by ·0 Comments

I finally have the NeoGeo and Xmen Vs Street Fighter cabinets ready to go. After getting the control panels sandblasted, painted, cutting new Lexan, and getting new overlays they’re finally back together. It all took far longer than I wanted it to, but that was just due to time constraints. Overall they look fantastic. There is a small issue with the NeoGeo, mainly since I left the overlay vinyl attached to the original backing the pressure the Lexan puts on it causes some noticeable marking. I think that may just be trapped moisture that will go away. If not, I’ll put the vinyl onto cardstock backing and see how that goes.

Continue reading

by ·0 Comments

A bit of time ago I got into Raspberry Pis and Arduino boards. I thought it’d be a good idea to refresh myself on programming and gave Python a shot since it’s a relatively simple language. Since all of this Crypto Coin mining is so big I might as well make a Dogecoin Stock Ticker.

I got an Adafruit LCD from Microcenter, breakout board, and started figuring it out. I using Adafruit’s LCD library.The code consists of Five python libraries. It switches between Dogecoin and Bitcoin every ten seconds and updates value every five minutes.

IMG_20140721_204203

 

https://github.com/atrainn/dogeticker/tree/master/compiled_for_rasbian

by ·0 Comments

Finally cleaned the Blast City today. I figure since I’m going to be out of town this weekend it’ll have plenty of time to dry, and when I get back I can put everything together.

Simple Green is some seriously wonderful stuff.

I’m still trying to figure out a good way to do pictures on here. Picasa web albums suck, and imgur doesn’t embed very well. So here’s a bunch of picturesContinue reading

by ·0 Comments

Well, it’s time to start cleaning the Blast City. I decided to start with some of the simple things. The rear marquee, monitor, power supply, bezel, and IO board. Ironically the Monitor and PSU are typically the dirtiest parts of any cabinet.

The monitor was a pain in the ass to get it. 29 inch crt = very heavy. I managed to get it out, discharge it, and only contract 5 or 6 diseases. This thing was filthy. See below…

Continue reading

by ·2 Comments

Right before going to GXL (and I mean immediately before) I finished building a new stick! While at Jasen’s I had picked up a new Panzer body. This stick I had decided to padhack an xbone PCB and go with Seimitsu buttons and a Seimitsu joystick.

IMG_20141008_211532

Bare Pad

Continue reading

by ·0 Comments

 

I did it, I got a blast city! I drove to Jasen’s in Herndon and picked it up today. Filthy as hell, I’ll post pictures as I work on it. I’ve already started cleaning the control panel. But don’t expect much. Here’s a few:

 

Yeah, the versus city CP is in bad shape, but don’tworry. I bought a repro from Jasen, as well as hardware for a new Panzer! Pics and info to come.

IMG_20141004_181602IMG_20141005_130923

I do have some good plans for it as well. I’ve picked up a Naomi, NetDimm, SunPSU, and some 360 Pads. I plan on running a Naomi and 360 in the cabinet. I’m modded up some padhacks and I’m thinking I’ll enclose them in a hobby box with a jamma fingerboard for easy swapping. More as that progresses..

IMG_20141003_232150

Pad Hacks!

 

 

by ·0 Comments

I’ve realized, after getting this thing booting off of batteries, there really isn’t much I can do with it until I get the case situation sorted out. I need to get some stuff mounted before I can start putting in the controls and finally using the DB15 connector (what could that be for?!). I came across this toy, Datamax KidzDelight. It’s large without being too large and cheap. Unfortunately they’re very rare to find, and common for this project. But fortunately for me there was one on ebay the moment I was looking so I bought it immediately. $12.

Enter the Datamax Kidz Delight….

IMG_20140927_190248
The plan is to do the following:
IMG_20140927_190254

So, let us begin. I first chopped down the ps one screen, then cut a large enough slot for the screen in the DataMax

IMG_20140927_205051IMG_20140927_192010
Well, it looks good to me. Lets start gluing this thing in. Yes, this thing will look like a huge mess, but hey, I’m gonna sand it and fill it, and sand it some more….Then cut it up some more, but the case as it stands looks pretty damn good
 IMG_20140930_132940 (2)
As an added bonus, I did manage to get the analog stick working on the superpad. I’m thinking about using a ps2 analog and using left click for pause. Not entirely sure yet. I’ll go into detail on that as this whole project proceeds. As of now I’ve caught up, so I’ll post more when I have more.

 

by ·0 Comments

So now that I’ve found the n64 again, where do I start off? It’s been four years, I remember fuck all about this thing, back to ModRetro I go…

After re-reading all of these schematics and fun stuff, I decided I knew what I needed to do to finish this thing, and ordered everything I need!

  • PS2 Analog Stick
  • Gamecube Controller
  • Another N64 Controller. This controller has a far better shell suitable for making a case out of. Though the board likely wouldn’t work.
  • More TI Power Regulators
  • Prototyping Boards for mounting the buttons
  • Hobby Box
  • DB15 Connectors (We’ll touch on that later)
  • Push-buttons
  • BM LP-E6 batteries
Anyways. I finally got around to wiring up the power regulator, which ended up looking a bit like this:
IMG_20141005_023402
Certainly not the best looking thing in the world, but hey, it works just fine. I now successfully have the N64 booting off of some Canon Camera batteries, and after testing it lasts for two hours on a full charge. Not bad, but we’ll see if I can fit more firepower into the case.
IMG_0528
That’s all for now..

by ·0 Comments

I suppose I’d do best to kick this blog off with a decent post. Well then, four years ago I got it in my head that I wanted to start working on a portable N64. After having seen the one Ben Heck made it seemed like all too possible. Upon researching I came across the Ben Heck forums, but most importantly, ModRetro found some valuable information, and set off on doing this thing. The basic list of parts I sourced included (though I’m of course going to leave out some things I’ve forgotten):

PsOne Screen (I actually ended up with four or five of these, as well as some donor screens that ended up not working)

  • A bunch of n64 boards
  • A few TI PTH08080W power regulators
  • Various jacks and switches
  • SuperPad N64 controller
  • Canon Camera Batteries

Continue reading