tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31630538465408160152024-03-05T07:21:06.411-08:00Adventures in Pinballsoftware, hardware, restorations, play. Currently concentrating on new hardware and software for pinball gamesmyPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-2978161949812881682016-08-17T08:40:00.003-07:002016-08-17T08:58:53.571-07:00Redesigning the ZX Spectrum 128k - My childhood dream :)The ZX Spectrum was my favourite thing in the whole world when i was 8. It's what led me into a world of software and hardware design. Every since i first got a rubber keyed 48k, i always thought one day i'll make my own, never really thinking that it would be possible. However with my lifetime of 8-bit pinball hardware repair knowledge always expanding and with me developing my own range of replacement cpu and sound board hardware for various pinball systems over the last few years the thought reappeared in my mind and now didn't feel to far away :)<br />
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The thought of being able to redesign and make my own computer that could load and play games, connect up to modern TVs and be still affordable to buy or self build for the hobbits was my goal. Having spent many years with a 48k model and having pictures of the original Sinclair designed 128k machine on my bedroom wall, the 128k model had to be the one to remake and hopefully improve. Later on in my spectrum days is did manage to get myself a +2A and +3, and even though i couldn't love them like the 'proper' Sinclair made versions i did love the 128k music and games. The AY-8912 chip is a thing of beauty and is featured in many arcade and pinball pieces of hardware from the same era.<br />
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Thinking about my redesign and remake, I wanted to approach this in the same way as my pinball hardware redesigns, so this would be:<br />
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<li>Simplify the design taking advantage of modern electronics</li>
<li>Reduce the chip count especially within the ram chips</li>
<li>Add additional functionality to avoid as many plug on modules being needed</li>
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<li>Kempston Joystick Interface</li>
<li>IDE interface</li>
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<li>Maintain a fully plate through design</li>
<li>Add power leds and test points</li>
<li>Enable better connection to modern TVs</li>
<li>Reduce power consumption where possible</li>
</ol>
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I set to work on creating a design that would encompass the above and thought about how i would like to case this new board. I wanted to be able to offer a pcb that would fit within the original spectrum + cases or the spectrum 128k case. Of course some small modifications to the lower case edges would be needed for the different connections but would be nice to still fit within an original case.</div>
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The first design was completed and it filled me with excitement to get the board made and try it out.</div>
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PCBs arrived a few weeks later and i assembled the first prototype. I had to make a few modifications to the design, but this is all part of the design process and is how i build up my board designs. You have to start with a pcb design and modify as required, as its too complex to breadboard with full thing to begin with.</div>
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A picture of sorts was displayed and initially i was quite pleased to get something visible. My TV also correctly identified the incoming signal as RGB so that was good to. I realised that the sync line to the tv need more investigation and had another look at the SCART pinout diagrams i had.</div>
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After swapping round the input and output composite sync pins i got a nice stable and crisp picture :) though it was clear more work was needed.</div>
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Some more research was needed and cross referencing various old schematics form the original spectrum 48k revisions. The address multiplexing for the ram ics is individual 74 logic in the same way before the custom ZX8401 ic was introduced and was based on the design by here - <a href="http://trastero.speccy.org/cosas/JL/pcf1306p/PCF1306P.html.">http://trastero.speccy.org/cosas/JL/pcf1306p/PCF1306P.html.</a> A mistake with my conversion on A15 was identified and fixed and also an error with the VA-14 and VA-15 outputs being reserved from the custom PAL memory banks ic were resolved.</div>
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Also after some advice from fellow hardware and software designer <a href="http://www.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/">Tynmouth Software</a> i located some ram test and hardware test programs to try out including the excellent full machine test from <a href="http://retroleum.co.uk/">Retroleum</a>. Burned some new ics and tried them out.</div>
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The first real image appeared, which was a major milestone. This proved that large parts of the design were working and i could now concentrate of specific areas resolve the remaining issues. There appeared to be a problem displaying half the screen graphics, which seems to be every odd column and by deciphering the missing screen graphics there was a bank or ram issue.</div>
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I rechecked the original 128k schematics and the +2 schematics using a couple of versions and noticed some errors on there to do with the type of clock inverter ic used. So I experimented with various types of 7404 ic to reduce proportion delay 74AS04 (from 74LS04). I also hooked up my oscilloscope to check the clock pulses being generated into the ULA, out of the ULA and into the CPU.</div>
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I checked the video RAS and CAS signals. I realised from more research (and re-reading sections of the excellent <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/ZX-Spectrum-Ula-Microcomputer-Computer/dp/0956507107/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8">The ZX Spectrum ULA: How to design a microcomputer book</a> by Chris Smith) that the screen is built up from video fetches that take 2 complete sets of character blocks at a time (a set is made up of a RAS address read and 2 CAS address reads to load the pixel data and attribute data for 1 character block. The screen is made from 32 x 24 character blocks)</div>
