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Nixie tube calculator readout?

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  Nixie tube calculator readout? hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2019-12-05 12:32 -0800
    Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-12-05 20:47 +0000
      Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-05 17:14 -0500
        Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2019-12-05 23:09 +0000
          Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? durgadas311@gmail.com - 2019-12-05 15:21 -0800
            Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? durgadas311@gmail.com - 2019-12-05 15:26 -0800
              Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-12-06 14:38 +0000
          Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2019-12-06 13:14 -0800
          Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? drb@ihatespam.msu.edu (Dennis Boone) - 2019-12-11 15:40 -0600
            Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? durgadas311@gmail.com - 2019-12-11 16:23 -0800
              Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2019-12-12 00:07 -0800
                Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? durgadas311@gmail.com - 2019-12-12 03:43 -0800
            Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2019-12-12 10:58 -0800
        Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-12-06 14:35 +0000
          Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 09:50 -0500
            Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-12-06 15:30 +0000
              Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 11:03 -0500
                Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-12-06 18:22 +0000
                  Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 19:49 -0500
                Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 13:15 -0600
                  Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 19:56 -0500
                    Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2019-12-07 11:07 -0600
                  Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2019-12-07 14:58 -0500
            Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2019-12-06 12:40 -0500
              Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2019-12-06 18:33 +0000
              Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 19:39 -0500
                Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2019-12-07 19:33 +0000
                  Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2019-12-07 15:38 -0500
            Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 13:12 -0600
              Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 19:50 -0500
        Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2019-12-06 12:36 -0500
          Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 19:19 -0500
            Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2019-12-07 15:09 -0500
              Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-07 17:44 -0500
                Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-12-08 17:00 +0000
                Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2019-12-08 13:51 -0500
                  Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-08 14:38 -0500
            Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-12-08 17:00 +0000
        Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2019-12-06 13:12 -0800
          Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 17:17 -0500
          Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-06 19:58 -0500
            Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-12-08 16:48 +0000
            Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2019-12-09 13:44 -0800
              Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-09 19:20 -0500
                Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2019-12-10 14:11 -0500
                  Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-12-10 19:26 +0000
                  Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-10 19:02 -0500
                  Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? "Kerr-Mudd,John" <notsaying@invalid.org> - 2019-12-11 10:55 +0000
                    Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2019-12-11 14:04 -0500
                      Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? "Kerr-Mudd,John" <notsaying@invalid.org> - 2019-12-11 19:30 +0000
                    Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? Gene Wirchenko <gene@shaw.ca> - 2019-12-11 21:02 -0800
                Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2019-12-11 11:50 -0800
                  Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-12-11 21:30 +0000
                  Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2019-12-11 18:35 -0500
    Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2019-12-06 10:51 -0800
      Re: Nixie tube calculator readout? Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2019-12-11 04:37 -0800

Page 2 of 3 — ← Prev page 1 [2] 3  Next page →

#208464

JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:

> On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 11:03:24 -0500, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>
>>> Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>>>
>>>>> Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>>>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>>>>>>Here is a 1970 ad for a calculator.  Was the screen
>>>>>>>>using Nixie tubes to display the results?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>https://archive.org/details/Nations-Business-1970-07/page/n8
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Those look more like the score wheels on a pinball machine.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Not to me.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I claim expert status, I own 3 pinball machines.
>>>>>
>>>>> I own two, both 1969 vintage.
>>>>
>>>>That's pretty old.  I think my 2 old ones are mid-70s.
>>>>Aztec, Jacks Open, and one solid state, Silverball Mania.
>>>
>>> Target Pool and Paddock.
>>>
>>> The latter has add-a-ball.
>>
>>Target has those tiny flippers.
>>Paddock has those wonderful Williams flippers.
>>The video I just watched the Paddock flippers seemed really weak.
>>I suppose that's just game condition.
>
> I would catch the bus to go to my first job out of high school. I
> played pinball while waiting for it. About a month later I noticed
> they flippers weren't as strong. Turns out the bus ticket lady didn't
> like such noise at 8 AM and had asked the tech who repaired thyem to
> weaken them. My impression is it was a setting inside the pinball
> machine.
>
> Sorry, I don't remember the name of the machine. This would have been
> about 1966; however, the machine could have been from years before
> that.

