just popping in

I've been a bit slack lately, so bugger all has happened with my arcade project. I've still been playing around a bit with my test control panel, so much so that I've put a crack in the wood from all the heavy bashing.

My main excuse for being a bit behind in updates and progress on this project, is that I've just bought a new house and started a new job. As you can imagine, things are quite hectic at work and at home. However... I now have weekends off, so once I've sorted my shed out I will get back to work. Currently, I'm having trouble even keeping up to date with the current .97u3 MAME release. Thankfully the devs have slowed down with the releases, but still, I'm starting to fall behind!

My camera has also been repaired, or not as the case may be, but I will get some more photos up very soon..... maybe.

testing, testing 1... 2... 3...

I spent a few hours mucking around in the shed today in an attempt to build a control panel to test out all these parts I've bought. I ended up building a 2 player control panel with 7 buttons each. It cost almost $14 in wire to build this although I was pretty economical in the lengths I used.

A few hours of NBA Jam, Metal Slug and Street Fighter later, I think this little baby has proven itself worthy of being developed into a production controller. I couldn't have imagined it would be this much fun having the real thing in front of me. It's quite a dodgy setup right now, propped up on some blocks on my desk, but it works great and has so far kept a friend and I entertained for quite some time.

I will follow up with some pics as soon as I can, as my camera is in for repair.

coin door

For the sake of consistency I've dug out some more hardware that I plan to use for this project. I mean, after all, what is an arcade machine without the sound of your hard earnt money dropping down the slot so you can have some serious fun?

This first pic is of a Taito coin door that I picked up from Ebay for $25, which was taken from a Space Invaders cabinet so I'm told. It needs a little TLC, but I think it is going to look great once cleaned up.



The 20c coin mechs and chutes that came with the door.



These, are the electronic coin mechs that I plan to use in place of the mechanical mechs as they are adjustable to any denomination, using a reference coin or token.

blog created

Well, I've finally decided to pull my thumb outta by butt and setup a blog for my arcade progress. This is by no means going to be a massivly active site, its purpose is more of a journal for myself, but hopefully also for some pointer for anyone else undertaking an arcade construction project.

Over the next week or so I hope to back-date my progress covering all that has happened so far. Not that it is a hell of a lot, but as I said, this site's purpose is mainly for my own reference.

Well, time to get busy, enjoy.

ultimarc order arrives

My Ultimarc order arrived today via DHL. I can't believe it only took about 4 days from the UK to OZ.

I received:
1x Trackball
1x I-PAC4 + additional cable
1x OPTIPAC + additional cable
1x Trackball Mount
2x PCB Mounts

Everything has arrived in what looks to be good order. Hopefully I will get some time in the next week or so to hook everything up and test it out.

happy birthday

Surprise Surprise!!
I officially received my Happs order for my birthday this morning.

I'm very VERY impressd with the quality of the parts. The Competition Joysticks feel extremely sturdy and very well constructed. I'm looking forward to giving these babies a pounding with Steet Fighter!

Everything looks great, except a few bent pins on a few microswitches, but nothing too serious. Also, very happy that I went with the Competition instead of the Ultimate Joysticks after the bashing the Ultimates have received at RetroBlast.

Happ Controls Order Arrives

It has Begun!!

My greatly anticipated Happs order arrived today, but since it is meant to be a birthday present, I can't get my eager little mits on it until the 22nd.
It's a pitty I wasn't able to afford to order anything from Ultimarc or I would be able to start to build a test control panel.

Package contained:

1x 1 Player, White Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch
1x 2 Player, White Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch
1x 3 Player, White Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch
1x 4 Player, White Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch
4x Competition Joystick, 8-way, Microswitch
5x Red Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch
5x Blue Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch
8x Orange Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch
8x Purple Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch
4x White Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch
10x Black Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch