The Summer of Chuff - Chufftober 2014 - PBJ'S Moldy Meat

[yotsuya]

Sup, bros?

I just finished a project for my sister using WellFedGames' awesome Mr + Mrs Pac artwork (more on that later). I just picked up a very rough (but free) Nintendo cabinet that I'm going to restore and make into a Vs Unisystem cabinet. Also, that 4 player cab I picked up for my nephew is no longer going to be his, since he's getting divorced by my niece (I blame PBJ), and since I don't care for 4 way cabs with control panels as wide as the cab is tall, I'm planning a refresher for it. So begins the Summer of Chuff. What's on your guys' summer agendas? 

[Malenko]

gonna try to convince you to flat pack that nintendo cab and send it to me.

Other than that I have an MK1 to restore, replacing the sticks on my MK2 and MK3,  an MK4 to either sell or MAME , oh and Im getting married in October (unless she does what Kaneda's fiancee` did)

[yotsuya]

gonna try to convince you to flat pack that nintendo cab and send it to me.

Other than that I have an MK1 to restore, replacing the sticks on my MK2 and MK3,  an MK4 to either sell or MAME , oh and Im getting married in October (unless she does what Kaneda's fiancee` did)

No dice on the Nintendo cab! I've been wanting one for a long time. This one is going to need some work, like that Galaga/Ms Pac cab. Depending on how the repair goes, it might become a DK or Popeye, but more than likely it'll become a VS Unisystem. I played those games more as a youth than I did DK or Popeye. Plus, I get to make custom art.

And I hope with all my heart Bonnie don't Kaneda you.

[Slippyblade]

My summer is gonna rock.  My oldest just moved out and I am in the process of converting his bedroom into my new Barcade!  The possibilities are limited only by my budget (which mean pretty limited) and I'm already having a ton of fun tearing out the crappy built in shelves that were in there.

My plan for the room includes a dedicated electronics workbench in one corner.  A wall mounted TV with 4-player pedestal centered on one wall flanked by a pair of dedicated cabaret sized machines (one for vert shooters, one with spinner and trigger stick)  Gonna install a rocker/recliner with lighting in a corner with a small end table as a reading nook and intend to fit a mini-fridge in somewhere as well.

I'm so stoked.

[yotsuya]

My summer is gonna rock.  My oldest just moved out and I am in the process of converting his bedroom into my new Barcade!  The possibilities are limited only by my budget (which mean pretty limited) and I'm already having a ton of fun tearing out the crappy built in shelves that were in there.

My plan for the room includes a dedicated electronics workbench in one corner.  A wall mounted TV with 4-player pedestal centered on one wall flanked by a pair of dedicated cabaret sized machines (one for vert shooters, one with spinner and trigger stick)  Gonna install a rocker/recliner with lighting in a corner with a small end table as a reading nook and intend to fit a mini-fridge in somewhere as well.

I'm so stoked.

Sweet! Lemme know when the grand opening is! 

[pbj]

(I blame PBJ)

Go on.


My plan is to stay above ground if possible.  About all I can manage these days.

 

[Vigo]

Good to see some major chuffage going on!   

I am moving to a new house at the end of the month. Lots of room to grill, and hopefully no more freaky neighbors. I haven't told the wife, but there should be a good room in the basement to expand my collection as well.

Moving will be the first new year's resolution I ever successfully completed.

[leapinlew]

I built a bartop for my sister, otherwise for me it's a summer of swimming, grilling and playing arcade games!

[wp34]

My summer is gonna rock.  My oldest just moved out and I am in the process of converting his bedroom into my new Barcade!  T

Nice.  My oldest just finished his first year at college and that was a running joke in our family all year.

My summer plans -
- Finish my Tron project
- Learn to paint so that I can...
- Finish my Q*Bert restore
- I have a beat-to-hell Nintendo cabinet that is going to become a Fix-it-Felix for my daughter
- I have an even beater-to-hell Midway cabinet that is going to become a 4-player cabinet for my son

[Well Fed Games]

I just finished a project for my sister using WellFedGames' awesome Mr + Mrs Pac artwork (more on that later).

 

For me, the same thing that's been in the queue for a while: finish my Raiden.  I am making progress though! With any luck I will finish my cocktail, too.... which will only leave me with 4-ish unfinished projects.

[Nephasth]

What's on your guys' summer agendas?

She gets here tomorrow!

[kahlid74]

I've got a second little munchkin on the way July 11th so that will be a handful.  I've got two arcade machines I'm supposed to build (One for a friend of my wife and one for a church) but I still goodness graciously want to finish the Battletech VR pod but ALL of that takes a back seat to starting a brewery with my best friend.  We've been talking about it for 10 years and I've now pretty much built an electric brewing system that can make 20 gallon batches.  So we're going to start brewing with all our old recipes and if it gets going well start to sell in 6-8 months.

[Vigo]

I've got a second little munchkin on the way July 11th so that will be a handful.  I've got two arcade machines I'm supposed to build (One for a friend of my wife and one for a church) but I still goodness graciously want to finish the Battletech VR pod but ALL of that takes a back seat to starting a brewery with my best friend.  We've been talking about it for 10 years and I've now pretty much built an electric brewing system that can make 20 gallon batches.  So we're going to start brewing with all our old recipes and if it gets going well start to sell in 6-8 months.

You sound nothing like a guy from Milwaukee.     Congrats on kid #2, and I hope he doesn't take TOO far of a back seat to the Brewery. 

[yotsuya]

I am moving to a new house at the end of the month. Lots of room to grill, and hopefully no more freaky neighbors. I haven't told the wife, but there should be a good room in the basement to expand my collection as well.

You know what would make this summer quite chuffy? If you started cutting wood on the Urkelcade!

[yotsuya]

I built a bartop for my sister, otherwise for me it's a summer of swimming, grilling and playing arcade games!

What theme did you use on your sister's machine?

[yotsuya]

My summer is gonna rock.  My oldest just moved out and I am in the process of converting his bedroom into my new Barcade!  T

Nice.  My oldest just finished his first year at college and that was a running joke in our family all year.

My summer plans -
- Finish my Tron project
- Learn to paint so that I can...
- Finish my Q*Bert restore
- I have a beat-to-hell Nintendo cabinet that is going to become a Fix-it-Felix for my daughter
- I have an even beater-to-hell Midway cabinet that is going to become a 4-player cabinet for my son

There must be something going around with beat-to-hell Nintendo cabinets. The one I got was painted orange like a DKJr, but they must have used exterior house paint and a $1 roller from Wal-Mart to put it on. There are gouges and stuff, but no major wood damage, so that's a plus. I sanded down the back panel last night as a test and all seemed to go well. I applied wood filler and will sand that down this afternoon as a test.

It had an Excitebike marquee, no bezel, a hand-typed Vs. Baseball sheet stapled inside, and no other identifying marks, so I'm not sure what it started life as.

[Vigo]

I am moving to a new house at the end of the month. Lots of room to grill, and hopefully no more freaky neighbors. I haven't told the wife, but there should be a good room in the basement to expand my collection as well.

You know what would make this summer quite chuffy? If you started cutting wood on the Urkelcade!

I can't say when, but Urkelcade will happen.

[yotsuya]

Here's a link to the cabinet that started off The Summer of Chuff: Mr + Mrs Pac-Man, V2. Shoutout to WellFedGames for his concept!

[eds1275]

I hope to finish up the 2 I have on the go (nameless cocktail I plan to sell, and a mini for my niece) as well as a stand up racer siilar to the gran trak one.

[Malenko]

picked up the MK1 I was talking about, so its on like Konkey Dong.

[rpgposer]

Gonna learn how to use my router this summer.  The spiffy wico rotary sticks I got from kuddlekat and Heavy Barrel pcb are waiting patiently in their boxes for a new CP.

[yotsuya]

This past week I picked up a cheap Mac Mini, 2006 edition. I wanted one for my iTunes and basic stuff (I'm still a PC guy at heart). It was in good shape, but pretty much stock. It has a 1.6Ghz Core Duo processor, 1 GB ram, but only a 60 GB HD. We have a few a work, but my experience opening one a few years ago wasn't so good. However, I found a great site and decided to press on with a full on upgrade - 2 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, and replacement of the processor up to a 2.33Ghz Core 2 Duo, so I could go up to Lion. After watching the videos a few times, I popped that sucker open, swapped parts (tons of dust bunnies inside, btw - gave it a good cleaning), put it back together, and rebooted. No issues! I even flashed the firmware to 2,1 afterwards so it will now accept 4 GB RAM instead of the max 2 GB that the 1,1 takes (that'll come in handy when I do put on Lion).

So almost 3 weeks into the Summer of Chuff, what all have you started/completed, my brothers?

[pbj]

So almost 3 weeks into the Summer of Chuff, what all have you started/completed, my brothers?

My latest project has been legitimately acquiring PS4 stuff as cheaply as possible.  Free's even better. 

I'm currently in $173 and have complete console, two extra controllers, 3 games purchased new, and a year of PS Plus.   

Stretch goal is one free game per week.

When the pile gets obscene enough to share how I did it...  I will.  The process is not enviable.

 

[yotsuya]

Nice! Share already - eBay? Craigslist? Black market?

Feel free to post your moonshine updates here as well. 

