CZroe
Zero's Secretary
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2017
- Posts
- 149
I'm just getting started on my DIY Supergun and while I wait for parts I thought I'd ask for some input/ideas.
I want something that's kinda "middle of the road" between the platform on a giant enclosure type builds and free-form with cables and harnesses type builds. It would be open for easy tweaking and configurability while still being somewhat protective and presentable. Like the Antec Skeleton of Superguns. When I saw this Dell notebook docking station for $4, I just couldn't shake the idea of turning it into a Supergun:
It has ten contacts routed from the bottom through a metallic frame to two buttons and four LEDs at the top. I've been inside and can easily add some toggles there too (at the expense of LEDs). The top platform is labeled to support 65kg/100lbs.
I figured I'd semi-enclose the bottom to stow the PSU, JAMMA harness, video encoder, joystick ports, etc and extend the top platform a little bit. I got to work shaving away all the protrusions and eliminating all the useless bits from its life as a notebook dock and then took a break. While I was out, I came across this similar Lenovo unit:
It doesn't have all the useless sliding parts that the Dell unit has but it's also lacking the useful buttons and LEDs. The only protrusions on the bottom plate (alignment pegs for a notebook) are easily detached, which would've saved me a lot of trouble on the Dell (I still have to fill in huge gaps where a docking plate would slide around). The top is too small for most boards but the back is interestingly asymmetric, which would probably make my power, video, and JAMMA connections look better. I'm thinkin' board on the bottom, JAMMA harness out of the protrusion on the left, video outputs in the nook on the right-rear, and power/controller break-out boxes attached to the top.
So: which would you pick and how would you set yours up?
I want something that's kinda "middle of the road" between the platform on a giant enclosure type builds and free-form with cables and harnesses type builds. It would be open for easy tweaking and configurability while still being somewhat protective and presentable. Like the Antec Skeleton of Superguns. When I saw this Dell notebook docking station for $4, I just couldn't shake the idea of turning it into a Supergun:
It has ten contacts routed from the bottom through a metallic frame to two buttons and four LEDs at the top. I've been inside and can easily add some toggles there too (at the expense of LEDs). The top platform is labeled to support 65kg/100lbs.
I figured I'd semi-enclose the bottom to stow the PSU, JAMMA harness, video encoder, joystick ports, etc and extend the top platform a little bit. I got to work shaving away all the protrusions and eliminating all the useless bits from its life as a notebook dock and then took a break. While I was out, I came across this similar Lenovo unit:
It doesn't have all the useless sliding parts that the Dell unit has but it's also lacking the useful buttons and LEDs. The only protrusions on the bottom plate (alignment pegs for a notebook) are easily detached, which would've saved me a lot of trouble on the Dell (I still have to fill in huge gaps where a docking plate would slide around). The top is too small for most boards but the back is interestingly asymmetric, which would probably make my power, video, and JAMMA connections look better. I'm thinkin' board on the bottom, JAMMA harness out of the protrusion on the left, video outputs in the nook on the right-rear, and power/controller break-out boxes attached to the top.
So: which would you pick and how would you set yours up?
If I were just running MVS/CPS2 I'd probably do one in an enclosure, but those enclosures are so big that they aren't really any more convenient from what I can tell.
