The Arcade Machine (98% Completed)

[Bonechip]

Yes, that's what I am going to name it.... "The Arcade Machine".

I would first like to publicly thank my Wife for being there and understanding that this project was something that I really wanted to do. I would also point out that her skills in Visio were crucial for the control panel layout. I Love you Traci! That being said, on to the rest of the story....

Recently I acquired an NFL Blitz (made by Midway) for $50 off of Craig's List. The ad said, cabinet without monitor, PCB or harness. I am thinking ok, I have been wanting to do a Mame machine for a long time now and this seemed like a good deal for a first time arcade machine owner.

I talk a friend with a truck into helping me go pick it up. We arrive at the guys house at around 9:00pm and he had it outside his garage waiting. Being how it was dark, I could not get a real good look at it (mistake on my part, I will elaborate on that shortly). We load it onto the back of the truck, get it to my house and call it a night after dropping it off in my garage.

The next day, I wheel it out to get a good look and found a few things that were "surprises":

Both sides had cracks just below the marquee, the back was missing the door (it seems like there are alot out there that are missing them, how can you lose something so big?).
The control panel was missing the joysticks and a few buttons.
There were screws on the "drivers side" of the machine (thus explaining the cracks).
Missing coin door lock.

(BTW, I really hate sports so I could not wait to get rid of all the football crap on it)

I guess I was just too excited about my first arcade machine to notice/care. All in all, not a bad deal. So, here are the pics of the cabinet the first day I had it:

[Bonechip]

Ok while I was waiting for the Tax refund to come in, I got started rebuilding the coin door(s). Here are the pics of that:

The Stripper , (Primer) and Paint



Teardown Starts



Coin mechs. I used brasso to clean and polish all the parts of the mechs.



Stripping / Painting



Reassembly



Finished Product



I really was pleased with the finish that the hammered paint had.

[Bonechip]

Power strip.

I really wanted to have everything in the box start up with one button. After pouring over every web page I could find on the subject, I had a basic idea on how to do it with a relay. So, off to my local electronics specialty store and picked up a 12 volt 30a/40a relay.



I also picked up a harness for the relay.



I scrounged around the house for a power strip that I wasn't using and proceeded with the surgery.



I cut the ground wire (shown here) in the strip.



I used a molex 4-pin extension cable for the 12 volt side (so I can simply plug it into the computer power supply).



So, in a nutshell, I will wire a button to the power switch on the motherboard, when pressed it will turn everything on with only one button.

(I am going to mount an outlet box inside the cabinet. One of the outlets will power the computer, and the other will go to the power strip. When the computer is turned on, it will send 12 volts to the relay and turn the power strip on)

[Bonechip]

Marquee light.

I cut the end off a spare power cord and wired it directly to the fixture. When the power strip turns on, it will automatically light up.

[Bonechip]

Parts, Parts and more Parts.

The Tax money came in and I ordered:

Groovygamegear.com

4 x   Female Quick Disconnects .25
1 x   LED-Wiz™ 32-port USB Lighting and Output Controller
2 x   HAPP™ Competition Arcade Joystick - RED
50 x   Blood Red 3/4-inch T-Molding
1 x   7-Function Multi-Meter
4 x   Yellow ButtonBlaster™ LED
2 x   Blue ButtonBlaster™ LED
2 x   White ButtonBlaster™ LED
16 x   Red ButtonBlaster™ LED
1 x   Player 1 Pushbutton W/Microswitch Cherry
1 x   Player 2 Pushbutton W/Microswitch Cherry
2 x   Blue Horizontal Pushbutton - HAPP W/Microswitch Cherry
4 x   Yellow Horizontal Pushbutton - HAPP W/Microswitch Cherry
2 x   Black Horizontal Pushbutton - HAPP W/Microswitch Cherry
16 x   Red Horizontal Pushbutton - HAPP W/Microswitch Cherry
2 x   Euro-Style Terminal Block - 12-position
2 x   Barrel Lock - 7/8 inch Keyed Alike
1 x   Pushbutton Nut Wrench
1 x   TurboTwist 2™ Arcade Spinner Control, Accu-Twist™ System, Knob Style Black Inset, Energy Storage Cylinder

Ultimarc.com

1 x I-PAC2 Interface (Cable Type: USB)                  
3 x Joystick Mounting Kits (Type: 5mm)                  
1 x U-TRAK Revolutionary new arcade trackball (Color:Pearl  with USB Cable)
1 x Optional Trim Bezel for U-Trak

(The 2 1/2 cat legs were free)



Home Depot

3x - 4' x 8' x 3/4" MDF sheets
1x - 4' x 8' x 5/8" MDF sheet
(too many odds and ends to list here)

I over-ordered on the buttons because I did not know what layout I wanted exactly (never hurts to have those spare buttons laying around hehe)

On the TurboTwist spinner interface, I noticed the four pins for the mouse buttons were spaced perfectly apart to use an old CD-Rom drive audio cable for the connector. I cut one end off, moved one wire over and it will wire in nicely now instead of a hack soldering job.



(More to come.... up next.... Cabinet teardown and reconstruction)

[javeryh]

Nice start!  I've never seen someone take apart a power strip like that - I wish I knew how to do that kind of stuff.  FYI, I use a SmartStrip to control all the power in my cabs - I wire a pushbutton to the motherboard and one press turns it on and off.  However, it is $30 or so for the SmartStrip so your solution is much cheaper!   

Any idea what type of monitor you are going to put in there? 

[MacGyver]

I love seeing all those parts together like that, I had/have to get mine one at a time.c

Great pictures too, btw.  Keep them coming.

[MrDummy]

Small warning: don't use 12V auto relay for switching 220 / 110 V main power. It's not designed for it. The isolation is low in 12V relay and it's simple build. The contact points are also more weaker for main power.
Use 220/110V relay instead of it, and it's also not expensive.

Work safe with main power is important. Don't take risk with wrong electronic items.

[Bonechip]

Correct. The relay I got is 12 volt switch / 110 volt 30 amp (40 amp peak). The power strip will have the monitor (stripped down PC monitor), speakers, marquee light, and a usb hub.

I will be posting the tear down pics of the cabinet soon 

Stay tuned.....

[cmoses]

The project looks good.  $50 for the what you got is a good deal.  Those cabinets are very versatile and for that price you can expect some things missing and a little wear and tear.

Do you know what type of monitor you will be putting in there?

Can you give some more detail about wiring your marquee light?  I am working on the same Midway cabinet and was thinking I could do the same thing, but was not sure how to go about it.  I know a typical power cord has  black, white and green wires in it.  I think the light in my cabinet had a green, green & yellow, and purple wires going to the light from the old arcade power supply. 

Can you explain how you hooked it up and maybe show some pictures of the connections?  Also have you tried it?  I ask because I did and was not able to get the original or a new fluorescent light to work.  I figured that it was not the right power load and was shorting.  Did you have to install any kind of transformer?

Thanks

[DaOld Man]

Looks like you are off to good start. And I agree that you got a good deal on that cabinet.
Not meaning to sound anal or anything, but on your power strip modification, the black wire is not the ground.
On 120 VAC "house" wiring, the black is "hot" or "L1" or "line". This is the wire that will light you up if touched when energized.
The other two wires are white, which is neutral, and green, which is the ground.

On automobiles, the black is usually the ground, that's why it is confusing sometimes.

Good luck with your project, I will be staying tuned.

[Bonechip]

The project looks good.  $50 for the what you got is a good deal.  Those cabinets are very versatile and for that price you can expect some things missing and a little wear and tear.

Do you know what type of monitor you will be putting in there?