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This made me wonder if my graphics issue was related to timing issues with the ram and the delay to the start of the second character set.</div>
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The pulses looked good though there was a question over the start of the second RAS pulse in relation to the end of 2nd CAS and before the start of the 3rd CAS. Trying the ram tester rom again now gave a successful result but the screen was still messed up.</div>
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Back to the drawing board with the video ram fetch. Lots of late nights and weeks passed whilst i retraced all my designs and checked over all schematics, as well as experimenting with some capacitor values on the ras and cas lines to modify the timing signals slightly. I also tried various different ram chip speeds. My design uses 41464 dynamic ram ics as only 4 ics are needed for the full 8 pages of 16k (128k total)</div>
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Then.... late..... very late one evening the magic capacitor value was found !! A single additional capacitor was required ion the video ram RAS select line n conjunction with some logic gate buffering delay to the multiplexing video address select line. (taken from the 48k schematic rev 4b)</div>
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To see the familiar operating menu appear is all its crisp glory was such a rush! I think i must have just sat down and starred at it for around 1 hour! I created a quick test</div>
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Next up was to load a game and see whether i could actually play something and also test the ay sound & music generator :) I populated these sections ...</div>
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There's more to talk about in terms of the sound input side and how i loaded wav files into the system using just a usb stick but i'll leave that for another post, as well as going into more technical detail on a few other areas.</div>
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The project works, has been a major learning curve with some tricky moments, but has been so rewarding. I'll be making my first batch of assembled boards and kits soon so you to can have a new 128k Spectrum in and old case :) The boards will be available like all my other pcbs and products on my web store here.</div>
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<a href="http://mypinballs.co.uk/electronics/store.jsp">http://mypinballs.co.uk/electronics/store.jsp</a></div>
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The new boards will feature:</div>
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<ul>
<li></li>
<li>Reduced chip count and power consumption</li>
<li>Reduced custom chip usage</li>
<li>Fully spectrum 128k compatible</li>
<li>8 pages of 16k ram 128k total </li>
<li>High quality picture - RGB scart socket with proper tv identification capability. </li>
<li>Standard female 21 pin socket for use with stock fully wired scart cables</li>
<li>Built in kempston joystick port</li>
<li>Built in IDE 40 pin connection</li>
<li>Uses the 128k ULA IC - Ferranti 7K010E/Amstrad 40056</li>
<li>Full set of test pads</li>
<li>Power leds</li>
<li>Low power 5v regulator</li>
<li>Single 12v supply power in</li>
<li>Modern reset chip and on board reset button</li>
<li>AY-8912 sound generator on board for retro 80s music</li>
<li>AY-8912 expansion connector for 3rd party dev</li>
<li>Sound line in for Tape loading or loading wav files</li>
<li>Sound line out for connection to amps and playing music</li>
<li>Fully compatible card extension port</li>
<li>Full plate through design, no SMD</li>
<li>Designed and assembled in UK</li>
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Now for some videos with music and more screen shots :)</div>
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Thanks to:<br />
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<a href="http://tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/">Tynemouth Software</a><br />
<a href="http://retroleum.co.uk/">Retroleum</a><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/ZX-Spectrum-Ula-Microcomputer-Computer/dp/0956507107/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8">The ZX Spectrum ULA - How to design a microcomputer book by Chris Smith</a><br />
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<br />myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-14814037468259132972016-08-14T07:15:00.003-07:002016-08-14T07:15:59.235-07:00Fixing a Midway Rampage Arcade PCB (MCR Monoboard 1986) <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Hello.</span><br />
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I thought i'd start a new thread on another hardware project i have started recently. I'm really enjoying learning about old arcade pcb designs and how they work etc after getting my Nintendo Donkey Kong 4 stack up and running earlier on this year/last year as its something different to pinball pcbs which i work on all the time!. I have another nintendo pcb coming soon which i'll be diving into aswell on another thread - Donkey Kong Jr pcb, but this thread is about my latest purchase of a Midway Monoboard :)</div>
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So i was going through some of the old 8-bit games having a look at some of my old favourites and who made them etc. This was started by the discs of tron speech board project i did recently for someone. I found myself looking up all the old Midway (Bally) arcade games that came out at a similar time to Tron and the few years after etc. Tapper was one that i really loved and still do and another was Rampage.</div>
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I started researching about the MCR boards sets and the monoboard version for Rampage. This lead me to search for some on eBay which i ended up finding an 'as is' untested and presumed non working 'Sarge' pcb.</div>
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I decided to see if i could get this board up and running somehow and convert it to a Rampage game. As what to do with the cabinet side of things once i get the pcb to work is something else to think about and i may build a new cabinet solely for running original pcbs in etc Ideas welcome here :)</div>
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So whilst waiting for the PCB to arrive from the USA i burnt a new set of roms in anticipation.</div>
