Bacteria's project: "Project Unity"

[CRTGAMER]

This is going to be something when you get it put together, so much thought into the design. I wonder if small aluminum angle bars or thick metal carpet edging might be better then the wood for holding the 8PDT switch banks? The aluminum is easy to cut and drill, Home Depot sells various sizes in the Hardware and Flooring department. In the Hardware department look for angle iron in the "Crown Bolt" fastener section, also the area that has door bottom seals.

So much work in this, you gotta show this off at local Retro Gaming Events, maybe at annual game shows in Vegas and Los Angeles?

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

If it were my system, I don't know that I would trust anyone to ship it overseas for me.

JY

[bacteria]

Good idea with the securing, however i'm going to use wood to bridge the gap between the switches and the support, and screw the two together, that will be far stronger than I had it.

Making good progress on the version 2 of the switch placements.

[bacteria]

Here's a nice little update, the buttons for the console selection! Bear in mind these will be mounted onto the middle of each pair of 8PDT switches, making in effect a button to activate 2 x 8PDT.

The plastic sheet the switches and buttons will be mounted against is now finished and varnished, and ready to install into the system.

Cut through 3 pieces of clear perspex and stuck them together with "liquid poly" glue - a poly-weld clear liquid that sets in seconds. Onto that, a white piece (so no light will get back into the casing) and a larger backing piece. A hole is then drilled into the back for a 5mm LED to go through, and shine when the button is pressed. I have one pin on the pair of 8PDT switches assigned to the LED illumination.



Illuminated (I had a red one, will however use a different colour, golden yellow or purple, looking at choices on ebay right now!):



Update - just bought a pack of 20 ultra bright orange 5mm LED's off ebay so should get them in a couple of days. Orange against background of cream will look nice. I'll also use orange LED's to shine the surrounds against the cart slot required, for cart based systems, and a different illumination for the CD based systems.

[bacteria]

Made all 17 LED buttons now, took about 6 hours to make them. Basically, each button needs a top from clear perspex, two more under from clear perspex (hole through for LED to go through), and same with a piece of white styrene; and then a larger styrene circle to keep the button in place behind the case. That means a lot of circles to cut through! Used some "Liquid Poly" glue, which is basically a plastic weld that works great to secure styrene as it's better than glue.

This stuff:



Here's the buttons ready for use. Going to mod the coloured beads to be buttons for the on/off switches.

[bacteria]

Wired 4 of the LED buttons into the system for testing purposes, all 4 work fine. When the pair of 8PDT switches are depressed, it illuminates the LED concerned. When the buttons are in place in their casing, this will work really effectively!

Wired the LED's to the main power input, using a resistor so the LED's can be connected to the 12v input fine. There is only one resistor for all the LED's as only one LED will be on at a time.



Decided to leave the mounting of the bank of switches for a bit later in the project as it will cause me more work at this stage otherwise.

[bacteria]

Major update! Had a few hours today so concentrated on the project!

The new design for the front is now available for showing for the first time - circular buttons. The black switches will be made to have sliders (home made) to go over them for appearances to look nicer.



The buttons I made before were mounted with a plastic bead behind (after making the inside hole big enough and tow slit grooves for the LED pins to go through).



The bank of switches were wired up (for the side going against the case), the buttons had to be inserted into place roughly.



The bank of switches are then screwed against the case with long screws, more than I used before, so structure is strong enough to be used in earnest. The gap between the back of the buttons and the switches are filled with hot glue to keep them secured into place. I designed it so when the buttons are depressed, there is one layer of plastic showing above the case surround, ie 2mm. Also, securing the buttons to the switches that way means they are in the best place and the most central place.

This pic shows the bank of switches secured into place, the LED's wired up, and one depressed.



You can see the sheer amount of wiring involved, and this is by no means all there will be! After all, only 4 of the 17 systems are wired for audio and video; and only 9 of 17 systems are wired for controller; in other words, a lot more cables and wiring!



Next job will be to finish the front of the buttons. The orange LED, when glowing, shines through the clear perspex as expected, however as I want to impose each console logo onto the buttons, I don't want the light to shine through the buttons but around the sides; tried putting a piece of white styrene on top (with intention of sticking a printed paper logo on top) but the LED shines through too much, so will use a piece of cardboard instead as that will barrier against the light.

This is going to be so cool!

I am making the assumption that everything still works fine with the system, I have made quite a few modifications since last testing after all! I'll do the tests after making the button fronts, all being well, will make a video.

[CRTGAMER]

The bank of switches were wired up (for the side going against the case), the buttons had to be inserted into place roughly.

How to drive a serious Modder nuts
The light up switches are beautiful! I noticed the bank of switches have extra contacts not being utilized. Instead of a separate power switch for each console, maybe incorporate them into the same bank? Could they handle the amperage and be isolated from the controller and video selection contacts?

Maybe there is a risk of simultaneous powering up a console while plugging in a controller and video cable. The Dreamcast does in rare instances, blow the controller port resistors.

[bacteria]

The other side is all wired up as it's secured against the case with screws, the ones at the front only have the bottom four wired up as the other 5 don't have consoles yet; the rest of the pins will be connected as more systems get introduced.

[bacteria]

Had a few issues:

1. The bank of switches weren't straight, so remake the section - works nice now and the casing on the side will close now.

2. When assembled, the GameCube didn't show green on RGB, when I tested, I got continuity, however it transpired the wire was on one strand and only touching the connection - easily resolved.

3. The Amiga CD32 didn't boot initially; think got some dust on laser, resolved that. Also, needed to start the system a couple of times before worked, it is an old console after all, with old capacitors.

All buttons illuminate, all consoles (4 at the moment) work fine. I'm now at a stage where can put this on one side for a month or two and get on with my other projects (SNES and N64 portables, with new casings) and after that, get back to do more on the Alpha Omega system; next system will be Sega Saturn, BTW.

I didn't want to leave the system in unworking state before going to the N64/SNES projects as it would be harder to get back and resolve issues.

All

I'm emailing the few people already who said they want to proceed on commissions for my new systems (even though one isn't made yet); I have a SNES portable already commissioned by dmbjunky (a guy on my forum), although we're discussing final specs (colours, etc); and one or two that should also proceed.