Can you give some more detail about wiring your marquee light?  I am working on the same Midway cabinet and was thinking I could do the same thing, but was not sure how to go about it.  I know a typical power cord has  black, white and green wires in it.  I think the light in my cabinet had a green, green & yellow, and purple wires going to the light from the old arcade power supply. 

Can you explain how you hooked it up and maybe show some pictures of the connections?  Also have you tried it?  I ask because I did and was not able to get the original or a new fluorescent light to work.  I figured that it was not the right power load and was shorting.  Did you have to install any kind of transformer?

Thanks

My light had a molex connector in the side of it (you can see it removed in this picture)



I simply cut all three wires and used wire nuts to wire in the power cord.

The three wires on the power cord (and the fixture) were white, black and green. The white went to one of the ends for the florescent bulb, the black went to the transformer, and the green terminated onto a screw on the housing.

I wired:

White to white
Black to black
Green to green

[Bonechip]

Not meaning to sound anal or anything, but on your power strip modification, the black wire is not the ground.
On 120 VAC "house" wiring, the black is "hot" or "L1" or "line". This is the wire that will light you up if touched when energized.
The other two wires are white, which is neutral, and green, which is the ground.

Hehe, my bad. I knew that but was typing these up at 2:00 am this morning lol. All that aside, I plugged a monitor and a desk lamp into the strip, hot wired a power supply and hooked it all up and it works as intended. 

[Bonechip]

The Teardown.

After really looking the cab over, my Wife and I decided to replace the sides because of the cracks. Thus, began the teardown stage.



Here I noticed that the front left piece of plywood would no longer hold the T-moulding as the channel was really in bad shape, so I replaced that as well.

[Bonechip]

The Re-build.

Now that the cab was in pieces and the damage was surveyed, I started with the rebuild. Using the original side panels as guides, I cut two new ones.



Using measurements from the original, I cannibalized the wood supports from the old panels and moved them to the new ones.



Here I started to piece the parts together to make sure things are fitting like the originals (nothing is screwed together yet).



 

[Bonechip]

The Control Panel.

After much deliberation, I came up with a layout for the new control panel.



And then quickly scraped it. After actually standing in front of the machine, there was no room to rest your wrists while playing. I extended the original about three inches longer and rounded the sides that stuck out.



At this point, I really got to looking at the sides of the control panel and was convinced that they needed to be replaced as well due to the amount of damage to them. I also made some tweaks to the template pattern.



And here it is in the raw. Note the bungie cord holding the sides together, very handy hehe.



Here is a shot after cutting out all of the holes and mounting the controls (dry run, they are just sitting in there for this pic to make sure I had clearance for all the controls.

Eureka moment as well: I realized this is no longer an NFL Blitz as there is no trace of what this cab was. (Did I mention that I really hate sports hehe)

[Bonechip]

Another pic of the mock-assembly.



Control panel detail. I routed out the dust washers for the joysticks so they will be under the artwork, which is in turn under the plexi top.



It's not really plexiglass. I decided to use Acrylic, it's a little more expensive, but you can bend it, cut it, look at it funny and it will not crack.



In this shot, I cut the Acrylic to the rough shape of the control panel top and routed the edges (all the while keeping a minimum of four clamps on it at any given time so it would not shift.



The control holes. I used a dremel tool to cut holes just big enough for the router to fit in so I could just route them all out. It worked perfectly.



Here's a shot of the back of the panel (was aligning the hinge holes).



At this point I am waiting for my 1/16" side cut router bit for the moulding channel to come in.... it's been over a week! It's killing me! I am basically at a stand still until it gets here so I am taking a small break this weekend to catch a breather.

More to come soon.......

[Mauzy]

Well, you win some and you lose some I guess. Excellent work on copying the original cab. Kinda sucks that you spent $50 on something you pretty much had to trash though...

[Cero21]

I hope that the spinner doesn't get in the way of the trackball.  It might be a little difficult to play games like golden tee.

