Mistakes You Made

[SavannahLion]

 That's not too bad. There was a time I wore blue hair and orange shorts back in my youth. Of course, I also wore a blue powder jacket, metallic pants and a red dragon hat with bright green Rossignol skis during the winter so who am I to say anything?

I kind of imagined him like my sons Karate instructor. Fit but with glasses and male pattern baldness.

[Ginsu Victim]

Are we really going to go through the bash Xiaou2's website from 10+ years ago thing again?

That was the reason I brought it up!

[Xiaou2]

Firstly, LCD monitors have a certain Lamp life.  Usually its rated at something like 30 to 50,000 hrs.  Which some have translated into 5 years.
However, due to the shoddy nature of electronics these days... many other components are failing before the bulb.

 I had a 37" LCD go bad in less than 3 years.  It wasnt a bulb issue either.   I also see a lot of LCDs tossed on the Curb, and even some people trying to sell them on ebay and craigslists for parts.  (often at ridiculous prices)

 I believe some of this issue is due to the non-leaded solder.   From what I was told when working at a PCB shop (doing Photographic Lithography)  is that the new soldier does not always flow and stick too well.   You get a lot of through holes that do not get coated well... and a lot of poor soldier joints (something like that).    Over time, heat ... expansion and contraction, as well as the device being moved around a lot.. can cause just enough strain... to break some of the bad soldier joints.    (The particular TV I had got Very hot actually.  A lot hotter than I expected an LCD to ever become.   I believe at one point... I even placed a small fan behind it... to help keep it cooler)

 Add that to poor quality components placed on the board... and it makes things even worse.

Heh.  I can laugh at my own 'hair' decision... which is why I posted it.   Why on earth would people think it offends me?  lol

 And I dont have any regrets about my Prototypes either.   I learned a lot from building things from scratch.

 The actual design, minus the add on top panel... was very much functional.   I probably should have just finished it, and enjoyed it.

 However... during the process of construction and design... I made some discoveries about some of my former ignorances ... such as the importance of real Leafswitch controls.    I had a chance to play a real Robotron locally... and became hooked.   Found the Wico 8 way leafs to be superior to any other stick for use in this... and some other classic games.    From there... I then discovered the advantages of Leaf buttons as well.  Id never known about "Feathering" a leaf before... and that changed everything.

 Because of these giant shifts in control desires..  it totally conflicted with my previous panels.

 Also, I was working a mega overtime... and finally getting enough money to buy many other real arcade controllers... rather than have to build them myself.    Some of my builds like the Starwars yoke worked great...  however, it wasnt anywhere as sturdy as the real deal.  I still was a bit shaky on my metal & woodworking abilities at the time... and probably could do much better the 2nd time around.

 While saving and collecting more parts up...  I had a different vision starting to form.   I had seen Unclets horizontal machine... and it made more sense to me to replicate something similar to that.  This would make it more comfortable to play, and make driving games easier.   I spent some time re-designing the thing... and came up with some nice stuff...  but...

 Eventually I got sick.   Id get home and have zero energy to go much at all.   This trend was a slow and agonizing process... squeezing the life out of me... and throwing me into depression as well.   Soon I would end up having 2 Surgeries.  Removal of my Gall Bladder... and later, half of my Thyroid removed.   I lost my good paying job... and that only made things worse.

 I was getting insane Migranes, and horrible joint and muscle pains... along with the low energy levels.   I was falling apart.   Eventually my system became so bad... that it finally reacted violently to certain things.   Thats when I learned that I was very much allergic to Wheat (Gluten).   Id soon find out I was also allergic to dairy and eggs.   (and probably some other stuff as well)

 Removing these out of my diet helped Greatly in my energy and recovery to feeling a little better.   However, my system is still aggrivated often... and kicks my butt often.   Every day is a new struggle.     The food restrictions made it very difficult,  as now I had to make everything from scratch.  I could no longer eat out,  or eat some easy microwave dinner.   Specialty gluten replacement foods are also about 5x in costs... so my food bills had skyrocketed off the charts.   I got to be a pretty darn good cook...   but I had no money left to do anything with.  Not to mention... not much time left, after making those dishes... and then cleaning up afterwards.

 Eventually Id have another surgery.   A previous mini bellybutton hernia Id had repaired... fused into my intestine.  It blocked the path for food to digest... and as a result... I was tossing my cookies constantly.   They had to remove a section of my upper bowel.  The wound became infected after the operation... so they ripped it open again... and when I woke up...  I had a huge open hole that you could easily fit a golf ball into.  Every day it had to be cleaned and rebandaged.   I was out of work for a good long time.

 (Skipping a lot in the middle here... )

 Eventually, the house I was staying at was sold... and all of my belongings were placed into storage.   I lost a lot of things as well.
Ive had to move all of my stuff several times...   but now, Ive gone into debt so badly... that I will be forced to claim bankruptcy in the next few days.  I will lose everything I had spend so much time working to achieve...   Every tool.  Every game part.  etc..    20 years of efforts gone.

 I had been living in my minivan for a spell... due to major van repair costs.   I was able to eventually pay them off... but I lost my job again.
Ill be seeking help and some form of shelter soon after I claim bankruptcy.

 Feel free to throw all the stones you wish.

[Malenko]

Firstly, LCD monitors have a certain Lamp life.  Usually its rated at something like 30 to 50,000 hrs.  Which some have translated into 5 years.
However, due to the shoddy nature of electronics these days... many other components are failing before the bulb.

