My Mame Cabinet (Finished ... at last!!!)

[Mr. Dude]

This thing turned out awesome!!! Congrats on your baby too.

[PedroSilva]

This thing turned out awesome!!! Congrats on your baby too.

Thanks ... he's nearly five mounths and he has started with the soups today ... can you imagine the mess ...  

[LeedsFan]

Hi mate!

I've just registered on the forum and seen your MAME cab. That is absolutely brilliant!  
I'm about to start my first MAME cab project and the image in my mind was very much like yours.... a two player upright cabinet in black, with classic style blue MAME artwork. The t-moulding really does add that finishing touch.

Can you tell me where you got the t-moulding from, and the artwork for your control panel and marquee? Or did you do the artwork yourself? I've seen a couple of sites that do them, but I'd just go with yours as they look excellent.

I won't be building my cab from scratch like you. I don't trust my woodworking skills enough so I'll convert an existing 26" monitor cabinet. But I don't mind having a go at my own control panel. My plans are to be very similar to yours, except I'll use T-Stik plus joysticks so I don't need the extra 4-way ones. I was even thinking of adding one extra E-Stik at an angle just to play Q-Bert. But the layout for your spinner and Trackball is exactly what I had in mind for mine.

Seeing the excellent work that everyone has done with their cabs has really given me the determination to do my own!  

[PedroSilva]

Hi mate!

I've just registered on the forum and seen your MAME cab. That is absolutely brilliant!  
I'm about to start my first MAME cab project and the image in my mind was very much like yours.... a two player upright cabinet in black, with classic style blue MAME artwork. The t-moulding really does add that finishing touch.

Can you tell me where you got the t-moulding from, and the artwork for your control panel and marquee? Or did you do the artwork yourself? I've seen a couple of sites that do them, but I'd just go with yours as they look excellent.

I won't be building my cab from scratch like you. I don't trust my woodworking skills enough so I'll convert an existing 26" monitor cabinet. But I don't mind having a go at my own control panel. My plans are to be very similar to yours, except I'll use T-Stik plus joysticks so I don't need the extra 4-way ones. I was even thinking of adding one extra E-Stik at an angle just to play Q-Bert. But the layout for your spinner and Trackball is exactly what I had in mind for mine.

Seeing the excellent work that everyone has done with their cabs has really given me the determination to do my own!  

Hi,

For starters. let me welcome you to "our" forum and tell you that you'll find here 99% of all the info you need ...  the rest you'll find on the links posted here (also) ...  

Thanks for the complements and I hope your project turns out as you expect it to be ...

Now for the Q&A here's the info and some aditional suggestions:

- The T-molding, you can get from http://www.t-molding.com/cart/customer/product.php?productid=16&cat=13&page=1 ... they are great ... I highly recommend. They are in the U.S. but they ship fast and the prices are fair. I saw you are from England ... I don't know if you have to pay any import taxes ... her in Portugal no aditional taxes but I advise you to check with your local customs;

- The artwork well ... it's not really that good if you take closer looks ...   ... I made it myself from the official mame logo. You can get it here as well as other ones: http://www.oscarcontrols.com/gallery01.htm Then I resized it for actual fitting on the CP and marquee. I printed them on a InkJet printer using transparency paper, then cut and glue using that atach/detach spary photo glue, but in some "connections" it shows a bit, so my suggestion to you is to have then print on someone that is able to make complete paper printing (without cuts).

- Rearding the joysticks ... I agree ... it was a mistake that I made ... it's better to uses the 4/8 ones ... it's cheaper and you get to need less space on the CP ...

Well hope this helps and if you have any other questions fell free to ask ...

Good luck with your "creation" ...  

Regards

[gumby510]

NIce job on the cab looks great!

I have one general question. How do you hook up car speakers and PC speaker to the Sound card? I was just gonna buy some computer speakers and gut them.  I saw your pic said speaker hack but no detail on what it is, or how its done.

Thanks

[PedroSilva]

NIce job on the cab looks great!

I have one general question. How do you hook up car speakers and PC speaker to the Sound card? I was just gonna buy some computer speakers and gut them.  I saw your pic said speaker hack but no detail on what it is, or how its done.

Thanks

Thanks ...

Regarding your question here's wha I did:

On the "Speaker hack" picture you can see the controls, the amplifier and three connections. These connections are:

The red and black wires that are connected to the speaker - I remove them from the plate and solder in place one of the wires from the auto speakers (left);

The above double grey wire is the connection for the other speaker - I did the same for the other car speaker (right);

The last grey wire is power - Just put a longer cable;

This works only for self powered speakers (like this ones). If not, the signal is so weak that you'll won't be able to ear almost nothing.

The center speaker on the cab is fake ... it is only used for supporting the plate ...  