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The board arrived this week just gone and i had a check over it. There were a couple of missing chips, some broken caps and a rusty cpu chip, but other than being pretty dusty it all looked pretty good.</div>
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Changed the CPU chip and replaced the 3 large power caps. Changed over the full ROM set and reseated all socketed chips. Made some test cables, 1 power cable and 1 video cable.</div>
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Plugged it all together. Now, currently i don't have a spare CGA monitors so i'm using a gonbes arcade vga to cga convertor card and an LCD for testing. This may or may not be a good idea but i wanted to see what i good get on screen if anything :)</div>
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At first power on i didn't get anything other than a pure green screen, then after a little bit of messing with power cabling to the gonbes board, checking a few signals to the cpu with my trusty basic logic probe and pressing the reset button on the MCR board a few times, I got a few glimpses of the following:</div>
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Pretty damn happy to see this even though there is more work to do with the sync etc. These images flash up on screen then go back to 'no signal' so i'm wondering if the gonbes card is no use really here and i need to get something else setup for the picture. Anyway that's where i'm at with it so far. Let me know what you think :)</div>
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myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-43871867392853410912016-07-05T12:23:00.001-07:002016-07-05T12:40:11.885-07:00More Arcade Speech Board Testing - Midway NFL FootballAfter the success of the Discs of Tron Speech board tests, i thought i'd investigate whether other arcade games from the same era and hardware used the Squawk & Talk Board in their design. It seems that the Midway MCR Hardware had a fairly flexible I/O board which allowed sound generation on board but also other hardware tech to be plugged in for a variety of purposes. A great idea for a hardware board design as it gives the developers and programmers lots of options for adding in cool features and effects.<br />
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So after searching for awhile on a few websites i found that Midway's NLF Football arcade game also uses the S&T board. I loated a set of rom images, burned a new set of roms and installed them into my test board in my Bally Eight Ball Deluxe Pinball. Here's a video of the results.<br />
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"Get Your Ice Cold Beer" Awesome! On power up the board booted up flashing the self test led 4 times. For arcade games the on board AY-8912 sound generator ic isn't used, though the DAC is still required. Pressing the self test button started the speech test sequence heard on the video and the board went through all its speech phrases and then rebooted as normal once completed.</div>
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Great to know that my new board redesign can be used in 2 Midway arcade games now.</div>
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I also read that the board was going to be used in Midway's Tapper for 'belch' speech, but wasn't included in the end by the developers. A shame, as that would have been cool to try out and produce. I wonder if there are any Tapper versions out there with speech? Early versions or prototypes maybe? Let me know if you have info :)</div>
myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-16087166843657995572016-06-22T01:36:00.003-07:002016-06-22T01:36:56.137-07:00Discs of Tron Arcade Sound Board Testing<br />
Wow! What a busy year making Pinball Hardware. Hardly any time for an update :) There's been loads going on here at myPinballs and lots of projects in the works. Stay tuned.<br />
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As a few of you may know i make replacement electronics for pinballs and one of these is the Squawk & Talk sound board for a range of early 80s Bally pinball games. The board is a great piece of technology from the 80s featuring some of the best speech and effects from the time. I redesigned the board a year and a half or so ago to bring some improvements and long term reliability to these classic pinball games along with sourcing all the hard to find ics. It has proved very popular with pinball fans :) Batch 2 boards can be bought from my store here <a href="http://mypinballs.co.uk/electronics/store.jsp">http://mypinballs.co.uk/electronics/store.jsp</a> or from ebay <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301985364180?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649">here</a>.<br />
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Yesterday someone contacted me regarding getting this board redesign to work with the Midway game 'Discs of Tron' I will admit that i didn't really know much about this game as i am mainly a pinball guy with a love for the early Nintendo arcade upright cabs and games (as shown on my space firebird thread <a href="http://www.ukvac.com/forum/nintendo-space-firebird-upright-restoration_topic348779.html?KW=space+firebird">here</a> :))</div>
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So last night i spent a little time studying the schematics and burring a new set of roms to try out in one of my boards. Here are the results :) The boards i'm making can easily be adapted to run in these games i think and i will make some further improvements on the next batch of boards for true plug and play if they are something that would be popular for this game to. </div>
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Enjoy! "Bring in the Logic Probe!" </div>
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The video shows boot up and a boot sound along with the speech and sound tests from the boards hardware. The speech test goes through each speech call in turn. The sound test is at the end of the speech tests and plays 1 effect to confirm operation. The board then reboots. Common problems with original boards are missing and dead speech or sound sections along with poor quality and scratchy sound.</div>
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I may post another video later with some of the sound effects playing on my 8ball deluxe pinball to</div>
