Fatherpain’s - Garcade - SoCal

[fatherpain]

Spent a few hours last night and a good chunk of today installing additional black light bars to better illuminate a few dead spots in the room and setting up the new corded accent lights.

Securing the light and extensions was tedious and time consuming.



Picked up (20) to spotlight the scoreboard, posters and toppers. The yellow extension was just for testing. It will be replaced by an Amazon basics 6' cord soon.



Wasn't crazy about electric cords running across the ceiling, but aren't too noticeable. May paint the same color as the ceiling to further hide them.



The output of the new corded lights is significantly more than the battery powered ones. They are dimmable and this is the second lowest setting. It would be nice if there was a setting in between… (2) of the new lights is plenty for the scoreboard whereas it took (3) portable battery lights before.

The main advantage of the new lights is they will stay on until turned off, and I won't have to mess around charging and replacing batteries.

 

[fatherpain]

As mentioned, these new lights are dimmable and the temperature is adjustable. This is the 2nd to lowest output setting..



And this is the next setting up. Not sure yet which I prefer. They are both nice, but think and in between setting would've been perfect, sigh.



Dim level 2



Level 3 which may be a little too much. There are just (2) useable temperature settings for my taste.. the others are either too yellow, white or bluish.

Made good progress, so have just four more corded accent lights to go.

Still need to hang some more comics, then reinstall the battery powered LEDs for those. May consider replacing with smaller output corded lights if I can find some.

 

[fatherpain]

Fun and quirky Walter Day Party update:

Just received confirmation Taka and his Mobile Japanese Sento (bathhouse) will be at the event and will be free included with the $25 purchase.



Taka hails from and shipped this truck from Japan. He also painted it himself.



Whomever is adventurous and willing can have a free hot bath and be instantly transported to Japan!



Complete, with Japanese music and decorations! Just bring a swim suit,



Bath water is heated by a real wood stove!



Here is Taka flaming the fire!


I'm planning on taking a dip and giving it a try, haha.

 

[fatherpain]

To keep up with the improved visual aesthetics, decided to add this Sonos setup.

One of my favorite things is listening to music when I'm in the arcade. While the (2) Sonos Move Speakers linked in a stereo pair sounded pretty good, it was lacking bass…Still they've served me well over the years and the thought of retiring them made me a little sad…

Connected the Arc Ultra Soundbar and Subwoofer (but not the 2x Era 300's yet) and to my surprise the (2) Sonos Moves paired with them and together they sound absolutely fantastic. Bass issue resolved.

Pretty certain returning guests will definitely notice and appreciate the upgrades

 

[Griffin]

Careful. Before you know it you will sell your collection and build a movie theater.

Ask me how I know.

 

[fatherpain]

Careful. Before you know it you will sell your collection and build a movie theater.

Ask me how I know.

Heh if I add a popcorn machine then I'll begin to worry… that sounds like a good idea though, except for the thought of buttery fingers playing my games

 

[fatherpain]

Feels good to be home and this is the final weekend ahead of the big Walter Day event. In addition to messing around with the new speaker system, picked up the nude Centipede poster from Michael's and hung it here.

Still have several things to do such as reinstall the portable battery lights to illuminate my comic books…the ones that turn off after (2) hours. The batteries also need regarding so that will take some time. Will also need to clean the gameroom after all is finally done.

 

[fatherpain]

Holy sweet bejeezus… refreshing Coin Detected was a lot of work… but for all intents and purposes it's ready for the big Walter Day celebration



After (14) years in this house, the garcade is finally what I consider on the brink of being finished.



Looking back wish it hadn't taken this long… but could have easily gone the other way and never gotten to this point.



After spending so much time on this…it's a weird feeling getting to the point of not having something hanging over my head, heh.



Thinking back to when I'd visit my friend's Ataricade, never imagined having a completed home arcade, despite hosting gaming parties dating back to the late 1990's. It meant a lot to me to locate and secure his original neon sign



I maintain this small Atari section as an homage to Francis, who encouraged me to build a home arcade, which seemed an unobtainable dream at the time.



The blacklight carpet definitely was the missing element.



Still would like to swap in a PP1 board into Pole Position. Currently running PP2…WR holder Michael Klug will visit Coin Detected for the first time, so will definitely make time to get that done

 

[fatherpain]

Think the best compliment has been from my wife Sara. She really likes the carpet and says it was worth it…



More importantly she has been understanding of my OCD drive to see this through..



She hasn't hassled me at all…And I've been pushing hard every weekend since March.



Without Sara's blessing, I wouldn't have had enough time to get ready for next week's party.



Hung some more comics on this upper beam. Have (15) of the portable battery LEDs but they are missing their plastic backings. Hoping I'll be able to coax @jawhn to 3D print some so I can use these in the future



The new Arc Ultra Soundbar, sits atop Mr. Do! Which has a convenient flat portion.



