RobbyMac's 1st build (Completed)

[RobbyMac]

Started cutting wood last night. No pics until I get it drybuilt or something worth showing anyways.
Based on the Ultimate Arcade II (as close as I can get from pictures anyways) with some modifications. 27" sony trinitron, 4 player CP (A ways off at this stage). Leaf buttons will be illuminated. Still undecided on joysticks.

Taking WAY too long, but I'm almost there... a few more pieces to cut, and then the bezel will be last.

Then halfway through cutting the wife hit me up with the idea of parking it in our 'play room' and making it so the kids can still watch TV on it if necessary (Eliminating another TV in the house). This means I will need to park the PS2, DVD & Sattelite receiver underneath with 'open' shelving of some sort (for remotes). It also means face frames But it's certainly feasible.

Any thoughts on this? Does anyone else regularly watch tv in their cabs? is it awkward with the screen up high and angled upwards (for a 27")?

Hours total so far: 160 (10 of that is fixing the damn tv) I stopped counting a while ago
Cost Total so far: $1038.50

$113 5/8" Particle Board, 1 x 2 & 2x2 Framing
$70 - Misc (Paint, sanding discs, tack cloth, bondo, etc)
$50 - 27" Sony Trinitron (craigslist)
$65 - 60 ft T-Molding, Bit
$18 - 100 - 6,000 mcd 3mm wide angle flat top LEDS ebay
$184 - 2 mag-stik plus, I pac-4, mounting kits, pcb feet
$136 - Buttons, 2 happ competition 8 way joysticks, trunk latches
$18 - pc Speakers & sub
$60 - Pr Glass Doors
$40 - 500w Power supply
$50 - Misc phono jacks, usb hub, coax connector, stereo connector, etc..
$37 - .2 acrylic for bezel face
$20 - Red Paint, More Primer
$70 - Happ 3" Trackball (Trans. red) & Mounting plate
$100 - Ultimarc Spinner & Knob
$30 - More misc (Spade bit for sinking tnuts, dblstick tape, bolts, etc)
$50 - more misc (plexi, corner protectors, replacement saw blade)
-$105 - Returned some unused/unneeded items (radio shack parts, nuts/bolts/constr. adhsive, 4 port usb hub, etc)
$10 - Screws. chain, piano hinge
$16 resistors
17.50 another crap tv

Basic plan (not to scale):


Basically it is a modified version of the Ultimate Arcade II cabinet. I did not have the plans, so everything was based on measurements found in various posts or in their assembly instructions or by eyeballing it. My original design (still a secret) was loosely based on this design, but was too difficult to pull off for my first build. I hope to try that design after this cabinet is completed. The further I got into simplifying my original design, the closer it got to the plain UA II style. When and if I start my second cab, you will see why I 'went back to the basics' in this cabinet.

CURRENT STATUS:
Completed! Yay!

[Epyx]

for a time I had my 27" Sony Trinitron in my 1st cab until I got my WGD9800...I just had a cable running out the back connected to a small Ikea 2 shelf stand that had a DVD/Cable switcher box on it. That way my wife was able to do her exercise and watch..no  need for extra exposed shelfing in the cab...that will just look ugly imo.

[RobbyMac]

My problem is it will go in a corner. I have no area to put a secondary' shelf unit to house the DVD satellite, etc... To the right is a sliding glass patio door, to the left an opening/archway into the dining room. The 48" CP will pretty much fill the corner.
So to put in the sat, dvd, ps2, I would need to put it in the cabinet. Perhaps I can get away without the face frame and just put shelves in (pin mount on the sides). But it won't have a coin door. And, now Im thinking should I attempt it, the front panel would need to be removeable (not glued) so that i could always put the coin door in later.
 Once I get the base built I will see just how much room I have, how much of an angle the TV is at, etc... and that will help me make my decision.

I'm just curious if others outt here have tried it and did or didnt like it (viewing TC via cabinet)
-r

[Epyx]

What would be perfect is if you had a Backwards compatible PS3 because you would have all the functionality you require in 1 box and with bluetooth you could hide it away in the cab and just use the bluetooth remote. 

For a tv tuner I would just use an ATI tv tuner at throw it in an empty pci slot but again you have RF remote and don't require line of sight to change channels...then you have everything tucked away and yet still accessible via the remotes.

As for the angle...CRTs are pretty generous with their viewing angles...even at extreme angles. I had mine at a non-extreme angle but it was just fine.  Just don't angle it too much and you will be fine.

As you can tell im trying really hard to dissuade you from shelving...not that you couldn't pull it off but the line between "wow cool" and "wow crap" is a pretty thin line.

[Turnarcades]

I've built several cabinets before that had similar arrangements, and we build several cabinets with internal shelving accessed from the front. You could always build a section with smoked plexi in front so whilst you couldn't see straight through it, the remote controls could send signals in. If you don't wanna do that, build it with a drop-down front door like on our cabinets and at least you can just drop the door straight down rather than having doors opened horizontally and sticking out. See some of our cabinet designs to see what I mean. (Click the links from my signature or look at this recent thread)

[RobbyMac]

I'm def. leaning toward coinbox and not shelving...
problem is marriage in general lol.

PS3 would be SWEET!!! But I dont think thats an option considering the amount of money I am putting into this project, and I think she bought a wii for the kids today (that was the plan, but she got home a half hour ago looking pretty disheveled from black friday and said 'I'm going to bed'. So I haven't seen the goody bag yet.)

I just finished the base. originally thought I could get away with 1 2x4 support under the monitor. But the friggin 'lead filled' Sony I have made it bo about an 1/8th of an inch at the front. So I went and moved it then added a 2nd 2x4. Suprisingly, everything is plumb level and square (a first for me). Having seen it dry built, I am leaning more toward coin door and no shelving. But we'll see if I can convince the wife. She made the comment "wow thats big" already, so It's not looking good (She'll want to replace out existing TV in the corner with this arcade). Mybe I can make it TOO big to fit there or something?

My angled pieces above the coinbox and below the CP are lined up pretty good but I noticed theres a bit of 'flex' in the middle (like they could bow out slightly toward you) and I fear they could separate or crack the paint. What does everyone else do in that area? Will the glue be good enough to hold it? or do I need to put some sort of L brace to make sure they stay put?

I've not glued anything yet... It's all just slapped together dry so I can make sure it all fits. I will dissasemble it for slot cutting and finishing later.

[RobbyMac]

25 hours later... man I wish I knew what the heck i was doing.
Nothing you guys haven't already seen before, but it's all new to me.

Dry built/assembled. ready for dismantling, t-molding, and paint (unless I can somehow convince the wife that another $150 is 'needed' for laminate)
Front 3/4 view:


Rear 3/4 view:


FYI: The smoked glass idea is a good one. I'd thought of doing that to 'hide' everything but still be able to use remotes. Probably what i will do should I install shelving below. I really want to avoid it (Shelving) at this stage. we'll see how it goes.


The Bezel still needs to be cut (fitted/created). I've opted for no keyboard drawer. i will include a keyboard port in the cabinet for m connecting a keyboard when needed.

FYI: this TOOL is pretty handy for this sort of stuff. 2 batteries kept me going and made my angle cuts (near the edge of material) pretty easy.
 though they have 18v ones now.

[RobbyMac]

Nothing new to show yet... Disassembled, glued base together. Once I got the cab together I noticed a slight rock (about 1/16th inch) on the casters. when the tv was in it sat stable, but I shimmed it anyways to make sure its solid.
Bondo'd the countersinks last night (Wow you have to work fast with the stuff) and will sand and prime the base today. Maybe I'll get lucky and get 1st coat of paint on. Weather sucks, so i am carting into the garage to sand, then back into the house to paint. then back to the garage for sanding, then back in to paint etc...