[pbj]

Nah, this is all legitimate and through well known vendors.  A friend of mine that's in on the details says I need to make a 10 minute documentary about it.   

[Vigo]

Let me guess, you start by bartering your hooch to hobos and gypsies for food stamps, then you take those food stamps and buy pallets of elbow macaroni for the box tops. Then you found your own online college in order to redeem those box tops to get new computer for your school's computer lab. Once you have the computer, you pawn it for $50 cash and buy 10 cases of swisher sweets from the gas station. You stick them in rubbermaid totes with damp socks so it qualifies as humidor and you can legally relabel and them as "Jim's fine Q-ban cigars". You then market your cigars as $100 cigars on a website in Chad, where tobacco sales are unregulated. Since nobody would buy them, you donate the cigars to a charity thrift store as a $10,000 tax write-off that will cover the cost of the PS4 once your taxes are filed next year.

[pbj]

Let me guess, you start by bartering your hooch to hobos and gypsies for food stamps, then you take those food stamps and buy pallets of elbow macaroni for the box tops. Then you found your own online college in order to redeem those box tops to get new computer for your school's computer lab. Once you have the computer, you pawn it for $50 cash and buy 10 cases of swisher sweets from the gas station. You stick them in rubbermaid totes with damp socks so it qualifies as humidor and you can legally relabel and them as "Jim's fine Q-ban cigars". You then market your cigars as $100 cigars on a website in Chad, where tobacco sales are unregulated. Since nobody would buy them, you donate the cigars to a charity thrift store as a $10,000 tax write-off that will cover the cost of the PS4 once your taxes are filed next year.

Nailed it.

[TopJimmyCooks]

What's on your guys' summer agendas?

She gets here tomorrow!

NIB?  you dog!

realistically I want to complete my barely started Terminator 2 restoration and at least make a start on black knight.  Restoring vids is quite easy and cheap compared to pins. 

[Vigo]

Because of my house move next week, I don't have much chuff planned. I have been planning for a while now, to build an arcade cabinet solely dedicated to what is around here often seen the most horrible genres of game created. I am hoping to have a little time this summer to finally build it and see what kind of reception it gets from here. 

[yotsuya]

Because of my house move next week, I don't have much chuff planned. I have been planning for a while now, to build an arcade cabinet solely dedicated to what is around here often seen the most horrible genres of game created. I am hoping to have a little time this summer to finally build it and see what kind of reception it gets from here. 

I'd be quite chuffed getting a new home! 

And with a description like that, I can't wait to see what you build.

[Generic Eric]

Because of my house move next week, I don't have much chuff planned.

[pbj]

Wrong Vaughn

 

[Generic Eric]

Huh
I don't know what to say

[Vigo]

Because of my house move next week, I don't have much chuff planned. I have been planning for a while now, to build an arcade cabinet solely dedicated to what is around here often seen the most horrible genres of game created. I am hoping to have a little time this summer to finally build it and see what kind of reception it gets from here. 

I'd be quite chuffed getting a new home! 

And with a description like that, I can't wait to see what you build.

Thanks! I think I am actually one step above quite chuffed, I believe the fitting term would be "indubitably chuffed"

And I can't wait for my next build. It is one of those things I want to do mainly because nobody here has attempted it, as far as I know. I want to force myself to appreciate the games myself, or at least see if they have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. I am betting that anyone who thinks about it long enough could figure out what I am gonna be up to. And no, it isn't a Gal's Panic machine.

[Le Chuck]

Because of my house move next week, I don't have much chuff planned. I have been planning for a while now, to build an arcade cabinet solely dedicated to what is around here often seen the most horrible genres of game created. I am hoping to have a little time this summer to finally build it and see what kind of reception it gets from here. 

I'd be quite chuffed getting a new home! 

And with a description like that, I can't wait to see what you build.

Thanks! I think I am actually one step above quite chuffed, I believe the fitting term would be "indubitably chuffed"

And I can't wait for my next build. It is one of those things I want to do mainly because nobody here has attempted it, as far as I know. I want to force myself to appreciate the games myself, or at least see if they have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. I am betting that anyone who thinks about it long enough could figure out what I am gonna be up to. And no, it isn't a Gal's Panic machine.

Tile games or fruit games?

[jaharr01]

my Summer chuff is to break into Nephast's house when he is gone and steal that sexy AC/DC pinball machine. Actually I'm going to try finish  my pinball cabinet. for side projects i'm gonna build my little girl a 2/3 scale Nintendo cabinet for NES and mame mostly. Also I'm gonna build my nephew a pacman bartop out of a plug in play. Other than that not much else. I would like to insulate my garage so it's not 130 degrees in summer and the 13 below zero in the winter.

Jay

[TopJimmyCooks]

Because of my house move next week, I don't have much chuff planned. I have been planning for a while now, to build an arcade cabinet solely dedicated to what is around here often seen the most horrible genres of game created. I am hoping to have a little time this summer to finally build it and see what kind of reception it gets from here. 

I'd be quite chuffed getting a new home! 

And with a description like that, I can't wait to see what you build.

Thanks! I think I am actually one step above quite chuffed, I believe the fitting term would be "indubitably chuffed"

And I can't wait for my next build. It is one of those things I want to do mainly because nobody here has attempted it, as far as I know. I want to force myself to appreciate the games myself, or at least see if they have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. I am betting that anyone who thinks about it long enough could figure out what I am gonna be up to. And no, it isn't a Gal's Panic machine.

Tile games or fruit games?

Ticket redemption.

[Generic Eric]

Because of my house move next week, I don't have much chuff planned. I have been planning for a while now, to build an arcade cabinet solely dedicated to what is around here often seen the most horrible genres of game created. I am hoping to have a little time this summer to finally build it and see what kind of reception it gets from here. 

I'd be quite chuffed getting a new home! 

And with a description like that, I can't wait to see what you build.

Thanks! I think I am actually one step above quite chuffed, I believe the fitting term would be "indubitably chuffed"

And I can't wait for my next build. It is one of those things I want to do mainly because nobody here has attempted it, as far as I know. I want to force myself to appreciate the games myself, or at least see if they have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. I am betting that anyone who thinks about it long enough could figure out what I am gonna be up to. And no, it isn't a Gal's Panic machine.

Tile games or fruit games?

Ticket redemption.

My bet is Gauntlet or Snacks'n Jaxson

[yotsuya]

World's first scratch-built Boonga Boonga?

[Vigo]

Le Chuck and Jimmy are sniffing in the right spot. Yotsuya, I don't wanna sniff where you are sniffing. Eric, there actually was a sweet Snack's n Jaxson restore over at arcadecollecting.com http://www.arcadecollecting.com/snacks/snacks.html   but doing one myself has been on my mind. It is actually a really cool cabinet, considering what is in it.

[yotsuya]

Le Chuck and Jimmy are sniffing in the right spot.

How funny, I know at least two other guys considering building fruit machines... and I'm one of them. 

[Vigo]

I'd love to see a home built fruit machine. 

[yotsuya]

I'm looking to do something bartop-style for my mom.

[pbj]

I'd love to see a home built fruit

Quite a few of those around here.

[Generic Eric]

I'd love to see a home built fruit

Quite a few of those around here.

The less the build looks like an 8 liner, the better. Or maybe you mean something else.

  I tried the  fruit machine emulator and I really didn't get it.  I'll be interested to watch this progress.

[yotsuya]

I'd love to see a home built fruit

Quite a few of those around here.

The less the build looks like an 8 liner, the better. Or maybe you mean something else.

  I tried the  fruit machine emulator and I really didn't get it.  I'll be interested to watch this progress.

I'll make a thread (and maybe the others will, too) once it gets past the planning phase.

[Slippyblade]

Never understood the draw of slot machines, I'm assuming a "fruit machine" is just a variant.  Completely random.  Why bother?  At least card/dice/roulette have some level of skilled involved...

[Generic Eric]

Never understood the draw of slot machines, I'm assuming a "fruit machine" is just a variant.  Completely random.  Why bother?  At least card/dice/roulette have some level of skilled involved...

It's all about the bonus game! 

@ yotsuya

Any touchscreens?  It's screaming to play be jeweled don't you think?

[PL1]

For a moment there, I thought Vigo was going to attempt Yaksplat's unfinished Bryan's Payramid reproduction.   


Scott

[Vigo]

I wish I had the chops to try that one. 

No, I am surprised nobody mentioned the genre I'm going for yet....Most people around here consider it to be nothing but a horrible, MAME infesting plague.

[PL1]

When you put it that way, sounds like you're doing a mahjongg build.      


Scott

[Vigo]

Haha, you are right on the money. 

The mission will be to make a classy table top mahjong machine. Gonna just jump in head first. I don't read Japanese, I don't know how to play the game, and I don't even know how many games would be left after removing the "strip mahjong" titles. I have no idea how easily a universal control panel can be made. I don't even know if I would like the game after learning. It will be a cool experiment.

[EightBySix]

I'm going to build a new shed from scratch. Windows are in progress, building them in advance of the main bits going up during the holidays. I'll have to change my name to NineBySeven though. An extra 15sq feet, yay!

[Le Chuck]

Haha, you are right on the money. 

