Bunch of consolizing questions

I've mentioned in another thread that I'm about to attempt to consolize a 4 slot MVS system. There are no on-line how-to guides that show exactly what I want to know, so I've got some questions....

I've never worked much with sheet metal before. How can I get a nice clean cutting result? What sort of drill bits should I use? How do I create a square hole? Will a dremel do the job?

I bought a rgb signal converter which has s-video and rca plugs wired directly to the board so it looks like I'll have to run cables from the circuit board to the case, so does anyone know a source of sVideo female/female converters? I'd rather embed a converter in the case to plug in to than have to open up an svideo cable and solder it to an svideo plug.

Assuming I get a small PC power supply (I need 5v for the MVS and 12v for the RGB converter) that I can install internally, how do other people affix these to the case? attach them to the underside with glue? Should I wire one up to a PC style plug in the case?

Details details details... I want this to look nice.

If anyone has a website with some pictures of finished 4 or 2 slot mvs consolizations, I'd appeciate a link.

And so the questions continue...

Looking at a picture of another consolized MVS I see that it seems to get it's power through a large 5 pin DIN plug. Is there a common power source that uses this because I can't think of what it might be.

What is the best place to wire up power to the board? If I send power through the jamma connector, do I need to wire up all the 5 volt connectors, or just one?

Thinking about things, I have a spare jamma harness, and I'm tempted to do the power and video wiring through that, just plug it in and fold the wiring back into the case.

lavalyte said:

I've mentioned in another thread that I'm about to attempt to consolize a 4 slot MVS system. There are no on-line how-to guides that show exactly what I want to know, so I've got some questions....

I've never worked much with sheet metal before. How can I get a nice clean cutting result? What sort of drill bits should I use? How do I create a square hole? Will a dremel do the job?

Click to expand...

See! You should have taken metal shop in high school! All the cool kids were doing it! Tin snips. You can use the dremel to cut a hole in the middle then use snips to cut square spaces around it. Use the dremel to smooth the edges of any burrs and de-sharpen afterwards, I'd suggest. Snips come in three kinds: Lefty, Righty, and curves. Draw nice straight lines before attempting to cut

I bought a rgb signal converter which has s-video and rca plugs wired directly to the board so it looks like I'll have to run cables from the circuit board to the case, so does anyone know a source of sVideo female/female converters? I'd rather embed a converter in the case to plug in to than have to open up an svideo cable and solder it to an svideo plug.

Click to expand...

you mean male/female right? you just want to extend the plug?

S-video is mini-din, just like a PS2 plug (keyboards and mice). You can get a keyboard or mouse extension cable that will do the job. Soldering s-video plugs is hard (IMHO).

Assuming I get a small PC power supply (I need 5v for the MVS and 12v for the RGB converter) that I can install internally, how do other people affix these to the case? attach them to the underside with glue? Should I wire one up to a PC style plug in the case?

Details details details... I want this to look nice.

If anyone has a website with some pictures of finished 4 or 2 slot mvs consolizations, I'd appreciate a link.

Click to expand...

If I were motivated enough, I'd probably do all the cutouts, make sure things work together right, then do a few coats of a nice black enamel (or white enamel?) on the tin, and use 1/8th inch black foam rubber on the inside between the components and the exterior, and use some more pieces of tin and small black bolts to secure the components to the shell exterior.

PC PSUs have mounting screw holes on them, and they have that pigtail power cable right on the outside of the PSU, it sticks through the case along with the power switch. So you'll just make sure you have holes on your case to accommodate those. Presuming that your board has the feet intact, you would also bolt those to the bottom of the case (use bolts that are just long enough and round capnuts on the underside of the case), and then put rubber feet in the corners/center to keep the nuts from scratching your entertainment center.

lavalyte said:

And so the questions continue...

1. Looking at a picture of another consolized MVS I see that it seems to get it's power through a large 5 pin DIN plug. Is there a common power source that uses this because I can't think of what it might be.

2. What is the best place to wire up power to the board? If I send power through the jamma connector, do I need to wire up all the 5 volt connectors, or just one?

3. Thinking about things, I have a spare jamma harness, and I'm tempted to do the power and video wiring through that, just plug it in and fold the wiring back into the case.

Click to expand...

1. I'm pretty sure that's the plug that the Jameco SC200 power supply uses.

2. Verify it on your board visually. On the single board 2-slot MVS, all four of the +5v "pins" (two on the top, two on the bottom) are tied together. There is only one active +12v on that board.

3. That's what I would do if your case is big enough. I don't like the idea of potentially destroying an MVS board through my own negligence. You may have a different opinion of your skill level than I have of mine though

FalcomAdol said:

See! You should have taken metal shop in high school! All the cool kids were doing it! Tin snips. You can use the dremel to cut a hole in the middle then use snips to cut square spaces around it. Use the dremel to smooth the edges of any burrs and de-sharpen afterwards, I'd suggest. Snips come in three kinds: Lefty, Righty, and curves. Draw nice straight lines before attempting to cut

Click to expand...

Hmmm... might be the way to go. How large of a hole can I get with a hole puncher?

FalcomAdol said:

you mean male/female right? you just want to extend the plug?

S-video is mini-din, just like a PS2 plug (keyboards and mice). You can get a keyboard or mouse extension cable that will do the job. Soldering s-video plugs is hard (IMHO).

Click to expand...

What I need is a 4 pin mini-din feed through connector... suprisingly hard to find.

FalcomAdol said:

If I were motivated enough, I'd probably do all the cutouts, make sure things work together right, then do a few coats of a nice black enamel (or white enamel?) on the tin, and use 1/8th inch black foam rubber on the inside between the components and the exterior, and use some more pieces of tin and small black bolts to secure the components to the shell exterior.

PC PSUs have mounting screw holes on them, and they have that pigtail power cable right on the outside of the PSU, it sticks through the case along with the power switch. So you'll just make sure you have holes on your case to accommodate those.

Click to expand...

It would be a shame to bolt through to the top of the case, but I might have to.

FalcomAdol said:

1. I'm pretty sure that's the plug that the Jameco SC200 power supply uses.

Click to expand...

Are these still available? The website appears to not exist.

lavalyte said:

Are these still available? The website appears to not exist.

Click to expand...

Website's back, but they don't stock them anymore. shame.