Downing's Basement

Though I haven’t updated much here, there has been a lot of progress with the project. I’d say now that I’m over 50% complete as the case is finished and painted and now the mounting of the buttons and the wiring of the components is underway.

The screen and buttons were actually pretty easy and I’ve gained a new respect for super glue. Won’t get into that but it can be a pain in many ways.

I have a feeling though I’m going to have to rewire the cart slot as my batteries have had to move from their original location. This is fine though because the wire I used for it originally I’m not at all happy with. So a step back but it will mean at least two steps forward. Sorry for the short update but everything in detail can be found on the forums. Here is a pic though to show you where I’m at!

I know, it’s been while but I have been working. I’ve just been trying to put everything all together finally and work out the bugs, which of course there have been plenty of those! So just a quick video update. I’ve made progress since this, but I’m at a standstill because I’m having trouble getting the N64 working at all…not sure but I’ll get it running!

Things are moving right along and I encourage you to check out the forums for some very deep updates! But to make it quick, I’ve got all the Nintendo systems wired up in their new housing and ready to have their video/audio and power hooked up via the control box! Still a lot more wiring to go but the tedious part is over with! Here is a picture of the rough system box. This will be faced with black plastic like the control box and be covered on the top. I can really feel this taking shape now and progress should be going quite a bit faster now! More updates shortly!

I love weekends, they are so productive when it comes to projects like this and even more so when the wife is out of town for a couple days! But anyway, just  a brief update of where things are at.

First off, I replaced the fan that had the burnt out LED’s originally with the replacement the company sent me. This became necessary because I changed how my fans are controlled. Instead of having the fans controlled off of their own 12V power supply, tuned on/off with a power switch in the control box, I soldered two-pin Molex connectors back to them and now have a digital touchscreen fan controller built right into the control box. This now allows me to control the speeds of each fan individually which is key for sound control as the green fans are much much louder than the blue ones, but they move more air because of it. It’s just not necessary at all times. This controller also has 5 thermal sensors so when the heat gets up there, it automatically kicks the speeds up to push more air. The unit fit perfectly into my control box, now I just need to play around with the wires to keep them out of the way. It’s also powered directly from the computers power supply so when I shut the computer off the fans go off automatically as well. I’ll be wiring the LED’s to this power switch on the control box too so that the on/off works with them also. There are more pics on all the forums so you can check those out.

Next on the big to-do list is to finish wiring up the Nintendo systems and start testing them. I have to make a redesign on the layout because I couldn’t get the wires long enough to fit in the table, so they will be kept in their own box that can attach/detach from the control box. We’ll see how that goes. Anyway, here’s a video and picture of the progress!

Being sick sucks! Though I’m sure it’s just a common cold and the Dayquil is fighting it quite well, I’m still miserable and feel today is going to be mostly wasted to movies and video games.

But, over the past week or so I’ve made a great deal of progress on the desk. I’ve used pretty much every LED I have in the house now for this, placing them actually into my power supply and computer PCB so most of the areas are well lit. Looks pretty cool too. Still having a problem with the noise these fans are putting off, but I have found a solution I think with a digital touchscreen fan controller I found online for $22 bucks! Basically this has a 5 fan, fully programmable interface which allows me to control the speeds and temperatures in which they are supposed to turn on! I’ll be building this right into the face of my control box! I’ll put up pics when I get them! Here’s a view of the inside!

I also finished off the the front panel where the DVD, Media Reader and USB plugs are mounted. This isn’t trimmed out or screwed into place yet, but the fit was perfect and outcome looks good! I also mounted the PC on/off button with a snap bushing and the B button from some old controller that I had. It just took a basic momentary tact switch and this button works better than the first one did! I then mounted the original LED that used to illuminate the Dell Logo right above the button so it can be seen when you’re sitting at the desk but from afar you’ll know the PC is on.

Anyway, I’ll be posting more pics on the forms so be sure to go check those out too! Thanks!