[Bonechip]

Well, you win some and you lose some I guess. Excellent work on copying the original cab. Kinda sucks that you spent $50 on something you pretty much had to trash though...

Well I would put this cab into the category of a "win". Being as how:

1) This is my first cab.
2) The first time I have ever cut out wood/MDF.
3) The cab came with complete coin doors, marquee light and glass, monitor plate glass, etc.
4) "Free" pattern to make new sides etc.
5) The learning experience.

I find it well worth the $50 hehe.

[Bonechip]

I hope that the spinner doesn't get in the way of the trackball.  It might be a little difficult to play games like golden tee.

I thought about that as well, but as I said before... I HATE sports of all types. The spinner will be more used in my house versus the trackball. The only games off the top of my head that I would be using it for would be MIssile Command, Centipede, and Millipede.

All that aside, both are fully useable hehe.

[javeryh]

I hope that the spinner doesn't get in the way of the trackball.  It might be a little difficult to play games like golden tee.

This was my first thought too.  What about Shuuz and Bowling?  I know you don't like sports games but there are TONS of games people play when they come over that I don't like at all.  *coughtmntandthespimsonscough*  Switching the locations of the trackball and spinner will allow for many more games to be played comfortably.  Just a thought.  At the end of the day though you know what you will be playing and that's all that matters.

Anyway, your cabinet is looking awesome.  You are working at a very fast pace and it's obvious you are very skilled in the workshop.  I also love how you bought an empty cab and are replacing everything!   

[Bonechip]

WhoHoo!

My T-Moulding bit came in today (finally!).

For those interested:



Purchased for $16.00 total (that included shipping)

Slot Cutter Complete Assmbly, 1/16" - 1/4" shank (Their part number is #5341)

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_slot.html

I will be routing the edges tonight, stay tuned...

[Namco]

Man, between brasso'ing the coin mech pieces, using a dremel to expand the hole in the acryllic before drilling, stripping goo off metal, and hacking a powerstrip to put in a relay, I really think you're copying my SF2 project!  I did all those things too in my first project too!

I like how you tore down that cab to the base. Gives me an idea on how I can build a custom cabinet. Just build the base first then screw on the sides... or maybe that's not an original idea now that I think of it, that's how a lusid cab starts if I recall correctly.

Anyhow, keep up that pace, can't wait to see how it all works out. Show us the wiring and artwork when you get to it!!! 


EDIT: Just a quick note, the images are being posted at 640x480, but are actually 800x600, so there's quite a bit of ugly jaggies on each picture. You may want to post them full size, or resize them to 640x480 before posting them.

[Bonechip]

Hehe, well most of this so far has been common sense as far as the deconstruction goes. Brasso is awesome, been using it for years and it was only logical to use it for the coin mech. I probably did stumble across your page on the power strip, I visited alot of them on the subject.

This has definitely been a learning experience for sure. It is really amazing that this is all there is to an arcade machine. Growing up in the 80's, playing the "real" machines in "real" arcades always made me wonder what made them tick, well now I know lol.

As for the artwork, I am going to have to go bargain bin. My budget has expired so I will have to go cheap just to get the thing finished, but no worries.

Being layed off is a pain in the ass lol.

[Bonechip]

Paint???

Any suggestions for flat or very semi-gloss paint? What kind of primer do I use? What kind of paint?

I am looking to paint the entire cab black.

Any help would be appreciated

[cmoses]

Bonechip,

I think I figured out what may be causing the issue.  I think I am missing a piece of the the light.  I do not know much about fluorescents but I do not have the silver cylinder (circled in picture below).  I am not sure if that is a fuse or resistor of some sort.  It looks to be something that plugs in and out so I am sure it can be replaced.  Any information that you can provide would be helpful.

[MacGyver]

Bonechip,
That's a starter, it gives a little extra boost to the electrodes so the arc can make it across the gas in the tube when it first gets turned on.  Pretty much the starter, the ballast (transformer), and the tube are the main needed components of that kind of light.

