About time..

Finally started sanding the arcade box! Yeah, i know...

Went out and got myself some sandpaper (while I was buying some particle board to extend a old table I got for free from work) and some more bog to fill up the rest of the screw holes. So i got outside and spend a few hours sanding it to size with some 60 grit. The biggest problem has been the top part has a ever so slight bit of play along the piano hinge - which of course means massive variances at the end your playing at. Ive had to sand each side to match the other by putting it on a flat surface and sanding a bit, flip over, sand a bit more, etc. After a while, It's starting to all come together - while the edges arnt perfect yet there a massive improvment as now only a few bits feel raised, where when I started it have a overbite of about 4mm and was a good 1-2mm out on some parts of the side.

Unfortunately im not quite as in-shape as I could be.. After hours of sanding I noticed it was nearly 9PM and the light was gone so I packed up. Pouring a celebratory bourbon, I proceeded to nearly glass myself in the face due to my right arm suddenly responding to all commands by moving about 10 times more than it should have.

Ive done some research and settled on trying to use some decent spraypaint to paint it, after using a automotive putty/primer spraycan. A few goes of the putty/primer (with liberal sanding) should help me really fill in any gaps I have left.

As for colouring, Im still working out what i want to do with artwork.. But im starting to thing black with red lines might be the go (ala a Shivan cruiser.. Damn Shivans...)

Also... ive finially settled on a name. The Black Box, in honor of the phreaking done in the 60's & 70's (shit even 80s I think) - check it out on wiki HERE and even HERE.



Ive also done some work on the VGA->CAT adapters. One of them had its wires tear off their solder joints (damn cheap crap) which I had to re-solder. I suspect it has a lot to do with the bend that it gets internally - i had a right angle adaptor, then the adaptor, then the cable.. and when the lid was closing, it was hitting the cable and bending the whole lot sideways.

So I converted the VGA-CAT adapter itself to right angle mount to save 20mm to avoid this problem in the future. Ugly, yes. Effective, yes.

Aurora Chair Concept post

So I have a brand new project to begin! All I have to do is paint the arcade box.. Im getting there...

This one im pretty excited about. Blatantly ripping off the idea here ive decided to make my own racing/simulation cockpit. Its a Ottoman, which has a hollow storage area in the middle. When you lift the top off, it has a fold-up seat, and contains a G27 steering wheel, with pedals bolted down and a steering wheel frame. You sit inside it to play games, and pack it up neatly into a functional couch.

I was going to just build a frame, but a cockpit of sorts you could actually sit inside of sounded great. I, however, dont really need a couch, but i do need a new coffee table. When not in use, a top can be placed on it to create a coffe table. When in use, the lid comes out, the steering wheel is mounted on top of it, and its Gran Turismo 5 time.

This also couples with my Freespace cockpit project - a cockpit with switches/buttons/whatnot. It works like any keyboard, so its compatiable with anything that can accept a USB keyboard and bind buttons. So instead of fumbling with buttons to play the game, id be using switches/levers/etc to kill Shivans. Sick of trying to target a particular ship, and going past it, and having to go through all the ships again because you never bothered to bind 'previous ship' or cant be bothered typing 'Ctrl-Alt-Mac Key-Commodore Key-F' to fire primary lasers? This will be for you!


Features include:

• Coffee Table
• Racing wheel for GT5
• Pedals reverse-mounted like a real car (push away, not push down like what comes with the plastic wheels you buy)
• Subwoofer/Speakers
• Bass Shakers (for force feedback for explosions/car engine/whatnot)
• Swappable Steering wheel/Freespace cockpit
• Custom built sequential/reverse shifter with a nice heavy feel (those plastic shifts dont do the wheels justice)
  

Crosssection of the box, with the right wall hidden for comparison


Closed up, a coffee table.



Seated view with the Racing wheel and custom sequential shifter to the left


Custom build freespace cockpit

DIY Bass shakers (Tactile Transducers)

Ive been fooling around with Tactile Transducers for the Aurora Chair project (upcoming). These little guys are like Subwoofers, but the produce more vibration than sound. This makes them great as force feedback, a fact I will be incorporating into the Aurora Chair project.

Below is a little DIY vid I did up for them, showing how to build a homebrew one. Unfortuantly, I turned up the vol and bass to max for the test showin in this and explordered the amp circuit, so im currently looking for some salvage.