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myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-12117834212997648752015-07-03T08:59:00.000-07:002015-07-03T08:59:26.998-07:00Controlling Bally Sound BoardsAs i have produced 2 sound board remakes now i decided to write a test software program for my 2 bally compatible boards. The idea being that you can specify the board type in the program and it will then play the full set of sounds for you. I also thought of having an input where you can specify the sound id directly. I like this idea also for the purpose of using with some of my other projects such as my custom pinball controller and also for recording high quality samples of all bally sounds.<br />
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Whilst developing the software I came across something that was interesting whilst working out how to access sounds from later games like gold ball and xenon which are 7 segment games and use a larger 2732 rom. It also provides supplemental information on the tech information written regarding how the later sound boards (namely the Squawk & Talk) receives information.</div>
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Before the 7 segment on Bally games was introduced the control line was using a sound address line 5 to allow upto 32 sounds to be played. When the 7 segments came out this line was then used to drive the 7th segment and so if the sound access program remained the same then only 16 sounds would have been possible. At this point I believe that the double 4 bit nibble process was introduced (yet to confirm this through tests though) to allow upto 256 sounds to be played. This would mean that this system was in place as soon as 7 segment games came out (Skateball onwards?) rather than from the introduction of the Squawk & Talk Sound board.</div>
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Also, as mentioned in the technical documentation by Clive Jones </div>
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<i>"Strangely, the schematics that I'm checking against show a *fifth* solenoid select line wired to PA4 (if the "EE" jumpers are installed, which, we'll come to shortly) or IO4 of the PSG. Maybe Bally kept their options open by keeping this fifth solenoid select line available on S+T?"</i></div>
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The 5th select line is still connected on a S&T board, but on closer inspection of the manual schematics and wiring diagrams, this line is tied to ground through a looped connector so the signal is purely used on the display front here. Also on games such as Xenon the manual states sound address line 5 as Not Used. This rules out some sort of possible multiplexing for both signals, and i'm not sure how that would have even been possible with the current design.</div>
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I will update here with more information as i find it</div>
myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-62119590014918580942015-05-06T05:18:00.001-07:002015-05-06T05:18:17.800-07:00Custom Pinball ControllerAbout a year ago i started work on a life long ambition of mine: to build a fully featured pinball control system for early bally and stern games with the goal in being able to produce a board set and software framework for other like minded people to modify and create new games from old play fields. I also wanted to be able to create new rules and sounds for a game i made back in the college days some 25 years ago.<br />
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I developed a double board set and had some protos made. 1 controller board and 1 driver board, that are designed to work together, and replace all other bally boards except the power section on the old power driver board.<br />
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I wanted to create a board set that would work together and include additional options on the boards so that people could add extra features to games should they wish, but also be a direct plug in to the games original wiring. The main features of the board set are:<br />
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- Control Original Segment Displays, or use low cost serial Led displays<br />
- Control Original Switch Matrix<br />
- Control Original 16 Drivers plus Solenoid expanders<br />
- Control Original 64 non-matrixed lamps<br />
- Additional 16 mosfet drivers for flashers, motors, magnets etc<br />
- Additional RGB Lamp Control for extra lamps<br />
- Large SD card sound/music storage capabilities<br />
- Multiple Channel Sound with background music<br />
- Sound line out for connection to external amps/audio setups<br />
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The hardware is one side of the project, but the software framework is the other. I have been working on creating a pinball library framework which people can use to get their own project off the game in conjunction with this hardware. The framework is made up classes for all the major pinball items, so lamps, switches, drivers, displays and sounds. The game itself then has various other files including feature modes and base modes to make the game playable. I have based my design concepts on the work of other more complex pinball frameworks, such as pyprocgame. This is the framework that i use for my rewrites of Indiana Jones and Whirlwind (see my other blog posts). Without the ideas from this software i wouldn't be here. :)</div>
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The framework is all written using the arduino code language and C++. I am making sure that you can still use the standard arduino ide to modify the files to create your own game from. The framework is very modular and i'm pretty happy with it so far.</div>
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Here is an example game play video with the latest game framework . I currently have 32 of the 64 lamps connected. Notice the fast attract patterns. This is to show the power of the system and what may be possible in future with more complex effects. Original game attract patterns were very slow and basic. Some of the game features are now coded into the framework to so look out for the kickback lamps progressing during the vid and some of the bonus triangle lamps lighting up.</div>
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Also, the sound system is now set to produce optimal sound volume and quality. Its taken awhile to get the hardware correct here. I will be adding the 2nd channel - background music in soon. I'm very happy with the sounds i've found especially the coin up, start and drop hit sounds. Enjoy the vid :)</div>
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<br />myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-38651851744792861872015-02-05T10:02:00.000-08:002015-02-05T10:06:58.406-08:00Testing the Squawk & Talk Sound Board Redesign<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Droid Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The first proto boards arrived from the manufacture just before Christmas, so i set about assembling one to test the design and iron out any issues /errors. I have documented the assembly process below with videos and descriptions of each stage.</span></span><br />
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<b>Update 1</b></div>
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First part of the board is assembled and tested. I am assembling the digital section in stages, following the diagnostic led sets of parts to check everything is working ok. I have assembled upto both pia chips so far and have a flicker and 3 flashes It was great to see that led start blinking!</div>
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Below is a quick video showing the status led blinking at power up. Note that the first flicker is now more like a flash as i am using a reset chip ic.</div>
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Next i will be assembling the ay sound generator section, then the speech section and then the op amp, filtering and power amp sections</div>
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<b>Update 2</b></div>
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Update on development. All five flashes are now working with the speech chip section installed. Moved on to the amp side and populated the main amp and speech pre-amp/filtering section. Also added my Elektra roms, tested the jumper dipswitch configs and all working from the test button. </div>
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After christmas and holiday break i will be moving onto the final population of the dac and sound amp section and the data input section.</div>
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<b>Update 3</b></div>
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Back on with assembling the remaining parts on the s&t sound board now christmas is over.</div>
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A question for interested people: A friend of mine mentioned the idea of adding into the board the centaur reverb circuitry as an optional extra. The idea here would be to use the holtek guitar effects chip replacement circuit that can be bought separately and add it into the design as an optional population section. The circuitry would be enabled or disabled with dipswitches. This would mean any game could have the echoey sounds </div>
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Please let me know what you think</div>
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<b>Update 4</b></div>
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Update: New video. All sections are now tested and working (sound amp & filtering, dac and data input). The first proto board is now fully assembled and it all went rather well A few things to alter for the next revision, but its time now to try it in a few different games. Very happy with the sound quality so far and am looking at the reverb/echo addition to. I think it's the best i've ever heard these games sound </div>
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New video of the board running in my partially complete Elektra restoration here:</div>
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The self test now includes the sound effect as well as all the speech calls. I also tried out the mpu to sound board data flow from in game. There are some great 80s sounds that this board can generate </div>
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<b>Update 5</b></div>
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Update: New video. I created a test echo/reverb circuit and connected upto to my proto board. All tested very nicely. Video here of my Elektra with echo! Very cool to hear this! I set the reverb pretty high for testing.</div>
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I'm now finalising the changes for the production board and building another proto board to test in a few other games/locations. I'm thinking of creating the echo board as a separate plug on daughter card option for the J2 connector (rhs) instead of additional parts on the main board. This means it can be easily plugged onto boards in the future, require no additional wiring and will keep costs down for the main board. I will be looking to create this daughter board as an optional extra after the first run of standard boards is under way.</div>
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<b>Update 6</b></div>
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Some new videos of additional testing with the proto boards in a friends centaur yesterday. Working really nicely</div>
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Sound Board Test</div>
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Game Play</div>
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Pre-Ordering is now open for the first run of 25. The cost for an assembled and tested standard board will be £149 inc. VAT plus postage to your country. The pre-order process will run like my other board and mod projects with 50% upfront and then the remaining 50% once your board is ready to send. I am aiming to have the boards ready within 2 months, all being well.</div>
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<b>Please contact me now if you'd like to get in on the first run. Thanks, or <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Squawk-Talk-Sound-Board-by-myPinballs-Pre-Order-/301496153786?pt=UK_Video_Games_Coin_Operated_MJ&hash=item46329236ba" target="_blank">click here</a></b></div>
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You are also welcome to purchase the blank pcb or a kit from me if you want to assemble it yourself.</div>
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The summary of updates for my board are:</div>
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- Reduced component count</div>
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- Test point pads for common signals and voltages</div>
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- Leds for power voltages and diagnostic led</div>
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- Improved and simplified reset section</div>
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- On board reset button</div>
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- Dip switch config for rom settings</div>
