Categories
Arcade Machine Electronics Music Uncategorized

Multi-Cab

Original Project Thread: /https://www.aussiearcade.com/topic/42256-lastest-project-multi-cab/

Not really sure where this project belongs. It’s not an arcade cab but is a multi-purpose device.

Built out of an old poker machine shell that I acquired from David_AVD about 3 years ago. Probably the best use of a poker machine ever imo. David had gutted the machine for parts and was going to dump the shell. I “rescued” it and it’s sat in my garage for the last 3 years collecting dust as a “project” 😉

Essentially it has a 19″ touchscreen in it running Simple Touch FE. The system runs a plethora of games including Poker Machines, All those Trivia/Shooter type games that were popular in UK pubs and also as a jukebox, karaoke and music video machine. It can also of course browse the net and show movies etc.

It’s started out looking like this.

I also stripped all the extra parts out of it. It was quite a lot actually and added a LOT of weight.

I sanded it down and gave it a layer of undercoat (note to self. ALWAYS do two coats of undercoat) I only did one and paid for it =(

1st Coat
2nd Coat

I then applied 2-3 layers of Cherry Red Gloss Enamel. All using spray cans and it’s come up damn nice imo

1st Coat
2nd Coat
Final Coat

I then cleaned up the existing hing fittings with a little soap free steel wool. You can see the comparison here and I’m pretty happy with it.

Before on the left and after on the right.

I had to manufacture both the bezel and front door as all was missing. I made the bezel out of 3mm masonite and the front door from 9mm MDF which matched the rest of the cab.

Test fitting the door.

Test fitting door and bezel before coating with textured adhesive vinyl.

I don’t have a separate picture but what DID come with the shell was the bezel retainers which consisted of polished aluminium rails and curved pieces. They had been polished and then clear-coated but the clear-coat had yellowed something terrible. I stripped the clear-coat and used the steel wool to created a brushed aluminium look. It looks fantastic but damn does it love fingerprints. I’m thinking I need to seal it with some clear-coat?

As stated I created a bezel from 3mm masonite. I measured about 5 times before cutting as my carpentry skills are pretty bad. I then used an orbital sander to bevel the edges so that once covered in vinyl it would still slide through the aluminium retainers.

For the door I made sure the measure up and pre-drill hinge bolt holes, door lock whole and speakers holes. Once done I then coated in black textured adhesive vinyl.

You can now see the final result with screen, bezel and door fitted. Note the reflection of my wife studiously ignoring my awesome craftsmenship.

I still need to fit, paint and mount a kick plate. I’m thinking about and placing some aluminium curve across the joint with some LED’s mounted under it. That way they will be concealed, understated lighting. Possibly install a beat monitor as well 😉

Once this is done it’s just a matter of installing the speakers and computer. Hoping to have this complete by next weekend but will update thread as I go.

I’m considering installing a modular monitor extension for the top of the unit. This will be ideal for Music Video’s and karaoke. I originally thought that a set of pinball headbox brackets would work a treat but I don’t want to mar the sides for when it’s not being used. Still undecided there.

I put a rebuilt PC inside this and then installed a lot of different gaming options. The monitor has a touchscreen overlay installed in it so you don’t need a keyboard and mouse.

All of the games I ran using a software front-end called SimpleTouchFE.

I ended up selling this unit a year or so later as it was taking up space in my garage and never used. I seem to get more enjoyment in the restoration/creation process.

Categories
Jukebox Mp3 Music Uncategorized

Full Size Touchscreen Jukebox

Original Project Thread: https://www.aussiearcade.com/topic/80458-fast-and-dirty-kiosk-conversion/

kiwimex nicely organised to both purchase and transport a number of kiosks up from Newcastle. These came out of a Centrelink Office refurbishment.

I immediately put my hand up for 2 as two mates of mine keep seeing mine and wanting one. Only one available for me as they were popular and cheap so I let them “fight” it out 😉

Not going to go into a lot of detail as it’s all pretty basic. I forgot to take pictures before I tore it down so here’s one from the original ad.

First thing is I took the phone handset off from the side and threw it away. The mounting bracket is still there as taking the fascia off to unscrew it is a pain the arse and I’m leaving that to my mate when he gets it.

Took the front cover off to see what was inside. I wasn’t actually expecting a PC but one was in there. Though let’s see if it works. There’s a power board near the top and an IEC PC power socket so plugged it in and fired her up. Screen works and PC fires up.

Only issue is that the PC is an old dog and far too slow for the software we were going to run on it so out it goes.

In case this is the same as everyone else’s the two plugs I pulled out are for:

  1. A dialup modem which I pulled out and binned
  2. The REALLY noisy case fan

You can see the IEC socket wired into the powerboard. There is a space behind the base near the foot where the external power lead can be run. Also note the power supply which was for the modem and also binned. FYI the power supply you can see zip tied is for the sounds amp so leave that in but move if you like.

