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[jasonsmith]

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She's called "Blackie" because she is black and is going to stay black with some special decals yet to be applied.

Okay, here we go. As some of you may know I've been trying to build a cab. My goal was to build it as cheaply as possible while still making it look good and work good.

Recycled Parts

- 37" Phillips LCD (there's a story behind this one)
- A high end 17" Samsung monitor purchased almost 10 years ago.
- A P4 Gateway PC with a after market Radeon X800Pro video card, also almost 10 years old.
- A Gateway 2.1 speaker setup that sounds great which is also almost 10 years old.

Story behind the TV - About 6 years ago we bought this LCD, it was about 2 weeks when I got a crying frantic phone call at work. Our son who was about 3 years old then was watching something and decided to pick up one of those fabric flowers and hit the TV with it. Sound like no biggie right?... It just so happens that those fabric flowers have a coat hanger inside them that acts as a rigid stem, that coat hanger was super sharp. It cut about 7 lines into the screen about 4-6" long each one. All cuts were just short of making the pixels bleed but damaged none the less. That TV was moved to a distant corner of the house where it spent it's days being neglected cause it was different. 2012... it just so happens that due to the complexity of a pinball playfield those lines aren't seen when playing. It was meant to be I think.

Sacrifices

- FP only, VP will not render a table due to my old PC.
- Some of the quality settings have been turned down to keep frame rates at around 40-100 depending on the table.
- Running at 720 only as the video card just can't make to 1080 without have a fit.
- Running only the two monitors because FP can't run a third.
- Can't run backglass or videos in HyperPin due to table selection lag. Tables images work just fine.
- Playfield monitor is not auto on so I have to use the remote.

Features

- Williams/Bally Coin Door
- Williams/Bally Chrome Legs with leveling feet and mounting brackets.
- Custom lockdown bar by ArcadesRFun
- iPac 2
- Nanotech Plunger (On back order)
- Dual FP exe's (Stock and Physics 2.4) running made possible from this thread - http://www.hyperspin...inball-versions
- 29" Insignia TV with PC VGA in. (Auto Start)
- Third monitor for when VP is able to run.
- Hidden PC power on switch

To Do

- Add Decals (Custom).
- Add force feedback with a night switch.
- 8 Siemens Contactors on hand and waiting.
- Space above the backglass for LED's

Force feedback is dependent on a new PC or the creation of some software to handle it in FP.

Cabinet

- The cab is made from 3/4 cabinet grade pine ply. I am now wishing I used MDF due to the paint finish.
- 5mm Tempered glass.
- Picture mat surrounding the LCD.
- It's no where near a standard size as space is an issue. It is 46 1/2" long and 24 1/4 wide. The backbox was built to be proportional and useful.
- The legs are positioned to give the standard tilt to the whole machine.
- The Playfield LCD is mounted flush with the top as I have never been a fan of sinking it into the box.
- There is access through the coin door as well as a door in the rear.
- I'm using 2 x 120mm intake fans and 2 x 120mm exhaust fans.
- The side rails are made from a $3.00 length of galvanized metal.

Software

- Windows XP sp3
- Future Pinball ver. 1.9.1.20101231
- FP Physics ver. 2.4
- HyperPin 1.0
- FPLaunch MOD ver. 1.295 WIP 9
- Modified FPLaunch.ahk for auto launching Ultra tables with Physics exe and Standard tables with stock exe.

PC

- P4
- 1g ram
- x800Pro 512mb ram
- 7200rpm 80g drive


Pics



Pic of the backglass in widescreen mode. Also you can see the third monitor and speakers. ->

My temporary wood lockdown bar is starting to look grungy. Unfinished wood is not a decent solution. ->

Added some labels to the buttons, I like em. ->

Nanotech Plunger installed, so much nicer now. ->


COST

$1175 including Nanotech Plunger and custom lockdown bar.
About 80hrs Labor.


FORCE FEEDBACK PROGRESS

Guessing around another $200 for force feedback and LED's.

$51 -> <- Modified via this post - http://www.hyperspin...ll=1#post180851

$20 ->

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I'll keep editing as I think of stuff, ask away if anyone has any questions.

Edited by jasonsmith, 11 February 2013 - 05:54 PM.