The mission will be to make a classy table top mahjong machine. Gonna just jump in head first. I don't read Japanese, I don't know how to play the game, and I don't even know how many games would be left after removing the "strip mahjong" titles. I have no idea how easily a universal control panel can be made. I don't even know if I would like the game after learning. It will be a cool experiment.

What the hell do you think "tile" games are?! I want credit for the right answer. Adjust the score!


Wut? There aren't forum points?  Never mind.

[yotsuya]

I'm going to build a new shed from scratch. Windows are in progress, building them in advance of the main bits going up during the holidays. I'll have to change my name to NineBySeven though. An extra 15sq feet, yay!

I'd love to see the progress on that! I'm considering something similar in July.

[Vigo]

Haha, you are right on the money. 

The mission will be to make a classy table top mahjong machine. Gonna just jump in head first. I don't read Japanese, I don't know how to play the game, and I don't even know how many games would be left after removing the "strip mahjong" titles. I have no idea how easily a universal control panel can be made. I don't even know if I would like the game after learning. It will be a cool experiment.

What the hell do you think "tile" games are?! I want credit for the right answer. Adjust the score!


Wut? There aren't forum points?  Never mind.

oh, sorry man. I though you were referring to those mahjong "match" games like my mom played in the 90's when she got tired of snood.

5 points to Le Chuck. only 745 to go to get the kool-aid pitcher and cup set.

[Nephasth]

NIB?  you dog!

Yes sir. She got here 3 weeks ago.

my Summer chuff is to break into Nephast's house when he is gone and steal that sexy AC/DC pinball machine.

She got a little sexier a couple days ago...


Helen and Luci make a good pair. (Don't mind Dmen, the girls have him in a trance...)

[Le Chuck]

Started vacation yesterday!  Going to be spending a week with the fam on the beach but bookending that I'm getting some chufftastic shop time myself.  On top of the Game of Thrones Pedestal I finished this month I've:

Done a rebuild on a yoke to send off to the UK
Tracked down a SW cab that had been turned into an Akari Warriors (not kidding, it's dreadful) and hopefully will rescue that if I can get the price right
Picked up a commission for a cornhole set
Am dedicating the next few days to finishing R2's drink tray - well under way
Picked up some more parts for Idle Fingers Starfighter
Redid the HTPC in the house - MALA as the FE for the movies of all things - works sweomes!
Did some freelance PC work

It's chuffariffic!  If everything goes to plan I might even start one of those crazy OND cocktail cabs by the end of the summer.  You know the one. 

[yotsuya]

Good week so far....

On Tuesday, I helped a buddy put in a wood floor. Maybe I'm stupid, but I love doing projects like those. I was especially happy because everything just seemed to fit. I honestly credit it to arcade cab building. It's improved my skills tremendously.

Last three days have been spent working on two projects - the custom Wi-Fi sound system for my daughter's birthday, and the restoration of an empty, beat to all hell Nintendo cab I was given. The Nintendo cab is just about stripped (they used this god-awful Orange latex to paint over the entire cab, and it appears the original finish was stripped completely off in a very haphazard way). The Wi-Fi system has evolved over the week, and I am very happy quite chuffed at where it's at. I love how projects evolve over time.

Photos when it's all done. Her birthday is Monday, so I'm under the gun!

[HaRuMaN]

On Tuesday, I helped a buddy put in a wood floor. Maybe I'm stupid, but I love doing projects like those. I was especially happy because everything just seemed to fit. I honestly credit it to arcade cab building. It's improved my skills tremendously.

[Le Chuck]

[Howard_Casto]

(man I'm gonna get a lot of mileage out of this image)

[yotsuya]

Finished the WiFi-HiFi today and gave it to my daughter early. She loved it. I wan't happy with he paint job, but she didn't care (not that it's horribly bad or anything). It was a fun week-long summer project. Now on to the Nintendo cab !

[pbj]

Ryu and Chun Li were quite chuffed in Dallas today

[Slippyblade]

I don't get it...  My wife refuses to wear a Chun-Li outfit no matter how often I ask.  Silly woman.

[yotsuya]

Finally picked up one of these for the gameroom. It doesn't work, but if I can't fix it, I'm going to hack in an MP3 player or AirPlay setup!

[Generic Eric]

Finally picked up one of these for the gameroom. It doesn't work, but if I can't fix it, I'm going to hack in an MP3 player or AirPlay setup!

Your very own ghetto blaster!  That is cool!

[yotsuya]

Finally picked up one of these for the gameroom. It doesn't work, but if I can't fix it, I'm going to hack in an MP3 player or AirPlay setup!

Your very own ghetto blaster!  That is cool!

Thanks, Eric. I've been looking for a while. I opened it up. Some poor cassette tape had it's guts ripped out and eaten by this beast. 

My multimeter shows that it's getting power in through the transformer, but it's not turning on. I don't see any tell-tale dead caps, so I'm not sure where to go next. Probably going to disassemble and hack. There's plenty of room inside for what I need to do.

[Howard_Casto]

Get an amp and an ipod dock... done. 

[Le Chuck]

There's plenty of room inside for what I need to do.

You're not kidding.  That thing is bigger than Kaneda's apartment. 

[Generic Eric]

Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.

[yotsuya]

Get an amp and an ipod dock... done. 

I got a spare Lepai and an Airport Express just ready to drop in this bad boy. I'm going to run the device LEDs off a 5v wall wart. Whoooo!!

[Generic Eric]

Finally picked up one of these for the gameroom. It doesn't work, but if I can't fix it, I'm going to hack in an MP3 player or AirPlay setup!

Your very own ghetto blaster!  That is cool!

Thanks, Eric. I've been looking for a while. I opened it up. Some poor cassette tape had it's guts ripped out and eaten by this beast. 

My multimeter shows that it's getting power in through the transformer, but it's not turning on. I don't see any tell-tale dead caps, so I'm not sure where to go next. Probably going to disassemble and hack. There's plenty of room inside for what I need to do.

Any sign of exploded batteries?  Dirty or broken power switch?

[yotsuya]

There's plenty of room inside for what I need to do.

You're not kidding.  That thing is bigger than Kaneda's apartment.

Dude, do you know how much a boombox goes for in Manhattan nowadays?

[yotsuya]

Any sign of exploded batteries?  Dirty or broken power switch?

No corrosion or anything. It's actually pretty clean inside. The switches all seem to be OK. It just won't turn on. That's OK, I bought it for the outsides - I don't care if I don't get FM radio... not like I want to play Ke$ha in my gameroom or anything like that!

[Le Chuck]

Even if you did get it working that thing prolly only receives radio from the 1980s.

[yotsuya]

Even if you did get it working that thing prolly only receives radio from the 1980s.

Creepy. Sounds like a movie staring Emilio Estevez, Catherine Mary Stewart, and that dude that played Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley.

[ChadTower]

It ain't really boomboxing unless you have $27 in D batteries powering it.

[eds1275]

It ain't really boomboxing unless you have $27 in D batteries powering it.

Good thing I wasn't drinking anything when I read that. As a kid, batteries were everything for me. If I didn't have batteries, all my cool stuff wasn't cool anymore.


...does anything still take c or d's?

[ChadTower]

...does anything still take c or d's?

Sports bras.

[Howard_Casto]

*rimshot*

Well flashlights still take C's..... not really D's anymore because even most flashlights now have leds in them. 

[Vigo]

Have some kids, you will find tons of worthless crap that take C's and D's.

[Louis Tully]

.

[eds1275]

Have some kids, you will find tons of worthless crap that take C's and D's.

....no

[ChadTower]

I don't know that my kids have anything that takes C or D.  We used to go through like 100 AAs and AAAs a month, though.  And now that they're older most of their stuff comes with embedded rechargeables.  I can't remember many toys my kids had, even going back 13 years, that had C or D.  Maybe a Glo Worm or talking Bret Hart.  Or stuff that was old then that we got from yard sales.

[TopJimmyCooks]

This needs to be the first song you play when you get it working:

My Radio

[yotsuya]

This needs to be the first song you play when you get it working:

My Radio

Will do, with posted video. 90% complete on that project, BTW.

[Nephasth]

[yotsuya]

One of my favorite quirky 80s songs, bro.

[Vigo]

This makes me want to play some ghetto blaster for the commodore.

[yotsuya]

Chuff-date:

The internals should be good to go by Wednesday. Word.

[Generic Eric]

[yotsuya]

And on the last day of the Summer of Chuff for ME (I go back to work officially tomorrow), I give you the completed Boombox conversion project!

[Malenko]

kudos, I love it

[HaRuMaN]

That claw machine looks familiar...   

[yotsuya]

That claw machine looks familiar...   

Some a-hole made me take it in a trade!

[HaRuMaN]

That claw machine looks familiar...   

Some a-hole made me take it in a trade!

You're just mad the wife won't give up the Popeye...

[yotsuya]

She's firm on that one, right?

[HaRuMaN]

She's firm on that one, right?

Yup.  And my daughter seems to like it, too.  Heh.

Sweet boombox, though.  Now you just need to get a payphone in there.   

[yotsuya]

She's firm on that one, right?

Yup.  And my daughter seems to like it, too.  Heh.

Sweet boombox, though.  Now you just need to get a payphone in there.   

Naw, the gameroom is packed to the gills. Once I finish my Vs. Unisystem, I won't have room for anything else.

