MrQuan's Arcade Project - Latest: TV repairs

[MrQuan]

I started my arcade machine project a while ago - I'm very easily distracted, so progress has been slow 

I'm making a standard upright cabinet based on Lucid's plans, tweaked a little here and there.  I plan to add a few nice features, like a secondary screen (8" LCD mounted on control panel) and premium sound (speaker box construction has already begun).

Anyways, I guess I'm at the stage where my progess constitutes it's own project page.

Progress to date (top = latest)

• Currently: Working on control panel and speaker box construction.
• TV broken... then repaired
• Prototype control panel built, currently testing... too much
• Joysticks, buttons, coin door, IPAC2, etc ordered and received.
• Woodwork begun - main structure built.
• PC built and software selected (MAME obviously, and MameWah).
• Plans made based on Lucid's design.

[MrQuan]

Construction of the cab has already begun a while ago, so I'm about 50% through the woodworking stage.  I'm using 18mm MDF throughtout.


Here's my cab a few weeks back.

Here's a bit about the monitor/TV I'm using...

I'm using a Centrex CTT6809 Television (website is pretty intermittent ). It features a 68cm tube, compnent input, and a cheap price!!


Here's the TV I'm using... minus internals


...and here's the internals.  I'm attaching the tube to the MDF bezel using it's original metal chassis.  The driver board will be mounted inside the cab behind the tube.  Thanks to my sparky bro for not letting me electricute myself


Here's everything installed in the cab, looking from the top down.


Everything going to plan - no fireworks


Ok... this is the reason progress is so slow... it's all the testing, quality control of course!

Edit: I assure you the audio gear in that last photo is for testing only   As mentioned in my first post I'm building a fairly decent sound system, I've just begun speakerbox construction, so I'll update on that soon.

I'm now working on the control panel (about 50% done) - I'll add some progress photos soon.

[MrQuan]

Oh, I almost forgot to share one of our wood wasting excercises! 

Let's play "Spot the stuff up"...



Give up?  Look at the orientation of the screen cutout to the bezel - we accidentally rotated it 90°   So after some very careful measuring, another piece of MDF, and more time with the jigsaw getting the perfect curves...


Voilą! - Won't do that again!

[tommy]

Looks good so far. Stop playing that thing till it's done or you will never finish! 

[(+_+)]

Nice job on the TV extraction and mount.

Had a question that makes me feel a little tardish. If you were running a mame launching app at 1024 X 768 and used it on a TV instead of a PC monitor, would the image be

a) Cut off due to the much lower resolution of the TV.
or
b) Shrunk and adjusted to fit.

 

[TOK]

Nice job on the TV extraction and mount.

Had a question that makes me feel a little tardish. If you were running a mame launching app at 1024 X 768 and used it on a TV instead of a PC monitor, would the image be

a) Cut off due to the much lower resolution of the TV.
or
b) Shrunk and adjusted to fit.

 

On the TV in my cab, nothing would be displayed at that resolution. Image would be "scrambled".
Mine will display 800x600, but I leave it set at 640x480 on S-video input and 640x432 on component input.

[theCoder]

Love the documented mess-ups.  Not that I take pleasure in your problems, but I think we all learn more from others mistakes than their success.  Good progress so far.

[MrQuan]

Nice job on the TV extraction and mount.

Had a question that makes me feel a little tardish. If you were running a mame launching app at 1024 X 768 and used it on a TV instead of a PC monitor, would the image be

a) Cut off due to the much lower resolution of the TV.
or
b) Shrunk and adjusted to fit.

 

I'm using an NVidia GeForce 7600GS, with HDTV output.  This gives me two resolution settings, either 720 x 576 (the one I use) or 640 x 480, at either 50 or 60Hz.  If I force a custom resolution, such as 1024 x 768, the output to the TV will still be 720 x 576, however I can push the screen bounds around with the mouse in Windows (like if you set a resolution too high on a laptop).

So, the NVidia card will always output 720x576 to my TV, but will allow some kinda virtual resolution stuff, all of which is useless for an arcade cabinet

[MrQuan]

Just bought a RAM upgrade this weekend, my arcade PC is now:...

Motherboard
Asus P4P800-E Deluxe, Wireless Edition.
 
CPU
Socket 478, Intel Pentium 4 'Northwood' 3.06 GHz with Hyper-Threading.  (Over-clocked at 10% to ~3.3GHz).

RAM
KING-MAX 1GB dual channel RAM (512MB x 2) DDR400 (PC3200)

Video adapter
Albatron, AGP 8x, NVidia GeForce 7600GS, 256MB RAM DDR2, VGA + DVI + TV output.  (Component output used - 720 x 576 @ 60Hz).
 
Sound adapter
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro.

This system runs most newer games smoothly on MAME 0.110   I'm running MameWah as the system shell - I used the Hiding Windows article from the BYOAC Wiki http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Hiding_Windows.

[MrQuan]

MameWah Profile

I've done a bit of work on a profile for MameWah.  I wanted it to be native 720x576, quite generic (MAME, ZSNES, etc etc), and un-cluttered.  Here's a screenshot of it...