Flipper solenoids have 2 coils.
One cuts out when the flipper reaches all the way up.
This is so that people that hold the flippers up don't burn up the
coils.

So, disabling one of the coils would be the obvious choice.
I've seen that as a failure mode.  Sometimes you can barely get the ball
in the air.

-- 
Dan Espen

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#208474

On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 19:56:15 -0500, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com>
wrote:
>JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 11:03:24 -0500, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>>
>>>> Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>>>>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>>>>>>>Here is a 1970 ad for a calculator.  Was the screen
>>>>>>>>>using Nixie tubes to display the results?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>https://archive.org/details/Nations-Business-1970-07/page/n8
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Those look more like the score wheels on a pinball machine.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Not to me.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I claim expert status, I own 3 pinball machines.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I own two, both 1969 vintage.
>>>>>
>>>>>That's pretty old.  I think my 2 old ones are mid-70s.
>>>>>Aztec, Jacks Open, and one solid state, Silverball Mania.
>>>>
>>>> Target Pool and Paddock.
>>>>
>>>> The latter has add-a-ball.
>>>
>>>Target has those tiny flippers.
>>>Paddock has those wonderful Williams flippers.
>>>The video I just watched the Paddock flippers seemed really weak.
>>>I suppose that's just game condition.
>>
>> I would catch the bus to go to my first job out of high school. I
>> played pinball while waiting for it. About a month later I noticed
>> they flippers weren't as strong. Turns out the bus ticket lady didn't
>> like such noise at 8 AM and had asked the tech who repaired thyem to
>> weaken them. My impression is it was a setting inside the pinball
>> machine.
>>
>> Sorry, I don't remember the name of the machine. This would have been
>> about 1966; however, the machine could have been from years before
>> that.
>
>Flipper solenoids have 2 coils.
>One cuts out when the flipper reaches all the way up.
>This is so that people that hold the flippers up don't burn up the
>coils.
>
>So, disabling one of the coils would be the obvious choice.
>I've seen that as a failure mode.  Sometimes you can barely get the ball
>in the air.

That would explain it. The ball just didn't go up and hit anything.

There were other people who came in just to play pinball. They may
have complained and got it put back so it worked correctly. I was at
work most of the day so I don't know for sure.

--  
Jim

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#208476

On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 13:15:46 -0600, JimP wrote:
>
> I would catch the bus to go to my first job out of high school. I
> played pinball while waiting for it.

Similar here. I missed the bus only commuting from the central station to
a neighboring town which only left all 90 minutes. Luckily a nearby pub
had a Tempest video game I plunged coin in until the next bus arrived.
-- 
Andreas

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#208437

On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:50:56 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>
> That's pretty old.  I think my 2 old ones are mid-70s.
> Aztec, Jacks Open, and one solid state, Silverball Mania.

I love Silverball Mania. Was only able to play it when I went on vacation
and never saw it after that again. Recently re-enjoyed it using a pinball
simulation.
-- 
Andreas

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#208442

On 2019-12-06, Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> wrote:

> On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:50:56 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>>
>> That's pretty old.  I think my 2 old ones are mid-70s.
>> Aztec, Jacks Open, and one solid state, Silverball Mania.
>
> I love Silverball Mania. Was only able to play it when I went on vacation
> and never saw it after that again. Recently re-enjoyed it using a pinball
> simulation.

Ah, memories.  One of my favourites was Meteor (by Stern).
Meteor was a much better pinball machine than a movie.
(The movie on which it was based was a dog.)

One night I rolled it.  I know some people like to tilt a
machine before the score rolls over so they can get high
score, but I didn't care - I wanted to see just how far
I could go.  I wound up with a million and a half points,
and even the half a million that was left on the counter
was enough to get a game on points.  What a rush.