[yotsuya]

Once of the things I want to do with the Wi-Fi Hi-Fi is have sound-reactive lights. I burned out two sound-reactive t-shirt modules using a 5v wall wart, even though in theory that should have worked just fine. Some wires got crossed and apparently shorted stuff out, but that's because of the way the original LEDs were wired. So today at Fry's, I picked up a Velleman's Sound-To-Light kit. I know Velleman makes a lot of fun soldering kits, so for $5 I decided to give it a try.



It was fun putting it together, and definitely good soldering practice. I did one hack, installing wires in place of the LEDs so I could hook them up to the existing lights in the radio. One issue, though - the system uses 9v, and I have 5v running in the radio. I hooked it up to a 5v test wart I have, and nothing worked. I then used a 9v battery and it worked perfectly. I really don't want to use a battery, nor do I want to add another wall wart inside. Anyone have any suggestions? If I swapped out a cap or resistor(s), do you think I could get it working with 5v? Here's a link to the manualthat shows the components used.]

BTW, these kits are pretty sweet. I might pick up another one just for kicks.

[Malenko]

Welp, I had a new reason to get all chuffy.

Thanks to Santoro:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,140321.0.html

I have a practically brand new monitor (with the most beautiful picture Ive ever seen) to put in my MKII. As seen here:


That allowed me to pull the monitor out of my MK3 that had this anomaly from the chassis:


So I took the good chassis from my MKII and put it on the good tube from my UMK3:

these are actually the 2 left over parts(white line chassis, burn in tube), Im going to put them together and give them away sometime this week. Nothing wrong with the tube, just had an opportunity to get rid of the screen burn so I took it!

loaded up the new hybrid monitor in my MK3 and Im quite chuffy still:



Also a big shout out / thank you to MK3Fan for educating me on how to swap chassis between monitors/tubes.

[pbj]

One issue, though - the system uses 9v, and I have 5v running in the radio.

Stick a 9V wall wart in there, run your sound to light thing off that.  Then have another tap coming off that wall wart and use resistors to drop the voltage down to 5V for your radio....

http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/resistor/res_3.html

Scroll down to voltage divider network.

[yotsuya]

One issue, though - the system uses 9v, and I have 5v running in the radio.

Stick a 9V wall wart in there, run your sound to light thing off that.  Then have another tap coming off that wall wart and use resistors to drop the voltage down to 5V for your radio....

http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/resistor/res_3.html

Scroll down to voltage divider network.

Hah! You're the best, James!

[pbj]

At 9V, a couple of 100 Ohm resistors should do it.  Frankly, I'd just start slapping resistors around until I got something close. 

Anything between 4-6V would probably work fine.

 

[Slippyblade]

PBJ's got the right idea.  Voltage dividers are the answer to a lot of problems.  If you know Ohm's Law than they are about 20 seconds of math to make.

[yotsuya]

At 9V, a couple of 100 Ohm resistors should do it.  Frankly, I'd just start slapping resistors around until I got something close. 

Anything between 4-6V would probably work fine.

PBJ's got the right idea.  Voltage dividers are the answer to a lot of problems.  If you know Ohm's Law than they are about 20 seconds of math to make.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

So based in what you've said and what I read in PBJ's link, would I wire up the 9v transformer like in the attached photo? Do I put a transistor on each line going to the 5v device?

[pbj]

 



9V wiring is obviously fine.

For the 5V:

For ground - one unbroken connection to ground from your power source to the device. 

To get the 5V, join two 100 ohm resistors end to end between ground and your 9V line.  Tap into the connection between the two resistors and run that to your device.

Measure all this out before you hook things up.

[yotsuya]

So then below is what you suggest, James?

BTW, should I use 1/2w or 1/4w resistors?

[HaRuMaN]

100 watt!



1/2w should be good.

[Slippyblade]

If you wanted to get all technical you could always build a regulator circuit.

http://www.instructables.com/id/5v-Regulator/

But that's serious overkill for this project.  Go with the voltage divider.

[pbj]

Could also just string together a bunch of diodes.  Not that you know anyone that did that for years before he found out about voltage dividing.

 

[pbj]

Back on topic, after being startled from my couch slumber, I was quite chuffed to find out that Amazon delivers on Sundays now.



Dinner is served.

 

[yotsuya]

Yeah, it's cool getting unexpected packages on Sunday! 

[Howard_Casto]

Malenko:  Every time you post your MK cabs I want to punch you in the face.  It's totally cab envy though... I still love ya man. 

PBJ:  Ok I know I'm going to regret asking, but .... you bought beef jerky and oreos online?  Is there a story behind that?

[pbj]

PBJ:  Ok I know I'm going to regret asking, but .... you bought beef jerky and oreos online?  Is there a story behind that?

Yeah - it was super cheap.  2lbs of jerky ran about $21, and 4 packages of Oreos were $2 each.  Shipped.

 

(and, of course, no actual money was spent on any of it)

[Howard_Casto]

Cool.  Just do me a favor and don't start posting food sales on the net.  I'm big enough as it is, but getting stuff delivered to my door. 

Yeah you'll find me one day dead from a heart attack in my office chair.  

[Slippyblade]

(and, of course, no actual money was spent on any of it)

He's been dropping hints about his crap all summer.  What are you up to PBJ?  Between food on Amazon and insane deals for your PS collection, what are you up to?  I'm starting to think the FBI might be knocking on your door in some RICO sting...

[Howard_Casto]

eh there are ways to get free money on the net, particularly gift cards.  Bing rewards come to mind.  I haven't paid full price for anything on amazon.com in years. 

[pbj]

This will probably kill me around the holidays.  Please mark your calendars and make preparations to send my corpse off around thanksgiving.

Amazon got tired of offering me an extension of my "student" prime account and gave me a "free" month.

They will regret this.  Stay tuned.

[yotsuya]

This will probably kill me around the holidays.  Please mark your calendars and make preparations to send my corpse off around thanksgiving.

That a batch of your custom hootch?

[pbj]

Yes, sir.  That is my "alcoholic grape and strawberry" wine.  I've been saving topo Chico bottles all week.

 

[Slippyblade]

Nice PBJ!  Looks like you did a pretty good job of filtering.  I don't see any sediment floating in there.  How's it taste?

[pbj]

No idea.  My high tech filtration system was a coffee filter in a funnel.  Threw away the bottom three inches from the milk jug.

 

[Howard_Casto]

Now I don't drink myself but seeing as how I'm moonshine adjacent....

What you want to do is find the dog in the neighborhood that you hate... you know the one that's always crapping in your yard?  Give him a swig.  If he doesn't go blind then you are good to go. 

[Nephasth]

Now I don't drink myself but seeing as how I'm moonshine adjacent....

What you want to do is find the dog in the neighborhood that you hate... you know the one that's always crapping in your yard?  Give him a swig.  If he doesn't go blind then you are good to go.

[pbj]

The cure for methanol poisoning is to drink ethanol.  Put simply - it will not happen with fermentation.



My one man war to bankrupt Amazon continues.  Had this delivered today:



The peasant delivering it chunked it on my front porch as angrily as possible.  He's going to see a lot of my porch in the next three weeks.

 

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah it's funny how the delivery guy gets pissed when he's asked to do his job and you know, deliver things.  I get that every once in a while. 

If anything he should be HAPPY.  You are keeping him in a job. 

You have got to clue us in in regards to what you are doing to exploit amazon.com.  That goes beyond point cards.

[yotsuya]

Last night I was cleaning out my car, and I found a flashdrive under the seat that I though I had lost long ago. I was worried I had lost it on the campus that I worked at because it had some photos of one of the teachers at the school in a bikini during a boating outing with another girl (long story, don't ask - nothing chuffy on my part about it). Never heard anything about it, so I figured that it stopping working - it was on the fritz anyway. But I was happy to find it.

Brought it in the house, plugged it in, nothing. I was able to disassemble it and see that the contacts between the USB header and the board had been stressed and broken. The drive was on my lanyard, and after years of use, the stress of the keys on the drive when plugged in probably caused it to happen. I fired up the Hakko FX-888D, resoldered the connections, plugged in the flashdrive, and instantly the drive was recognized.

It stuff like that that I love about what this hobby has taught me!

About a week until Labor Day, then the Summer of Chuff - 2014 ends! Post your cool stuff here!

[Slippyblade]

About a week until Labor Day, then the Summer of Chuff - 2014 ends! Post your cool stuff here!

Screw that crap, this is Phoenix.  Summer aint over till beginning of November.  You know, when the highs get down to the low-mid 90's.

[yotsuya]

About a week until Labor Day, then the Summer of Chuff - 2014 ends! Post your cool stuff here!

Screw that crap, this is Phoenix.  Summer aint over till beginning of November.  You know, when the highs get down to the low-mid 90's.

Hahahahaha! True. And here I thought the first response to my post would be a request for the photos!

[Slippyblade]

Nah - I just need more time to get my projects in order.  Not as if it will make any difference, I'm always waist deep in projects.

[yotsuya]

Nah - I just need more time to get my projects in order.  Not as if it will make any difference, I'm always waist deep in projects.

Don't worry, bro... Chufftember is right around the corner!

[pbj]

You don't get to tell a story like that without sharing the pics, dude.

[yotsuya]

You don't get to tell a story like that without sharing the pics, dude.

