I know I broke all my records of not posting, but I do have a valid reason for it
Just want to let the people, who still read this blog, know what’s happening.
Since about half a year I’ve been having some problems with my back.
Something is wrong with one of my lower vertebra…

Almost every movement I make really hurts and bending forward is really difficult.
(At this time, I can’t even tie my shoes the normal way. To do that I have to put my foot on my other leg, so that I can reach it >_< )
Anyway, I’ve been to my general practitioner, who sent me to physiotherapy. But that guy couldn’t fix it and sent me to another physiotherapist, but after a few sessions he sent me back to my general practitioner because he couldn’t fix it either. And that is were I am now…

So you see it’s kinda impossible for me to work on my cabinet, since it feels like a knife is stuck in my back

I think it’ll take a few months to make the pain go away (íf they finally find out what’s wrong with my back) but I’ll let you know when this is over and I can get back to working on my cabinet again

Broke my record of not posting, 81 days >_>…

First of all, I did work on the cabinet, but didn’t feel like posting.

Everything is is sanded, and applied primer paint (Repeated those steps a few times) and right now it’s fully white and extremely smooth

The next step is to apply the “real” paint, but that won’t happen untill next weekend or the one after that.
The reason for this delay is mainly because of my inability to travel:

In the Netherlands, students get a so called “OV-jaarkaart”. This come in two variants, the week and a weekend version, and allows you to travel for free during that time.
A few weeks ago I started as an intern at a Game Developer (Grendel Games) in Leeuwarden.
Since I have to work 5 days a week, and in possesion of the week variation of this OV-jaarkaart, it’s quite hard for me to get on time for work on Mondays when I’m staying at my parents. So I’ve stayed in Leeuwarden for the last 4 weeks or so.

My Weekend OV-jaarkaart is underway though, but it will take a few days for it to arrive. Once I get it, i’ll finally be able to work on my cabinet again

(PS, if you’re interested ánd able to understand Dutch, take a look at my other blog for what i’m currently doing at Grendel Games)

Last weeks I was busy with school again, but last weekend I finally had some time.

Finalized the planks which hold the TV and the amplifier + Playstation2.
Not sure if the plank will hold the TV, but according to my dad it should be just fine…

Another thing that has been finished is the access to the Playstation2.
(Once the cabinet is finished, it’s pretty handy if I’m still able to change discs )
Fixed it by using a hinge:

After this was done, I sanded the complete cabinet and only 1 more plank has to be attached (the one that holds the buttons)

I still have yet to see whether I’m busy this week or not, but the next post will probably take some time.
Going to a wedding in England next week, and right after that I’m gone to Hungary for vacation…

Maybe it’ll be working in the next post
(Without the cabinet being painted of course)

Today I worked on the light inside the buttons. (With some help from my brother )

Like a said last time, I found out how to get the lights to work, so i’ll do a bit of explanation here:
While searching the internet, I came across this image:

(All credits of the image go to user “Random” of the Ransai forums)
The thing you see in the middle is a Button switch.
To get the lights to work, you’ll need another powersource, since the lights need 12V, and the PS2 only gets 5V. But if you add 12V to the circuitboard, you’ll need to prevent this extra Voltage from entering the PS2. This is where you need some diodes, these small thingies make sure the powerflow only goes in one direction, and when placed in the right way, the lights can receive 12V without harming my precious PS2.

One microswitch with the attached Diodes…

Nine microswitches with attached diodes

Since I really wanted to test it out, but my Arcade-cabinet not yet ready to be played, I grabbed my old ArcadeStyleController and hooked it up.

Reconnected all the wires, plus the new 12V-adding-wires.
(Believe me, there’s seriously a pattern in the wires to keep them distinguished )

And Voila, Illuminated buttons:

Also had a movie file, but thanks to the wonderfull app “Adobe Premiere” I won’t be able to upload it….

44 days to be exactly….

3 main reasons:
- Not at my parents home:
Spent a lot of time in my “palace” in Leeuwarden. Didn’t feel like taking a 2 hours trip in the train…
- There was an update for “Team Fortress 2″:
Doesn’t need any explanation….
- When I was at my parents house, my dad was away a lot. I kinda need him to help me with the wood stuff of the cabinet, since I don’t want to screw that part up. Once all the working on the wood is finished, things will go much smoother, since I do now how to paint/polish and wire the electronics

But that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any progress
All the planks are nearing completion.
The planks for the Speakers and a few others are all finished
Still figuring out how to create an easy “door” thingy in the cabinet ( I have to be able to quickly acces my Playstation2 to change discs or change the volume )

A few planks, like the subwoofer-holder and the top one, were a bit bended (Not exactly sure how that happend) so I glued some bigger (stronger) planks on them to keep them straight )

Next weekend I’ll be finishing the TV, PS2 and amplifier shelve, and i’ll also start working on the circuitboard adjustments.
My Pop’n Music controller works perfectly, but there was one thing i’ve been missing all this time….Illuminated buttons!

