The Summer of Chuff 2015

[yotsuya]

***chuff-harshing***

Weren't you going to buy a Ms. Pac-Man while you were there to work on?

[Vigo]

Ya know what's Chufftastic about my summer?  NOTHING!  I'm away from my family on business and have a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- ton of time on my hands but nowhere to build any cabs.  Its super!       I'm about two seconds away from ordering a kit.

Well, then this thread isn't for you   Come back when you have something to chuff about

Yeah, bro, don't harsh the chuff.

Your posts are naff, and naff destroys chuff. Go find some chuff and come back when you have it.

[Howard_Casto]

I third the request for brake pics, I've been thinking of making one, scrap angle calling my name.

Problem with the scrap wood box is I have no where to put something that big.

Well I didn't build a super huge box... in fact I just had a scrap piece of plywood and some casters lying around and went... "hmm".  I think the inner dimensions of the cart are around 2'x3'

I'll take some pics of the brake this evening, but seriously... just two pieces of angle iron... nothing to see.  About the only advice I can give is if you don't have a drill press or a welder, you aren't making one because it's unlikely you'll be able to drill through the iron. 

[BadMouth]

I'm calling it "chuff dust"

I skim coated everything to eliminate variations in texture.
still have most of the (formerly tiled) ceiling to sand and lots of individual spots to touch up. 

I can't wait until the chuff dust goes away for good.


(sorry about the crappy pic quality.  cell phone pic quality has degraded over time despite disassembling and cleaning)

[Generic Eric]

I third the request for brake pics, I've been thinking of making one, scrap angle calling my name.

Problem with the scrap wood box is I have no where to put something that big.

Well I didn't build a super huge box... in fact I just had a scrap piece of plywood and some casters lying around and went... "hmm".  I think the inner dimensions of the cart are around 2'x3'

I'll take some pics of the brake this evening, but seriously... just two pieces of angle iron... nothing to see.  About the only advice I can give is if you don't have a drill press or a welder, you aren't making one because it's unlikely you'll be able to drill through the iron.

I have neither of those. 

[Vigo]

A drill press is a workshop "must". Add it to your tool shopping list. 

[BadMouth]

A drill press is a workshop "must". Add it to your tool shopping list. 

+1

I have a crappy one that came from Big Lots.  IIRC, I paid $50 for it.
Not sure I have seen one there since.
It's probably comparable to the cheapest one Harbor Freight sells.

The head of it moves around way too much, but if you pre-drill with smaller holes first you can still achieve decent accuracy.
I use the crap out of it.  Just last week I used it to drill holes in 3/4" aluminum box to make mounts for a TV antenna reflector (got a 10 percentage point gain across all channels  ).

[Howard_Casto]

+2

The main differences you are going to see are the increased rpms, a bit more torque and square, even pressure compared to a hand held drill.  If you need consistent holes or the ability to drill through tough wood or metal it's about your only option.

To people in this hobby it's the difference between using a dremel and a cut-off wheel to make t-molding grooves compared to a proper router and tri-wing bit.  Simply put one works and the other doesn't, but you won't realize the other method isn't working until you have the better option. 

[Slippyblade]

I have a crappy one that came from Big Lots.  IIRC, I paid $50 for it.

Same one here - my wife got it for me for Christmas many years ago.  It lives on the back porch, exposed to the elements and I use it 3-4 times a week, at a minimum.  Best X-mas gift EVER.

[yotsuya]

Yeah, a drill press is definitely my next tool purchase. 

[HaRuMaN]

Yeah, a drill press is definitely my next tool purchase. 

Make sure you mount it to the dining room table...   

[yotsuya]

Yeah, a drill press is definitely my next tool purchase. 

Make sure you mount it to the dining room table...   

What kind of Canadian do you think I am?

[pbj]

I've got one.  Only thing I use it for is drilling holes in glass bottles.  Nobody wants anymore bottle lamps, so now it collects dust.

;(

[harveybirdman]

Not only do we chuffing have a drill press in the shop it also is equipped with an x and y axis adjustment vice

Oh you need that hole one millimeter to the right? No problem adjust a knob and boom ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- gets holes in it exactly where you want.

[Le Chuck]

Here's the furniture that has been occupying a lot of my time.  Her room isn't 100% done yet but we're ready to recieve.  Now I just have to go clean overspray off the garage floor, the kids' bikes, the shelves, maybe a game or two lol. 

Also, I should be able to start doing hobby related stuff again so I'm excited about that!

Oh, and we made that little name banner using the Cricut Explore.  I totally love that little cutter but haven't used if for anything hobby related yet.

