Now that the vending machines are moved from the entrance way, it is time to get back into fixing the lounge and entrance way.
Here are the things I need help with .
1) Organsising the museum and moving it into the entranceway
working out what is going to be shown, what needs to be repaired, what needs to be returned to the owners.
*Making a sign for everything and a place to put it.
**2) Pinball **
(OperaMan to confirm)
The pinball machine should not be left on for a long period.
Is it possible to build a device that will allow someone to push a button to start a timer to provide power to the machine and then turn it off when the timer is up.
Should the pinball be moved out into the foyer as more of an attraction
**3) Consoles. **
This is one of the big things I need help with.
1)Where do I buy an IC that will allow me to switch between audio/video signals from an arduino.
2)How do I send an IR signal from said ardunio
3a)Do I individual control the power to each console? (And how do I do this) or
3b)Do I provide power to each console. Then when it is turned on I detect the signal to switch the IC from above.
Old consoles. with RF output
A cabinet will need to be aquired or built to house the CRT with the consoles.
2)This could go in place of the pinball machine.
*XBox(s)
Their are two XBoxes. One has a Harddrive with games the other a working DVD drive.
Does someone know how to switch either so that only one XBox is needed.
*Game storage.
-A better way of storing the games is also needed after the above is sorted out.
These are the main things I need help with if anyone is intrested in helping.
this can be done with a zigbee socket and button and some homeassistant trickery. We already run HA and have a zigbee mesh running. I’d be happy to do it if I can get HA creds.
-The open sign is pretty useless where it is. Can it be moved to the front door somehow?
–Can we make it clear how to turn it on once moved?
-How do we turn the text sign on?
Thats first article is worth reading all 9 sections, its great.
Not all this stuff is relevant to us, but its worth looking at to understand the ‘landscape’ of this stuff. I think you’d be a bit nuts to try and diy too much when some very smart people are making these things.
It sounds to me like the goal is to get each console to HDMI in the best way possible (which is what a lot of these things do, like the ossc. lets you fiddle the details to make it convert correctly). I spotted a few notes that talk about how its better to have your switcher with a few outputs of hdmi deconvert back for crt support.
Its definitely tricky but theres lots of prior art.
Layout
I think once we move all museum stuff out to the front, we can then assess how much space we have to make the back area for chill/games etc?
CRT
Once we figure layout, perhaps @Ale_More and the woodshop team could offer some help re getting the crt mounted?
Yeah we can do this with a zigbee button and a smart plug, pretty straightforward. let me know if this suits and i’ll grab links and prices.
Yeah open sign should be moved. theres no ideal spot to put it, dont really want it on the door, dont want it outside. Theres a big hole in the wall where there used to be an aircon unit, maybe we can inspect that and see if its feasible to frame it and put some plexiglass in and put it in there?
The open sign is on a smart plug that turns on and off on a schedule i believe.
The text scrolling sign is controlled by mqtt, and we have some basic nodered automations for it, but i believe it has some issue or is unstable and needs power cycling regularly? @MoltenAluminium can shed light on whats going on there.
We probably need to think about what we are doing re having a big HSBNE sign/branding on the front as well.
A number of consoles have been removed from the plan and are now in the plastic box for disposal.
The reason is
1)we have no games for the console (sega)
2)Backwards compatability with one of the 3 that will be hooked up (PS1 & GC)
3)Rasbery pi emulation (Snes)
The Nes is still in the plan for hooking up but emulation of the light gun is being investaged to remove this and the CRT from the plan together.
