I know I stated that I would be going over my artwork, but someone commented in Reddit about how they would like to read about mounting the monitor and my plan for the one switch on for the machine, so I will be going into this instead.
Discharging And Working With The TV
After taking the back case off of my TV, I went about discharging it. You will need to do this if you want to work with, or even mount your TV. I would read up on discharging the TV before going about doing it. Here is a video that I watched that helped me. Please be very careful with this, as it is very dangerous. CRT's carry a very big charge that last even when they are unplugged. I did the exact same thing in the video mentioned, only with wrapping wire around a screwdriver and then connecting said wire to the metal plate running along the edge of the monitor.
After hearing that big pop I gave it a couple more taps, and then felt that it was fully discharged. I then removed the suction cup from the top, and then went about taking the front case off the monitor.
Mounting The Monitor
I need to first be able to rest the TV on a shelf, as I will not be using any metal mounts or a chassis that traditional arcade monitors use. I went to my big sheet of mdf wood, and cut out a shelf to lay in the cabinet.
The cabinet I received actually still had the metal screws that the original arcade monitor mounted on, I used these as a guide for what angle to place my TV shelf at.
I then went and got a friend to come over and help me move the monitor into position. Using a few metal brackets to rest the TV corners on, we were able to place the TV on the shelf and have it resting about 6 inches from the front. I made it this far back for the bezel and glass that will go in the front. Thanks for the help Troy!
Here is a shot with the bezel in place, I think it looks pretty good!
One Switch To Turn Them All...On
Now, as I stated earlier I wanted to have a one button turns on everything setup. I figured out how to do this with the Smart Strip. The Smart Strip is a surge protector that can break a circuit to predefined appliances. I got mine in the mail today!
So, The Smart Strip has one control unit (blue square), two constant units (red squares) and four variable units (green squares). When the blue square's appliance is turned on, then the circuit for the green squares is turned on, and vice versa when it is off. The red squares have power going to them all the time. This can be used for a multitude of things, and I plan on setting them up around my house, so when I turn on my PS3 the TV and speakers will come on, etc.
Now, I am hooking up the computer to the blue square and my computer speakers, marquee light, and TV to the green squares. Since I already tested the TV at Goodwill and it will turn on and stay on SVideo when I pull the plug and plug it back in, this should work.
I do not have a video to show, but I can tell you that I have this setup made and it does work. When the computer starts up, it takes a few seconds and then the TV, light, and speakers all turn on. This is good, because then you do not see the BIOS screen for the computer. Just my WinLoader MAME screen.
Until Next Time
Next time I will finally be getting into the artwork for the control panel. I am very happy with how this turned out, and I hope you all like it as well. I have been working hard on the cabinet, especially the control panel, so I should have some updates on this as well. Thanks for tuning in!
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