I've updated the first post to reflect the time and $ as I continue with this.

I've ordered my buttons. I switch to microswitch buttons as leafs are just much harder to find and quite costly. I actually have a slew of buttons, but the holders and lighting seems to be an issue. initial test on lighting my leaf buttons didnt go as well as I had hoped. the green is very dark, red not so bright. lt blue and orange rockin. I will probably put these up for sale in the swap and sell board at some point.

Got buttons and  joysticks from utimarc and lizard lick.

This board really annoys me, as I get to the bottom of the text window, it skips up and down with each keypress. Anyone got ideas on why its doing this? is it my browser or something with the forum/board?

[drventure]

I haven't heard of anyone else having that kind of issue with the board. What browser are you using.

Like the cab. About the shelves, you might go with internal shelves with a cabinet front that swings open. You could still even mount a coin mech to it, though it would cut down on internal shelf space.

Exposed shelves? Hmmm, it could be done but I'd have to agree with others that making it look right could be really tricky.

The real prob is one of balance. Because cabs have a monitor up high, they need the appearance of a lot of "bulk" down load or they'll appear to be top heavy and out of balance.

If you put shelves down low, it'll look like the cab is hollow on the bottom, so the balance will be out of whack.

At least, that's my theory

[RobbyMac]

I use ie 8. The problem is really noticeable when I edit a post, where the text flows below the 'edit window'. must be something with my triple monitor setup maybe... dunno.

I'm opting for the shelving. (Hence the addt'l hours re-cutting/framing it in) This leaves me the area where the keyboard slide would be (which I hadnt planned on doing anyway) or the back half of the cab to mount the motherboard and accessories. Putting in smoked glass doors with black hardware will keep it toned down. I am tempted to try a coin door face on each glass door, but will put that off for another day.
So far so good. But I wasn't going to mention it until after it was near completed (painted, with pics posted). Suffice to say, the room I have available, the cost involved, and the 'need' for me to build something like this requires a compromise. Slayer would call me whipped, but we'll wait till he's married before we throw down a final verdict.
So the shelving will not be 'exposed' to the outside because of the smoked glass. And I've framed the area in so no computer equipment, wiring, hardware, etc will be seen. I'll see if I can get a pic up tonight after I get sanding sealer and primer on it.

[diazsinger]

I have a 36" Wega, and I'm always impressed with Sony's Trinitron technology.
Soon I hope to get a HD tv, so I think I'm going to use the Wega for a nice big sit down cab.

[RobbyMac]

1 coat sanding sealer, 2 coats primer.
I may actually get the first coat of semi-gloss black on tonight...


This is the current view form the back. I will probably mount the motherboard vertically on this 'wall' since I will probably vent the top shelf to allow heat to escape from the video components.

[wp34]

Where did you find plans for your cabinet?

Looking great so far!   

[RobbyMac]

I based it off the ultimate arcade II. But I've modified it.
Cut the back legs in so they dont hit baseboard.
Ditched the keyboard drawer (will have a ps2 jack in the cab or control panel)
My upper section will be removable to make television access, moving the thing, etc easier.
Putting in shelving for satellite receiver, dvd player, ps2, etc... (to be enclosed with smoked glass doors)

Got my first coat of semi-gloss on. Glad I didnt go with gloss as this stuff is really transparent. Definately a 3 coat job.


I'm using a larger nap roller. It states 'for slightly textured surfaces' and was hoping for a bit of a 'pebble' finish I guess you could call it? But now im not so sure... it's still wet, so we'll see how it looks by morning. and see how it finishes once I sand it. I know I will not be able to do this with the outter top sides, because those will be wrapped with a vinyl print, and the texture is a bit much.

[RobbyMac]

After it dried, the semi gloss ended up alot less 'shiny' and has less dramatic texture showing. I think I'll keep it. My guess is they mustve been 1/2" nap rollers.
I will use 3/8" for the top so its smooth enough to accept the wrap.

While I am waiting for paint to dry, I picked up some computer speakers, and dry fitted them. Don't feel like taking pics at the moment, but they mounted ok. Just happend to have the right size hole saw for the speaker cone, and then drilled 4 mounting holes from the back to match up with the rectangular shape of the speakers. Luckily I had some longer 'really really tiny' screws. They're surface mounted, with black speaker cloth faces. I thought about recessing them/flush mounting, but decided against it. I Don't know if it'd look any better to be honest, and with that thought there was no point in risking the cuts.

I'm going to give the base a few days to dry before assembling the top (which requires clamping the sides onto the base). This will give me time to start copying files, begin work with a front end, preliminary wiring, etc...

The bezel has me a bit worried. I think I will use the 'paper' method, but with some foamcore. I will have some 1/2 material as a bezel (plus some plex), but will need the foamcore to compensate for the curve in the TV face.

Stopped by the glass store today. They were closed (sunday)

[RobbyMac]

Good news and bad news...

bad: My usual glass shop is out of business I think. their phone is disconnected.
good news: I found another shop and ordered the glass door fronts. 60$ for both doors at roughly 15 3/4 x 11 1/4 each. 1/4" tempered smoked glass. I chose a medium darkness as recommended by the salesperson for the remote to penetrate it. Since the interior of the cabinet is black, it will appear darker anyways.

good: I got my t-molding on one side of the base. It's easier to do now rather than after the top half is assmbled and installed.
bad: My paint apparantly wasn't completely dry and the side got marred (sanded and added another coat) ugh. the other side will have to wait.

good: I my buttons & led's in, and have begun testing illuminating them. I also tested insulating the led lugs using a rubber 'dip'. I don't know how else to describe it other than you can dip tool handles and whatnot into the stuff, and it dries with a rubbery coating. It works, and I don't have to get a gazzillion heat shrink tubes.

good: Desoldered the remote receiver on the tv, and extended it with cat 5 cable. it'll go in the bezel somewheres later. I also added onto the front inputs. A set of inputs will go on the exterior of the cab (under the control panel somewhere)

still nothing worth showing until this friggin paint dries.

[RobbyMac]

Finally got everything (I think). Went xmas shopping today, so didnt get much done. But I did pick up a power supply, and created the cruved portions of my bezel. Cutting the foamcore and miter cuts on it wasn't too difficult, but creating the template took quite a few tries.
Hopefully I will get the straights done tomorrow. Paint is almost dry... Now I am very nervous and even the slightest hint of tackiness on it keeps me from continuing the tmolding and starting final assembly for the top. I've a feeling once the top goes on, things are going to start moving quickly until I get to the CP.
Rain/snow has let up a bit and dry air is finally moving in, so hopefully I can get to it this weekend.
Until then I still have plenty of small stuff to work on/figure out so still nothing worth showing.
While waiting I will probably hack up my sidewinder for the flightstick, start determining locations for switches, jacks, etc... Rough layout/locations for motherboard, power strip, fans, wiring, etc...

[mwong168]

I based it off the ultimate arcade II. But I've modified it.

So I take it you bought the actual plans from mameroom and didn't find it for free another another site or source?  Very nice work and can't wait to see the next set of pics.   

[RobbyMac]

I did not buy the plans. I originally wanted to do a similar shape, but with one piece sides. I really liked the shape (hard angles and 'bulk' appearance) so I guesstimated on the angles based on the photos and the assembly pdf guide on the site. The original plan was to do an elaborate cutout and backlight the sides equalling almost the full height, but as I kept trying to design it/frame it, I realized that the project was just a bit too much to take on for my first build. I kept scaling back until it wound up like the original ultimate arcade II.
If all goes well, I will attempt my original elaborate idea on a 2nd cabinet (but dont want to elaborate and give it away yet). But for now, I need to learn and take it slow for my first build I think.

