my first arcade cab! Playchoice-10

[phreak97]

well, it was about time..
i've had an empty generic cab in my posession for a really freaking long time now, probably a couple of years.. because i was meant to be putting a megadrive in it for someone.. but i was lazy and never got around to it and eventually they said forget it, i can keep it. so awesome, it's mine now. so far i decided i wanted it to be a playchoice 10 cabinet (not a hard decision for me.. i've wanted one for a long time). and so i went hunting around online.. i managed to get a single monitor pcb, and a super mario bros cart for it for pretty good prices, and i've started wiring it up. first problem, i had no edge connectors.. i managed to scab a 44 pin edge connector from a dead photo cab my friend has in the back yard (it was the old credit board connector) and i've mostly finished wiring up the bits that are on that..

currently the monitor is working (but with inverted video.. the inverter board is on it's way from mike's arcade) and the game displays fine and runs the super mario bros demo if i dont have it set to free play.. i managed to ground the enter button then start button and got the sound running through a little amp board stolen from inside some really crap pc desktop speakers (rewired to run off the arcade machine's power supply, instead of the transformer in the speaker). the mikes arcade video inverter has an audio amp on the board too.. its pretty much designed for what im doing. so ill get rid if this crappy buzzy amp when that comes.. it was just a test.

no inputs of any kind currently working.. but i've made a great start.

[madman77]

Any pics of your progress? Sounds like a good project.

[otaku]

good luck and have fun! Keep us posted and pics would be great

[phreak97]

ill take pics soon, i have 8 hours of work to do first:P

[phreak97]

heres pics!

so much for a 5 megapixel camera.. i guess no phone takes a good picture.. these are taken with my nokia n95.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z234/phreak97/20042008138.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z234/phreak97/20042008139.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z234/phreak97/20042008140.jpg


the wiring still needs tidying.. im going to buy some of those cable ties with a screw hole in them.. and the pcb is hanging off two screws, but im going to try get an adjustable bracket for it.. there was one in the cab when i got it but i gave it away >_<

[phreak97]

i sanded the metal bits back and repainted them today.. pics to come.

[phreak97]

heres the result
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z234/phreak97/25042008009.jpg

since then i got some new joysticks and buttons, and today drilled all the holes for them. im about to go out and put another coat of paint on to cover up some scratches i made.

[phreak97]

looong time since i've updated this thread..

the cab is next to finished now, and has 6 games in it:

super mario bros.
super mario bros. 3
mario bros.
1942
mega man 3
gauntlet

i scrapped the two tone red/black control panel, it looks much cleaner with the whole thing being just black. i finished the wiring inside, never got those fancy cable ties though..
the video inverter/sound amp works, but the video could be better, i have another monitor im trying to fix, if i get that going ill use that instead.. if it's the same on both then i guess ill try get or build the nintendo inverter.

i built the timer display board from the nintendo schematic.. it looked simple, but took me about 6 hours! anyway, it works, so it was worth it in the end.

all new buttons, used joysticks though.. oh well, new microswitches for them.

readjusted the coin mechs to accept $1 coins, instead of 20c coins.

i also wired in new light bulb sockets behind the header and bought an original playchoice header (had to cut it to fit though! ouch!).

i've put a light switch on the back of the machine behind the header to turn the whole cab on and off with ease.

today i wired in a dodgy credit board (intermittent coin output, but working counter output) just to run the coin counter, as the playchoice counter output doesnt work for some reason, probably something to do with my counter not being a 24v one like the playchoice is expecting..

i'm currently experimenting with instruction cards, i've modified a scan of the original card, chopped it up and stretched it out so itll be a strip below the monitor.

the machine is going to be put in a game store at $1 for 5 minutes.. i never planned to make money with it, but the owner of the store offered me 100% takings, and it's the number 1 used game store in the state, so with a bit of luck itll do well. just gotta get the menu buttons properly labeled.

aaaanyway..

heres pics.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z234/phreak97/playchoice/03092008155.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z234/phreak97/playchoice/31082008144.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z234/phreak97/playchoice/31082008146.jpg

as usual, apologies, the pics are poor cos even the best camera phones are still just camera phones..

[MonoTekETeA]

Cool, looks good, nice work.

[Joe West]

Lookin good........................................nice job