I'll go ask her right now if she's cool with that. Wait right here...

[PL1]

Hahahahaha! True. And here I thought the first response to my post would be a request for the photos!

Pics or it didn't happen.     

I don't believe that you repaired the drive. jk


Scott

[Malenko]

got this:


so it IS my chufftember already.

[yotsuya]

Nice! Now find the Maximum Speed cart and you can have two games in one!

[yotsuya]

It's been 24 years since I beat ActRaiser on the SNES. Tonight, I repeated that accomplishment.

[Malenko]

It's been 24 years since I beat ActRaiser on the SNES. Tonight, I repeated that accomplishment.

LOVE that game. Shame the sequel axed the cool overhead "sim" part and stuck with just the side scrolling platformer part.  And I picked up a Maximum Speed cart per your advice, should be here in a  couple days. TWO racing cabs in 1 

[Howard_Casto]

I'm still having health issues atm, but in spare moments when I feel ok I've been overhauling my old console collection. 

I took apart my NES the other day and washed it and the disassembled controllers in the sink.  They look frikkin amazing and I pulled the pins on the cart connector while I was at it.  I'm currently looking into rgb out on my snes that doesn't involve some ridiculous 300 dollar up-scaler.  I think my lcd can handle 240p component.  I'm wondering if the vga port might be a more viable solution?

Long story short, it'll be a Gradius III marathon for me... once I feel up to it. 

[yotsuya]

I'm still having health issues atm, but in spare moments when I feel ok I've been overhauling my old console collection. 

I took apart my NES the other day and washed it and the disassembled controllers in the sink.  They look frikkin amazing and I pulled the pins on the cart connector while I was at it.  I'm currently looking into rgb out on my snes that doesn't involve some ridiculous 300 dollar up-scaler.  I think my lcd can handle 240p component.  I'm wondering if the vga port might be a more viable solution?

Long story short, it'll be a Gradius III marathon for me... once I feel up to it.

---fudgesicle--- that, dude. Unless you're playing it on an ASUS ROG PG278Q, it ain't worth ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. 

[Malenko]

I guess I'm alone in playing my SNES on a nice 27" CRT :/

[pbj]

So you've talked her into a courthouse wedding?

[yotsuya]

I guess I'm alone in playing my SNES on a nice 27" CRT :/

Yep- I played it on a 50" widescreen Samsung TV on an xBox running CoinOPS.

[HaRuMaN]

I guess I'm alone in playing my SNES on a nice 27" CRT :/

That's how mine is set up.  Can't beat it.

[Howard_Casto]

My back says otherwise.  I don't lug around 25+ lb tvs anymore unless I've got a real compelling reason. 

Also all the crts I had with svid or composite finally went out on me.  What I had left was those horrid 100 dollar specials that came out just as lcds were coming out.  So eh, I dumped em all but a tiny 19 incher in case I get the urge to play duck hunt. 

[Malenko]

Yep- I played it on a 50" widescreen Samsung TV on an xBox running CoinOPS.

I'll bet you I can play Time Crisis (2, 3, and Crisis Zone) and Vampire Night a lot better on my set up than you can on yours   Also, I had my XBOX hooked up to my tiny 62" TV:
Ignore the red ring, the XBOX is hard modded and I set the red ring for custom BIOS  I'm running CoinOps 5 cause I have no idea how or where to update it. NHL Open Ice runs like crap on it unless you play without the sound

[pbj]

Also, I had my XBOX hooked up to my tiny 62" TV:

Neat!  You had money and spent it on things!  How wonderful for you!


 

[Malenko]

Neat!  You had money and spent it on things!  How wonderful for you!

 

Isnt that what this entire forum is about? Wasting money on a hobby?

 

[pbj]

IT'S ABOUT PRESERVING THE CLASSICS, MAN!


 

[PL1]

Two sides, same coin.   


Scott

[Malenko]

IT'S ABOUT PRESERVING THE CLASSICS, BY WASTING MONEY ON THIS HOBBY, MAN!


 

FTFY 

Got the TV for a song, waited for Best Buy to bring in the newer TVs and they cut the price of my TV by like HALF. 120 Hz , SMART TV, no 3D ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow---, 4 HDMI inputs and even a dual component/composite input. I was happier than a pig in ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. Its when I decided to stay off the bleeding edge of tech and hang out on the scabby end of it instead.   Its why my PC is 2 years old and why I dont own a PS4, XB1, or WiiU. Well, its not the only reason I dont have a WiiU (but damn if that Zelda DLC for Mario Kart 8 doesnt make me want to get one)

[Louis Tully]

.

[Vigo]

What are you gonna ride?

[Louis Tully]

.

[yotsuya]

Way to go, Louis! That's what I'm talking about! The Summer of Chuff!!!!!

[Vigo]

Ooh I always thought the shadows were pretty slick bikes. Enjoy, They look like fun bikes. 

I ride an old Honda CB750. Not mine, but for reference:



And the Wife rides a 86 Suzuki Intruder 850. Since she is a tiny Asian woman, she gets a lot of looks. 

[Howard_Casto]

Neat!  You had money and spent it on things!  How wonderful for you!

 

Isnt that what this entire forum is about? Wasting money on a hobby?

 

For the record, NO, not it is not.  This is why I'm so grouchy all the time around these parts. 

You don't throw money at the problem, rather time, skill and effort.  Every time you spend too much money a David Foley gets his wings. 

[yotsuya]

You don't throw money at the problem, rather time, skill and effort.

A----smurfing----men.

[Slippyblade]

I like to throw Oompa-Loompas at problems, myself.

[Vigo]

Every time you spend too much money a David Foley gets his wings. 

David Foley must have his own brand of panty liners by now, because between bulbusbeard and kaneda, he sure as hell must have earned a boatload of wings.

[Louis Tully]

.

[Malenko]

Isnt that what this entire forum is about? Wasting money on a hobby?

 

For the record, NO, not it is not.  This is why I'm so grouchy all the time around these parts. 

You don't throw money at the problem, rather time, skill and effort.  Every time you spend too much money a David Foley gets his wings. 

How you got "wasting money" to equate "over spend money so that you dont need to use time, skill, or effort" is beyond me. Wasting money, and over spending are not the same thing.  Spending a dollar is "wasting money" according to my fiancee. To me, buying a $800 monitor to play street fighter II is a waste of money.

[pbj]

Urge her to defy the stereotype, Malenko.  Unless you want your future son playing violin.

[Malenko]

Urge her to defy the stereotype, Malenko.  Unless you want your future son playing violin.

do you really want me pro-creating?

[Slippyblade]

do you really want me pro-creating?

Better that than amatuer-creating.

[Malenko]

I'm an amateur gynecologist, but I'll take a look 

[Howard_Casto]

Isnt that what this entire forum is about? Wasting money on a hobby?

 

For the record, NO, not it is not.  This is why I'm so grouchy all the time around these parts. 

You don't throw money at the problem, rather time, skill and effort.  Every time you spend too much money a David Foley gets his wings. 

How you got "wasting money" to equate "over spend money so that you dont need to use time, skill, or effort" is beyond me. Wasting money, and over spending are not the same thing.  Spending a dollar is "wasting money" according to my fiancee. To me, buying a $800 monitor to play street fighter II is a waste of money.

Wasting money and over-spending are the exact same thing.  If you didn't overspend then you didn't waste money.  I'm sorry your fiancée is a tight wad but that isn't our problem. 

But I'm not sure why your are arguing over semantics.  I don't know if you were kidding or not (doesn't matter, point still stands) but you asked if wasting money was what this hobby was all about.  I answered, no, it isn't.  Like I said it's all about effort, skill, and time investment.  It doesn't really matter if you equate wasting money with over-spending or not my answer still stands. 

[Malenko]

Wasting money and over-spending are the exact same thing.  If you didn't overspend then you didn't waste money.  I'm sorry your fiancée is a tight wad but that isn't our problem. 

But I'm not sure why your are arguing over semantics.  I don't know if you were kidding or not (doesn't matter, point still stands) but you asked if wasting money was what this hobby was all about.  I answered, no, it isn't.  Like I said it's all about effort, skill, and time investment.  It doesn't really matter if you equate wasting money with over-spending or not my answer still stands. 

no you sorta lost me. 

Its not about being a tight wad, its about perception. To some, this hobby is a waste of money.


So no, something being a waste of money, and something not being cost effective are not one in the same. Its not semantics, its English. So yes, wasting money IS what this and any hobby is all about. Spending money on non essentials for enjoyment, just like PBJ and hookers.

[yotsuya]

This conversation is getting decidedly non-chuffy. Keep it chuffed or GTFO. 

[Malenko]

tell the new Chad, not me!

[pbj]

He has seriously become the new chad.

I'm quite chuffed to contemplate spending my $250 amazon balance.

[yotsuya]

He has seriously become the new chad.

I'm quite chuffed to contemplate spending my $250 amazon balance.

Cheap J-Pacs for everyone!!!!!

[Vigo]

I got some lumps of chuff to keep the chuff train's boiler boiling.

Got me a radial arm saw at a garage sale for $50. You know, the ones that were sued out of existence for severing body parts?    Excellent condition, and comes with a shop cab that probably is about $300-$500 on today's market.

For reference, it is this model.