Finished hacking my sidewinder joystick for flight stick.
Dremel all around the circular mold in the joystick base. Clipped out any vertical braces keeping it attached. Sanded the top to flatten it out. There were 3 'posts', but I needed a 4th. So I hacked one off of the trashed base, and cut it to size, then epoxy'd it onto an existing short post (It is the screw/post located at about 2 o'clock in the pic). Attached to an acrylic base I scrapped form an old computer clear side case. It will be cut down, and mounted to some bracing under the CP when I get around to the CP. But at least I got osmething accomplished today anyways.



Also, good news... Firefox doesn't act all funky like IE does for me here.

[RobbyMac]

I woke up this morning intent on starting to assemble the top (I think the paint is dry now).
But after pondering adding the various jacks and plugs, I got sidetracked when I remembered an old case I had, and its front panel.

So after a little modding, sanding, drilling, etc, I have the beginnings of my jack panel. It will be mounted at an angle on the front angled portion of the base. The underside is 'vented' or 'ribbed', and by angling it, will allow some airflow in through the front (without big honkin holes for fans showing in the front or sides).
I also got my tmolding on the base done last night (ignore the dusty fingerprints on the side of the cab);


Front of my jack panel (I screwed up and wound up with my keyboard and mouse jacks slightly off center):

It housed 2 usb ports, firewire port, power & HD leds, mic in & headphone jacks, and a reset button. I added keyboard and mouse ports, external inputs for the tv, and replaced the reset button with the power button. I prefer to have it out of the way and 'hidden' so people don't just push it wondering what it does.


Rear of the panel (Dryfit only. no epoxy/bondo added, no soldering completed yet):

Note the 'ribbed' section at the bottom. the bottom will stand off the base at an angle to allow airflow in (Not much but every little bit helps)

[RobbyMac]

Now we're cookin with gas (sorta).



Trying not to get too impatient...
Fan holes cut up top... Monitor secured. Appears to have enough clearance for buttons in the bezel.

Marked up the top of the shelf putting the tv in, but it won't be seen.

Still have work on the bezel and furring strips, foamcore bezel behind that. Then install speaker shelf, and make rear access doors to close it off.

Alot going on this week, don't know how much time I will be able to devote to her in the next couple of days.

[RobbyMac]

I actually got ALOT done today...

First off, assembly on the upper cabinet is DONE. No more gluing, screwing and cutting. I have some hardware to install, but after I get around to bondo and paint (The foamcore bezel is NOT installed in this photo. see below):



Rear, all closed up with access panel above:


...and below:


But the best part is, I got the bezel done after much debate and fried brain cells... I ultimately ended up making a foamcore framework, hot gluing it all together. It attaches to the tv face via velcro. The wooden bezel and acrylic slip up behind the speaker panel which holds the top of the bezel assembly in place. My control panel will then fold down to hold the bottom of the bezel assembly in place. there are stops on each of the sides.

It looks good in place, but I currently have it out so the silicone corners can dry. It will be finished off with a flat black.

Front face of bezel:


Front of bezel closeup:


Rear of bezel:

[RobbyMac]

Finally, the glass doors came in. I put a drill in to see the difference in smoked glass. Its more dramatic than whats showing in pictures (maybe because of the flash? I dunno). It does a fine job of finishing off the front and muting whatever is inside. The good news is, all of our video components and PS2 are black. I so suck at this, took me about 2 hours to install the damn things. I will need to paint an installed 'stop block' or whatever you call the thing I put in to install my magnetic door catch/release thingy.


In between, I managed to spray primer and flat black on my foamcore bezel. Its dry fit in this photo. My acrylic will overlay both of these (with back graphic about 1/4" in from the plywood you see here) But I'm not peeling my protective sheet until the very last moment. So for now, this preview is without the acrylic.


Lastly, up until today we didn't have a name or paint scheme for this thing. I say we, because my 7 yr old son is helping and thoroughly ecstatic about the mame arcade. All we knew is that we wanted it red and something with fire. I've really struggled between modern or retro... Last night I was pondering some names, and today I found the background graphic that made one of the names stick. Because it will host a few different emulators, and because it is also housing our receiver, dvd and PS2, we decided on the name Fusion and the sample logo/graphic below:

[Franco B]

Its looking great Robby. I was a bit concerned about how well it would turn out with the PS2 etc shelves but its looking like it going to come out really nice 

[drventure]

You know, the way you've done the shelf area, leaving some thickness at the bottom and sides, it looks pretty good. I guess in my head, i was seeing just having the open area go all the way out to the side panels, which wouldn't  have looked good.

The way you've got it? nice!

 

[RobbyMac]

Thanks guys... I know this isn't a terribly unique cabinet (like some of the other ones I've seen developing during my short time here) but for me it's all brand new. I also realise it's taking a very long time for such a simple design. But I'm constantly double checking myself and test fitting everything, which is making it take about twice as long as I think it should.

I spent way too long on those glass doors just hoping not to screw up the install in some way. I thought to play it safe by cutting back an 1/8" on the height and width of each door to 'give me some play' to work with. In retrospect I shouldve left my original measurements because I think (for my taste) the gap is a bit wide all around. But then I remember this is much like home improvement. I'm going to nitpick every little thing, and noone else is even going to notice.

Nevertheless, I am getting anxious to actually have this thing all together, cleaned up, and presentable. I'm in the home stretch now...

[RobbyMac]

Today I have nothing to show... but am getting something accomplished. I decided to put 2 bolts in each of the sides (top half) to anchor it to the base. I just don't feel confident using L brackets inside. I also needed something to brace the lower portion of the top half while I am painting and sanding. I inserted a 2x2 temporarily, which allows me to stand the top off a small table, allowing me to paint the whole thing. When assembled, the boltheads will be capped with black plastic hinged screwcaps. It didnt look bad when I tested the look of them, plus the full wrap side graphics will add some impact.

The reason I am painting now (without my control panel built yet) is because I am really cramped on space. My 2 car garage is spacious, but not heated and we've had some bitterly cold days as of late. The family is NOT too hip on the smell of primer, paint or bondo... but theyre putting up with me. Once the cabinet is done, the unit will go to its final resting place, and the kids can start watching tv on it, etc... (it will replace the kids room tv) Thus leaving me room here int he office to do my construction, painting and wiring of the control panel.

I've decided to paint the upper half outside red. Little if any will be seen but perhaps the edges near the tmolding... but should I ever take the wrap graphics off, it will be a nice contrast and fit nicely with the tmolding I think. Forgot to bring the tmolding with me to the hardware store, but luckily I got it pretty well matched. Having forgot all about the fiasco with painting my office walls red, I neglected to get some grey primer. My walls have about 6 coats on them because the stuff is really transparant, especially when used on white primer.
So, tomorrow when I take my son to Lowes Builder Workshop (Highly recommend if you have kids) I will pick up the grey primer. For now, I have one coat of primer (white) on the entire top, and I am off to bed.

[RobbyMac]

Nothin super exciting... Waiting for paint to dry;


Soldered up my jack panel, tested all connection before attaching my mouse and keyboard with some bondo. Wiaitng for my bondo to cure so thought I'd hop on here and update some pics.


Drilled some holes in my lower cab to accomodate some stuff like my jack panel above, or this coax/network faceplate below...


And overall I'm tinkering with whatever I can while I wait for the top, removable rear panels, and shelving to dry...

I did manage to print my side panels today, but it will be a little while longer before they get installed, so you will have to wait to see those.