-- 
/~\  cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs)
\ /  I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way.
 X   Top-posted messages will probably be ignored.  See RFC1855.
/ \  "Alexa, define 'bugging'."

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#208461

Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> writes:

> On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:50:56 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>>
>> That's pretty old.  I think my 2 old ones are mid-70s.
>> Aztec, Jacks Open, and one solid state, Silverball Mania.
>
> I love Silverball Mania. Was only able to play it when I went on vacation
> and never saw it after that again. Recently re-enjoyed it using a pinball
> simulation.

If you ever get to NJ, check out Silverball Museum in Asbury Park.
They have a Silverball Mania.  Actually they have most of the famous
machines including Aztec and Jacks Open.  They run the only arcade I've
ever frequented that keeps their machines near 100% working.

It's truly great.  There is another Silverball Museum in FLA (Delray)
which is good (it wasn't great when I visited).

Silverball Mania can be set to play music or not play music.
When you choose music, the sounds escalate as long as you keep the ball
in play.  You can get some really strange sounds out of it and that's
oddly satisfying.

Traditional playfield design says put the high scoring targets near the
top of the playfield.  You'll get more points and keep the ball in play
longer near the top of the playfield.

Silverball Mania violates that rule because the loop right in front of
the flippers is the way to really beat the machine.  The loop lights a
letter, advances the multiplier and activates the kicker which returns
balls that fall between the flippers.  If you really beat the hell out
of it, it awards Extra Ball and Specials.

Definitely one of the best.

-- 
Dan Espen

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#208475

On 2019-12-07, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> wrote:

> Silverball Mania can be set to play music or not play music.
> When you choose music, the sounds escalate as long as you keep the ball
> in play.  You can get some really strange sounds out of it and that's
> oddly satisfying.

I never did see Silverball Mania, but one machine I liked for music
was Playboy.  It would play a strange little tune as it counted off
your bonus points, so the more bonus points you got, the more of the
tune you would hear.

-- 
/~\  cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs)
\ /  I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way.
 X   Top-posted messages will probably be ignored.  See RFC1855.
/ \  "Alexa, define 'bugging'."

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#208478

On 7 Dec 2019 19:33:40 GMT, Charlie Gibbs wrote:
>
> On 2019-12-07, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Silverball Mania can be set to play music or not play music.
>> When you choose music, the sounds escalate as long as you keep the ball
>> in play.  You can get some really strange sounds out of it and that's
>> oddly satisfying.
>
> I never did see Silverball Mania, but one machine I liked for music
> was Playboy.  It would play a strange little tune as it counted off
> your bonus points, so the more bonus points you got, the more of the
> tune you would hear.

I think you confuse sounds with music. AFAIK was William's Flash (1979)
the first pinball which produced a continues background sound. That was
no music but a single sound. Its frequency went up the longer a player
kept the ball in game. On top of that it had sound effects when hitting a
target.

I read that Flash was also the first pinball keeping a high score. And if
a player achieved more points than this high score he was awarded with
three new games.
-- 
Andreas

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#208444

On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:50:56 -0500, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com>
wrote:
>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>
>> Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> writes:
>>>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>>
>>>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>>>Here is a 1970 ad for a calculator.  Was the screen
>>>>>using Nixie tubes to display the results?
>>>>>
>>>>>https://archive.org/details/Nations-Business-1970-07/page/n8
>>>>
>>>> Those look more like the score wheels on a pinball machine.
>>>
>>>Not to me.
>>>
>>>I claim expert status, I own 3 pinball machines.
>>
>> I own two, both 1969 vintage.
>
>That's pretty old.  I think my 2 old ones are mid-70s.
>Aztec, Jacks Open, and one solid state, Silverball Mania.

I've seen a few on the pickers show on History channel. The ones they
found awhile back had only springs, no electrical parts of any kind.

