I think I went a little overboard...

Well, I finally got my cabinet kit (only took about four weeks for the guy to ship it) and finished getting it together. Still waiting on the control panel, marquee plexiglas and retainer to arrive. Anyway, here are some pictures:

 

looking good...

 

Not bad, but i probably would have just bought a project cab rather then a kit, though i dont know what the kit cost ya

 

Bad allegies + no power tools + lack of building skills = no project cabs. I wanted a cab that would last years and be able to be dual JAMMA and non-JAMMA capable.

Here's the price breakdown from what I remember (redone):

Billabs 15-48KHz 27" Monitor ($550 + $150 shipping): http://www.billabs.com/bl27cb0p.htm
Arcadeshopper Cabinet Kit ($400 + $250 shipping): http://www.arcadeshopper.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=28
Over/under Coin Door ($50 + $15 shipping)
MameRoom Custom Control Panel ($125 + $30 shipping): http://www.mameroom.com/uacontrolpanel_info2.asp
Marquee Retainers ($10)
Marquee Plexiglas ($20)
Bob Roberts JAMMA harness, wiring and other internals ($153)
Incidentals ($200)

 

What type of monitor is it, and what will you use for controllers? Will you install an arcade stick panel?

 

I added more info to the components listed above. The monitor handles all the regular arcade resolutions (15/24/31 KHz) and goes all the way up to 1024 x 768 through the VGA connector.

Definitely putting in a real arcade panel. Going with a combination 2 player, six button setup with a 3" trackball. Also throwing in a nice pair of Happs Lightguns for the arcade games and one of the LED Lightguns for the PS2/Xbox (you can see the LED stands on the side of the monitor).

 

That looks very nice. Will you put anything else in it besides a PS2 and XBox? If you go the MAME route, get an ArcadeVGA card. They are dreamy.

 

The cabinet also has a full JAMMA harness in it, so any of my arcade boards can be put in (mainly lightgun or trackball games). I also plan to throw an old laptop in there for MAME/emus. I am tempted to throw the extra Gamecube I have in there just for Ikaruga.

Since the monitor handles up to 1024x768 resolution natively, I don't have to get an ArcadeVGA card, though I do already have a JPAC for the controls. :nod:

 

Thats amazingly cool mairsil


Ryan

 

Looks real good. Be sure to get one of those barstool chairs so you don't have to stand up all the time whilst playing.

 

You mean like these:



:icon_bigg

(updated pics above to include newly finished marquee)

 

Finally got the control panel. Will put up pictures sometime tomorrow I hope.

 

Cool cant wait to see

 

Actually, you'd want the ArcadeVGA for low res displays, not high res. You say it handles 15khz signals, right? Forget the laptop, and buy a cheapy PC for like $1k or something, and throw the ArcadeVGA in there. You get native 15khz signals for MAME games. If it handles VGA though, you can put fake scanlines up that will simulate 15khz nicely. I have a 15khz only monitor for basically everything that's not 31khz compatible (DC/Xbox). Scanlines don't work in this case.

 

I was just going to use the fake scanlines for MAME and Nebula, or play around with Powerstrip since I don't have to worry about exact snycing with this monitor. I agree that the native resolution looks the best, but I am not a purest when it comes to non-lightgun games. For those, I try to get the actual arcade boards.

 

thats a very nice monitor, will it work with all the console RGB mods?

 

I don't see why it wouldn't since standard JAMMA specifies the video to be sent in as RGB + sync. I'm happy with how component looks right now though.

 

Some of the shuttle/mini-PC barebones systems are quite powerful and would fit rather nicely in the case you have. Something like this: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=90709
(Ok case, though of course that won't be seen, small footprint, cheap and comes with a TV tuner PCI-express etc).

 

If you go the Arcade VGA route, you need an AGP slot. Don't have to go that route though, although I would.

Don't you need a little synch hack or something? I asked about this at shmups. I think arcade RGB monitors have a different synch rate than consoles output or something. Not hard, AFAIK, but not exactly JAMMA.

Any update pictures, btw?

 

Yes, you are right that you would normally need a sync hack since the consoles generally output at 31KHz and the majority of arcade monitors run at 15KHz. However, that is technically a JAMMA spec for "high" resolution. This monitor syncs anywhere (and I do mean anywhere) between 15 and 48 KHz.

Heh, been meaning to do that for a while now... First picture was taken mid-scan; the monitor doesn't have a line going through the middle of the screen. The front panel is hinged (using the coin return slots as a handle) so that it is easy to get into the guts, but when it is closed, the machine looks like a regular arcade machine.







I still need to permanently install the pair of Happ lightguns and see if I can fit in the LCD guns (one PS2/Xbox and two for an incoming Lost World kit).