastic. Any other projects you have in mind in the near future?

Great job BobA

 

[BobA]

I would like to do a couple of weecade style horizontals with 19 inch LCDs and 2 player CP.  On the way back burner is a old style cocktail to make use of the 21 inch CRT monitor that I have had for a couple of years.

[javeryh]

Really nice job BobA!   

Wicked fast build too - I wish I could get 1/2 as much done in 10x the amount of time! 

[BobA]

Received Pongo's vinyl button labels in the mail today and completed the control panel.   Also picked up a small 4 port USB hub that fits perfectly on the back of the cab so I do not have to cut any more holes in the door.

[jmike]

 
          Those vinyl labels are awesome. Do you have a link or can you tell me where you picked up that 4 port USB. That would be perfect for my bartop.

 

[Junix]

I'm thinking to put a usb hub and SNES joystick adapters in my Bartop.
Nice job man... congratulations.

Junix

[BobA]

          Those vinyl labels are awesome. Do you have a link or can you tell me where you picked up that 4 port USB. That would be perfect for my bartop.

 

It was $2 at a dollar store called Dollarama.  There are over 600 of them in Canada.

If you are not in Canada a very similar one is available from DX Rectangular USB hub

[BobA]

Cut the plexi for the front and painted the bezel area.  Used Frog tape to mask screen area.

Used electrical tape to cover the silver areas of the monitor so they will not show behind the bezel.

Mounted marquee and attached side art.

Computer is running Tiny XP with Maximus Arcade as the front end.  Emulators are Mame, Vpinball, Fpinball and Wincab for the MP3 player.

Completed 15 days.

[IG-88]

Looks fantastic as usual! What kind paint did you use for that bezel? Did you brush it on?

[BobA]

Used a flat black quick drying acrylic craft paint.   It still gives a gloss finish since it its on the back of the plexi.  Have tried gloss rustoleum paint but it looks the same and takes alot longer to dry.  It was brushed on in about 3 coats with a foam brush.

[IG-88]

Sticks pretty well then?

[BobA]

Sticks pretty well then?

Acrylic paint bonds to the plastic very well.   Took the bezel off of one of my first cabs (7 years) and it was fine.

[DaOld Man]

I like it!!!

 

[BobA]

Darn just noticed that I have not installed the T molding.    Back to the basement to fix that.  

[IG-88]

Hey Bob. How did you wire your power strip into the PSU? Did you just cut the end off the strip and then solder the neutral hot and ground right onto the back of the socket on the inside the PSU?

[BobA]

Tied the power strip in after the switch in the PSU unit so all the power is controlled bu the switch in the PSU.  The disadvantage of this is I have to hit the power on button for the computer mounted on the back panel above the PSU.  It is cheaper than a smart strip and not too much of a problem.  I turn off the PC by exiting the front end before turning off the PSC.

[IG-88]

If I ran the computer PSU, the speakers, and the monitor into a 3-way splitter, then ran that out the back of the cab, couldn't the computer power button from the front panel (not the PSU on/off switch) run everything then? Or am I missing something? I did one like this some time back, but I'll be damned if I can remember.  I'll have to go pull it apart and see how I did it. 

[Well Fed Games]

Completed 15 days.

Ouch!  Nice job!

[BobA]

If the monitor and speaker require AC then the ATX supply cannot supply it when the PC is turned on.  It can only be supplied by the ATX supply if tied into the on off switch or a smart power adapter.

[IG-88]

Ok. That makes sense. I pulled the back off an old bartop I did a while back. The simple diagram is how I did it. What do you think of it?

[BobA]

With that setup your Speaker PSU and Marquee Light will always be getting power if the splitter is plugged into the wall.  The FP power button will power on the MB and provide video to the monitor.  Instead of the splitter I took all the AC from inside the comp PSU after the on/off switch so that I could turn off all the power to the cab with the on/off on the compu PSU.   Of course I either push the front panel power button or use the frontend to power down windows first.