To topple the chuffle, Sears has a factory recall on all old radial arm saws to avoid lawsuit, and this one qualifies. I called them up, and it was like "Let's Make a Deal". I was given the choice to either send in the motor and kill the machine for $100, or take their mystery box of goodies. I took the mystery box. From what I heard online, it will in essence a big box of new replacement parts, including a new table, that all meet current safety code. She is gonna be a shiny new death machine and perfect for my downsized workshop.

[yotsuya]

Awesome, Vigo!

And

HOLY ---smurfing--- ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---!!!

[pbj]

Holy crap.  I had an undergrad marketing exam that was about those things...

Or was it lawn darts....

Or turbo lathes....

[Vigo]

HOLY ---smurfing--- ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---!!!

What.
The Heck.
Is that?

[Vigo]

Holy crap.  I had an undergrad marketing exam that was about those things...

Or was it lawn darts....

Or turbo lathes....

It was lawn darts. Definitely Lawn Darts.

[yotsuya]

What.
The Heck.
Is that?

That's cool, bro. I know you've always wanted an 8 foot tall cabinet with a 6 inch trackball, three inch buttons, and covered with an old bath mat. Gold star!!!!

[Vigo]

I guess now I know what to do with that old 32 inch tv and pile of carpet remnant I have been trying to get rid of. 

[ChadTower]

But I'm not sure why your are arguing over semantics.

Wow.  Hahahahaha.  Have you ever been here before?  Are you Howard or is someone stealing your ID?   

[yotsuya]

For those of you too lazy to click the link.

[pbj]

That woman sure is small.

[Vigo]

Pacman on a carpeted arcade. I would name it: "The Carpet Muncher"

[ChadTower]

"Muppet MAME"

[PL1]

Does that cab remind anyone else of the van from Dumb and Dumber?   



The plot thickens. . . .  Is that Pac-Man's shadow on the "ear"?




Scott

[yotsuya]

Pacman on a carpeted arcade. I would name it: "The Carpet Muncher"

Well played, Vigo, well played.

And that's the first thing I thought of, Scott. 

[yotsuya]

I see ChanceKJ has put Yellow Fever up for sale.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1980s-Pac-Man-Cabinet-Arcade-Game-Machine-/301290212825?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item46264bcdd9

[yotsuya]

Ugh.... I wonder if the monitor at least does G-Sync....



http://springfield.craigslist.org/vgm/4583473161.html

[Generic Eric]

Ugh.... I wonder if the monitor at least does G-Sync....



http://springfield.craigslist.org/vgm/4583473161.html

The lack of an integrated bottle opener leaves me chuffless.  Would not buy.

[Vigo]

But dude! You can charge your iPhone on that.   

[Howard_Casto]

I've got to wonder if those things ever actually sell.  It feels like a troll on life in general.

[Louis Tully]

.

[Vigo]

I like the helmet! Wasn't it batgirl that always rode the motorcycle?

Things have been ripe with chuff for me.  Yesterday at work, someone mailed me a free iPad.    A business has been trying to get an audience with me to have them as a vendor for our company. Gave me an iPad loaded with a 5 minute video just so I would watch it.

[yotsuya]

I like the helmet! Wasn't it batgirl that always rode the motorcycle?

Things have been ripe with chuff for me.  Yesterday at work, someone mailed me a free iPad.    A business has been trying to get an audience with me to have them as a vendor for our company. Gave me an iPad loaded with a 5 minute video just so I would watch it.

That's pure chuffage right there! I love when the Summer of Chuff evolves into Chufftember.

[yotsuya]

To cap off my Summer of Chuff and ease into Chufftember, I decided to fiddle with this 25 inch WG7000 that I have. I want to run a AVGA to it, but before I could do the setup, I wanted to test the monitor. I received my CraftyMech Test Pattern Generator a week or so ago, so I decided to use it. I needed a cable to run from the device to the RGB inputs on the monitor, so I got an old JAMMA harness, took the color coded wires, got some of the extra Molex headers I had lying around, and I made a cable for my device. Hooked it up, got it running - all works fine! A great device!

[yotsuya]

So excited - been doing some work on my gun cab build. So far, so good - photos later. But I'm using the CRT monitor referenced in the photo above. 

[pbj]

Latest batch of free, silly stuff.

 

[pbj]

This week's haul.

 

[yotsuya]

Picked up one of these bad boys up yesterday:



I also got a new workbench, so I'm going to use the Kreg to build some items to expand it out. 

[Louis Tully]

.

[yotsuya]

That's awesome man. I've been wanting some of their stuff for a while. 

Yeah, me too. On Friday I went into our woodshop at work and saw a bunch of structures build using the system, so I took that as a sign it was time to pull the trigger. 

[Vigo]

  Officially Jealous

[TopJimmyCooks]

That is really nice.  I've just got the small rocket kreg jig myself but I use it on every ww project including all my (two) cabs. 

[yotsuya]

That is really nice.  I've just got the small rocket kreg jig myself but I use it on every ww project including all my (two) cabs.

Thanks! I plan to use it on some practical projects first, then move on to arcade-related stuff. 

[pbj]

The free game train continues into October.  Trying to get my numbers back up to 1 game a week.



And, yes, that eye hook was free shipping filler.

 

[Slippyblade]

As much as I love a good eye-hook, that's pretty pathetic as far as a free gift goes.  Good game though.

[yotsuya]

I had a great Chufftober haul today. I stopped at Harbor Freight for the clamps - the biscuits and Kreg clamp came in the mail (I also got a 4 Foot Framing Level, not pictured)...

Then after this photo was taken, I scored TWO empty Pac-Man cocktails. 

[pbj]

Then after this photo was taken, I scored TWO empty Pac-Man cocktails. 

 

Trade you some ps4 games.

[yotsuya]

Then after this photo was taken, I scored TWO empty Pac-Man cocktails. 

 

Trade you some ps4 games.

You better send me a handful of Amazon gift cards... 

[yotsuya]

Man, oh man.... it's like Xmas in Chufftober.... I don't have a photo now, but wait until I show you what I was given just right now....

[yotsuya]

And here it is...

[Vigo]

I clocked so many damn hours on tabletop tron as a kid.

[Generic Eric]

Was it your birthday Yotsuya?

[yotsuya]

I clocked so many damn hours on tabletop tron as a kid.

I've never played it before, so I'm looking forward to messing with it.

Was it your birthday Yotsuya?

Not at all! It's just the magical time of year known as Chufftober! 

[yotsuya]

I think I need to call my attorney....

I think you guys meant Chufftober!

[yotsuya]

It's demolition day at Casa Yotsuya...

[Slippyblade]

Oooo...  What'cha rippin' out?

[yotsuya]

Oooo...  What'cha rippin' out?

I'm redoing the bathroom in my daughter's room.

[Slippyblade]

Always fun.  I still have yet to patch all the drywall from ripping out the built-in in the den...  Hoping to paint by Christmas.  Yeah - I'm slow.

[yotsuya]

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Inspired by my homies Neph and Louis Tully, I finally sat down and designed something practical in Sketchup - a custom barstool for my gameroom. Here's the first draft.

[Slippyblade]

Coolness.  Yeah - sketchup is so easy.  Wait till you get into more advanced things like radial array copies and that sort of stuff, it gets fun.

[yotsuya]

Wait till you get into more advanced things like radial array copies....

[yotsuya]

I'm thinking this color, with my gameroom logo woodburned into the top. Thoughts?

Oh, and for you Sketchup Gurus, is there any way to easily manually enter the dimensions of any boards I would be using?

[Slippyblade]

Array copies are awesome.  Pretend you are making a railroad track.  A RR track has the crossways wooden ties that the track is bolted to, right?  Well, you don't want to have to draw every single tie.  So you draw one tie and copy/paste it a hundred times...  right?  Nope.  You copy it once and do an array paste.  You tell the program how far apart and in what direct to copy the object 'x' number of times.  So with one operation you get however many copies you want arrayed out in a precise spacing.  It's wonderful.  A radial array copy is the same thing, but instead of copying an object along a straight line, it copies along a circular path spaced apart by degrees.

[yotsuya]

Nice. I may use that one. Any answer to my dimensions question?

[Slippyblade]

Yeah, but it's kinda hard to explain.  It's best to Youtube it.  Basically you have to break old habits.  Most people are used to paint programs.  For instance, when drawing a line, the click the tool, then click and drag within the workspace to draw the line.  Releasing the mouse button at the end of the line.  Don't do that in Sketchup.  Click the tool.  Click the start point.  Now move the mouse the direction you want the line in, don't worry about length.  Once you have the direction going the right way, simply type the dimension and hit enter.

To do a rectangle, same thing.  click the tool, then click in the workspace for a corner.  Move the mouse to drag out a rectangle, doesn't matter how big you draw it.  Then type dimensions.  For a 2" by 4" rectangle you would type "2, 4" then hit enter (assuming your chosen template uses inches).

So, to make a 2x4 that was 4' long.  You would do the following.

*click rectangle tool
*click in the workspace
*drag out arbitary rectangle
*type "1.75, 3.75"
*hit <enter>
*click Push/Pull tool
*click rectangle you just made
*drag up arbitrary amount
*type "4'"
*hit <enter>

Then I'd highlight the whole thing and make it a component.

[yotsuya]

I can't seem to be able to type in the dimensions box. I'm using Sketchup Make. Almost the latest version.