[maceman]

Looks awesome! The sacrifices are nothing really. The hard part is the cab.. you can upgrade as you see fit and that will make it incredible.
Just a matter of time before i7's are as cheap as p4's. Is that wood for the temp lockdown bar ?
Looks a bit like masking tape, which suprizingly wouldn't be a first
I love build threads!
Maceman

[jasonsmith]

Thanks for the kind words, I look at it much more harshly than others do I guess. When you're playing it you forget about having to turn on the monitors etc. Eager to get a new PC and get the third screen going but that's a money gobbler for sure.

Yep, it's wood, not masking tape lol. My bigger hands like more than 3" of a resting area, fortunately I'm getting a 4" deep lockdown bar made up so that will be perfect once complete.

[Aaron James]

very nice I'm happy for ya.
You should try putting 3-screen backglasses on your cab instead of the 2-screen...so you don't get the speaker panel

[jasonsmith]

very nice I'm happy for ya.
You should try putting 3-screen backglasses on your cab instead of the 2-screen...so you don't get the speaker panel

Thank you

How would that work exactly, I'm not quite familiar with 3-screen backglasses? I have the third 17" monitor in there but can't run it with FP.

[kruge99]

Looks great! I'd probably want to throw a cover over the cab when you're running that mix-master on the counter though. I don't know how difficult it will be to get the "splatter" removed from your cab!

Best Regards,
Todd.

[jasonsmith]

Will do, not a fan of splatter lol.

[Practicedummy]

Seeing that your cab is very close proximity to the kitchen, is it food proof?

[jasonsmith]

Nope, but very close proximity to fridge, where the beer is kept.

[SPARKY70]

Can you tell us more about the 29" monitor? Thanks

[MTPPC]

I didn't think you could use force feedback if you are only running Future Pinball.

[natural320]

Nope, but very close proximity to fridge, where the beer is kept.

sounds like the optimal location to me!
and very nicely done, don't be too hard on your baby...looks pretty nice IMO

[jasonsmith]

Can you tell us more about the 29" monitor? Thanks

Sure, I got it at Future Shop and sticking with the "Budget Build" theme it was the cheapest TV that I could find. It's a Insignia 29" 720p 60hz HDTV (NS-29L120A13). It has a VGA input and I just noticed it is auto power on and off so I don't need to do anything with it. It is really good at detecting the resolutions coming from the PC and works well switching between widescreen and normal. Currently it's running at normal because I can't run the third monitor. Also it is lite as a feather, nice for being mounted in a backbox, being cheap they probably omitted a lot of stuff inside but it works and looks good. It also has 4 great mounting points in the rear which made it easy to mount up.

I gotta say for a cheap TV it is working perfect. Here's a link - http://www.futuresho...3/10206039.aspx

Here's a photo of it in widescreen:

I didn't think you could use force feedback if you are only running Future Pinball.

You can through an experimental program that some guys have been working on but nothing as simple as with VP. I've been searching high and low for a decent PC to run VP but just can't find one on the cheap yet. Soon enough though, gotta stick with the budget theme.

Edited by jasonsmith, 04 October 2012 - 10:58 PM.

[Shakenbake]

Love the 29". I wish I had found that when I was looking. I bet it would have fit in my cab decased.

[jasonsmith]

Ya, it never crossed my mind to de-case it as it fit perfect as it was but yes it was a good buy for sure. I didn't expect it to have auto on capabilities, that was a welcome surprise. Also for a inexpensive TV it has a pile of features within the menu to tweak mostly everything.

[jasonsmith]

I got my custom Lockdown Bar as well. It sure has cleaned things up quite a bit. Love the feel rather than the temporary wood bar.

[ndz]

Nice build! Can you provide the decased width on that Insignia NS-29L120A13 29" LCD? Thanks!

<edit> Nevermind. I missed the post where you said you didn't decase it.

Edited by ndz, 09 November 2012 - 08:53 PM.

[jasonsmith]

I really wish I at least took the back off and measured it. I'm curious if a decased 32" or something would fit. If I ever remove it, it's the first thing I will do.

[Fulltilt]

Very nice build, gratz!
Move the pin close to the beer or bring the beer to the pin with a mini fridge in the game room

[bartzenegger]

Nice build! Can you provide the decased width on that Insignia NS-29L120A13 29" LCD? Thanks!

<edit> Nevermind. I missed the post where you said you didn't decase it.

I have the same 29 in mine. Im out of town right now. But its like 25.5. I know its under 26 inches
Cuz my standard cab is an old red baron from the
70s and i could go to 26.3/4