I've attached it as a zip incase anyone is interested (make sure you edit layout.lay in Notepad and change any relivent paths, and install the include font HemiHead ).

If you have any suggestions for improvement, let me know

[MrQuan]

Control Panel

Ok, I've made steady progress these days.   I'm now working on the control panel - I'd say I'm about 40% there.  The design I'm using is a detacheable one, it will be wider than the cabinet and so will need to be removed when going through doorways etc.  I've also decided to make the top hinged at the back, to access the internals and the butterfly-nuts holding it in place.

Here's a quick, out of proportion, sketch.  It'll give you an idea what I'm aiming for.



Here is a photo of the control panel back, where the hinges will be (chiselled out).  You can also see a hole in the bottom for cables etc.



Here's a snap of some of the products I've been using - wood putty, primer and paint.  I had no idea what to get when I started, so hopefully this can help anyone else.  For all you other Aussies out there, I bought these from Bunnings.



Here's a shot of the MDF Primer going on, thanks to the girlfriend for helping (she seems almost as excited as me about this project! ).



...and this is after applying the first coat of enamel.  I was nervous doing this, as I'm definately no painter, and the guy from Bunnings said I had to apply it fast   Doesn't look too bad if I say so myself



The parts I've ordered from OzStick (http://www.ozstick.com.au) should arive tomorrow or the next day from what I've been told.  These guys seemed alright from what I read elsewhere but I can't say much for their customer service.  I'm talking NO feedback for a week after parting with near $300AUD, then when I asked them about it the reply was - 'Oh yeah, we got your money - But there's a delay on parts, sorry.'   Anyways, it's been two weeks now and I'm assured the parts are on the way.

So - next update - Control Panel continued and hopefully with Joysticks and Buttons!

[MrQuan]

Progress on my project has taken a blow.  Hey Coder, ready for another documented mess-up?!

Crisis has occurred!!!

I damaged the TV I'm using for my arcade cab.  The tube is fine, however the driver board suffered quite a blow from a large piece of MDF.  At first glance it was ok (no components missing), but when the TV didn't turn on, I took a closer look.

As you can see by the image below there are some large cracks in the PCB   From memory we counted about 20 tracks that were broken.


There were some pretty heavy duty tracks broken (these are part of the power circuit), so we used some heavy gauge wire to ensure we're not restricting current in any way.  The photos below are actually my brother making the repairs, he's an electrician, so at least I know it's in good hands.




The operating table...  We used some lighter gauge wire for the smaller tracks as you can see here.


Here's a look after the repairs.  A stash of wire later, and a once over with the multimeter, and it's time to put everything back together...


After a nervous pause, and the famous question, "Are you sure this won't explode?", I flicked the power on and...


YYEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!   It works!!

In actual fact, I have made other progress, the control panel is coming along, as is the sound system - I'll post back here soon

[MrQuan]

I received my order from OzStick a while back.  It took them a while, and there customer service was nill... but in the end they came up with the goods all in perfect order.  Here's a glimpse of what I purchased...

Sanwa JL-W Joysticks X 2.  I've tested these and they have a nice light action, will take some getting used too but I'm very pleased I must say!


Here's some shots of the Coin Mech.  I selected the HI-07CS "CPU - digital & comparable" model from .  It's the electronic 'CPU' and has a few different jumper settings etc.  Haven't tried it yet, but to set it up all I have to do is supply a sample coin, and off it goes.


Below is a rough prototype control panel, as you can see Iive used some 6mm MDF I had laying around for the top.  The left side (P1) has the buttons in my initial design, they aren't straight, but follow a curved shape to better fit the player's natural hand position.  While this seemed good on paper, I found they are a little too spaced for comfort.  The right side (P2) is the same curved button layout with less gap between buttons.  I'm going with this, it's perfect!


Here's the status of the cab to date with the prototype control panel... (Speaker boxes are being built seperately).

[arcadefever]

very,very nice  some delay with the TV repair, but you sort it out 
clean design, good luck for the rest of the project ....

[MrQuan]

Thanks arcadefever

Yeah I'm going for a clean design, a bit of a classic fighter style.  The speakers will mount to the sides, they will be angled (not just boxes), so I hope it looks good!!   We'll see soon enough.

Oh by-the-way, kudos on your games room - it's amazing

[theCoder]

Good job on the PCB repair. 

How much did the coin mech cost?

[MrQuan]

Thanks Coder

The coin mech cost $45 AUD from OzStick (see CM02), that works out to be around $35 USD.

[MrQuan]

Update!

I've spent a bit of time on the removable control panel, it's turning out pretty neat.  It's held on to the cabinet by four wing-nuts.  I purchased some felt to go between the CP and cabinet also, just to stop the paint rubbing off.

More of the woodwork has been completed, almost ready for painting!!  I really want to have this completed by Christams (minus the artwork).

My brother was able to pick up a decent aluminium checker-plate off cut today that will serve as a kick panel.  I was shopping around, but it turns out to be quite expensive   Anyways, got this for free - and it's 5mm thick I don't think anyone will be damaging this too soon

I'll post a couple of photos of the cabinet soon.