[Slippyblade]

Don't click into the box, that's a mistake most folks make.  Just type the measurements AS you draw the shape.

[yotsuya]

Don't click into the box, that's a mistake most folks make.  Just type the measurements AS you draw the shape.

I JUST discovered that! Thanks, Slippy! I'll build you a stool when I'm done! 

[Slippyblade]

No worries.  I made the same mistake when I started.  In MOST programs, you click into a box and type measurements.  Sketchup takes a very different angle on a lot of things.  It's a very weird hybrid of a program.  If you want a super sexy 3d program, check out Solid Works sometime.  It's only $10k a seat though. If you can get a discount...

One more thing.  Learn to use guides.  Use them a LOT.

[yotsuya]

Oh ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, Slippy, you've taught me enough to make me dangerous!

Goodbye, table-flipping guy!

[Slippyblade]

[yotsuya]

Ok, how do I do an array paste? 

[TopJimmyCooks]

make your selection of what you want to copy.  select the move tool. select a point on the selection as the starting point ie a corner, and the mouse will start to move the selected stuff.  then Hit control to tell it to copy rather than just move.  click on the point where you want the first copy placed.  Enter x# where # is the number of copies going in the same direction and distance of the first copy. 

[Louis Tully]

.

[yotsuya]

Awesome work, man. You'll be making all sorts of crazy badass stuff now.

Sketchup & Kerg

He's got the tools. He's got the talent.

It's Miller time.

Thanks, bro. Can't wait to show you my stool sample. 

[Louis Tully]

.

[pbj]

Figured it was about time to share my list of loot I've managed to accumulate nearly free.  My buy in on a console is always $150 out of pocket with a game, and I have managed to hold fast to that rule since the Genesis and 1989.  Even at that tender age, I was stacking sales and coupons in ways Electronics Boutique never envisioned.

 

So, without further ado, I grabbed all the following for $184:

PS4
Extra Dualshock 4

Everything else has been $0:

Dualshock 4
Dualshock 4
PS Vita Headphones

PSN subscription along with all the following 'free' PS4 games:
Trine 2
PixelJunk Shooter
Towerfall Ascension
Strider
Doki-Doki Universe
Road Not Taken
Fez
Sport Friends
Velocity 2X
Dust
Pix the Cat
Spelunky

Full digital games:
Injustice Gods Among Us
Lego Marvel Super Heros

Physical games:
Killzone: Shadow Fall
Tomb Raider
Infamous Second Son
Metal Gear Solid Zeroes
Diablo 3
UFC
The Last of Us
Wolfenstein
Need for Speed Rivals
Madden 25
Lego Movie

Random junk list:
Assassin's Creed 4   WiiU
Tomodachi Life   3DS
Mario Kart 8   WiiU
Pikmin 3   WiiU
NES Remix 2   WiiU
Shovelknight   WiiU
TMNT    Tshirt
2lbs Jerky   Food
4 Boxes Oreos   Food
40lbs bird seed   Seed
Stereo Amp   Amp
Splitter Cable   Cable
M/M Stereo Cable   Cable
48 Pop Tarts   Food
Glowsticks   Entertainment
Gold plated poker cards   Entertainment
Battery Corrosion Washers   
Hedge Trimmers   
Stereo Amp   

Between amounts redeemed and current balances in gift cards and Amazon payments:  $1,329.10

 

[ChadTower]

How many of those will still be shrinkwrapped in 18 months?

[Vigo]

The way pbj is going, he is probably gonna buy a shrink wrap machine for $0.56 on amazon, then can play the games and cash them back in at Walmart when done.

[pbj]

Right now, I've got about 4 or 5 retail new games I haven't opened.  Another 3 from Gamefly I haven't touched.  I'm trying to force myself to complete one before I move onto another one.  So I worked my way through Infamous, and now I'm a couple of hours into Tomb Raider.  I was pleased to see Lara Croft evolve from a cartoonish pinup to somewhat resembling an actual woman (despite that boner killing accent) but I've been surprised at how disturbing I find her graphic deaths. 

Diablo 3 is exempt from that rule, of course.  There's been probably a dozen couch multiplayer sessions and I'd estimate about 10,000 chickens gave their lives to supply us with wings.  Probably beaten that damn game four times over by now.

Anyway, the glowsticks and hedge trimmer showed up last night.



 

[pbj]

So I trim my hedge...



And the UPS guy shows up.  Latest loot haul:




Examine how amazon packages one set of felt car battery washers:



 

[pbj]

 

[HaRuMaN]

Damn dude.  Seriously.  What's your secret?

[yotsuya]

Ancient Chinese secret.

[pbj]

Not only was this one free, I beat Amazon into a price adjustment...



Another sealed game goes into the drawer...

 

[jdbailey1206]

Ancient Chinese secret.

And I now feel like a bonehead for ignoring this thread.

[yotsuya]

I picked up my first SSD yesterday to mess around with. I set up Windows 7 64-bit on it, planning to use it on my gun cab project and...

HOLY ---fudgesicle--- DOES IT BOOT FAST!!!! 

[yotsuya]

Just got a good deal on another one (a 256 GB one) for about $100 shipped. That one is going into the jukebox.

[Louis Tully]

.

[pbj]

Just got a good deal on another one (a 256 GB one) for about $100 shipped. That one is going into the jukebox.

Just for shits, install Crunchbang and clock the startup.

Well, I just got handed an old laptop with a dead HD and I know what I'm installing on it now....

[yotsuya]

Tempted to get a few more for my MAME projects.  They're done, so no writing to them needs to be done.

[Louis Tully]

.

[yotsuya]

Won't work for my juke,  but I might throw it in something else.  Thanks for the link.

[Louis Tully]

.

[rovingmind]

downloading it now, but i'll toss it in a vm first.

[pbj]

Seems to be super download packages adventure thus far.

Anyway, on first "vacation" in 14 months.

 Finally did this:



Got this rigged, too:

[Louis Tully]

.

[pbj]

Alright, I guess.  I've never really used linux and yet here I am posting from the damned thing.

Cannot get mame going no matter what I do.  Help there appreciated.

[yotsuya]

Got my FireTV Stick today, delivered on a Sunday, 12 days early.

I think I'm gonna create a new Chuff thread for the holidays. It'd be fun to see your loot, gift ideas, and so on.

[pbj]

Finally did some finishing work on the cabinet that shall not be named:



Yep, finally got the front end marquee to match the custom ROM.



My god, I can finally hear it.  This obviously needs a speaker grill and slight touch up.

Proof positive you shouldn't let the BYOAC naysayers get your enthusiasm down
 

[Slippyblade]

Naysayers?  Never!  We are a happy-go-lucky bucket of positiveness!

[Louis Tully]

.

[pbj]

You still rockin' that DIY spinner? I canned mine.

Oh yeah, that thing is long gone.  This is from an Arkanoid.  Think I paid $12 for it on Ebay. 

 

[yotsuya]

You still rockin' that DIY spinner? I canned mine.

Oh yeah, that thing is long gone.  This is from an Arkanoid.  Think I paid $12 for it on Ebay. 

 

You got any cat food tins lying around...?

[pbj]

You got any cat food tins lying around...?

Nope.  Put the cat down.

[Le Chuck]

Is that just MALA set to scroll through the marquee images only?  I hadn't seen that before, looks like a pretty clean way to do selections on machines with smaller lists. 

[pbj]

It's Atomic FE using some vertical layout.  I honestly cannot remember at this point if it was a layout I created, downloaded as is, or heavily modified.  It works pretty well, but it does hitch up a little if you scroll through the list quickly (it's some bargain basement PC in there).

The only thing I truly dislike about it is some of the marquee images floating around out there are very poor, even squashed down to this size.



 

[pbj]

The mead and prison wine debuts tonight.  So now it's time for the December edition of "will this kill me."

Step one, get cheap pork at the kosher grocery store:



Step two, cover it in salt, put in a bowl, drain the fluid twice a day:



(Angrily suspect your store is injecting meat with saline, too)

Step three, wash it off with wine, cover in paprika and cayenne pepper:



Step four, let rot for a month:



 

[HaRuMaN]

 

[Louis Tully]

.

[pbj]

I may actually unseal this one

[yotsuya]

I don't have your refined palate,  so tell me, what the hell are you doing with that meat?

[Louis Tully]

.

[Vigo]

Sound like capicola. You add any curing salt to that, or going completely medieval on your recipe?

[Vigo]

Btw, love the vintage kool aid pitcher.

[pbj]

Sound like capicola. You add any curing salt to that, or going completely medieval on your recipe?

You are correct.  I packed it in pickling salt twice a day for three days (I lost some every time I poured the fluid out of the bowl).  It was amazing how much this thing shrank.

Btw, love the vintage kool aid pitcher.

Thanks, I am quite proud of that.  Kook aid points redeemed for it 25 years ago.



Shadow of Mordor plays waaaay better on ps4 vs 360.  Glad I sprung for it.

[pbj]

Three pounds of jerky:





And this may be my crowning achievement:



14 cents from the gift card balance, overnighted from Las Vegas.