[RobbyMac]

Mounted my computer. I decided to keep the case frame, making it easy to mount the mboard, drives, etc... Because of the av components up front, I've done some ductwork. The hose on the left allows heat to escape to the rear of the cabinet. The central hose draws cool air from outside the cab down low to the cpu area. The power supply blows air back toward the back of the cab, and Im not sure about it yet. There are two exhaust fans up top, with an airspace at the back of the cab to draw that air from (hence exhausting the av air toward the back of the cab)


Mounted the front jack panel, tested and all looks and works good. Notice the shelving is in. Im mixed, I don't expect this to be a piece of fine furniture, but the particle board shelving sans laminate isn't terribly 'nice'. For now it will serve its purpose by helping my av components defy gravity.


Interior does not look so good, but its rock solid and serves its purpose. Despite it looking all crappified, I have access to each connection and the small board.

[emphatic]

Those fan tubes are a brilliant idea. 

[RobbyMac]

I was thoroughly expecting to be made fun of for those... lol

The disappointing part is, no home stores sell plastic anymore... its all foil? Im assuming its for safety issues/fire hazard with dryer venting or something.

with luck I will be able to assemble the top this evening, and finish up wiring the speakers and marquee light.

[bartre]

I gotta say, that's a good looking cab thus far.
I like the A/V stuff on the front.
also, don't worry about the interior, if heat isn't a problem, and you know what's where, it's all good.

[saurian333]

Very nice.  The smoked glass doors look good.  I particularly like the idea of integrating everything and keeping ports/etc. accessible from outside the cab.  I have a PC remote/receiver I'm not using that I thought about integrating into a cab (probably my next one), so I'll be interested to see where you end up concealing the one for the TV in the bezel.

[RobbyMac]

Woot I got a ton done tonight... Unfortunately we have to wrap gifts so no time for pics...
One side wrapped, wiring done inside the top... Tomorrow I'll wrap the other side, slap on tmolding and install the top for the last and final time.

Not sure where I'm going to put the infrared receiver yet... I got plenty of wiring, but it will either go in the bezel, or in the speaker panel. (Its the one thing left to mount in the top)
I should accomplish that tomorrow as well.

Its going to almost look like a cabinet tomorrow, and I am thrilled.
-r

[Tiouko]

This is beautiful I'm loving this air-duct system. You know what would be good? an air filtration for quick cleaning just a tought. Can't wait to see the finish product.

[RobbyMac]

Yeah... I thought of it too late. The intake at the rear is just perforated (like speaker holes), but Im trying to figure a way to fit a thin filter in it somehow. Might be easier at the chassis...

OK, the cabinet is just about done... got alot accomplished;

Wired the interior... all power down the left side, all video and audio down the right. Not sure if Id get any interference or not, but thought I'd wire it this way to be safe.


Speaking of wiring... I got my speakers installed, and the wiring all connected. When I tested it (All audio is output from the TV) the speakers sounded horrible all buzzing, and I went to check my connections at the rear. A few moments later I smelled something burning and the circuit board was fried on the speaker controls. Luckily, I bought the same speakers that my wife has on her desk computer, so i swiped hers and all is good (at least until she finds out). I must've soldered osmething wrong/shorted something out the first time around. All volume will be controlled by the TV, but if for some reason i wish to adjust the audio, I can open the marquee to do so. Also, the marquee light is switched from a lighted switch at the rear of the cab and NOT the switch seen on the lamp housing itself.


I got the wiring run in the back (This does NOT show all the video components wiring) with the sub and the power strip.


And of course I got the Tmolding and wrap done on the sides:


It is now currently functional, and sitting in its final resting place (Sunroom where the kids tend to watch tv):


I won't place the acrylic bezel until last, so it's not shown here. It will be wrapped with fusion scheme graphics also.

I have not determined where I am going to mount the IR receiver for the TV, but will probably be my next step, along with finishing off the marquee. and then of course, the control panel. I also need to install my crimp connect fittings for the front inputs. The wiring/soldering is done, I just havent connected the via quick disconnects yet.

For now, I am taking a break for the holiday, and might get something more accomplished on sunday.

[RobbyMac]

No new pics yet... Working on CP sorta.

In the back of my mind Im figuring out the marquee mounting...
Made up a cardboard template CP. I'm mixed now on the fixed flight stick. I will probably include it for symmetry, but realized too late (Already hacked my sidewinder up) that I couldve just plugged it into my usb ports on the front of the cab for any flight stick games. Thoughts?

Went to dads (Hes got a helluva setup) to route out the areas for the joysticks and begin the cp. Drilled a bunch of holes, etc... Waiting on spinner and trackball to finish the top off.

Last night I mounted all my LEDS inside the buttons.

I'm dreading the box/frame for the CP. Angles are just not my thing.

[Bender]

Love the Fusion Artwork great job!

[drventure]

+1 on the artwork. Very nice!

[RobbyMac]

It seems like each time I post I first think 'Wow, It's really starting to look finished' and then I think 'Wow, I still have alot more to do'.

Marquee:
I remembered a post about someone using plastic L wall corner protectors for their marquee retainers. So I stopped by Lowes and picked up some thicker ones and some thinner ones. The thicker ones (about 1") have pre-drilled holes on BOTH sides which I wasn't so fond of, but ultimately ended up using for the bottom retainer. They are clear which gave me the idea for mounting the IR led's for the TV.
First, I heated up the corner protector with a heat gun, and using some scrap cutoff pieces of wood, I pressed both halves of the L shape into my speaker board while it cooled in order to get the proper angle. The soft plastic molds easily, but can warp or curl also. I did it in two section (one half then the other) since it can be too hot to handle. Once I had my new angle, I trimmed off about 1/2" on one of the L shapes to remove the pre-drilled holes. This is the side that would be pressed against the marquee print. I then masked off the outter sides, and sprayed the insides with several thin coats of flat black.

Finished retainer (Not yet painted).


The Sony Trinitron I have has 2 IR receivers. Not sure why, and never looked into it, but suffice to say each one works/picks up a signal, so I mounted both of them. Each was removed, and re-soldered (using cat5 cable), heatshrink tubed, and wrapped in electrical tape (You can see them in the photo below). I then got a coping saw and started tearing into my finished speaker panel.


Once cut deep enough, I masked it off and sprayed it flat black (careful not to get any on my screen or light). I then 'stapled' the IR receivers into position. I used 3/8" and 1/2" staples, but drove them individually by hand (no staple gun used) so the wires wouldn't be severed/damaged.


I added some more black electrical tape over them so the staples wouldn't be visible, or scratch the marquee. I then dryfit my lower marquee retainer, and marked my IR led locations. Cut some over-sized circles from painters mask, applied them to my marked areas, and then shot the back sides of the retainer L with several thin coats of flat black. I masked off the outsides of the L to avoid overspray showing on the 'finished' sides.


I applied my marquee graphic to the 1/8" plexi. Had some light leakage on the sides, so I added some strips of 1/8" foamcore on the inside of the cab at the edges (Which didn't help enough), and then some more thin electrical tape wrapped onto the sides of the plexi as it was still 'edge lighting'. There isn't much room between the top of the retainer 'holes for the IR leds' and the bottom of the print, so i trimmed the graphic away several times, dryfitting in between each attempt until I got it right. However, I was a bit heavy with the knife with one of the cuts and the scratch shows through. This is disappointingly visible when the marquee is lit, but I can live without having to re-cut more plex, reprinting and applying a new graphic. It does not affect the IR at all. I had some light leakage, so i covered the IR led cutouts, leds, and wiring with a few layers of DUCT tape inside the cabinet (I was wondering when duct tape would be used on this project). The plexi is clear, and the print is on a white vinyl material that is translucent. The black doesn't wash out when lit, and the red and yellow glow nicely. Overall I am really happy with the way the marquee turned out. The IR receivers pick up the signal very well. I can bounce the signals off walls from behind, pick it up from any angle/location in the room, etc.


