Final Assembly & Wiring
My mockup proved to be a great asset and was well worth the weekend's time to build. It may have been crude, but having a three-dimensional visual reference right next to my real project was invaluable. It wasn't just a visual reference, it was a testbed for everything else. And it was something to play games on. So I never felt any sense of impatience while building the real thing. I believe the mockup saved me from making a lot of false starts and mistakes on my final arcade game. All in all I got about seven months' worth of use out of the mockup. As shown below, I've powered ON the mockup one last time before stripping the components and scrapping the lumber.
One last game on the mockup.
I didn't want my control panel to fully open because I didn't want to pinch the bottom of the control panel overlay and because I wanted to minimize strain on the JAMMA harness. So I installed a chain and hook which hooks into the right-side clamp bracket. When not in use the chain is unhooked and hangs inside the cabinet.
Control panel support chain.
Control panel clamps installed.
If I had this to do again I'd buy a more generic five-foot JAMMA harness and simply clip off any wires I didn't need. My existing JAMMA harness was intended for an Arcade1Up conversion and it's length was inadequate for my full-size cabinet. I could have made it work, but I would have had to awkwardly mount the 60 in 1 board and it would have looked like a mess. So I extended most every wire using material from another salvaged harness.
I wanted my lengthened JAMMA harness to look purpose-built as opposed to the usual DIY rat's nest. So I neatly routed the wires along the bottom edge of the control panel and custom-cut each wire to the exact length needed for each switch. No one else is going to see this, but I like looking at tidy wire management. I don't know if there are any noise issues with the 60 in 1 system, but I did make an effort to provide at least some separation between the control and power lines. Wiring may have been the most fun aspect of this project. I really got to indulge my inner OCD.
60 in 1 mounted with some preliminary control and power wiring.
Finished control panel wiring. Click for a larger image.
I like how this control panel turned out with its rounded front edge and lack of visible fasteners. There's nothing for the arcade delinquents to tamper with. I didn't plan this, but I like how the trackball "landed" atop the mountain. Is it an alien object? Did the UFO lay an egg?
Finished control panel.
Moving to my final ¾" control panel made the joystick look stubby. I now understand why some control panels have a mounting recess for the joystick assembly. I tried a shaft extender, but it increased the joystick throw and felt completely wrong. My stubby joystick plays fine and they say size doesn't matter.
Discarded joystick shaft extender.
I located my administrative controls on a fabricated steel plate inside the coin door. My arms weren't long enough to reach both the Test Menu button and the main power switch. But I found I could restart the 60 in 1 board simply by interrupting the 5 volt power. So the top red normally-closed pushbutton connects 5 volt power to the 60 in 1 board and is my Restart switch. The board's 5 volt input draws only about 250-260 mA so just about any switch would do.
Next is a black normally-open pushbutton for the Test Menu. The procedure for entering the Test Menu is: push and hold the red Restart button, push and hold the black Test Menu button, release the red button, look for some screen activity and release the black button. The procedure for exiting the Test Menu is: push, hold and release the red button. The lower black normally-open pushbutton is for the Service Menu. The Service Menu is redundant and mostly useless. I included the Service Menu button only because it serves a page-back function in the Test Menu.
Lastly is a DPDT, center-off, momentary toggle switch for controlling the restrictor plate servo which changes the joystick between its 4-way and 8-way configurations.
Administrative controls.
Back side of administrative controls.
Next I set up the power supply. The main power switch and IEC inlet were mounted to a fabricated steel plate such that they're slightly recessed from the rear surface of the cabinet.
Main power switch.
Power supply and back side of main power switch.
Note that I did not include any sort of cabinet ventilation. None of the components get particularly warm and I figured my big cabinet had plenty of free air space.
I added some terminal blocks for breaking out the 5 and 12 volt power. 5 volt distribution includes the JAMMA harness to the 60 in 1 board (via the Restart button) and the joystick servo. The 5 volt terminal block supports the current-limiting resistor for the servo circuit. 12 volt distribution includes the JAMMA harness to the 60 in 1 board, the amplifier, the monitor and the marquee lighting. The coin door also uses 12 volt power, but that's routed through the JAMMA harness.