So actually I did not use car and PC speakers at the same time ... I replaced the PC speakers with the car ones ... but if your amplifier has enought power, you can connect two rights and two lefts with no problem what so ever ...

Hope I was clear ... it's kinda dificult to explain this sort of things without using the hands ...   but if there's anything else you require let me know ...

**** Edited

Opps ... forgot the main issue ...   ... there's also a connection from the plate to the sound board using a 3,5" jack ... it's not yet soldered to the plate, on this picture ...

****

Regards,

[LeedsFan]

Just bought a JAMMA cab today for conversion. It's in very good condition with a nice 25" screen. I'll  post some pics in another thread soon.

Your "emulation" buttons. What are these exactly? I'm a bit new to this, so I'm not too sure. Are they things like Pause, Tab, Screen Shot etc etc.?  They're not labelled in your pics. How do you remember which is which?     And do these just wire into your I-Pac?

I take it those 3 buttons at the side of the tracckball are the same as the 3 mouse buttons? Do they work for the spinner as well?

[PedroSilva]

Just bought a JAMMA cab today for conversion. It's in very good condition with a nice 25" screen. I'll  post some pics in another thread soon.

Your "emulation" buttons. What are these exactly? I'm a bit new to this, so I'm not too sure. Are they things like Pause, Tab, Screen Shot etc etc.?  They're not labelled in your pics. How do you remember which is which?  

And do these just  wire into an I-Pac?  Did you use an I-Pac?

Hi,

Yes ... with the exception of PAUSE (wich is the yellow button on the CP) they are:

- ESC
- ENTER
- F3
- TAB
- COIN 1
- COIN 2
- /

There's still one wich is not wired ... I'll use it for changing the TV input for SCART since my TV starts with a TV channel ...

They are memorized after some use ... I didn't want to put any labels on the cab ...

I use a two player I-pac and the OptiPac ... My buttons 1 and 2 are on the Optipac since I needed two more inputs. The inputs on I-pac were reprogrammed for emulation buttons.

The 3 buttons work with all the controlers ... trackball, spinner, joysticks ... they are "copies" on buttons 1, 2 and 3 of player 1 ...

Regards,

[AGGIEZ]

Man, that's probably the biggest garage I've ever seen!! Nice cab!

[PedroSilva]

Man, that's probably the biggest garage I've ever seen!! Nice cab!

It's not that big actually ... on the photos it looks like it is, but it's only 15 meters long ...  

Now really ... it's quite big ... normaly the garages, around this parts, fit only one car (5 meters) but that was the reason why I bought the apartment here ...  

Thanks.

[PedroSilva]

Hi guys,

Someone asked me about the hinges I use on the front door. Since it might be of some interest for some of you guys starting, il post the answer. Hope it helps ...

*********************************************
Regarding your question, I've found this type of hinges here:

HomeDepot.Com Link

If the link doesm't work go to:

www.homedepot.com and do a search for "concealed hinge 110" ... that should get you there.

Another:

Ace Hardware Link

And another:

DoItBest.Com Link

For how they were mounted, I'll try to get some pictures this weekend for you ... sorry but for the moment I do not have any photos of the inside door (I think ...   ... I'll check again) ... anyway if they are packed as here in Europe, they normally have instructions on the back of the package, and even a "mask" that you can use to mark the wood before drilling.

You will also need (appart from the power drill) a bit of this type:

AceHardware.Com Link

featuring the size of the hinge you choose.

I think that should be enought for you to move on, but if you need anything else dont hesitate ...

Regards,
************************************************

[Stingray]

Hey there Pedro! It's been months since I've looked at this thread. Just wanted to say that your cab turned out great! Well done!

-S

[PedroSilva]

Hi,

Thanks.

I'm thinking if I should start a new project ...   ... or leave it alone 'till I sell this one ...

[Stingray]

Ah, there's always another project isn't there?  

-S

[Matt, GoC]

You can't escape... the urge...  it has you;D

[yourfatmama]

Pics arent showing up. Are they mirrored anywhere?

[PedroSilva]

Pics arent showing up. Are they mirrored anywhere?

Hi,

I think it might have something to do with the server change ...
Try to reload the page and then on the picture do "right-click" - "show image" ... one or two times ... it works for me ...

Hope it works for you too ...

[yourfatmama]

negative on the pics.  in Mozilla even the  anchor tags for the images are nonapparent; and in IE they are just x'd out, show picture does nothing. i'm totally denied seeing your mamework of art.
well, it sounded good anyway from what the previous posters said.

[SirPeale]

Just took a peek.  We don't have permission to look at them.

[yourfatmama]

I CAN SEE I CAN SEE!!

nice work.

[PedroSilva]

Just took a peek.

[PedroSilva]

I CAN SEE I CAN SEE!!

nice work.

Thanks ... glad you can see it ... it's not very attractive without the photos ...