--  
Jim

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#208463

JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:

> On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:50:56 -0500, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>
>>> Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>>>
>>>>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>>>>Here is a 1970 ad for a calculator.  Was the screen
>>>>>>using Nixie tubes to display the results?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>https://archive.org/details/Nations-Business-1970-07/page/n8
>>>>>
>>>>> Those look more like the score wheels on a pinball machine.
>>>>
>>>>Not to me.
>>>>
>>>>I claim expert status, I own 3 pinball machines.
>>>
>>> I own two, both 1969 vintage.
>>
>>That's pretty old.  I think my 2 old ones are mid-70s.
>>Aztec, Jacks Open, and one solid state, Silverball Mania.
>
> I've seen a few on the pickers show on History channel. The ones they
> found awhile back had only springs, no electrical parts of any kind.

I've seen them, wouldn't waste my time on them.
They were really gambling devices.

-- 
Dan Espen

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#208436

On Thu, 05 Dec 2019 17:14:20 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>
> scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>
>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>Here is a 1970 ad for a calculator.  Was the screen
>>>using Nixie tubes to display the results?
>>>
>>>https://archive.org/details/Nations-Business-1970-07/page/n8
>>
>> Those look more like the score wheels on a pinball machine.
>
> Not to me.
>
> I claim expert status, I own 3 pinball machines.

Which are?

I remember reel scores on pinball machines when I started to play them in
the mid 1970s. I was blown away by the Bally Evel Knievel pinball, when
it showed up on a local fair ground in 1977, because it had a 7-segment
display rather than reels. I never encountered pinball machines using
Nixie Tubes.
-- 
Andreas

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#208460

Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> writes:

> On Thu, 05 Dec 2019 17:14:20 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>>
>> scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>
>>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>>Here is a 1970 ad for a calculator.  Was the screen
>>>>using Nixie tubes to display the results?
>>>>
>>>>https://archive.org/details/Nations-Business-1970-07/page/n8
>>>
>>> Those look more like the score wheels on a pinball machine.
>>
>> Not to me.
>>
>> I claim expert status, I own 3 pinball machines.
>
> Which are?

Posted elsewhere in this thread, but 2 Electro-Mechanical, Aztec and
Jokers Open, one solid state, Silverball Mania.

> I remember reel scores on pinball machines when I started to play them in
> the mid 1970s. I was blown away by the Bally Evel Knievel pinball, when
> it showed up on a local fair ground in 1977, because it had a 7-segment
> display rather than reels. I never encountered pinball machines using
> Nixie Tubes.

The reels on the EMs are loaded with wires.  There are multiple contacts
for each reel's position, 0-9.  Very easy for one of those contacts to
be slightly off or corroded to cause problems.  The Jokers Open is
single player, but the Aztec is 4 player.  That multiplies the number of
wires greatly.

The solid state machine has a lot less wires but it's still a whole lot.

I vastly prefer fixing the EMs, I can look at the circuit diagram and
understand everything going on in the machine.

I modified the Jacks Open to add an Extra Ball feature and it was
exactly like writing code.  I just needed to figure out where my
signals were coming from and the signals I needed to send, then buy/build a
solenoid/switch stack with the right configuration.

The main logic element in a pinball is a solenoid attached to a set of
switches. Power causes the solenoid to activate, remove power to
de-activate.  The solenoid moves all the switches in the switch stack turning
things off or on as needed.  A 4 player EM might have 50 of these things.

One solenoid/switch is a key part of the machine but is different, the motor.
The motor is just a solenoid that turns a disc.
That disc then is attached to switch stacks that completely surround the disc.
On the Aztec there's a really impressive mass of switches on the motor.
The disc advances one position at time thru 10 positions.
This makes things like score reels work.  A target scoring 50 or 500,
uses the motor to send 5 pulses to a score reel.

So next time listen to the sound the machine makes as it resets targets
or scores 5x or counts down a bonus.  That's the motor making a circuit.

Similar to the clock in a computer.