Terminal block arrangement.
Completed terminal block wiring.
Monitor installed.
Back side of monitor.
Speakers installed behind the marquee compartment.
Speaker wiring above the monitor.
The 60 in 1 is notorious for having inconsistent volume levels from one game to another. The really loud games are mostly at the far end of the menu. Fortunately the volume levels among the nearer, most popular, classic games are reasonably consistent. So it tends to work out okay for the causal visitor. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to have some sort of semi-convenient access to volume control. To that end, I mounted the amplifier so it's accessible from the coin door opening.
With some scraps of thin plywood I made a right-angle mounting bracket being mindful of the coin door's lock cam clearances. There's a notch in the face of the bracket which allows the lock cam to rotate in front of the amplifier. The bracket's brace is dadoed into the two side pieces so it's all sturdier than it looks. I was able to mount the amplifier such that the volume knob as well as the tone controls are accessible.
Amplifier mounting bracket.
Amplifier wiring.
Installed amplifier.
I didn't find any 12 volt tube lights I liked. So I went with a spool of the ubiquitous 12 volt strip LEDs. I picked "warm white". I wouldn't call warm white, but I guess it's a little less harsh than what ever passes for standard white. Two strips of LEDs were adequate. DIYers tend to get carried away with these strip LEDs. I wanted a warm glow; I'm not landing aircraft!
I built up an assembly on my workbench using a scrap of thin plywood. I didn't trust the LED strip adhesive. So I peeled off the backing paper and added my own layer of 3M 468MP transfer tape. For a bit of strain relief, I put a blob of epoxy over the solder connections. Then I added a connector and screwed the whole thing into the marquee compartment. I was apprehensive about this setup because I thought I'd be able to see individual spots of light through the marquee. That was a total non-issue. The Game On Grafix marquee has excellent diffusion properties.
Marquee light assembly.
Marquee light assembly installed.
Illuminated marquee.
Gratuitous final wiring shot. Click for a larger image.
Done!
Height: 72"
Width: 24½"
Depth: 30"
Weight: 190 lbs
Power Consumption: 125 watts
Construction: March to November 2021
Cost: I'm not very good at keeping track of what I spend, but I can make some generalizations. I spent about $550 at DIY Retro Arcade. $200 of that was for the open frame monitor. I spent about $150 at Twisted Quarter. I may have spent about $75 per sheet for the MDF. This was during the big 2021 lumber commodities spike. I spent about $300 at Game On Grafix. I spent hundreds more on "nickel and dime" items from Home Depot, Amazon and others. I already had most all of the necessary tools so I didn't spend much in that regard. Nevertheless, I have well over a thousand dollars into the project. I have no idea how many hours I put into it. I can certainly appreciate why commercial arcade games retail for many thousands of dollars.
Epilogue: Everything continues to work as I intended including my hack servo circuit. I have no significant complaints, but there are a few minor points I might reconsider if I had this to do again.
Buying the inclusive 60 in 1 starter kit was a good idea from a learning curve point of view. But if I had to do it again I might buy individual components tailored to my exact needs. I'd probably skip the open frame monitor and do the PC monitor hack. It's what everyone else does and there's plenty of information out there.
I'm not sure I'd bother with the external amplifier and two-speaker setup. Gyruss is kind of neat with its two-channel sound, but that's just one game. Otherwise it would be sufficient to use the 60 in 1's onboard amplifier along with one speaker and an accessible passive volume control.
I wouldn't try to create both side panels simultaneously. Instead, I'd fully cut and finish one side panel; then use the first panel and a flush-trim router bit to create a duplicate second panel.
For appearance sake, I might vertically center the monitor within the monitor frame and bezel.
Again for appearance sake, I might add a ¼" recess to the underside of the control panel for the joystick assembly such that the joystick would look a bit less stubby from above.
The 60 in 1 is pretty primitive by today's standards, but I don't regret my choice. The 60 in 1 has more games than I will ever play. I and appreciate that it just powers ON and works without complex configuring or fooling around with ROM images.
Years later... I used the cabinet profile to make a fun paper towel holder
On to the next part: Games List.