[Slippyblade]

Oh, and we made that little name banner using the Cricut Explore.  I totally love that little cutter but haven't used if for anything hobby related yet.

Is that one limited to the cartridges or will it take custom files?

[Generic Eric]

Oh, and we made that little name banner using the Cricut Explore.  I totally love that little cutter but haven't used if for anything hobby related yet.

Is that one limited to the cartridges or will it take custom files?

From manufacture web page.
Easy design software
Designing is easier than ever. Cricut Explore machines work hand-in-hand with our free Cricut Design Space™ software for PC, Mac®, and iPad®. You can save projects, browse images, upload your own designs, and purchase individual images. And it’s cloud-based, so all your projects and images are linked on your computer or iPad.


---
I was curious too, so I looked it up.

[Generic Eric]

A drill press is a workshop "must". Add it to your tool shopping list. 

Word.

I just used my miter saw for the first time last night.  I didn't mention it, but I bought a corded circular saw awhile back too.  I need another battery for my drill.  That pocket kreg jig.  Its on the list, along with a lot of other stuff.

 

[Le Chuck]

Oh, and we made that little name banner using the Cricut Explore.  I totally love that little cutter but haven't used if for anything hobby related yet.

Is that one limited to the cartridges or will it take custom files?

Custom, I haven't paid for anything.  The interface needs some work and it is webbased (blah!!) but I expect an offline upgrade is in the works, but aside from that minor annoyance it cuts whatever I want. 

[HaRuMaN]

Oh, and we made that little name banner using the Cricut Explore.  I totally love that little cutter but haven't used if for anything hobby related yet.

Is that one limited to the cartridges or will it take custom files?

My wife has a Cricut, I upgraded it's firmware and use a software called Sure Cuts a Lot, can cut vector files with ease.  Just leave a cartridge in, and it works like a champ. 

[Le Chuck]

Oh, and we made that little name banner using the Cricut Explore.  I totally love that little cutter but haven't used if for anything hobby related yet.

Is that one limited to the cartridges or will it take custom files?

My wife has a Cricut, I upgraded it's firmware and use a software called Sure Cuts a Lot, can cut vector files with ease.  Just leave a cartridge in, and it works like a champ.

Does Sure Cuts work with the Explore? I don't even own a cartridge.

[HaRuMaN]

Oh, and we made that little name banner using the Cricut Explore.  I totally love that little cutter but haven't used if for anything hobby related yet.

Is that one limited to the cartridges or will it take custom files?

My wife has a Cricut, I upgraded it's firmware and use a software called Sure Cuts a Lot, can cut vector files with ease.  Just leave a cartridge in, and it works like a champ.

Does Sure Cuts work with the Explore? I don't even own a cartridge.

I have to see what my wife's is. I know it accepts 12 x 6 sheets

Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

[RetroGreg]

I have extra steam keys for Torchlight 2 and Aqua kitty if anybody wants them.

[yotsuya]

I have extra steam keys for Torchlight 2 and Aqua kitty if anybody wants them.

I'll take 'em.

[yotsuya]

Ok, Pac - to - JAMMA adaptor finished. Fun moment - my soldering iron slipped from my hand, I instinctively reached for it, burned my finger, it flipped up, hit my chin and fell to the ground.  So I have a little burn on my chin and finger. Good thing it's the one I cut with my table saw and therefore numb already.

I also burned the two EPROM chips I needed to in order to convert the board back to regular Pac. Hopefully the daughtercard I need shows up tomorrow so I can test this mofo.

[RetroGreg]

I have extra steam keys for Torchlight 2 and Aqua kitty if anybody wants them.

I'll take 'em.

I'll send you a PM

[Le Chuck]

Ok, Pac - to - JAMMA adaptor finished. Fun moment - my soldering iron slipped from my hand, I instinctively reached for it, burned my finger, it flipped up, hit my chin and fell to the ground.  So I have a little burn on my chin and finger. Good thing it's the one I cut with my table saw and therefore numb already.

Which chin did you cut on the tablesaw?  I keed, hope your chins are okay tho! 

[yotsuya]

Ok, Pac - to - JAMMA adaptor finished. Fun moment - my soldering iron slipped from my hand, I instinctively reached for it, burned my finger, it flipped up, hit my chin and fell to the ground.  So I have a little burn on my chin and finger. Good thing it's the one I cut with my table saw and therefore numb already.

Which chin did you cut on the tablesaw?  I keed, hope your chins are okay tho!

I threw some Neosporin on the chin, should be ok.  Finger, who knows?