This was all done while I was waiting for my glue to dry on the control panel. It looks pretty crappy right now, but all I can say is compound angle cuts are THE SUCK! My 90's and 0's were fairly simple, but beveling the angled walls drove me nuts until I found the Compound Mitre Calculator. The control panel is angled 8 degrees and felt right during my cardboard mockup. I then sketched everything out using corel draw to verify my control locations, depths, angles, etc... Once the framework was together, I was disappointed to find my majistick plus joysticks (p1 & p2) were just touching the bottom of the cp. I went back and checked my drawings, cuts, holes, etc ultimately to find the digital profile line drawing of the joystick is NOT accurate, and the real stick is 1/2" longer (shaft and nut) on the bottom. Note to self: Double check EVERYTHING using the ACTUAL components. It can be resolved in two ways. I've not cut my cp top yet, so I can shift everything up towards the screen slightly AND/OR I can use a spade bit to take just enough material out of the CP Bottom to clear the joystick shaft.
I used 5/8" particle board scraps for the walls because I am over budget on this project. The 'floor' of the cp is 1/2" plywood, the top (not shown) is hardwood. The front wall is 3/4" hardwood because it will have a hinge installed on it. Below is a pic of the CP base, dryfit into position. No bondo, sanding, or finishing has been completed yet.

Ultimately I will attempt to add some interior framing members, cut into the bottom in order to gain access to the cabinet and mount my latches.

[saurian333]

From what I've read, I think you're best off routing out the space for the joysticks anyway.  Some people have mounted their sticks without doing so, and they work, but it looks weird without the extra clearance.  Depends on how thick the CP is, but I think the general consensus is that it should be routed.

Looking great!  The marquee is sexy.  Putting the IR receivers behind the marquee was inspired.  Glad to hear it works well.

[RobbyMac]

If I understand you correctly, I did route out the area for the joystick mounting plates. It's only about 1/8th of an inch, and the cp top is 5/8" hardwood. But I planned on about 1/2" clearance from the bottom of the shaft to the floor of the cp. Unfortunately that shaft is 1/2" longer in real life compared to the line drawing they had. I bumped the control panel forward towards the monitor a bit. Unfortunately, I had already cut holes and routed mounting areas for the top, so my lip or overhang is shorter in the front now. Its about 1" lip, versus 1.5" on the sides. I still have enough 'palm surface' for p1 & p2 so I am not that bothered by it.

I have 1/10th of an inch clearance at the moment, but I will probably run a spade bit where that shaft points toward the floor for another 1/10th or so.

I just finished the tmolding slot on the cp top, and I am doing some more rough sanding now. Then I will do some bondo, and see what framing if any I need to do. I should have pics later tonight.

One thing I am thinking about is an indicator of some sort for the 4/8 way switchable p1 & p2. Theres an arm that shifts when you switch from one to the other. Im thinking run a ground wire off this arm to create 2 leafs switches of sorts. Depending on where the arm make contact, it would indicate 4 way or 8 way leds. Not sure if anyone has done this before... its a ways off, but if I'm approcahing a mountain with this thing, it might as well be big.
(You know, youre driving along, towards a mountain and think 'Hey thats a big mountin, we'll be to it in about an hour or so' and then three hours later you're still not even close? yeah, at this point that is my mame project in a nutshell!)

[wilno45]

(You know, youre driving along, towards a mountain and think 'Hey thats a big mountin, we'll be to it in about an hour or so' and then three hours later you're still not even close? yeah, at this point that is my mame project in a nutshell!)

Yep, know how you feel.

Dude, I would never post a cost list like you did at the start of your thread, if my wife EVER saw that well ........  

Nice project

Cheers

[RobbyMac]

Dude, I would never post a cost list like you did at the start of your thread, if my wife EVER saw that well ........  

Should I remove the price list so your wife doesn't see it?
 

[RobbyMac]

I'm still wondering why your wife would be looking at my project thread...
In all seriousness, my wife realizes this is a big adventure... Though, I'm sure out of fear, she hasn't asked me how much.... yet.
I was figuring between 700-900$. Clearly I am over budget. The glass doors and hardware didn't help matters. But I should be done with buying anything else, and hopefully I'll get around 100$ back when I return some unused items.

I honestly didn't see many posts specifying time or cost, so I thought I would keep track of my project. If anything, it might help new members realize cost and time. Just so long as they keep in mind that I'm pretty slow at this stuff.

Ok, the CP parts are rough sanded (corners rounded out, pencil lines removed, edges matched up etc), t-nuts recessed and installed, bondo and they are drying now. Tomorrow I will sand them down smooth, and then I guess just sit around and wait for my trackball and spinner to come in.

In the meantime, here are some more pics of the CP (Prior to rough sanding or bondo) please ignore nasty gaps and pieces of wood jutting out where it shouldnt be.

Cut in access through the floor. This will allow wiring and latches.


The control panel frame with cut top in place. The acrylic bezel is in place, but still has protective sheeting on it so looks funky. I still have to add spinner, trackball and (possibly) flight stick.


A view from underneath. You can see what I spoke of earlier, having shifted my panel forward reduced the overhang at the fornt of the panel. The good news is, it gave me the clearance i needed for the p1 & p2 sticks.

[mccoy178]

Nice cabinet!  Funny enough, I found this through Scottkeen.   

[saurian333]

If I understand you correctly, I did route out the area for the joystick mounting plates.  ...

OK, gotcha.  Yes, that's what I was talking about.  I guess I didn't realize you were accounting for that at the time, but I see what you were saying now.  Anyway, glad to hear it worked out in the end.

In all seriousness, my wife realizes this is a big adventure... Though, I'm sure out of fear, she hasn't asked me how much.... yet.

My fiancée knows my cab is kind of a big deal, too.  Fortunately mine is not actually running too big of a bill.  The controls were always going to be the biggest expense; materials were fairly cheap mostly, and the monitor is on hand (at least, the one I'll be using initially).  My decision to get a new MB when I decided the laptop wouldn't cut it didn't seem to worry her.  She knows I'm better about prioritizing the money than I used to be (not to say I'm particularly good at it, mind you ).  Anyway, she knows I've been wanting to do this for a long time; I think she also knows this won't be the only one.  Also, she's not much of a decorator, and I don't think she'd really care if someday I had an upright sitting in the dining room, assuming we have space for it.  Bless her for that.

[RobbyMac]

Nice cabinet!  Funny enough, I found this through Scottkeen.   

Careful now, this is sort of addicting!
I hadn't been over there in some time, but thought of all you guys during the initial construction of this thing for some reason. So I figured I'd post over there to let you all check out the possibilities here.

Not sure how I could've done it for cheaper (other than the glass doors and hardware and a few bits I picked up). The paint, wood, materials nickel/dime ya to death. MDF was 3x the cost of particle board, the acrylic was a bit pricey. Controls, leds & t-molding were almost $600. At this point im just thankful I had the pc on hand.

In other news, I did manage to return some things for a 105$ credit.
However, I just hit a big stump. The Sony Trinitron I just picked up on craigslist (And pretty much built this cab around) is going screwy. The picture goes to about 1/3 of the height (From the top down) for about 5 seconds, then the screen goes black. I still get sound, but no picture...
Last night I kept messing wth powering it on and off, and finally got a picture, Let it run all night long, came out this morning and picture was still there. Shut her off, turned her back on, and no picture again.
Considering the amount of time I spent on re-routing the IR receivers, tapping into the front aux-in jacks, and making a bezel for it... this is the suck.

[RobbyMac]

McCoy, I just looked at your profile! You're doing/did the acrylic juke. Nice work.
Yes, I was on Scott Keen's forum several years ago. I started a poker table and found out about his site a bit late, but stayed for a while... Stopped in the other day to drop that post about arcades.