An unexpected benefit of the upgraded sound system and the carpet, is its caught the interest of our (2) sons, who both enjoy music and the new look. They've both spent some time in here this past weekend, which doesn't normally occur..



Neither has expressed a desire to play, but at least they now like hanging out in here. Baby steps.



Sara has taken note of some of the new additions, especially the Nintendo sign, which does stand out. She made me fess up about the cost, but didn't give me any grief, which is abit of a surprise…was convinced I'd have to pay a tax… but so far nada



All is pretty much ready for the party arcade wise. Star Trek is down, but @Jamesv833 is working on it, so there's a very good chance it's back up and ready for Saturday

 

[KaBoom1701]

Looks awesome Tom.

Can't wait to see the final product in person.

Great job.

 

[fatherpain]

Looks awesome Tom.

Can't wait to see the final product in person.

Great job.

Thanks Dan, appreciate the kind words. Photos don't fully capture the impact of the upgrades…especially with the layout staying the same…but it's significant in person… Enough that my family has noticed, heh.

Your suggestion to upgrade some of the accent lights to corded was a game changer in looks and function. Thank you

Ordered a 2nd Sonos subwoofer 4 to balance the audio in the room

 

[Griffin]

I love that collector's arcades are way nicer than any arcade we went to back in the day. Looks cool but where are the pics of the area where we all ignore the games, get drunk and talk about arcade machines we don't have yet ha.

 

[fatherpain]

I love that collector's arcades are way nicer than any arcade we went to back in the day. Looks cool but where are the pics of the area where we all ignore the games, get drunk and talk about arcade machines we don't have yet ha.

While the garcade lacks space for that… we are fortunate the roof is also a deck…we are also blessed with year round good weather to be outside during the evening.



Also erected this covered area joutside the garcade… I usually place chairs and a cooler for guests to relax and converse.



Guests can also spend time at the bottom of our yard…Will use this space for the outdoor screening of Arcades and Love Songs. While I'm a non drinker, people have gotten drunk here, heh.

 

[jawhn]

Hoping I'll be able to coax @jawhn to 3D print some so I can use these in the future

Get me some measurements and/or napkin drawing ASAP and this could happen before Saturday.

Text me though, I only hop on KLOV maybe once a day.

 

[fatherpain]

Noticed Star Trek Captain's Chair developed a loud intermittent staticky sound issue during gameplay. Last Friday my buddy @Jamesv833 visited to see if he could repair it ahead of the party…



Wanted to thank and acknowledge James' contributions with this Walter Day trading card at the event, but unfortunately he has previous plans to be out of town.



James has been a great friend and integral to everyone's enjoyment at Coin Detected, helping with various repairs when games go down…which in turn helps keep me motivated to continue hosting.

Thank you @Jamesv833

 

[Fly]

@Jamesv833 is good people.

Just had to throw that in there even though you already know this.

Fly

 

[SlikkNikk]

Hey Tom, excited to hear Mike Klug will be there. I'd love to see him put up a PP1 score on your machine!
Met him at CAX once.....good guy!!
Did you end up finding a board set?

 

[fatherpain]

Hey Tom, excited to hear Mike Klug will be there. I'd love to see him put up a PP1 score on your machine!
Met him at CAX once.....good guy!!
Did you end up finding a board set?

Yes as a matter of fact, I now have (2) PP boardsets… purchased working and tested from EBay. Just need to install

 

[SlikkNikk]

Twin Galaxies Championship settings:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Settings of 8-Toggle Switch on Pole Position CPU PCB (at 9JA) for Atari Boards

1-5 = OFF
6-8 = ON

Settings of 8-Toggle Switch on Pole Position CPU PCB (at 9L for Atari Boards or 7E for Namco Boards)

1 = OFF
2 = ON
3-4 = OFF
5-8 = ON



Game Time: 120 Seconds
Laps: 4
Practice Difficulty: "C" Rank
Extended Lap Difficulty: "G" Rank [75 - 51 - 57 - 61]
------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[fatherpain]

Pole Position is officially running the PP1 boardset again, just in time for WR holder Michael Klug's first visit to Coin Detected tomorrow…

Shoot, now I'm beginning to 2nd guess myself regarding the recent name change. Maybe I should have stuck with Time Extended, smh, haha.

Returned home a day early to ensure all is ready and avoid a mad scramble ahead of Saturday's big event… Gonna do a wipedown of the machines, vacuum once more and with any luck @Jamesv833 will be able to restore Star Trek to full operation today. It's being very stubborn so far.

Saturday's confirmed attendance is up to (80) persons including other WR holders Paul Dean, Jack Gale and Gary Hatt.