Author Topic: A CRT bartop / mini-upright hybrid of sorts (Read 6910 times)

deathterrapin · « **on:** October 17, 2012, 04:12:36 pm »

Hello! I've been working on this design for a while now, and I thought I'd try and get some feedback from your good selves before I went and spent any money on anything.
I haven't got room for a full sized cab, but I really wanted it to have a CRT, so the typical LCD based bartop design wasn't quite going to work for me, so I came up with this design to use an old 14" TV I have.

The white boxes inside are the TV board in the bottom, and PC at the top. I'd have liked to make the top slope back a bit, but the old PC I intend to use is a full ATX board, and I just couldn't make it fit any other way without making the whole thing stupidly tall.

The top-back section will be hinged at the bottom so it can be pulled back to work on the PC.
I haven't quite decided how the control panel is going to fit yet, it'll need to be removable or hinged in some way in case I need to do anything to it.

BadMouth · « **Reply #1 on:** October 17, 2012, 04:33:42 pm »

I know you already have the tv, but you can find old 15" monitors for free all day long.
The difference is that the image will be clear enough that you'll actually be able to read text.

I have 2 setups that use larger televisions via s-video input. They look pretty good for the games, but it's a pain to do any kind of maintenance in windows because the text is hard to read. If you're coing to use composite input, it's going to be a lot worse.

So I'm not against using televisions, but when monitors of the same size are easy to find for free and most televisions that small only have composite input, go with the monitor.

Le Chuck · « **Reply #2 on:** October 17, 2012, 04:48:32 pm »

I'm a huge fan of bartops but not of the "I haven't got room" argument. If you have a space in mind like a bar or a table not doing anything then go for it but if the only reason you're bartoping is because you think it will save you room you'll probably eventually regret the decision. Food for thought, other than that I echo the advice about going with a monitor since you're doing a small form factor. It'll save you some assache in the long run. The design is nice and I think you'll be pleased with the shape. If you do choose to built it up to a small stand alone all you'll really need to do is extend the side panels down. Looking sharp either way tho.

deathterrapin · « **Reply #3 on:** October 17, 2012, 05:42:52 pm »

I've already got the TV working with RGB over SCART and its looking pretty good, I can always use VNC if I need to do anything in windows.

Until I get off my lazy arse and move out of my parents house, I very literally have no space for a full sized cab. The only way I could possibly fit one in would be if I built a chest of drawers into the bottom, and that would just be silly!

Minwah · « **Reply #4 on:** October 21, 2012, 07:33:24 am »

I'm not sure if the others are recommending PC monitors, but if so I disagree. TV with RGB scart input (or RGB 15khz monitor) is the way to go. It's not a problem working in Windows as the picture is much clearer than composite/s-video.

deathterrapin · « **Reply #5 on:** October 29, 2012, 03:07:24 pm »

I've made some progress over the past two weekends. Its only held together by gravity at this point, but I'm quite pleased with it so far.

deathterrapin · « **Reply #6 on:** November 19, 2012, 02:02:08 pm »

A bit more progress...

BadMouth · « **Reply #7 on:** November 19, 2012, 04:11:45 pm »

Looks like nice clean work.

You win for longest bolts ever used to mount a JLF!

SpaceHedgehog · « **Reply #8 on:** November 19, 2012, 04:34:03 pm »

You could rig up a hamster hammock with those

Does look like a nice build though. Keep the pics coming

deathterrapin · « **Reply #9 on:** November 19, 2012, 04:39:33 pm »

Thanks. The bolts were some my dad had lying around (I think they're from a greenhouse) I might end up sawing them off to neaten things up a bit.

matt4949 · « **Reply #10 on:** November 20, 2012, 06:40:27 am »

I like it. I have a 16" CRT and want to use it on a dedicated GALAGA 88. I might just borrow heavily from your design.

deathterrapin · « **Reply #11 on:** December 02, 2012, 11:30:25 am »

I've got most of the main parts assembled now.

deathterrapin · « **Reply #12 on:** December 16, 2012, 12:47:32 pm »

I've done a test assembly today, and everything fits!

Things still to do:
Build a mounting for the TV's circuit board.
Cut a hole to mount some USB ports.
Fit a grill in the air intake at the back.
Fit the speakers & grills.
Cut some panels to box off the high voltage TV stuff from the low voltage PC and control panel.
Add mounting for the acrylic at the front.
Various wiring.
Figure out a bezel of some sort.
Paint!

That seems like a lot now I've written it down :-/

Hopefully I should be able to get it finished over the Christmas holiday.

Eldritch1969 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 16, 2012, 01:01:23 pm »

Cool build ! Very interested to see it finished/working.
Can we publish your 3D renderings at bartopmania.com ?

CraftyMech · « **Reply #14 on:** December 16, 2012, 01:43:40 pm »

Very tight and well organized build! I'm taking notes as I am also working on a CRT bartop.

deathterrapin · « **Reply #15 on:** December 16, 2012, 01:54:50 pm »

Eldritch1969: Thanks. Yeah, you can publish them if you want, although the internal structure on those is out of date now. I'll probably get around to updating the sketchup model at some point.

CraftyMech: Thanks also. Tight is definitely the word in a literal sense, I think I could've made things a fair bit easier for myself if I'd designed it with some wider clearances at some points!