[mccoy178]

Thanks Mac!  I've built quite a few things here.  Let's see, 6 machines, 5 jukes, 3 poker tables, and I'm in the process of building a Hyperpin pinball table.  If you have been at both Scotts and here, good luck trying to keep any freetime!

[RobbyMac]

Man you look familiar. I swear I remember seeing that avatar pic on Scotts forum, maybe in the show a pic of yourself thread or something?
I was pretty low under the radar. Nick there is RpmQ, and built a fairly simple Oak Racetrack, red velvet center, foam insulation rails on folding legs.
I know I got a pic somewhere, but truly it was nothing fancy.

In other news, GREAT FRIGGIN NEWS! I managed to (temporarily) fix the TV!!! WOOT!!! After tearing her apart, I found I could make the picture work by moving one corner of the main board, which most likely meant a cold solder somewhere. My father mentioned this as a possibility because I had recently moved it next to the sliding glass door and its been friggin cold lately. I can't imagine it was getting very cool, but perhaps enough to cause issues with whatever was loose. Anyways, I hit about every solder joint I could last night with a soldering iron to try to seat whatever was loose. My eyes suck, and lighting is worse, so I took the 'try everything until it works' approach. Put it all back together, and NOTHING. I had NO picture and NO sound now. This was truly the suck. So I am scouring craigslist looking for a possible replacement or parts tv, and today when I get home I figure I will tear it apart and try again (Nothing to lose at this point). I unhook everything again and realise 2 connectors were both 5 pins, and thought maybe I connected them in their wrong sockets. I check the service manual, plug everything back together and TADA! Its workin.
Holy bejeezus... So I recase it, mount it to the hold down board, slide her back in and bolt her down, hook everything back up and so far (knock on wood) so good.
Hopefully this temporary fix is permanent, but I have the worst luck with stuff sometimes, so I am not optimistic, but I am praying it keeps on running.

I also got my trackball today! With luck I will be able to route out the CP tomorrow, at which point I can finally print the cp panel (which I still need to design). The print will be vinyl, but have a clear floor laminate overtop. The stuff is sorta like grip tape? only smoother. Needless to say, it can put up to alot of abuse.

So for the moment, we are back to work on this thing... Look for pics soon.

[saurian333]

Sweet deal!  I had a 32" Toshiba like that once.  Man, that thing was a beast to move.  I found that it worked fine when it was out of its case (i.e., the back half off), presumably because it leaned backward ever so slightly and bent the circuit board just the right way; otherwise, no picture at all.  So it lived in my entertainment center without the case.  Well, later on, it started getting worse, and I had to bend/prop the corner of the board up a little more...and a little more...and eventually it was just done.  Hauling it out to the curb was a bear.

Glad you got yours fixed, though.  Nothing like saving a little cash!

[RobbyMac]

Okay... I think we are FINALLY in the home stretch...

Spent a couple hours at work printing the acrylic bezel graphics and the Control Panel Graphics...

Acrylic bezel was a multi step process. I printed on clear, then backed it with white. This was then computer cut so the center showed through (Clear vinyl would show slightly, and possible bubbles could occur). White is semi translucent, so then a black vinyl was computer cut and applied to it. This would block any light from the tv from showing through the 1/4" or so that overlaps/bleeds beyond the plywood bezel backer behind it.

Im pretty happy with the results. I tried to darken the bezel a bit because I really didnt want it to detract from normal viewing, but it still turned out a bit brighter than I had anticipated. But it's done, another thing off my checklist. My son is playing the PS2 at the time I took this photo...


Control panel graphics are done! I got my trackball mounting area routed out, plate installed and ready for graphics. SOme quick and dirty design produced this. a 2 step process, 4 color print on non translucent white vinyl which was computer cut (see below) and then laminated with floor laminate. (Heavy duty laminate that leaves no finger prints and puts up with lots of abuse. If you've seen graphics on the floor of your local dept. or grocery store, this is the graphics/laminate that is used). AFter installation, I trimmed out all the holes. I have decided not to install my flight stick (for now anyways) leaving a bit of real estate to the right of the trackball for possible future expansion. To the left of the trackball a spinner will be installed.


I mentioned earlier that I was going to install indicator lighting for the 4/8 way switchable joysticks. I drilled a couple holes to mount 5mm leds in. Then drilled larger diameter holes (sorta like countersinking) so I could make sure I had some 'fudge factor' when applying the graphic. The control panel was computer cut, but the only cuts were the 4 small holes for the leds. Only the print was cut. The laminate was NOT cut leaving a smooth surface on top. But this meant installation was a bit hairy since I had no marker/reference to line up with. I had 1/4" bleed which was fine if I had the help of co-workers, but I did the install here at home and got my daughter to help. Short story long, I landed the graphic close enough and the led windows landed within the 3/8" countersinks (so the led lights will be visible).
I tried to get a decent photo but without a flash it had trouble focusing for some reason. There are two, one red, one blue. I temporarily had a small led held in place for this photo.


Next up. Install t-molding on the cp top. Fix the cp base to the cab via trunk latches, and hinge my CP top to it. Then start installing controls. I also have my marquee out so I can make my remote receiver window holes a bit smaller (Pet peeve that's been bothering me)

[bigpete405]

very awesome so far

[RobbyMac]

Thanks...

Today I got the CP base mounted (trunk latches) and the top hinged to the base. I installed a length of chain (for added support/less stress on the hinge) even though the cp top would 'stop' when tilted back. I installed some (soft side, not sure what its called) adhesive backed velcro on the cp top where it comes in contact and presses against the bezel so as to avoid scratching.


As you can see I got most of my controls installed (Still waiting on a spinner from ultimarc)


I also got the marquee reinstalled with my smaller circular 'windows' for the IR receivers. Looks much better.


Next up... wiring... Lots of it.

[saurian333]

That cab is looking hot.  Love the CPO, and your choice of buttons.

[RobbyMac]

I think the marquee adds a bit too much color... but I will leave it as is.

The 'light kit' for the happ trackball was a bulb with an angle bracket. There was a hole in the trackball that seemed the likely candidate, but no screw/bolt. So I used a panhead screw to fix it to the trackball housing using that hole. However, does anyone know what voltage the bulb is supposed to be? The bulb, nor housing, nor instructions contain info on that.

I removed the colored plastic shaft surrounds on the happ competition joysticks so that they match the majistick shafts mo bettah. This left large gaping holes in the dust covers, but not an issue since they are black and I am going to make some colored ones anyways.

My son saw the 25c labels on some of the buttons and is now convinced hes going to have to pay to play. He hasn't realized its to enter credits. I am milking this for all its worth and now have him convinced that I'm going to change it to 50c per play for him if he keeps whining about it.

[saurian333]

The 'light kit' for the happ trackball was a bulb with an angle bracket. There was a hole in the trackball that seemed the likely candidate, but no screw/bolt. So I used a panhead screw to fix it to the trackball housing using that hole. However, does anyone know what voltage the bulb is supposed to be? The bulb, nor housing, nor instructions contain info on that.

A "bulb" bulb, you mean?  Or an LED?  Most of the lighting accessories I've seen around are 5V LEDs.  They usually get the 5V directly from your comp's power supply, or from a terminal on the control interface board.

My son saw the 25c labels on some of the buttons and is now convinced hes going to have to pay to play. He hasn't realized its to enter credits. I am milking this for all its worth and now have him convinced that I'm going to change it to 50c per play for him if he keeps whining about it.

  He hasn't noticed that there isn't a slot for a quarter yet?

[RobbyMac]

I figured it out by googling the part# printed on the bulb. its a 12v. I ran one power molex from the chassis to the cp. I'm using the 12v for the trackball bulb (Yes its an incandescent automotive type bulb) and I will use the 5v for my 4/8 way indicator leds. LED wiz gets powered by the usb connection.

