Was a bit tired, so I skipped yesterday. Used a saw to make the hole to the coin-compartment wider, doesn't look good, but it will do the trick :) (I hope!) I changed the CPU fan, which made the CPU run at 36 degrees at lowest speed, compared to 45-55 degrees which it ran on with the old fan. Quite an improvement, and when I fasten the other fan it will be even better. I have to drill some holes in the bottom of the compartment to allow the hot air to move somewhere. The sad thing is that the holes I drill should be roughly the same area as the fan itself, that means a whole lot of holes ....

Been a while since I last did something to the mamecab, have had a lot of other stuff to do. Did get some work done today though, and maybe I can get some extra time on this project a bit more the following days.

Managed to get hold of a broken 19" LCD, which I will use instead of the 8" HAMI I got earlier. It fits great as the old monitor also was a 19". To mount it to the cab I used a LCD wall mount which I bought a while back. I used the old brackets inside the cab that used to hold the old monitor to fasten an old black shelf I had laying around. Worked out pretty well, though the new monitor is somewhat elevated compared to the old monitor, which I hope the wall mount will compensate as it is tiltable.

The heating is something that needs to be addressed, as it gets really hot inside the computer area if I close the door. The compartment has a opening in the top that allowed the coins to drop down into the coinbox, which I plan to use. I have a 120mm fan which I will use to push air down into the computer area as I don't think it will be practical to suck the air from it. The top-down air flow, though it will not be the optimal air transportation, will minimize dustparticles to enter the computer area. At least that is the plan :) the opening is a bit too small for the 120mm fan so I will need to widen it.

I also fastened the moved WIFI-nic to my pci-bracket.

Been a bit occupied with other things, but have managed to do som small stuff to the cabinet. Bought a 8" Hami to use in the cabinet, we'll see if it will work as a projector or if I can somehow enlarge the picture so it will be about 23". I've done some calculations, and if I decide to use the projected idea, I have a 45mm triplet from an old projector that should work.

I've also installed a OS on the computer, and managed to make a crude fixture for the GFX-card and the two NICs (one wired, and one wireless). I still have to install drivers for them. I'm not quite sure how I will place the different components yet. Where should I put the CDdrive for easy access and not too far away from the motherboard, same goes for the HDD. Where should I put the power button and the power led? have to think of something smart :)

So I've added a computer in the coinbox compartement. Worked out real nice, almost a perfect fit. I miss a power supply unit and some fans to make it complete. Found a nice 350W power supply for $45, and a fan for $15 (15db). I'll probably buy them and attach to the box as soon as possible.

I've given up the idea of trying to make the old monitor work with the computer. Seems to be far more trouble than it's worth. I'm still trying to figure out how I should make the projected image work.

Wiring all done. IPac mounted inside the machine. IPac wired up to an old laptop via USB. Got to play some puckman via the controls, even though the screen is almost not visible it good great fun to play, and the whole thing took about 3 hours to get to work. There is still a whole lot left to do until I'm done, but the way it all worked on the first try hasn't exactly been a bad experience.

Tonight I'll wire up the coindoor or at least make a way to add coins. I might also try to make a way to change the game when you play via the controls. I don't know if I will try to make the old monitor work, I got an old BNC connection which should work just fine, but seeing as I use an old laptop right now, I might have some trouble sending the correct signal out through the VGA port. I might try to hook up the motherboard and the rest of the computer I plan to use instead. I suspect I need to fix some kind of airvent for the computer.

Finally! A guy from DHL called at lunchtime and said I had a package there in my name. When I opened up the package to see if everything was there I noticed that a cap on a button was cracked :( I think I might find a new one, no use in sending it back as just to go to the postoffice will cost more than the cap :) Started working on the cab the moment I got home.

Started by inserting the button and adding the LED and switches, the button doesn't quite fit in the hole, but I don't have any tools to make the hole bigger. If I did it would probably not look good at all, so I skip that. The buttons extend about 3mm over the control-board, so it's not really noticable. The drilled holes for the joystick didn't quite match, but making two more holes that might be almost on the same spot didn't quite strike me as an idea. So I turned the whole base of the joystick 90 degrees and made four new holes. worked out quite nice actually. Started to wire the controls today aswell.

Figured out that the monitor was a Hantarex MTC900, which I wasn't surpriced by. Most arcade cabs I've seen use that monitor. The trick is to wire it to connect to the vga port of the computer. Many people have done it and it is quite possible. I've had the idea to use a flatscreen monitor instead, to get the weight down on the whole mamecab. It is also pretty nasty to turn the screen for a vertical image.

During the time I browsed the net for anyone who had experience on how to connect the Hantarex to a VGA connector it struck me. Why not make a projection of the game instead ? like a back projection TV. I haven't seen anyone do this on a mamecab, and I can't see why it wouldn't be possible. This would make it much easier to turn the monitor when I want to play a vertical game, as you only need to move either the whole projection part or just the LCD.

I will have to calculate the lightpath and the distance to the fresnels and triplets. Does seem like I need a 30mm triplet to make it 19" on 100mm distance. Need some more distances to make a real calculation. A unsplit design seems to be a nice idea aswell. Wonder if it works :)

Apperently the stuff ordered from Ultimarc has arrived at Arlanda,Stockholm @ 10:40 today. Might be here sooner than I thought. Gosh! Might be so cool as to wire up the stuff using a laptop to get to play with the new controls.

Took some meassurments of the controlpanel and realized that this is only going to be a one player game. My next cab will be a 2-player with interchangeble controls, so you can change controls to suit the particular game you play, trackball for centipede and 45 degree-angled joystick for q-bert.
The panel will only have one joystick, 4 buttons and 2 start buttons. Which means I only have to drill one hole. I will also add a pause button, not a standard button on a arcade, but I think I will need it. Don't know if I will be needing any more buttons, but as I plan only to use one player there are a few unused connections on the I-Pac.

I also managed to place an order for some items from Ultimarc.

• 1x I-PAC² Interface. USB Cable
• 1x Mag-Stik Plus (black)
• 2x Ultralux 5 Volt LEDs (white)
• 4x Ultralux 5 Volt LEDs (Red)
• 2x Ultralux Chrome Illuminated Pushbuttons(White)
• 4x Ultralux Chrome Illuminated Pushbuttons(red)

Tried to figure out what monitor the cab has, it's a Hantarex at least, havn't figured out the model yet, but I'm sure it won't be a problem. Need the info so I can figure out which connector goes where so I can get a picture on the screen. I'll probably fix the controls first though.

After a long time of thinking and modelling in my head I finally got somewhere in this project.
I got hold of a real arcadecabinet, so now I can start actually make something. I've been looking for parts to build my own, like t-molds and stuff. But now that I got a premade cab I can do the inner workings and worry about the design of the cab later. Right now the cab is standing in our woodshed, I must clean out the furnace room so I can place the cab there before I start working on it. It's cold outside.

I will probably strip it completely of all the stuff inside it, except the monitor, as I don't have a new one. I don't have any controls, but I think I can get hold of a few when the time comes. What I need to fix is a controller. Planning on getting an I-PAC as it seems most suited for my project. I think this project will rest a bit as I'm working on another project aswell, at least until I get the time to really start it. Stay Tuned!