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- Fully compatible with all stock roms</div>
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- Dip switch config for inclusion of sound generator ic</div>
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- Expanded J2 connector to allow future plug on daughter cards such as echo/reverb board.</div>
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- Option via J2 for external amp hook up and multiple speaker usage</div>
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- Higher power amp on board for stock speaker connection</div>
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- Socketed ICs</div>
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- Plate through design</div>
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The board is designed to work in the following games:</div>
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<b>Beat The Clock</b></div>
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<b>Centaur</b></div>
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<b>Centaur II</b></div>
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<b>Eight Ball Champ</b></div>
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<b>Eight Ball Deluxe</b></div>
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<b>Eight Ball Deluxe Limited Edition</b></div>
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<b>Elektra</b></div>
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<b>Embryon</b></div>
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<b>Fathom</b></div>
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<b>Fireball II</b></div>
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<b>Flash Gordon</b></div>
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<b>Medusa</b></div>
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<b>Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man</b></div>
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<b>Rapid Fire</b></div>
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<b>Spectrum</b></div>
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<b>Vector</b></div>
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As normal, visit my full website over at <a href="http://mypinballs.co.uk/">http://mypinballs.co.uk</a> or contact me directly at <a href="mailto:jim@mypinballs.co.uk">jim@mypinballs.co.uk</a> or tweet @mypinballs to say hi</div>
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myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-34913253246554593782014-11-15T03:44:00.005-08:002014-11-15T03:58:48.801-08:00Another Insane Hardware Project - Bally Squawk & Talk Sound Board Redesign - Gordon's AliveSo i've been working on some other sound board recreations alongside the gottlieb sound board that i've been talking about in my other thread.<br />
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This is project is to recreate the well known and loved Bally S&T Sound board found in many of Bally's greatest hits from the 80s. The idea is similar to my other hardware projects and is to redesign the board using modern components,and improve and simplify where possible<br />
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Here is my first pass at the redesign. I am hoping to get some protos made up and test over christmas. Register your interest with me now :)<br />
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I'm not sure on pricing structures yet as I need to identify the likely costs of all the chips and parts, but am aiming for around the £140 mark.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixA6vfftSGikv4mit_3lXUDqlyZV-Z8Ud7IFnM21NpAeKqRcevtKLKEMVXe99n_ZuqUsleu9c669yBOrcuKBZkLsexGBu8mUuoCC7HOMfGvJdr6fQx1MxgDc4fOymtrrV33kDCfYrGH4fV/s1600/bally+s&t+sound+board+bottom+layout.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixA6vfftSGikv4mit_3lXUDqlyZV-Z8Ud7IFnM21NpAeKqRcevtKLKEMVXe99n_ZuqUsleu9c669yBOrcuKBZkLsexGBu8mUuoCC7HOMfGvJdr6fQx1MxgDc4fOymtrrV33kDCfYrGH4fV/s1600/bally+s&t+sound+board+bottom+layout.png" height="496" width="640" /></a><br />
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I have some nice ideas on the amp side to, but will get the boards working correctly first. There'll be an option to wire in your own external amp to instead of using the onboard setup to if you fancy more speakers or more volume! Stay tuned.<br />
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As normal, visit my full website over at <a href="http://mypinballs.co.uk/">http://mypinballs.co.uk</a> or contact me directly at <a href="mailto:jim@mypinballs.co.uk">jim@mypinballs.co.uk</a> to say himyPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-81193887313901387282014-11-02T07:05:00.002-08:002014-11-15T03:57:19.199-08:00RFM Saucer Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have made some updates to the software (v0.5.0) for the controller board as per the feedback received so far. The saucers now cycle in opposite directions to each other.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8lpTPLDhugM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
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<span class="play" style="background-image: url(https://pinside.com/img/icons/play_icon.png); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 205px; position: absolute; width: 240px;"></span><span class="play" style="background-image: url(https://pinside.com/img/icons/play_icon.png); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 205px; position: absolute; width: 240px;"><br /></span><span class="play" style="background-image: url(https://pinside.com/img/icons/play_icon.png); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 205px; position: absolute; width: 240px;"><br /></span><span class="play" style="background-image: url(https://pinside.com/img/icons/play_icon.png); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 205px; position: absolute; width: 240px;"><br /></span><span class="play" style="background-image: url(https://pinside.com/img/icons/play_icon.png); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 205px; position: absolute; width: 240px;"><br /></span><span class="text" style="background-color: #555555; bottom: 0px; color: white; font-size: 10px; height: 23px; line-height: 24px; position: absolute; width: 240px;">» YouTube video</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have also added an option using dip switch 1 to enable or disable colour cycle lamp effects when all other lamps are off. This mean you can have total darkness on hypo beam mode or not. 100% user customable. The dip switches are read as the board boots up and operate for that power up time accordingly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regarding the pcbs boards, the order for the first batch is now with the manufacturer and i hope to receive the blanks back in a few weeks so assembly can start. The saucer plastics are still on there way so will update again when i receive them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a few pics of the prototype boards being assembled and installed into my game.