All controls are wired, and Ive run into a small problem where the text/font for the mame interface within games (confirmation screen, controls setup via TAB etc) is not legible. So I am trying to work that out. And of course I still have a buttload of led's to solder.

Yes.. I think partly because I've not had the arcade completely built/put together, that he must've been thinking there was a coin slot just waiting to be installed somewheres. This morning I got up and asked him how many quarters he has, because I got the machine tested and wokring last night. He told me he knew it didn't take quarters because he was looking at it this morning and saw that the 25c buttons were for putting quarters in. It was fun while it lasted though, I had him going for the past week.

[saurian333]

I figured it out by googling the part# printed on the bulb. its a 12v. I ran one power molex from the chassis to the cp. I'm using the 12v for the trackball bulb (Yes its an incandescent automotive type bulb) and I will use the 5v for my 4/8 way indicator leds. LED wiz gets powered by the usb connection.

Good deal.  You definitely luck out when you need to draw 5, 7, or 12v on projects like these.

Yes.. I think partly because I've not had the arcade completely built/put together, that he must've been thinking there was a coin slot just waiting to be installed somewheres. This morning I got up and asked him how many quarters he has, because I got the machine tested and wokring last night. He told me he knew it didn't take quarters because he was looking at it this morning and saw that the 25c buttons were for putting quarters in. It was fun while it lasted though, I had him going for the past week.

Aww, I was hoping you'd keep him going until it was done.    I thought that was pretty funny.

[RobbyMac]

Well, I wiped and re-installed mame and no more font problems!! Woohoo. Got all my controllers setup, except for the spinner I am still waiting on ugh. Next up is the front end (Probably maximus).
I'm currently researching/developing how I want to handle the 4-8 way indicator lights. Probably will go with a rocker or a miniature switch with arm. Right up some sort of braket to the arm that swings when the majistick is switched form one to the other. Some sort of dpdt so its always one or the other lit.

I've also given up on using the rubber coating for the leds. Great idea in theory, but real messy and my leds are already installed, so I will orde some heatshrick tubing and wait till that comes in to do the soldering.

My son managed to kick my butt at street fighter tonight. Damn. But in all fairness, its the first time I've ever played it (I'm too old for SF, I'm more of a classics guy).

I suppose it's only fair to mention its the first time he's ever played it also Damn 7 yr olds!!!!

[RobbyMac]

Got my spinner in today, its awesome.


Quick shot (not sure whats up with the camera) of the wiring so far underneath the cp. Everything but led's is done. Though you can see the LED wiz just waiting to be connected to stuff.

[painterinfo]

That CP looks great. Darn it, You have got me planning my next cab already.

[RobbyMac]

Just a small update.
Im in a holding pattern for a few reasons.
TV that I 'fixed' worked great for about 2 weeks then started doing it again. I can pull it apart and try hitting a bunch more joints/locating the cold solder... But this is our busy season at work (and we can all use a little busy season nowadays) so I just haven't had time.
I've been scouring through craigslist checking for replacement tv's or even parts for the mainboard with little success. I wont get too frenzied until the work slows down to a normal pace and I have time again to work on it.
As a last resort I have another 27" tv, but it will be a little more difficult to create a new foamcore bezel and mount the tv now that I have my acrylic bezel mounted. Hopefully I can avoid doing this (ie get a cheap replacement for the sony).

I have been pouring through, setting up mame, etc... This has been alot more work than I anticipated, but Ive been doing a little each day and finally have my list of games, setup, etc... on to getting maximus setup.

I also still have to wire up my leds/tinker with led wiz

The kids certainly enjoyed the short time it was running, and even the wife spent quite a bit of time on puzzle bobble. They're anxious to have me finish it, but it's going to be a few weeks.

I'll post more pics and a vid then.

[painterinfo]

I have heard of a similar TV fault and it is made worse by moisture, turning the TV on and off for sort periods, cold air cooling a warm place causing condensation, etc. (you said it is very cold where you are)

Have a look at the Flyback Transformer in complete darkness (it is the dangerous part attached to the tube) and see if you can see any arcing.

If you are hitting the circuit board with solder you know about discharging it, if it is that component you may be able to clean and seal a hole with silicon.

PS glass shelves inside would look good I recon.

Good luck with the TV, think of sending it to a repair shop considering you have taken the time to custom fit the bezel.

[RobbyMac]

There were some google results that mentioned some sort of condensation relay checking thingamajig. I tried the hairdryer trick without success. It is a bit colder in that room. Its heated decently, but the cold floor really causes fluctuations of temperature between heat cycles. We arent getting any condensation on the patio door or windows or anything so it's not an obvious solution.
I guess it wouldnt take much to cause that issue anyways though when it comes to electronics.

I will check it. That transformer is situated near one corner of the mainboard. Coincidently, thats the corner that I was pushing and pulling on when I discovered I could make the picture come on/go off the first time around, which led me to think I had a cold solder joint somehweres. The solder joints were pretty hefty/easy to resolder, but I will check them again and I will try firing it up with all the lights out to see if anything comes up.
Just waiting on some free time in order to pull it out &, get it apart again.
Thanks for the idea... maybe I'll get lucky and it will pan out.

[RobbyMac]

Woot! Just won an upgrade (slightly) on ebay for $17.50
It's got one more input in the back which makes things a little easier. Same series, casing, etc... so the swap should be easy

[RobbyMac]

Fat cat sitting happy....
Ive got a picture of it on my wall.. 3 frames;
Frame 1: Fat cat sitting happy

Today, I went to radio shack looking for more 100 ohm resistors. There must be a bunch of people using these things cuz theyre the only slot thats empty. Last week I had my wife check and she brought back 2 packs. TOday theres nothing... then I think 'let me check the 100k slot' and BOOYAH! 4 packs sitting in there. Just as I though, someone wasn't paying attention when they put them back into the wrong slot.

I pick up 2 micro switches with levers... Its 4-8 way joystick switching indicator time. They work like a charm. spdt for 2 diff color led indicators.

I dedicated about 9 hours soldering all my led's up this weekend (finishing this afternoon with the resistors). Check all the leds connections with my ohm meter, no shorts. I find one led giving 18m hm resistance instead of NC. It's in the LED, swap it out, good to go.

My wife, is visiting with her sister in Illinois. Which is conveniently 1 hr from the new tv I won on ebay for $17.50. Shes picking it up this morning before she returns home.

I've had the house to myself this weekend, spent odd hours soldering, drinking, and listening to my fav 1930's-40's music relaxing and NOT thinking of work. You know, Doris Day, Kitty Katlen, Vera Lynn? Surely you all have those on your jukeboxes!!!! Life is good.

Frame 2: Fat cat starting to wobble
I bring the 'new to me' tv in the house. Holy Crap a huge gouge in the glass? whew, no its just some sort of adhesive tape residue... that was sorta scary...

I fire up the control panel... ALOT of tinkering before I get everything configured to work (I shouldve read through all the instructions first). FInally, I see life in my cp with some random LWAX thinga mo bob type animations. wee

But wait... hmm, somethings not quite right... 3 of my buttons dont seem to be functioning? Wonder whats up? I pull the cp out, start investigating... and find.. some 'not so goodness' happening. I used cat 5 cable for my controls. It appears that the heat gun I used on the led shrink tubing has melted some of the ultra thin insulation on the 'very close by' control wiring, and I am shorting out to other buttons. This is the suck. I completely re-wire p1 b1-6. fix and tape p4b4. All is honkey dorey again.

Frame 3: Fat Cat has tumbled. All that's visible anymore is his upside down rear paws. He's  toppled over...