[MrMojoZ]

Can you actually play fighting games on that button layout? The spacing and angle used makes hand hurt just looking at it.

[Namco]

Can you actually play fighting games on that button layout? The spacing and angle used makes hand hurt just looking at it.

That layout certainly makes Street Fighter IV throws, focus attacks, and taunts a bit easier (requires hitting high+low of a certain button to pull off)   

[Bonechip]

Control Panel Construction.

I finally got most of the control panel finished. Here I just finished cutting out the holes with the router:



Mounted a few buttons So I could put the T-Moulding on:



The component mounting:



Components mounted and most of the wiring done:



About to fire it up for the first time:



Success, everything worked right off the bat:



All the LED's work, all the controls work, needless to say I was amazed I got it all good on the first try. I do have a configuration issue maby someone could answer tho:

I am running the Mala front end with LEDWiz 2.0 for the LED plugin. I cannot get the controls to light up while in Mala (menu), you know the game dependent buttons. When a game is run, the appropriate buttons light up for that particular game, but it does not do it in the Mala menu. Any suggestions?

[Bonechip]

Volume Control.

I found this sitting on my shelf of crap (we all have one right?). It's a wireless USB multimedia controller. I plan on putting the receiver behind the glass for the monitor, that way I can use the remote to adjust the volume. It's just one of those nifty things to have hehe.



More to come soon, stay tuned

[cmoses]

Looking very good.  How thick is the MDF on your control panel? Can you explain your Admin Buttons and their layout (Blue and Yellow Buttons)?

Also is using the Trackball comfortable?  Looks like the spinner is in the way or you have to wedge your hand between the spinner and the Player 2 joystick.

[severdhed]

looking good

[Bonechip]

Hehe thanks, the MDF for the control panel is 5/8" and the Plexi is 1/8" (makes it real close to 3/4" when it's all said and done). The rest of the cabinet is true 3/4" MDF (kinda sucks that I had to buy an entire sheet of 5/8" just for the control panel lol).

My admin buttons (yellow) from left to right are: Pause (P) - Config (Tab) - Reset (F3) - Quit (Escape)

The Blue buttons on the left side of the panel are Mouse right and left. I have the Player one and two start buttons going on the front of the machine.

As for the trackball, that was explained earlier in the thread. The vast majority of the games we will be playing are not going to be using it. It is fully usable where it currently is tho.

[severdhed]

as long as you can play centipede...that's all that really matters

[Bonechip]

Control Panel.... Final touches. (Check out that custom prop rod, it's the top half of a small flag pole lol)



I took a four port Belkin USB hub, disassembled it, and mounted it into the control panel box.



 The Turbotwist, Ipac2, Trackball, and LEDWiz32 are all attached to the USB hub.



It's amazing how much wire it took to wire it all up... by my estimations, appprox 125 feet.




More to come, I plan on getting more work done to the cab today (Sunday).... Stay tuned.

[Santoro]

Looking very good, Nice neat wiring.

[Bonechip]

The Monitor.

A friend of mine donated two NEC Multisync FE 1250 monitors to the Arcade cause (Thanks Jerry!). They are 22" viewable and are damn near flat as a pancake. One will be used in the arcade machine, the other is a spare. Here is a before shot of one of them:



And this is what the crap looks like that I will not be using:



Starting the framework:



Bolts to secure it to the face:



Side panels to hold up the monitors guts:



And it's ready to be mounted in the cab:



You cannot see it very clearly, but the glass is in front of the monitor with about 1/4" room between them.



A special thanks to my Wife for helping on this part for the measuring support and the damn thing was really heavy lol.

More to come.... Stay tuned.

[cmoses]

Looking good. 

I noticed in your last picture you have two buttons holes on each side of your coin door slot.  What do you plan to have those buttons do?  Coin, start, other?