Brad

I've had this cabinet for years and years. I originally did a quick and nasty Mame/Sega M2 conversion using an old Playstation Wheel and Pedals. With the pedals I wired the existing pots into the PSX pedal set cable interface. This set up worked great but only really for 270 degree steering games as that's what the PSX Wheel was with self-centering. I hated the wheel as it was plastic and flimsy as hell. I'm not really sure if the cab was an original or not. Definitely not a dedicated Pole Position 1 or 2 cabinet but that's the last game that was in it before disposal. The cabinet had no original boards or monitor in it when I got it and since the Pole Position boards are notoriously flaky and difficult to keep working I was not going to bother with an original board. First up was a clean and tidy of the cabinet. I started by stripping all the parts from the seat half of the cab. Yes this unit is in 2 parts that bolt together. The seat portion also contains the shifter which is a basic High/Low setup. Note the seat needs to be reupholstered which I will do eventually. I cleaned the entire unit inside and out then masked off the white portion so I could repaint the base. I used a matt black as that's what it looks like originally. I didn't bother doing any filling etc as I like a used look on a cab, especially one this old. I then ripped off the old carpet. Looks like carpet tiles were used as it wasn't wide enough to completely fit so was done in 2 parts just like the other portion of the cab. I replaced the grey carpet with new black stuff that was large enough to fit without seams. Spread carpet glue down and 15 mins later after it got tacky layed the cut portion down. I weighed it down a little and left it to set overnight. Once set I then trimmed to the edges. The steel edge trims were cleaned polished and then replaced completing the original look. Next up was the shifter. The shifter base plate was not in great shape but turns out it was just grime. I was originally going to replace the label with a new one but I didn't like how plain the new one was compared to the original and once I'd cleaned the original it looked great. I just masked off the label, cutting around the edges and resprayed the base plate. This shifter works just with a micro-switch. Low is switch Off and High is Switch stuck on. The wires for the microswitch actually connect to the cabinet connector sockets. The cabinet is bolted together using metal plates. The positive and ground wires are screwed into the bolt sockets on either side. The front harness wires are then connected to the the front side bolt sockets forming a connection. Very handy way of doing it without having to disconnect any wiring when moving or transporting. Here is the final result I then just repeated the process for the front half of the cabinet including the back and rear panel. Check out the documents on the inside of the back panel. The original control panel was in bad shape. Coated in a faded black textured paint coating that was flaking away on some areas. I was unsure on wether I wanted it black again or not and given the texture decided on a hammertone finish to mask the underlying texture. The problem is that hammertone paint is generally like a semi-gloss and black imo would have been too shiny and not suited the look of the cabinet so I opted for a siler/grey instead. I think it turned out okay though still not 100%. The original panel had 2 coin mechs, the wheel and a single start button. Since this is a dedicated racer it doesn't need many buttons. I've opted to use the Wheel for Game Selection, the Accelerator Pedal for Game Start. The single button on the panel can be Exit Game. I just need to sort our Coin Entry. I'm missing one of the coin mech holders to match so may make a custom panel to fit with a coin entry button. I'd like to restore the second coin mech and rig it for Insert Coin but I'll dwell on that. The actual steering wheel is a heavy cast metal. The metal itself is fine, unfortunately the rubber grip is broken and missing in several places but will do for now. Note I have not cleaned the wheel yet. I had real issues with the steering opto board. I had hoped to use the original opto board with a u-hid however despite deciphering the pin-out with help from Arcade King it simply didn't work at all. Didn't even register as a device. I suspect either the board is dead or the extra components on it for interfacing to the original Pole Position PCB interfered with it all. Opto Board Pins 1 = 5 volt 2 = Unused 3 = Switch 4 = Unused 5 = Ground 6 = Ground 7 = Switch 8 = Unused 9 = 5 volt 10 = Unused Instead I pulled apart an old arcade trackball I've had for years. This has 2 opto encoders in it. I disassembled it, took one out and tested in on the wheel and success! I then had to work out a way to mount it to the original steel assembly which was done successfully! Next up is all the wiring which I'll document soon. Brad

No mate all good. I didn't compete I just played some games and everyone had the same issue so all fair imo! Its a beautiful cab and you've done very well with it!

Another one I got to play on site. Have to confirm the diagonals were pretty broken when I was there and you couldn't complete the wall level but the cabinet was beautiful! Well done

Super job! I had the pleasure of playing this machine at BPAC

http://www.noodleshirt.com/ Is/Was a member here and does this stuff. Can vouch for quality as used a number of times. Cheers, Brad

Honesty here. I generally use recipes as a base and ad-lib to my tastes but here you go: 2 kg eggplant 2.5 cm pieces 6 x zucchini sliced 125g green chillies chopped 6 cloves garlic crushed 2 1/2 cups white vinegar 2 tablespoons chilli powder 2 tablespoons ground turmeric 4 tablespoons grated ginger 1 1/4 cups of sesame oil 2 tablespoons cumin seeds 2 tablespoons fenugreek 3 heaped tablespoons salt 1 & 1/2 cups of sugar 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1. Combine garlic with 1 tablespoon vingear, chilli powder, turmeric & ground ginger into a paste 2. Heat oil to medium, fry cumin and fenugreek for 1 minute 3. Add spice paste and stir over low heat until oil floats to the top 4. Add remaining ingredients and cook over low heat until vegetables are desired consistency. I usually cook it over a low simmer until the eggplant is almost broken up. Roughly 30 - 45 minutes. 5. Remove from heat and pour into sterilised jars, sealing tightly so that when it cools it self-seals. With the last of it I blend it with a stick blender so that its a sauce. Both the sauce and the pickle are fantastic on steak or eggs or ham sandwiches etc.