Eldritch1969 · « **Reply #16 on:** December 16, 2012, 02:47:37 pm »

Thanks, deathterrapin. I wish I had a small CRT tv left (gave away the one I had a few months back) to try to build a bartop like yours.
It really has the look and feel of older arcade machines thanks to the screen.
Perhaps I will find one some day.

link to post for your renderings :http://bartopmania.com/index.php?t=msg&th=56&start=0&

BurgerKingDiamond · « **Reply #17 on:** December 21, 2012, 07:26:57 am »

YES, this is cool. Nobody builds bartops with CRTs. And it's SCART too! This is going to be the real deal. No crappy LCD here.

Well Fed Games · « **Reply #18 on:** December 21, 2012, 08:32:22 am »

This is great. I did a bartop with a 13" TV and after looking at your plans, realize I should have angled the TV a bit more so the tube pointed into the corner, decreasing depth a bit.

I also made the mistake of designing things too narrow (actually smaller than the mounting ears of the TV tube, because of a piece of glass I had and wanted to use. That 3/4 inch added many hours to the build (measuring, routing channels, etc.).

deathterrapin · « **Reply #19 on:** December 21, 2012, 12:33:25 pm »

Yeah, I tried out some designs with a more upright screen, but it was going to make the whole thing way too deep.

deathterrapin · « **Reply #20 on:** March 10, 2013, 02:08:13 pm »

Well, I managed to get the woodwork done over the Christmas holiday, but I'd totally forgotten to take into account the fact that paint has a minimum temperature you can apply it at! So I've spent the last two months mostly just waiting for the odd sunny weekend when its been warm enough to paint.

I've done painting now, but it's not turned out as well as I'd hoped; it's got lots of dust in it

But I'm going to live with it for the time being, as I want to get this working. I'll save re-finishing as a project for the future.

This weekend I've put the t-molding on, put the mesh in the back, and made a start on some wiring.

dextercf · « **Reply #21 on:** March 10, 2013, 02:29:29 pm »

Nice build You got there!

Well Fed Games · « **Reply #22 on:** March 10, 2013, 03:51:02 pm »

Yeah, paint is a PITA. Really looking nice though!

rablack97 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 10, 2013, 10:36:59 pm »

Yes painting is a PITA, when it doubt wrap that bad boy in so 3M vinyl....

I spent over 400.00 in spray paint on my cab.

Watch for dust, dont cut back too far, a bug just flew in it, paint in your lungs and nose, wet sanding isnt even, edges cut down to the primer when buffing.....

After about a week, i was at the F-it stage....I finally finished, only to drag it against by table saw when moving it, and put a 4 inch gash down to the wood in my paint job.....

So i've taken a liking to vinyl and laminate and melamine (mdf core) here lately, painting sucks, unless you have the time and patience....

MD Draco · « **Reply #24 on:** March 10, 2013, 11:54:45 pm »

Very nice! Like the design a lot... If all else fails with paint; there are always graphics from Game on Graphix (and the like)

... Been dealing with Scott from there, and he is just awesome; sometimes hard to get a hold of via e-mail, but especially if you catch him on chat, he's the man

Also been talking with their custom graphic designer (Vlad) as I have some designs in mind that I'd like someone to sketch up!!

Your little bartop is looking mint though! I want one! Actually given me an idea, but that's something for another time, and when I have more money than sense!! If you need better temperatures, just move to NZ

worked for me!! lol ... Sure beats the minus temps everyone back home seems to be suffering... it's a balmy 26 degrees c today (that's 79 for all of those who don't speak metric).

Keep up the good work and the pics, keen to see your finished (well, a truth we've all learned here is that it's never really finished) product

deathterrapin · « **Reply #25 on:** July 12, 2013, 02:53:24 pm »

Well, the week after that last post, I got all the innards in it and got it working. Consequently, the only thing I've been working on on it for most of the last four months is my Bubble Bobble high score

Just had a couple of weeks off work though, and got around to doing the bezel, so its now finally looking something like its supposed to.

I do intend at some point to get a better marquee printed. The one in there at the moment is just paper, so it looks crap when lit up, but I managed to burn out the LEDs I was going to use for that anyway. I actually don't think it looks that bad unlit, so I'm not in any rush to do anything about it really.

Falk3r · « **Reply #26 on:** July 12, 2013, 03:55:20 pm »

That looks awesome, man. Nice work -- now it's time to enjoy it! (while waiting on a new marquee + lights)

TheDude · « **Reply #27 on:** July 14, 2013, 02:32:07 pm »

Really awesome job ! As you allowed us at bartopmania to publish the 3D renderings of this bartop, I updated the post with the finished bartop !

wordsworth · « **Reply #28 on:** July 20, 2013, 11:07:32 pm »

Looks awesome! Man I so wish we had SCART here in the states. I'd love to build a bartop like yours and be able to get native resolutions from a smaller TV. A 20" TV is about the smallest I know of that you can get native res here. Nice build!

deathterrapin · « **Reply #29 on:** July 21, 2013, 05:48:33 am »

Thanks.
It's nice that there are some things we can get that you can't in the the US. It goes a little way to making up for everything costing so much more!

matsadona · « **Reply #30 on:** July 21, 2013, 04:04:38 pm »

There will be alot of bubbles with all those player buttons

Except for that, an excellent build so far.


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Author Topic: A CRT bartop / mini-upright hybrid of sorts (Read 6910 times)

Eldritch1969

Eldritch1969

MD Draco