Building the adaptor was fun, but always challenging. I usually pull a Griff and have to redo some part of it, and this time around was no exception. Should be good to go now, I just need the Sync Bus card to show up. I've really had a lot of fun with the EPROM programmer. The board I have is technically a Ms. Pac missing two cards, so I swapped it back to Pac for testing purposes (reverse-Jennered it, if you will). If all goes well with the 6Pac, I'll be able to do either on this board.

Tomorrow is hopefully the day I get to do SuperPac-to-JAMMA, and then later this weekend I'll be able to finish resoldering those sockets to my Open Ice board. Chuffed, indeed.

[Howard_Casto]

Hey man... ever thought about burning some genesis carts?  Unlike nes/snes carts they don't have any special chips or security or anything.  I think there is even a blank pcb you can buy floating around somewhere. 



Not so much on the hardware end these past couple days, but I finally got around to updating the firmware on my DS flash cart so it'll play the newest games.  I'm going to put a full set of all the portable system roms on the thing.  Too bad DS games are too large... I'll go with a top 20 for them. 

I'm going to order flash carts for my consoles as well and finally get around to making a nice setup.  Gonna write software so when you put the sd cards in a pc, you get a nice front-end and emulator that auto-configs based on what gamepad is plugged in.  So you guys might get something out of that one as well. 

Also took the cat to get his allergy shot and his nails clipped.  I didn't get any major lacerations this time when I held him down for the vet, so I'm quite chuffed about that.  (Vet got slashed pretty bad though.)

[Howard_Casto]

Damn... mentioned Genesis.... must post obligatory:

[yotsuya]

Hey man... ever thought about burning some genesis carts?  Unlike nes/snes carts they don't have any special chips or security or anything.  I think there is even a blank pcb you can buy floating around somewhere. 

I would love to do something like that. I don't have a working Genesis, though. But I definitely would love to roll my own with some of these things. I have a spare Centipede board that has graphic glitches, but if I can get it working, I want to install the "Atari $50,000 Challenge Centipede" EPROMs on the board. It makes it so that the game only runs for 3 minutes. The goal during the competition was to get the highest score in that three minute time period. I'd also like to get another Pac board but install some of the hack variants by burning new EPROMS.   

So my wife I and were killing time at the mall last night. She wanted to go into Old Navy. I said sure - after I stopped into Best Buy. It's been YEARS since I've been in Best Buy. Not much to see. I picked this up. Say hello to my little friend:

[HaRuMaN]

I don't have a working Genesis

You're harshing my chuff, man...

[yotsuya]

So I put the Super Pacman to JAMMA adaptor together while watching Behind the Music about Duran Duran. Fitting.

The adaptor is sure easier to make then the regular Pac-Man to JAMMA. Plugged it in, waited for smoke... it worked! Hella chuffed.

[harveybirdman]

 

Brilliant!

[jdbailey1206]

***chuff-harshing***

Weren't you going to buy a Ms. Pac-Man while you were there to work on?

Yeah.  I'd regail everyone with the story on what happened but it sounds like I would harsh the chuff.

(I feel like Im watching Encino Man while reading this topic.)

[yotsuya]

***chuff-harshing***

Weren't you going to buy a Ms. Pac-Man while you were there to work on?

Yeah.  I'd regail everyone with the story on what happened but it sounds like I would harsh the chuff.

(I feel like Im watching Encino Man while reading this topic.)

Do tell...

[yotsuya]

Ok, so my Pac-Man daughtercard and 6-Pac multi kit showed up today... I installed the daughtercard, hooked it up to the adaptor I made, and plugged in to my JAMMA test machine, waited for the smoke....

And instead, I got a game of Pac-Man!

Which chuffed the ---fudgesicle--- out of me because I had no guarantees the board itself actually worked with the missing parts replaced. Switching the roms back to Pac-man certainly helped.

Feeling bold, I installed the 6 in 1 kit, started up, and got an error message. Inspecting closer, I saw I had accidentally bent a pin- I easily straightened that out, rebooted, & I got perfection. This has been a fantastic day for Pac-Man and family in my household.

[wp34]

That's pretty cool. All the Pac's you need.

[harveybirdman]

Hella Chuffed!

 

[yotsuya]

One last bit of Pac goodness...

Super Pac doesn't come with a high score save setup,  but for $40 you can buy one... or for $15 and a ROM burner, you can DIY. Guess what mofo now has a Super Pac that saves high scores?

All you need to do is burn two EPROMS of code for one side of the board, then swap out one chip with a battery backed Dallas NVRAM on the other side. I did that, installed it... success!