Inside with PC gone.

That metal tray has a small keyboard attached and as you can see like the Mouse have PS2 connections despite having USB ports on the PC LOL

The PC below is a Lenovo SFF PC that’s been installed into a custom case. I ended up rebuilding it and using it in a Mame Project that didn’t need the grunt.

Unfortunately, the HDD in it which is a laptop one is dead but looking at the bios, it was running Windows XP and was new at least 12 years ago. 256mb ram and a Celeron CPU. Now I have spare drives I could use and for some software this would work no problem eg:

SKJukebox: http://wiki.aussiearcade.com.au/index.php?title=Jukebox_Software

But I want this to run E-Touch so needs something a little beefier. I have a spare Core 2 Duo sitting around and I’ll put a 1TB drive in that my mate bought for it. Install Windows 7, E-Touch and fill with music 😉 The screen itself works fine, so I’ll grab drivers when ready.

My only real concern in the speakers. Normally you’d want at least a 2:1 PC setup for this. The unit includes two speakers mounted just under the screen. You can see the grills from the front. Now I’d suggest these are really shitty but I couldn’t test with the PC dead. I should hook up a laptop to see and will let you know. Interesting is what appears to be an amp with volume control on it though.

Eventually my mate is going to paint this unit. Personally I wouldn’t as the silver and black looks fine imo.

A real good clean and you’re done. If I did anything, I’d be creating a speaker grille in the door and covering it with speaker fabric from Jaycar so that audio is unimpeded and it sounds nice.

So job done. It was a bit of a pain in the arse to be honest and I’ll be glad to see the back of it lol. Taking that screen off was shitty as the bolts at the bottom are in a VERY awkward spot, especially since I broke my finger a few weeks ago.

Incidentally, the touchscreen drivers can be gotten from here:

The cooling fan above the audio amp is noisy as hell. You could replace it with a quiet one. Its just a PC part but I elected to snip the power wires to it. Despite the board having a modular plug, the wires had been soldered onto the pins. I suck at soldering so off they went and I just taped them up.

PC strapped up and wiring zip tied.

Windows 7 Ultimate 64(bit)

E-Touch up and running with the Metal Skin

Categories
Electronics Jukebox Mp3 Music

Portable Touchscreen Jukebox

Original Project Thread: https://www.aussiearcade.com/topic/73816-15quot-fuji-kiosk-conversion/

I’ve built a few of these over the years of varying models. This one is an old Fujifilm Photo processing kiosk that you used to see in lots of stores. I bought two in this purchase but they were different models. This write up is on the older model.

I’d built a full size touchsceen jukebox years ago but I got a lot of requests from people to borrow for parties so decided to build one that was more portable. Whilst a good idea I found these units are solid steel and despite their size are VERY heavy!

Inside has the power supply, PC, tiny little speakers, a receipt printer plus extra optical drive and memory card readers. Also the unit was pretty filthy with dust.

Power Supply and tinny right hand speaker.

Rear of device with extra power options.

Tore out the printer.

This left plenty of room for a sub and a pair of satellites that actually fit in too.

Took PC out and stripped everything down for cleaning including taking the door off.

Sprayed the door fascia with navy blue enamel spray paint. The cabinet itself is in really good shape so I left that colour as cream and just cleaned it all and removed stickers etc.

  • Put everything back together
  • took out excess wiring
  • cable tied & strapped down
  • speakers fitted

The speakers can be brought outside of the cabinet if desired. I had the satellites out and the sub in and it sounds really good. Inside also sounds fine. If I was going to keep this one I’d put higher wattage speakers as when on full they distort however that is REALLY loud so not really an issue just me being fussy.

I re-purposed the original front panel, drilling in a speaker grill then covering the lot with speaker fabric before remounting. It looks really nice imo.

I rebuilt the PC from scratch with a fresh install. I then included a TONNE of touchscreen pub, quiz, slots and other games along with Simple Touch FE. Haven’t bothered sorting out the menu system yet. Not sure I will. I then installed imo the best Touchscreen Album Jukebox software around E-Touch Jukebox. Here is the final result.

The software interface you can see is called E-Touch and I love it. Been using it for many years. Supports, Audio, Video, Karaoke, Online Search and more. Of course since this is a PC you can also just run Spotify or any other software of choice.

Shortly after building this I sold it to fund my next conversion project. This project is a 15″ monitor, my new one is a 17″ monitor.

The new one runs windows 7 and has a 17″ monitor. The conversion process was pretty much the same as above so I won’t repeat other than show you a final result. I used copper metallic paint for the edging and satin black for the middle. Used speaker cloth for the lower part of the front. I just need to put a decent set of speakers in now and all complete.

Again running E-Touch but the latest versions integrate online searching, streaming so wanted a more secure OS.