Scratch Build – In Progress Monkey Arcade Racing Cabinet - December 2011

LOVE IT , But one question , Can you make the heaters work =)

 

already thought about, and you never know

 

update from last night

Soldering, i hate soldering and heat shrink.

first of cut, extend and add a plug/socket arrangement for the gearstick wires, aster i just the case in half. i used CAT5e cable and 9 pin serial plugs.

the gearstick has 8 wires, 4 wires are common, so that meant only 6 pins were used, and the LED to indicate triptronic had 2 wires (the switch is on the gearstick) used another 2, so 8 pins in total.

this is the result of my soldering

gearstick end



the other end



and the other end connected ot the board



i needed to bolt the seat down properly, so i did, i was happy with the dash position, and the arm rest position, so the seat could go in



and the seat wont be going anywhere with these coach screws in

6 of these are holding it down



the seat is on its original rails, so it still moves forward and back, i have positioned it so it moves back further than i require, so that when i'm playing game thats not a racer, its comfortable to hold the pad etc.

i also fitted some wheels, makes it easiner to move if need be



these give the setup 5mm ground clearance, just enough

whats this?



my garage is empty?!?! that can only mean one thing, the majority of the wood work is done for the frame, and its ready to have the electronitcs fitted and tested.

this was the moment of truth, was i correct with my measurements? was i accuraate with my cutting and screwing?



few, it fits through, with plenty to spare, when its complete there will be an additional 25mm ish on the width for the panneling. but thats later



i got the main part in the games room as well, no photo, as it was late, and i just wanted to move it

 

today i extended the wires in the steering column



i gave it loats of extra length so that when the wheel rotates its doesnt pull on the solders or connectors.

base unit fitted, steering column fitted and gearstick fitted (all again!)



sorted out all the wires, bolted the 2 parts together and thats it for now.





















i'll just leave you with this video


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91e9kJnj8c0&context=C3349207ADOEgsToPDskJgCzF0cH4lgpYwJdzJUbI5


OH YES!!!!!! it lives!!!!!


photo of setup




a few niggling issues, like the triptronic switch being a little bit sticky, easy fix and i'll look into that tommorrow, as well as finishing to bolt the dash in etc.

the wheel fees solid, more so that i thought it would, and surprisingly all my soldering works.

tomorrow is "test" day, or as my G/F says "playing games" day.

some serious testing is going to happen.

anyway i've opened a celebratory beer, as i didnt have one last night. going to have some good food, then i may start the "testing"

happy? you wouldnt beleive

 

What a load of ****.

Wheres your foot well neons?

 

Gah, that was going to be a surprise, they are in the garage at the mo,

 

nice work

 

thanks

 

right, minor update, but with major impact

after a bit of testing, i found the steering column bracket to be too much different angle to the column, so i adjusted it, and filed the inside of the bracket. then added some copper grease.





the wheel now moves free, and no squeaks etc

a vid to shoe how free it moves when switching on, compare it to the vid i posted earlier to see the difference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skCYMqLuezQ&context=C3349207ADOEgsToPDskJgCzF0cH4lgpYwJdzJUbI5

i then got the big tv out to have it setup properly



i have changed my mind, the PS3 is going to be part of this rig, meaning this TV is not high enough quaity, so after xmas i will buy a cheap 1080p LCD to put in, i hope Best Nuy has some decent discounts

i've also fitted all the dash parts now and it all fits and is very secure/solid

steering column cowl

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-.../cbO8eXC0mcs/s640/2011-12-18%252014.59.15.jpg

this wil lbe finished off properly, but for now its fine



a proper switch panel is going to be build and fitted, but that can wait till the xmas break.

so for now its done, and remarkidly a week early, i'm going to have fun playing on this..... err i mean its going to be hard testing to make sure everything it in the right place etc.

hopefully now my GT5 times will drop

 

I'm honestly not down with the whole idea of making something like this. But this EXACT piece is just cool as heck!

+rep for building is so it could go through the door!

 

Is the ps3 going in the glovebox?

 

Maybe you could use a Philips Ambx for that? And maybe you could do something cool with the LED's on top too

Keep up the good work! It's a real pleasure reading this!

 

no, as the part of the dash where the glove box is, has been cut away.

i'm going to build a stand for the PS3 and PC to the right, if you look at where the dash ends, there is a bit of space there where i'm going to put them.

i've never heard of the Philips AMBX before, and they are cool, cheers for that

thanks,

 

small update,

its been a busy couple of weeks <s>playing games</s> err testing, yeah testing

found a couple niggling issues with the steering wheel, and the seat needs to be moved forward, as anyone smaller than 5' 10" cant use it. but for proper sized people its perfect.

i've been buying alot of stuff, buttons, switches, etc, i'll show all the buttons etc later

first major purchase is this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360409096433?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

a Tenda wireless router, i'm using it as an access point as well as a 3 port hub.

i need at least 2 RJ45 ports in there and i was just going to buy a hub/switch, but for £18 you cant argue at putting wifi in there as well. so this is going to become a Wireless access point, extending the Wifi in my house. it was easy to setup and surprisingly sorks in my setup which goes

BT Home Hub v3 - Powerline adaptor - house electrical wiring - powerline adaptor - Tenda Router

i also bought a pair of Turtle Beach P11 headset.



its a really good piece of kit. i didnt buy these for their audio quality, i bought these so i couldnt hear the missus moaning that i'm always playing on my PS3 LOL. the sound quality is really good, as well as being able to shout at people for not playing fair.

next was a Xmas present from the G/F, was the Turtle Beach Earforce DSS dolby Digital 7.1 converter thing



this takes the optical output and turns your stereo headphones into surround sound ones, or so the box says. it doesnt really, but it does improve the convergence of the left and right channels, and gives much more depth to the sound, with a perceived front and back as well, if you shut your eyes, you cant tell the difference, but with visual ques, it really adds something.

and the last purchase was the screen for it, a Technika 42" LCD TV



its a good TV, its not amazing, but its good. its nice to have a screen that i can read the text on, as my other test screen wouldnt do 576i, this one does 1080p, and it shows



this isnt my poor picture taking, but it shows it party piece, yes the screen is 3D. how i ever got my G/F i needed a 3D TV i dont know, the 3D isnt amazing on this screen, my LG 42LW550T in the living room blows this screen away, i think its part due to the distance i'm sat, plus i need to play with some of the settings.

for now, thats it. i cant do much more untill my Electronics expert has a look and advises me on my next best route, there will be some work carried out this weekend hopefully

 

Nice setup.

Steering wheel is on wrong side.