Author: factotum

All work and no play makes jack a dull boy…

One of the “fun” projects we’ve been working on for some time is (re) building an arcade console.

The unit was originally a hacked Amiga with some scary wiring in an original case. After it burnt out it was time for v2.0.

So we’ve squeezed a Pentium 4 box in, replaced the aging CRT with a fresh one and hooked up the arcade controls via a USB interface. Just add an emulator and hey presto – countless hours of reliving the days down at the deli / fish and chip shop.

I’m sure if we’d fitted a coin mechanism to it we would have been able to retire by now 🙂

When it’s not getting used for relaxation it doubles as the bandwidth monitor for the office network and runs photo promos.

A client needed a complete “smart wire” solution for an apartment being renovated. System was designed to customer requirements with additional future-proofing / capacity and supplied to the builders who performed the basic cable chasing.

With space at a premium a small structured panel was used to terminate / distribute satellite, free to air, data, DSL and telephones.

A few connections / sockets installed by contractors needed repair (discovered during the testing phase) but otherwise a neat solution with plenty of expandability.

The team at One 20 Productions needed a hand setting up a charity / fashion show in the CBD.

We designed, supplied and installed a video distribution system to run their plasma displays. Luckily we had spare scan converters on hand to run laptop shows and more at the last minute. It was an excellent show with the “men in black” backstage making sure it all ran well for the organizers.

A quick fly-in fly-out job in Newman saw me install a number of plasma TVs, integrate them with the distribution system, add a series of powered speakers along with a host of other upgrades and incidental repairs. As soon as I dig up the photos they’ll be up here.

A pleasant change from the dreary rain here in Perth!

It was a typical day – planned to finish work early and head home to install a new kitchen sink.

And then a client’s ancient PIII (yes, that’s right a Pentium 3) Primary Domain & File Server died… So some quick data recovery, jury rigged DNS, temporary file sharing and on-line corporate banking before getting on a plane to another job…

And then built a spanking new server when I returned to replace the existing boat anchor 🙂

This week saw us (amongst other things) fabricate a set of mounts for setting intel lights on truss towers. A few clever router / drill press / layout jigs meant we could make a dozen high grade units in a fraction of the usual time.

Foul weather had us set up a portable spraybooth in the loading bay and belt out a matt black finish for that pro look. If its worth doing – its worth doing properly!