-- 
Dan Espen

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#208477

On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 19:19:17 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>
> The reels on the EMs are loaded with wires.  There are multiple contacts
> for each reel's position, 0-9.  Very easy for one of those contacts to
> be slightly off or corroded to cause problems.  The Jokers Open is
> single player, but the Aztec is 4 player.  That multiplies the number of
> wires greatly.
>
> The solid state machine has a lot less wires but it's still a whole lot.

In the early 1980s, before SS machines were introduced, a pal already had
nostalgic feelings and purchased the Caperville pinball from 1966, which
then was little more than a decade old. Inside with all the cables it
looked like a mess to me. How could anyone ever repair it. Later in the
1980s in an arcade room the service support tried to fix a problem in an
SS pinball. Looked much cleaner and easier to maintain to me.
-- 
Andreas

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#208479

Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> writes:

> On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 19:19:17 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>>
>> The reels on the EMs are loaded with wires.  There are multiple contacts
>> for each reel's position, 0-9.  Very easy for one of those contacts to
>> be slightly off or corroded to cause problems.  The Jokers Open is
>> single player, but the Aztec is 4 player.  That multiplies the number of
>> wires greatly.
>>
>> The solid state machine has a lot less wires but it's still a whole lot.
>
> In the early 1980s, before SS machines were introduced, a pal already had
> nostalgic feelings and purchased the Caperville pinball from 1966, which
> then was little more than a decade old. Inside with all the cables it
> looked like a mess to me. How could anyone ever repair it. Later in the
> 1980s in an arcade room the service support tried to fix a problem in an
> SS pinball. Looked much cleaner and easier to maintain to me.

It may look like a mess but each wire is uniquely color coded.
You can find each wire on the schematic.

On solid state there are whole bunch of things going on the cards I
don't know how to trace or test.  I've watched a bunch of YT videos but
so far I'm still in the dark.

-- 
Dan Espen

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#208484

Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> writes:
>Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> writes:
>
>> On Fri, 06 Dec 2019 19:19:17 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>>>
>>> The reels on the EMs are loaded with wires.  There are multiple contacts
>>> for each reel's position, 0-9.  Very easy for one of those contacts to
>>> be slightly off or corroded to cause problems.  The Jokers Open is
>>> single player, but the Aztec is 4 player.  That multiplies the number of
>>> wires greatly.
>>>
>>> The solid state machine has a lot less wires but it's still a whole lot.
>>
>> In the early 1980s, before SS machines were introduced, a pal already had
>> nostalgic feelings and purchased the Caperville pinball from 1966, which
>> then was little more than a decade old. Inside with all the cables it
>> looked like a mess to me. How could anyone ever repair it. Later in the
>> 1980s in an arcade room the service support tried to fix a problem in an
>> SS pinball. Looked much cleaner and easier to maintain to me.
>
>It may look like a mess but each wire is uniquely color coded.
>You can find each wire on the schematic.

Although after 50 years, those colors get pretty faded and hard
to distinguish.

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#208486

On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 17:44:50 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>
> On solid state there are whole bunch of things going on the cards I
> don't know how to trace or test.  I've watched a bunch of YT videos but
> so far I'm still in the dark.

What test? SS machines have some switches inside the door. With a manual
at hand you can step though options, like performing a light bulb test,
check the RAM and other options.
-- 
Andreas

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#208488

Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> writes:

> On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 17:44:50 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>>
>> On solid state there are whole bunch of things going on the cards I
>> don't know how to trace or test.  I've watched a bunch of YT videos but
>> so far I'm still in the dark.
>
> What test? SS machines have some switches inside the door. With a manual
> at hand you can step though options, like performing a light bulb test,
> check the RAM and other options.

I know the machine does self test but when things don't work, with the
EM I'd trace wires back to the failing logic element (solenoid).

I suppose the equivalent is find the failing transistor on the circuit
card but I'm just not savy enough to figure that stuff out.