Ok, let's fire her back up... wee All my buttons work... but wait.. now I'm losing my keyboard while trying to tinker and test mame?
Well, my joystick works sorta... oh wait. Did my computer just reboot when I pushd down on the joystick?
Yeah... I neglected to check my joystick wiring because generally it's not near any of the led wiring... there are however, a few stragllers, and they managed to fuse to some 5v led wiring. Again, heat gun treating was not so good for the joystick wiring. At this point, I give up and close the cp for the evening. I will come back to it as soon as I can, and ring out every dam wire. Thankfully, I don't think I destroyed the i-pac, as it still seems to function so long as I don't use the p1 joystick.

Ok, well, lets test that new sony the wife picked up... wait a second... why is the picture rotated about 5 degrees? and why are my corners all fuzzy, and colors not lining up anywhere except dead center in the screen? Let me test coax connection... ok let me test other inputs... great. I am guessing the yoke/flyback is knocked/loose/dusty or osmething from what very little I have read on the subject here on the forum. Next ste, see if I can pull the board out and swap it into my other tv. But at this point I am not too optimistic, nor am I too ambitious.

I won't give up that's for sure. But today, the arcade has won the battle. And I have lived to fight another day (and still have time to win the war).

Lessons learned:
Go with 22ga wire. Or at least do the leds FIRST, then crimp all the controls LAST.
Buy a new tv and screw this hand me down fix it after 50 hours of work like my fathers done all his life.
I hate cats.

[painterinfo]

Keep with it, the battle won will be more satisfying.

It sounds like the yoke on the TV has twisted in transit, I don't think tubes or circuit boards are compatible between different TV models.

I noticed CAT5 insulation susceptible to heat too (soldering) But have never put a heat gun on it.

[RobbyMac]

Results are in, the ipac is toast. A few inputs are permanently crossed with other inputs, and a half dozen don't recognize any input whatsoever.
Enough that I am now short on inputs. Bit the bullet and ordered another. One expensive lesson learned. It's good enough for a 2 player cp, so I'll keep it around for a possible future project.
22 guage wire is here, and .187 terminals are on order. I will rewire the cp.
Haven't had time to get to the tv's yet. hopefully this weekend.

Games are all chosen and organized into folders. Maximus is setup but I haven't customized it or xp startup yet.

Led blinky functions, but havent customized any of it yet.

[SNAAKE]

just when I thought UA2 was played out. looks good well done

[RobbyMac]

Thanks!

UPDATE: Got the new ipac installed, cp completely re-wired, new led's, etc. It's all working again.
Except I need to read up on led blinky. for some reason, not all the ocntrols are lighting up. And i'm getting p3 b3 instead of p4coin lit up.
It's def. not the wiring (checked, double checked, re-checked, and those 2 players are on opposite sides of the board) so I will need to tinker.
It's all so very confusing with xmls configs inis etc

Back to messing with the tv next.

[RobbyMac]

Finally... The CP is fixed and is functional, lights are working, etc... (I had an animation running at the time of these photos, so some buttons appear lit/some are not)

p1 & 2 MagicStick Switchable 4/8 ways
P3 & 4 Happ Competition 8 ways. Stripped shafts, colored dust shields made
Ultimarc Spinner
Happ 3" Trackball (Illuminated)



A view from the underside



The p1&2 Switchable joysticks have indicator leds. Blue led indicates the 8way mode. Leds are powered by a micro lever switch on the backside of the cp. The lever on the side of the joystick activates the microswitch lever. In one position (engaged) it lights one led, and when disengaged it lights the other.


Red indicates 4 way mode

Next up, rip apart the 2 tvs I have to see if I can get either of them working correctly.

[saurian333]

That is freakin' sweet!  I thought it was a little too expensive to go for an LEDWiz and all the NovaGems and what-not, but your CP makes it look well worth it.    I still think that artwork is badass, too.

[RobbyMac]

Thanks much!
Finally, it's done... fixed the TV again. Found a loose connect on the neck board, and I added some support under the rear of the tv case. I am wondering if the tv being on an angle was putting some stress on the mainboard or something before. I would have thought the case would have held it ok, but apparantly not. The angle of the screen has changed much, so that I had to remove the wood support bezel form behind the acrylic bezel. But everything is still pretty stiff, so it's all good. We'll see how long it lasts.

Got maximus all configured, custom game lists, etc... All thats left is to tweak the startup and maximus theme.

Thanks everyone for your help. This board is a godsend.

My son, introduced to metal slug this evening...


Lights out;


I really wish I could've added a coindoor... At least I could limit the amount of time he plays the thing that way!

[painterinfo]

That cab's hot, I can almost feel the heat radiating from it. 

[Kurt]

Awesome finish well done.

[Kman-Sweden]

I've popped in regularly to view your progress but never commented before...
The CP is Freakin' Awesome!  The overlay kicks ass.
I have to say that I'm not a fan of the 4-player CP's but your overlay makes me overlook it.

Congratz.

[Bender]

Really Nice!
Love the little 4-way and 8-way leds and graphic symbols, beautiful touch!

[RobbyMac]

I've decided to post some images/info on small details I've used or added, and to expand on some items that I had trouble finding detailed info on.

Cord retractor. My son got 2 of these somehow. They are keychain retractors. Wound cord with a clasp on the end to put onto keys, or what haveyou, that retracts (like a tape measure sorta). I used this in my cab, connected to the umbilical cord running to the cp, so that it retracts/pulls the cord into the opening in the cp bottom. Otherwise sometimes the umbilical would curl/lay on the bottom of the cp. Alternatively I suppose I could have cut a wider opening. ignore my mess inside there.


Detail on 4-8 way led indicator switch. Radio shack spdt lever microswitch. I glued a piece of wood to the cp lid and attached the micro switch to the block of wood using small brad nails. The lever is slightly bent so it engages when the joystick is switched in one mode. Power is supplied to the led via +5v in a molex connector (separate from led wiz).
Switch engaged:


Switch dis-engaged:


Happ Translucent LED lighting. I found some info on lighting leaf buttons, and some text on lighting microswitch buttons, but learned a bit doing my own.
After removing the button, spring and microswitch, I first drill two holes using a small drillbit towards one side (rather than centered), in the bottom of the button. I then insert an led using pliers, so that one leg goes through each hole, and leaving about 1/4" on the short leg I bend them 90 degrees. This makes it easier for the microswitch install, and they do not make contact with the spring.
View of button bottom with led mounted:


This will leave the led protruding about 1/2" up from the bottom of the button.
inside view of mounted led:


You can then solder and tube wrap the legs, and then re-insert the microswitch.
Microswitch re-installed. No soldering/heatshrink tubing in this photo.


When I tested led lighting, I thought I would need different depths to get the lighting 'even' form one color button to the next. Green buttons were very dark, and did not let light transmit as easily as yellow or white buttons. But I found that using diffusers evened out the light distribution ALOT. There is no noticeable difference in lighting strength amongst any of the buttons except for perhaps white. White seems brighter than the rest of my buttons, but I can live with it since they are admin buttons.

Admin buttons. While I do have hidden admin features using Ipac's shift function (p1 start + other p1 buttons), I have 3 primary buttons on the cp for negotiating the various menus in Maximus arcade. Decals were printed on clear vinyl and installed onto the diffusers, which are installed between the spring and button. In this way there is no decal felt on the button surface.

The left button acts like ENTER, and will select games/menus/etc in maximus and acts like ENTER in mame.
The center button performs 2 functions. In maximus, it will cycle through my custom games lists, and in Mame it will pause the current game.
The right button performs 2 functions. In maximus, it will go back to the previous menu and in Mame it will exit back to Maximus.
These are very basic functions that allow my kids and wife the ability to navigate through games without screwing too much up.

And for kids that like to push all the buttons and joytsicks while the computer is booting (happened often enough) there is this:

[Epyx]

Grats! Looks good, now enjoy it!