Shush you ya clown 😜 6 jars of Spicy Eggplant and Zuchinni Pickle 5 Jars of Spicy Smoked Tomato Relish 1 Banana Cake 1 Pot of Thai Green Curry Chicken Lucky I have beers and tunes or I might go on strike 😉 Brad

And one of the above actively pursues bad reviews with threats of legal action despite them not having a leg to stand on as they infringe on both trademarks and copyrights. The software setup is generally stupidly done and poor

Yep, big money in labour and most don't want to pay for it. As said above its not hard and you'll save a bundle doing yourself, learn some things and get satisfaction out of it. Send parts off to powercoaters. Artwork can be purchased and is not hard to apply. I don't don't anyone anywhere who restores arcade machines commercially. Pinballs yes but not Arcades Brad

Do you mean the Forum? http://www.freeboxjukebox.com/Forum/index.php I can prod Barry if you like? Cheers, Brad

Nordbeat is good and I own a copy. Also paid for it but got a special on it before it went free. I use E-Touch though. Been using it for years across a few different jukeboxes. Like Nordbeat is had kiosk mode and security. Can also do Music Videos outputting to a second screen if you like. Supports Karaoke too if thats your thing 😉 http://www.freeboxjukebox.com/ Brad

Its better than the 1st one you listed. The design is not a classic design but a copy of a home custom cab made years ago. Its a slimline format that used an LCD monitor. I personally like the look better than the other though still not a classic arcade machine. The other thing is it uses an all-in-one jamma board and has multiple consoles ready to go. The downside to that it is you probably won't be able to add any games to that board. The upside is, since its jamma you can purchase and swap out any number of jamma boards. I would not accept those bat style joysticks though. Still on the expensive side but since you don't want to roll your own its not a bad option and Zax has been around for years. Brad

Even a different wrap, its an ugly machine. Horrible design, 32" widescreen holy hell yuck. Totally odd shape. I've also setup plenty of console emulation on some of my machines and apart from some, many games, especially Playstation and newer are plainly not suited for it. They're designed for gamepads not arcade controls. Even if you used wireless gaming pads or something, try and comfortably play one of those games sitting or standing in front of that monstrosity Brad

Can't add much more than the above however my opinion: Dog Ugly Horribly Expensive I suspect a drive-by ad Brad

A pretty subtle one Jeff 😆 I responded and linked to the artwork files in a PM response I got. I'll link here as well if anyone is interested. Note that I still have not gotten around to scanning the back of the glass yet (life got in the way) Also I have not moved on since my last post. Embarrassing but I got frustrated with the issue and put it aside for a bit. Unfortunately, that bit is a little longer then anticipated 😨 High Quality jpeg: https://harmoniseit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/re-touch_wip.zip AI Vector File: https://harmoniseit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/agogobackglass_wip.zip Cheers, Brad

Mmmm beer day was good, maybe a little too good 😉 Thanks guys! Brad

What if we don't want to be found? 😉

For me it's going to depends on what genre/era games you want to play and of course then personal preference. Personally i love the Ball Top Mag Stick Pluses but a lot of people complain about the stiffness or short throw. Brad

Yep, we've gotten older 😆

I've had one of those before and mine was definitely and LAI. That control panel slides out when locking clips are undone via the front door. Cheers, Brad

Good price for the unit and inclusions! Brad

Sounds like the SD Card might be dead. You can re-image a new one and try Brad

Sorry meant to say an MCA would NOT feel right in a Stargate. Every one I saw back in the day used a ball top joystick so highly recommend one of those if you can. Of course your choice 🙂 Brad

Since you want Sydney Austin Amusements sell leaf switch arcade buttons as do other suppliers around the country. They are a really nice alternative to the classic micro-switch and many early arcade games used them. https://www.austinamusements.com.au/collections/ebay-auctions For the Joystick, almost any arcade stick will come with a restrictor plate to limit movement 2/4/8 way. If you really want it to look and feel original you'll want a ball top joystick with 2-way restrictor plate. NEVER install those horrible bat-style joysticks. The ball tops were installed in most early machines until MCA really took a chunk of market in Australia. Probably because they're much hardier. MCA's also come with directional restrictor if you went down that path but it would look or feel right in a Stargate Machine imo Brad

That coin door, bezel and control panel look amazing. Love the work Brad