Found on a bemani fora 
 (http://www.ransai.com/archives/forum3/viewtopic.php?t=46&sid=179c9ed340b3c65dd9d0786c2490c35a)
how to get the lights working.
I need one of those 12V adapters and 20 diodes (My start and select buttons aren’t illuminated) to keep the power flow in one direction, because I don’t want to give my PS2 extra power

And hopefully I’ll be able to test-play my half-finished cabinet next week…
(I missed playing Pop’n Music so much, that I put my old controller back together this weekend )

Till next time!
(I promise it won’t take another 44 days :-p)

Spend this evening on the main planks of the cabinet (Left/Right side, bottom, top and the backside)

The sides got (thicker) beams attached, so other planks can be screwed to those.
(Screwing a 9mm plank to a 9mm plank will most likely result in split wood…)

And after making all the needed planks the correct size and drilling holes in the right places, it was time to put it together.

 Yes, you can live comfortable inside of it..

I never expected it to be this huge, but at least it’s the perfect size for me.
TV height “fits” my head, and the controlpanel is in perfect reach.

I did change one small thing in the design, since I heard some people on a Bemani forum talking about the controlpanel being slightly tilted. Not sure at what precise angle it is now, but it’s perfect for me;-)

Next weekend I’ll be attaching more planks to the cabinet, unscrew them again and make them fit perfectly…

Been kinda busy lately and the weather wasn’t so great either, so that explains the time between this and my last post. (And I can only work on it in the weekends )

Finished the controlpanel now.
Glued both planks together and secured it with some screws.
(Also drilled two extra holes, forgot about the “Start” and “Select” buttons last time…)

I also did some work on the bottomplank, i’m going to attach all the planks from the inside, so that you won’t see it from the outside (except the backside, otherwise it would be a bit difficult to re-open it )

Hopefully I can start putting the cabinet together next weekend, so that I can finally get a feeling of how big it will be in the end.

Here’s a picture of the planks with the buttons on them.

The box at the top is my former Pop’n Music ASC (Arcade Style Controller).
Notice the difference in the space between the upper and lower row of buttons. (screwed that up last time)

Hopefully it’ll play a little bit better, but at least it’ll look more like the real arcade this way

The first thing I did this morning was looking for the right button spacing measurements.

On various sites I found that the most common used space between the buttons is 13,97-14,7 cm.
For no particular reason I went for 14cm for my control panel.

Since the control panel will be enduring a lot of force, It’s made out of 2 planks.
The buttons “sink” in the upper plank, and then will rest on both planks, which will spread the force over a greater surface.

So I went ahead and made my planks ready to be sawn.

A few hours later I finished the top plank
(I know, it looks like it could be done in 5 minutes, but I’m not that great )

And at the end of the day, when the lower plank was finished, it looked like this.
(The thing in the lower right corner is one of the Pop’n Music buttons )

I’ll try to insert all the buttons tonight, so I can make a comparison with my former Pop’n Music Controller.
(I messed up the button spacing with that one)
 

It might seem like I only started today, but I’ve been busy with the arcade for a few weeks now.

 I’ll just sum up everything I need to complete my Arcade:
- Wood
- Paint
- screws, glue etc.
- Lights
- Sound
- Pop’n Music Buttons with PS1 circuit board etc.
- a PS2
- TV

The first thing I did was making a complete 3d-model of the cabinet.
It would give me a good idea what it will be looking like, and how big it will be.
After some fine tuning (Made it way too big at first) it looked like this:

(Yes, it looks like crap. But I only made it to give me some idea what it would look like)

Since I already made a Pop’n Music ASC, I already had all the stuff I needed to control the game.
(Believe me, it took me a lot of time to find an old,”not-sony-brand”,”no-analog” PS1 controller, which is needed to make it work correctly)

After this I went for some Audio shopping.
To make my Arcade to be heard, I spent roughly €400 on my Sound installation.
This includes:
- VX200 Amplifier by JBSystems
- 2x 3-way audio filter
- 2x Sub woofer (200Watt, 91dB)
- 2x Mid-range speaker (100Watt, 90dB)
- 2x High-range speaker (100Watt, 90dB)
- Light organ (Makes the lights react to the music)

I also needed something to see what game I was playing, so i bought a second hand TV ( €40)

After that it was quite for a while, but last Saturday I finally went shopping for wood, and I could finally begin building

The first thing I did was make blueprints out of my 3d-model I made.
Almost all the wood was cut for my by the guy at the DIY-shop, but both sides of the Cabinet are one complete piece and oddly shaped, so I had to cut those out myself.

On one of the big wooden planks, I drew the outline for the left side of the cabinet.

After I saw it out and shaved it, I attached it to the second wooden plank using frame clamps and I drew the outline for the right side. Saw it out, and shaved it.

Tomorrow I’ll be working on the “button-board”, and from what I remember of my Pop’n Music ASC it’ll cost me a few hours….