[pbj]

It came down to this or an Xbox One, but I've already got a PS4 and stack of sealed games I'm ignoring.  Without further ado, I present my 2014 free stuff crowning achievement:



This will go nicely in the garage with my turtle box pedestal.  39" was an excellent size for that thing but I never felt like it had quite the POP I wanted.  Like, "oh, you just got something newer for the living room and stuck the old one out here." 

A 52% increase in screen real estate ought to do it.

Getting Amazon to actually honor their price match guarantee on a TV is a bit of a nightmare, but make sure you keep asking for those $5 credits 'for the inconvenience or I'll be forced to leave you negative feedback' each time.  Any higher than that requires manager approval.  When you get a rep that knows how to play ball, those credits are applied to your pre-tax total.   

Onwards and upwards in 2015!

 

[rovingmind]

now will you enlighten us?  I would really like a free tv, the kind i get for free are not actually functional.

[Generic Eric]

Is it time for a Twenty Chuff'ifteen thread?

[pbj]

Is it time for a Twenty Chuff'ifteen thread?

Yes, but here's a wrap up on my meat.

Step one - register as an organ donor

https://www.donatelifetexas.org

Step two - unhang meat



Step three - you slowly spread the net



Step four - trim off mold and eat

[HaRuMaN]

 

[popsicle]

 

[Vigo]

I'd eat it. 

[Generic Eric]

Ya'll need to watch a food channel show on where your ham comes from. 

[jdbailey1206]

When pbj started with his first post I thought he was going to make prison punch.

[jennifer]

     OMG....I mean like....OMG!

[Louis Tully]

.

[pbj]

It's actually -really- good.  The flavor is much milder than I expected, but that's likely due to the short aging.  A little more mold on one side than I had hoped for (hence that chunk I whacked off) but it was all the 'good' white mold.  Since I don't have an intestinal casing on this, it resides in a plastic bag in my freezer now.

When pbj started with his first post I thought he was going to make prison punch.

That's already come and gone, bro, but there's still plenty of it left in Topo Chico bottles if you want to swing by.

 

[eds1275]

I think that looks ---smurfing--- delicious.

[Le Chuck]

It's actually -really- good.  The flavor is much milder than I expected, but that's likely due to the short aging.  A little more mold on one side than I had hoped for (hence that chunk I whacked off) but it was all the 'good' white mold.  Since I don't have an intestinal casing on this, it resides in a plastic bag in my freezer now.

I was surprised you whacked into it that quickly.  All the recipes I've read for that sort of thing listed 6 months or longer.  I've thought about doing my own prosciutto, just haven't had the gumption yet.  Surprised that you have to freeze it, I thought that once cured the idea was just to leave it out and shave off the top layer before consuming each time. 

I was pretty nervous the first time I saw a leg of prosciutto just out on the counter but am in love with it now.

*not that this is the same as prosciutto but it's not far off I imagine   

[pbj]

I live in cockroach country, and I didn't feel safe leaving this on the counter.  I basically went with this:

http://imgur.com/a/dzjj1

And he swiped the recipe from here:



Packed it in salt for 4 days, pouring off the fluid and adding more salt twice a day, washed the salt off with red wine, then slathered it in paprika and cayenne, wrapped it in parchment paper, and let it dangle for a month.  I rotated it so that a different end was at the bottom whenever I thought about it - every couple of days. 

Turns out I could have spot treated some of the mold with vinegar and just brushed it off, rather than cut that large wedge off the side.  The boston pork butt was about $12 and 9 pounds, figure another $5ish for the spices and paper, and I'm around $20 for 5-6 pounds of final product.

[yotsuya]

Is freezing it going to affect the taste?

[pbj]

I've frozen smoked products in the past and didn't really notice any decline in quality.  So long as it doesn't kill me in the next day or two, I'm going to eat it all either way.   

[yotsuya]

I've frozen smoked products in the past and didn't really notice any decline in quality.  So long as it doesn't kill me in the next day or two, I'm going to eat it all either way.   

Be safe, bro. I was afraid your homemade moonshine was going to give you rotgut, I don't want this stuff giving you tapeworms. 

[jdbailey1206]

I've frozen smoked products in the past and didn't really notice any decline in quality.  So long as it doesn't kill me in the next day or two, I'm going to eat it all either way.   

Be safe, bro. I was afraid your homemade moonshine was going to give you rotgut, I don't want this stuff giving you tapeworms. 

I've heard that moonshine kills tapeworms.  It's a win win.

[Louis Tully]

.

[yotsuya]

I've frozen smoked products in the past and didn't really notice any decline in quality.  So long as it doesn't kill me in the next day or two, I'm going to eat it all either way.   

So I take it the meat hasn't killed you off yet?

[Hoopz]

I've read that curing your own meats at home is much easier if you use an old refrigerator that's unplugged.  You place a bowl of salted water in it to create humidity then cure your meats in it.  A variety of ways to do it including using curing salt, cold smoked, warm smoked etc. 

This is one of my go to favorites when making sausage but it also covers curing meat:

http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Salting-Smoking-Revised-Updated-ebook/dp/B00CF2MBB2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420571070&sr=1-1&keywords=charcuterie

Any of you flapjacks ever dry aged steak?  If PBJ is freaking you out about a $10 cut of pork, wait til you see what happens to a $90 cut of beef.   

[HaRuMaN]

About once I year I get dry aged ribeyes, aged ~ 100 days or so.  Sooooooo goooood....

[pbj]

The dry aged steak thing always seemed a little silly to me, but I haven't tried one (and can't afford it anyway).  Julia Child was an advocate of dangling a raw chicken outside your window for 2 days before you cooked it, and it certainly didn't stunt her growth or shorten her lifespan.

Was kind of surprised that the author of the book you linked is such a fan of duck confit.  I've eaten every piece of duck in every form imaginable and that was definitely a 'meh' my list.  If I lived in medieval France and had a thousand dead ducks I needed to do something with right away, then fine.  Otherwise that thing is going aux cerises all day long.

Right now, I'd say my garage that's swinging around from 40-65 degrees is as close as I'm getting to 'cellar' temperature in Houston.

 

[Slippyblade]

I feel ya on temps, PBJ.  Living in Phoenix it always pisses me off when I see recipes call for "sit at room temp for several hours/days"...  room temp here is about 82 degrees at my house and those recipes are thinking 60-65.  Totally screws with things.

[jennifer]

    You cavemen need to learn about fire, And just cook it like normal people, Cause that's just friggen GROSS.

[pbj]

Meh, tastes awesome.  Fortune favors the bold.

[Hoopz]

I've been interested in duck confit but haven't made it yet.  At a minimum, I want to try french fries cooked in duck fat. 

Ironically, most people are afraid of curing meat but it's an older method of preparing food than most other kinds.  Interestingly, to me at least, not all mold is bad.  Fuzzy mold is bad while white mold that often grows on the exterior of sausages while curing, is considered good.  It stops bad mold from growing and doesn't impact the sausage negatively.  It can be wiped off the exterior prior to the sausage being cut/served.

[opt2not]

Curing, fermenting, and even the use of innards and stomach bile have been staple cuisines of South East Asia and other places for 100's if not 1000's of years. There is a whole line of delicacies involving decay and cultivating bacteria that most westerners can't even fathom and understanding of.

Now people say, "ewww gross" (mostly white people), while they're completely contempt with putting full GMO induced crap into their bodies, causing organ failure, hormonal changes, and in most likeliness cancer.
Or how about those metabolism fooling "sweeteners" that do more harm to you than good. And don't get me started on fast food.

I say the western world needs more caveman eating, at least that'll help with all the health problems and obesity from eating all this artificial ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- built in a lab.

[eds1275]

Or creates this

I have to ask, what is that from??? Soooo familiar...

[Louis Tully]

.

[jdbailey1206]

X-Files.

http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Flukeman

It's one of my favorite shows.

Yuh.

[pbj]

These are the strangest ear buds I've ever seen, Amazon.


 

[Slippyblade]

Now you can finish your "Pretty, Pretty Princess" outfit!

[eds1275]

I think that's the whole costume right there!

[Slippyblade]

I think that's the whole costume right there!

Oh god.  <shudder>  I just imagined that drunken clown that PBJ used to use as an avatar wearing nothing but that sash...  Now I need to bleach my brain.

[pbj]

I tried it on.  It barely fits.

 

Beat down amazon into a refund + $5 credit.

 

[wp34]

I had never heard the word "Chuff" before this thread.  I still wasn't convinced it was a real word until I saw it used in the latest Jack Ryan novel today.   

[Generic Eric]

I had never heard the word "Chuff" before this thread.  I still wasn't convinced it was a real word until I saw it used in the latest Jack Ryan novel today.   

If the hero in dkersten's series of novels doesn't have chuff and shazzle as catch phrases I will be disappoint.

[jdbailey1206]

[pbj]

Just a heads up to the extraordinarily cheap ---daisies--- -

Sony is doing a flash sale plus 10% off.

Amazon is still within their holiday return window.

I paid $28 for Shadow Warrior in November.  It's been price adjusted twice so my out of pocket was eventually $10.  It's going back to Amazon for a full $28 refund, which they advanced.  I walk by a ups box every day and I'm reusing their envelope.

That was flipped to a $20 sony wallet card.  That was used to buy a digital copy of Shadow Warrior plus four other games.

So, yes, Amazon paid me $26 plus five games to let a game rot in a drawer for two months.