Which guns for a Windows cabinet (with Mame)?

[harri]

The title pretty much says it. I'm planning on an arcade cabinet that will house two guns at some point, it will be Windows based and I'm running Mame on it but that can be changed if there is some sort of specialized emulator to run light gun games.

And actually, the exact guns don't interest me most at this point but where I do need to put the sensors and how much space I need to reserve for them between the monitor and the cabinet. Do I need to leave the space on sides or on top and bottom of the TV that will work as a display?

[MoonPatrol76]

I am using the Gun4IR system on my MAME Cab. You need to put 3 little IR leds in the middle of the 4 sides of the monitor. You can glue/ put them directly on the border of the monitor, no need to leave space. Works like a charm. Don't know about other systems :-/

[harri]

Gun4IR seems good but complete package is sold out and I don't know how far my DIY skills carry in the world of lightguns. Well, that'll be a problem when I get there, now I only have to leave little space between borders and the screen.

[MoonPatrol76]

I am not very skilled in electronoics. but building a Gun4IR System is really easy. You just need the IR Camera, a compatible Arduino board, the software, 12 IR leds and a gun where you have enough space to put all in.
Just look at some YT videos about building a gun4ir system. It's really easy and works like a charm with MAME.

[Fursphere]

If you are not DIY skilled with building your own Gun4IR system, there are some people that sell completed packages - but they're expensive.  ($400 US per gun is what I've seen). 

Personally, I use Sinden guns on my cabinets (Windows).   Overall, I'm happy with them.   Little tweaky to get working at first, but afterward the initial learning curve, they've been great. 

I am interested in Gun4IR guns, but I've got too many other projects going on right now. 

[purbeast]

Does your cabinet have a CRT or LCD?

[harri]

If you are not DIY skilled with building your own Gun4IR system,

I don't know how easy it's to get a shell that looks like a gun, especially after the electronics has been added. It's easy to get it work but it's not easy to get it look like it's not DIY. I think.

Does your cabinet have a CRT or LCD?

LCD.

[HitmanHart]

I've seen a lot of debate out there about this. 

I did my own research and reached the conclusion that, for me, going with the Sinden gus was the path of least resistance.  I am skilled enough in electronics to do things on my own, but I decided that for what Sinden was delivering along with continual development on them, that they would work for me.

I was right.  They are solid.  Not perfect, as they require tweaking the software (as Fursphere mentioned correctly).  They are also kind of sensitive to room lighting (turning off any lights that will cause glare on your screen is important, but that's not that bad and easy to work around (turn off the lights while playing).

There are other solutions (Gun4IR, etc...) and really you just have to research and decide what path you're wanting to follow.  I'm not sure there's a bad decision to made as they all seem to work and all seem to have about the same price point once all is said and done.

Good luck and keep us updated.