Dave’s PinCab Blog

 At this point, I've received most of the non-VirtuaPin parts except the solenoids and some other small parts (diodes, paint, cable management tracks, etc.).  From a mechanical standpoint, I'm kind of treading water until the physical cab arrives in early January.  Therefore, it's time to work on what I can:  computer, software and table(s) setup. You can see in the picture below my monitor setup (with the obligatory working beer): The components are as follows (my whole parts list is here ): Computer: HP Victus Gaming PC Playfield: Hisense A65H (43" 4k@60Hz) Backglass: Samsung UN32EH5000 (32" 1080p) DMD LCD: LG Philips 15.4'' 30pin 1280x800 LCD Laptop Screen Glossy LP154WX4-TLC4- TLB4 with controller LP154WX4-TLC8 TV+HDMI+VGA+AV+USB LCD LED screen Driver Board Once I decided to limit my costs with a 60Hz playfield, finding a relatively cheap gaming PC to drive it was fairly easy.  The Victus has a AMD Ryzen 7 5700G processor, Radeon 6600XT graphics card, ...

DECISIONS  Once I finally made the decision to go all-in on building a pincab, a couple of very important decisions needed to be made that influence everything else going forward. First, screen sizes.  The playfield screen size determines the size of the main cab and what will be able to fit inside.  The backglass size determines the size of the backbox and what will be able to fit there.  And DMD - real DMD or LCD?  If LCD, full size or just simulate the DMD part?  This will determine the speaker panel size and shape which has to fit in the back box.   I want a full-size cab of some sort.  Some may be happy with a mini, 1/2, or 3/4 cab, but to me anything smaller than full-size I think will feel like a video game/simulator more than the real thing.  I decided to go with a 43" screen for the playfield.  It's a standard size TV/monitor and fits perfectly in a standard wide-body cab.  32" for the backglass - also standard size TV...

 Yep, I’ve started down the rabbit hole.  Actually, I’m so far down I can no longer see daylight.  What am I talking about?  Pinball.  The virtual kind.   About 4 months ago, while randomly perusing YouTube, I came across a video about pinball.  Visions of my teenage years plunking quarter after quarter into Hi-Speed, Pinbot, and the like popped into my head.  Of course my next thought was wouldn’t it be nice to have a real pinball machine in my house that I could play anytime I want?  As a 50-something with grown kids and a modicum of disposable income, why not? Let me count the ways why not:  How expensive is it really (VERY)?  Would it be worth the maintenance frustrations (NOPE)?  Where would the wife let me put it (basement)?  Also, I know myself pretty well.  I’d get bored with one machine after a while and it would wind up gathering dust. So, I watched a few more videos and came across virtual pinball.  I ...