Sounds like you might be mixing up your LCD monitors. Older LCDs had a fluorescent tube rather than a bulb, more often than not the inverters would go prior to the actual tube dying. Newer monitors are LED back lit, and the life expectancy of the LED is approximately 50,000 hours. 50k hours at say 10hrs a day is almost 14 years. So yes, in theory if you had a monitor that had no power save mode and you used it 24/7 and it died the moment it hit 50k hrs, it would only last 6 years. CRTs have the exact same components fail as an LCD, that's why they sell cap kits for CRTs too.

You are taking rated expected failure as "life span" and its not the same thing.  The rated expected failure is the earliest expected failure not the normal expected failure.

Can we just agree that each display has its pros and cons and leave it at that? Whole LCDs vs CRTs is tired out.

[Xiaou2]

  Im very aware of how LCDs work.   Ive taken them apart myself.  (I call the "Tubes"  bulbs.  Its simply general terminology.  IE:  Please hand me the replacement bulb over there... )

I keep up on new technology pretty well.

 Unfortunately, as stated... usually its other parts that blow up first.
And interestingly enough... its probably fair to assume that PC based LCD monitors are made to a much higher reliability standpoint.
Unfortunately, if you want a larger LCD... the TV option tends to be the option that would be the best fit.

 As for the Cap-Kit comment... well, I just dont think its a very valid counter.   It can take something like over 25 years for something like that to happen.  The elder caps tended to be quite robust.

[Xiaou2]

Additionally...  to add to my  "Mistakes"

 2)  Curved Button Layout

   I believed I was the 1st to try out a curved button layout,  as the time when I started my prototype.  (That might not be the case... but at that time, I saw no others like it)     What felt good on flat cardboard.. using drawn circles...   did not feel right when I actually built the panel.

 My fingers kept getting lost.. and pressing buttons on the very edges..  which really stinks on a concave button.

 It turns out, that you dont lay your hand flat on the panel... the way that I initially tested things.   You bend your fingers at the knuckles.
This reduces your finger spread, but gives you greater Leverage power..  for easy rapidfire shots.

 The only exception might be if you used flat or convex buttons that have low actuation force..  and short travel.
 As when your hand is flat... your fingers lose a lot of power.

 Even then... Its easier for the mind to know where the buttons are... if they are in perfectly straight rows.

 3)  Stubborn Attitude

  Initially I had poor notions about certain technology... such as  "Old Leaf"  buttons and joysticks.   I can admit it.   I made some poor arguments,  and was fairly ignorant to the correct use and reasons for using these.

 The arguments may have helped however... because I learned of  "Feathering" ... something I never knew.    Id then get my hands on the real deal... and became a convert.     Ive also become far more open minded towards things I was not really all that certain about.

[Malenko]

I think a thread where people can show others mistakes they've made so that others can learn from their mistakes is a pretty brilliant idea. This way its not people pointing out things they disagree with that other people have done but mistakes they made themselves. Its in the same vein as the the "post your first MAME cab thread" but I knew the chuff wouldn't last. It is inevitable.


EDIT: Typo city :/

[Token]

"Haven't checked the new replies in the Mistakes I've Made thread lately. Lemme check it out."




A mistake I made was getting the software side playable before making much progress on the cabinet.

[yotsuya]

(I'll clean this up in a bit)

Just leave it be. Why aggravate  yourself?

[saint]

(I'll clean this up in a bit)

Just leave it be. Why aggravate  yourself?

I wanted to get in on the "making mistakes" action

Thread edited, please keep it on topic and off personal issues folks - thanks!

[Slippyblade]

Saint's biggest mistake, at least from an aggravation angle...  Making a website for building your own arcade controls!

[saint]

By the way, for those of you who don't know... Xiaou2 is one of the pioneers of this hobby. I don't know that he ever made a complete or successful system, but he is one of the guys in the early days who was always pushing the envelope trying new things. The rotating barrel contraption preceded most of the rotating control panels, his tinkering with analog controls, digging into how things work, etc., certainly helped set the tone for the evolution of this hobby. Credit where credit is due.

[saint]

Saints biggest mistake, at least from an aggravation angle...  Making a website for building your own arcade controls!

Heh. *Like!*

[monkeybomb]

No dog in the sidebar, so I saw the long post and just read the first word and ending.

Firstly...Feel free to throw all the stones you wish.

To avoid simply being off topic, I'll add the mistake of plugging in a CPS2 board to a jamma harness set up for a multiboard that uses the ground for button 6.  The ground wires start smoking for those who are curious.

[Slippyblade]

To avoid simply being off topic, I'll add the mistake of plugging in a CPS2 board to a jamma harness set up for a multiboard that uses the ground for button 6.  The ground wires start smoking for those who are curious.

Wow, that sounds like an expensive oopsie.

[Howard_Casto]

I did something similar.  My gorf machine uses 12v opto switches for the joystick.... the data wires run though the same harness and I stupidly didn't label the power wires so 5 years later when I went to update some stuff....magic blue smoke.  I saved the joystick but it fried the I-pac. 

Label EVERYTHING. 

[jtslade]

I spent so many hours trying to make my decased svideo crt tv look good in my mame cab. So much wasted time. Finally wised up and put in a 25" arcade monitor and almost wept it was so perfect


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