...

wELL, DID IT AGAIN.  i HAVE MY CAPS LOCK KEY DISABLED BUT THERE APPEARS
TO BE SOME KEY COMBINATION i CAN HIT TO TURN ON CAPS LOCK ANYWAY.

hOW ANNOYING.

-- 
Dan Espen

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#208483

Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> writes:
>Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> writes:
>
>> On Thu, 05 Dec 2019 17:14:20 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:
>>>
>>> scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>>>
>>>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>>>Here is a 1970 ad for a calculator.  Was the screen
>>>>>using Nixie tubes to display the results?
>>>>>
>>>>>https://archive.org/details/Nations-Business-1970-07/page/n8
>>>>
>>>> Those look more like the score wheels on a pinball machine.
>>>
>>> Not to me.
>>>
>>> I claim expert status, I own 3 pinball machines.
>>
>> Which are?
>
>Posted elsewhere in this thread, but 2 Electro-Mechanical, Aztec and
>Jokers Open, one solid state, Silverball Mania.
>
>> I remember reel scores on pinball machines when I started to play them in
>> the mid 1970s. I was blown away by the Bally Evel Knievel pinball, when
>> it showed up on a local fair ground in 1977, because it had a 7-segment
>> display rather than reels. I never encountered pinball machines using
>> Nixie Tubes.
>
>The reels on the EMs are loaded with wires.  There are multiple contacts
>for each reel's position, 0-9.  Very easy for one of those contacts to
>be slightly off or corroded to cause problems.  The Jokers Open is
>single player, but the Aztec is 4 player.  That multiplies the number of
>wires greatly.
>

Although I will point out that the contacts for the reel positions are
only present on the reels that are involved in extra game calculations
(100s and 1000s on my target pool and paddock) and the match unit (1s) (if installed).

For the extra game there is a set of jumpers in the head unit that select
which score(s) result in a bonus game.   Typically these are the most
significant one or two digits.   When a path is completed through the
jumpers, the score wheels and a score motor switch stack, the bonus relay will
activate and activate (increment), in turn, the game count unit.

When the game over relay activates, it closes a path to the match
unit relay through the 1s score wheel contacts which activates
the bonus unit as per above if the match unit digit matches the
digit in the 1s position.

Otherwise the score reels generally have three switches:
   0's position (used for resetting)
   9's position (used for carry to next wheel)
   EOS (end of stroke, opens after the score wheel has advanced to the
        next digit).

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#208447 — Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout?

On Thursday, December 5, 2019 at 5:14:22 PM UTC-5, Dan Espen wrote:

> I claim expert status, I own 3 pinball machines.

Wow.

I always thought pinball machines were a neat application of
electrical logic.  To my surprise, the underneath wasn't
as complicated as I expected.  I just thought it was very
neat to have all that automation--when the ball hit various
items, they'd react, bouncing the ball and incrementing
the score.  Different targets had different effects on
the score.

There was even a pop song "Pinball wizard".

Some kids got really skilled at it--able to manipulate
the machine without tilting it.  It was pretty hard
to rack up enough points to get a free game.

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#208456 — Re: Pinball machines Nixie tube calculator readout?

On Fri, 6 Dec 2019 13:12:46 -0800 (PST), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

>On Thursday, December 5, 2019 at 5:14:22 PM UTC-5, Dan Espen wrote:
>
>> I claim expert status, I own 3 pinball machines.
>
>Wow.
>
>I always thought pinball machines were a neat application of
>electrical logic.  To my surprise, the underneath wasn't
>as complicated as I expected.  I just thought it was very
>neat to have all that automation--when the ball hit various
>items, they'd react, bouncing the ball and incrementing
>the score.  Different targets had different effects on
>the score.
>
>There was even a pop song "Pinball wizard".

Who was the hero in the rock opera "Tommy".
>
>Some kids got really skilled at it--able to manipulate
>the machine without tilting it.  It was pretty hard
>to rack up enough points to get a free game.
>
>

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