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenDToOvqEIZGzImL8eiMvnKGofbcq5Iq28aYsXqChvywXsyzRkoY8Rp-hbMCkFTleC4Lmmv5hb-0boiVoUFJooXFQuAXUrFx9Gc0sFADxbEHm2eGTBAiPWl1ZFwYQPawy5Dg0TF8f5X18/s1600/IMG_3034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenDToOvqEIZGzImL8eiMvnKGofbcq5Iq28aYsXqChvywXsyzRkoY8Rp-hbMCkFTleC4Lmmv5hb-0boiVoUFJooXFQuAXUrFx9Gc0sFADxbEHm2eGTBAiPWl1ZFwYQPawy5Dg0TF8f5X18/s1600/IMG_3034.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Here's a quick update video with the boards installed in the game.</span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/EbpBZ85LoVM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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As normal, visit my full website over at <a href="http://mypinballs.co.uk/">http://mypinballs.co.uk</a> or contact me directly at <a href="mailto:jim@mypinballs.co.uk">jim@mypinballs.co.uk</a> to order if you fancy adding this to your game.</div>
<br />myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-48723710143898347792014-09-08T02:56:00.003-07:002014-09-08T02:56:32.266-07:00Shaker Motor Boards go into the wild!I recently finished a project I was helping some pinheads out with for a new controller board for pinball shakers. The board allows control within modern Stern games with built in software control and also older games where there was no original control.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3IAArvyDtISQhf1fz17BQcHZyhJKivXPGEkDqcrejEyqrNm_C-9Z2urSuWpYxqNsp2oE_mou9CerKd4fk1yt5YxDRkcnpsf89PvU_pvKuX5RVFEO-iLnB7UbqRY6Llj9ypd0XrLqG64Oh/s1600/IMG_2937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3IAArvyDtISQhf1fz17BQcHZyhJKivXPGEkDqcrejEyqrNm_C-9Z2urSuWpYxqNsp2oE_mou9CerKd4fk1yt5YxDRkcnpsf89PvU_pvKuX5RVFEO-iLnB7UbqRY6Llj9ypd0XrLqG64Oh/s1600/IMG_2937.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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There is both intensity and sustain adjustment built in to get the perfect shake in your pinball game!</div>
<br />myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-26163637699433847922014-09-08T02:48:00.003-07:002014-09-08T02:50:23.169-07:00High Voltage at UK Pinball Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
20 Years ago i built a pinball game for part of an A-level art & Design project. I dug it out of storage recently and took it along to the UK pinball Party (<a href="http://ukpinballparty.co.uk/">http://ukpinballparty.co.uk</a>). </div>
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The game was based on the Bally Hit Future Spa from 1979 and was all original playfield, cabinet and back glass creations while keeping the original rules and board set.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjim0yM3iQ42RARRWiHS8JJU6HT4GzKruYL_L079cCYzH19T0-l_WdV-mYf2f1aT1WsNgtN5GQRsIeC-jnxmOBT6gYxprUxa6k7k-Io8H1tXE93l3CdF2OtuWeH7DGYxzJk8xsxydL__ITr/s1600/farm6.staticflickr.com_5560_14923892489_c64f3b52cc_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjim0yM3iQ42RARRWiHS8JJU6HT4GzKruYL_L079cCYzH19T0-l_WdV-mYf2f1aT1WsNgtN5GQRsIeC-jnxmOBT6gYxprUxa6k7k-Io8H1tXE93l3CdF2OtuWeH7DGYxzJk8xsxydL__ITr/s1600/farm6.staticflickr.com_5560_14923892489_c64f3b52cc_c.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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Was a fun weekend getting it back together and playing it again after such a long time. It was also nice to get such great comments from fellow pinheads. 20 years really went by fast!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNSdR1-EtBwT0oZd9hd-Ube-IaJQ-AuAtlV04YzCL0qaJn-6Pu86bMXjjIwMD5lIgqav9u0sD1ca4-IHvoMC7V87Wju0CXKu6cBTfRJJiHKmd942-fZv91TFcywbggcbLmvqvjVHZkcToH/s1600/farm6.staticflickr.com_5583_14923941570_c21b3145f7_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNSdR1-EtBwT0oZd9hd-Ube-IaJQ-AuAtlV04YzCL0qaJn-6Pu86bMXjjIwMD5lIgqav9u0sD1ca4-IHvoMC7V87Wju0CXKu6cBTfRJJiHKmd942-fZv91TFcywbggcbLmvqvjVHZkcToH/s1600/farm6.staticflickr.com_5583_14923941570_c21b3145f7_c.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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See here <a href="http://mypinballs.co.uk/highvoltage">http://mypinballs.co.uk/highvoltage</a> for some more pics of it when first built.</div>
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<span id="goog_2147439193"></span><span id="goog_2147439194"></span><br />myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-59986369682866039552014-08-15T03:35:00.002-07:002014-08-15T03:35:11.676-07:00Colourising Indiana Jones DMD GraphicsSo I thought it was time to add colour to the DMD graphics section of my Indiana Jones software rewrite. Colourising DMD dot data has become a new standard for updating of games, with many titles being given the colour treatment. There are a few different ways to do it, but the outcome is the same. I am using the P-ROC method which was invented by my Friend Eric from <a href="http://soldmy.org/pin/ccc/index.php?title=..._Continued_-_For_Bally%27s_Cactus_Canyon">Cactus Canyon Continued</a> Fame. He has been helping me out adding the colour data to the raw dot frames. Massive thanks to him. He is a genius! <div>
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Here's a few examples of how it's progressing,<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRkPzzIPVEeMF7J6GQohNM86ZYdX9Q6csdhXp_4j54tkivRzHMZ0e3NgvlHmXBlR5_8_SYhzWVDp4Eg__imdk0ti2fNnPZsR73x8o-nYAgv0bahshnIH_aG99JbtogeFEcPTpRr-KEADK/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-08-15+at+11.21.49.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRkPzzIPVEeMF7J6GQohNM86ZYdX9Q6csdhXp_4j54tkivRzHMZ0e3NgvlHmXBlR5_8_SYhzWVDp4Eg__imdk0ti2fNnPZsR73x8o-nYAgv0bahshnIH_aG99JbtogeFEcPTpRr-KEADK/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-08-15+at+11.21.49.png" height="179" width="640" /></a></div>
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Let me know what you think. Adding the colour really beings the animations to life and also shows off the great talents of the original Williams artist who created the animations and frames in the first place.</div>
myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-62078634389423051712014-08-08T06:40:00.003-07:002014-08-08T06:42:04.608-07:0080s Pinball Sound Board RevolutionHi Pinball Fans, Modders and Hackers,<br />
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How are you today?<br />
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So i've been looking at creating another new board for system 80B games. This time i'm looking at creating a new sound board which will work across the 80B games. It will be compatible with MA-766 and MA-866 series boards and variations thereof.<br />
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Been drawing up some schematics before getting some protos made to mess/test with. Looked over loads of schematics from various games and completed the first run of my schematic which will allow the board to work in games meant for the 766 and all revs of the 866 board. There are dip switches to enabled/disable certain sections which are specific to the different board revisions. The main difference is to do with the speech generation circuit. The speech generation for games using the first rev of the 866 board like robo-war and tx sector certainly is an interesting design and some of the games using the 766 board where there was a dedicated speech chip, didn't even use it! Robo-war managed to create that transformers like voice with lots of low pass filtering.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnSDkBYJlV2Ef4XqPgeSR6-ORrHoO7rE873i52_SNSFGPW-xwe2WTs-YREs1jjuDUBu8LmI4v5maV7z_QVXImLIQQ_veP4lHi5JFX5DeC0LlMgwdURSG6jrwDbdps03Q97DpdsAskoztV/s1600/Gottlieb+System+80b+Sound+top+layout.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnSDkBYJlV2Ef4XqPgeSR6-ORrHoO7rE873i52_SNSFGPW-xwe2WTs-YREs1jjuDUBu8LmI4v5maV7z_QVXImLIQQ_veP4lHi5JFX5DeC0LlMgwdURSG6jrwDbdps03Q97DpdsAskoztV/s1600/Gottlieb+System+80b+Sound+top+layout.png" height="561" width="640" /></a></div>
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As before with the cpu board i will be looking at improving the design and including similar updates, such as:<br />
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- Decent ground anchors<br />
- Test point pads for common signals and voltages<br />
- Leds for common signals and voltages<br />
- Reduced component count<br />
- Plate through design, socketed ics<br />
- Kit option<br />
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Also, after looking at a good few system 3 manuals i believe this board will work here to so the full range of games able to benefit will be much higher than originally thought. Again it looks like gottlieb carried on using the 866 board for effects and updated the aux sound driver to improve the speech generation circuit again. Music gen was split across the 2 just like in later 80b games.<br />
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I'm interested to hear what people think, who would be interested in buying this board and whether a kickstarter type approach may be a good way to run this project?<br />
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I also have an idea for an Ardunio based project where nodders and hackers could use this board to add cool 80s sound effects and music to their projects :) Obviously they would need to buy a set of roms officially from Gottlieb (or their copyright owners)myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-15937481713167030222014-08-05T15:10:00.000-07:002014-08-05T15:10:01.683-07:00In Game testing of RFM RGB Super ModSo things are progressing nicely with the rfm super mod. I worked on getting the proto assembly off the bench and into my game last week and here's a quick video of the interaction of it with the games boot up and then attract mode<br />
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Notice how the pattern sequence changes to a fixed colour once its in attract. The mod takes various switch inputs from the game and then analyses them to know what the game is doing. A 'smart' mod.<br />
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The heart of the mod controller is an arduino and custom software framework. I plan to release the software framework as open source so that other like minded people can improve the patterns, control of the system and take their saucers in new directionsmyPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-49346293905355676852014-07-28T04:26:00.001-07:002014-07-28T04:26:11.790-07:00Indiana Jones Software RewriteAbout 3 and half years ago, I started my first pinball software rewrite. It was for my favourite game of all time - Williams Indiana Jones. I have been using the P-ROC hardware and pyprocgame framework.<br />
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The game is pretty massive and it has been a major undertaking. The idea has always been to recreate the rules and then add on to them in a seamless way. I like the concept that once your done a regular player wouldn't be able to tell the difference between original rules and new ones, or modified mode screens etc unless someone points it out. A good example of this is where i added a 4th jackpot possibility to the main multi-ball mode for the 4th film.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHfiDmFE5N_ayqOLs4ddvAEwtgcZhUY65lZkH-eKZWG8w2umWhFRkfmkbKcTTfm0QpxC-ygzFEU7aXsLLXPY4y_q9zoW4GkV6RCRZu0cHYYCflxLGhJtvCBB3WG8aqplJQrvvSpQwYfQZ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-12-09+at+21.53.23.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHfiDmFE5N_ayqOLs4ddvAEwtgcZhUY65lZkH-eKZWG8w2umWhFRkfmkbKcTTfm0QpxC-ygzFEU7aXsLLXPY4y_q9zoW4GkV6RCRZu0cHYYCflxLGhJtvCBB3WG8aqplJQrvvSpQwYfQZ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-12-09+at+21.53.23.png" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now you have 4 jackpots to go for instead of the original 3. Pretty cool I reckon.<br />
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So when recreating a game its split into 3 main areas that you have to undertake. The DMD animation files, the game sounds/speech and of course the game code. All the dmd animations have to be recreated frame by frame and all the sounds calls extracted and edited. There are 12 modes and 2 multiball rounds along with the path of adventure and idol toys in the game, so it has taken along time to get to this point.<br />
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Here's another great feature of rewriting pinball software form the ground up, you can choose to add extra or secret modes tot he game wherever and whatever you fancy. I really like the video mode from Dracula so i'm adding that mode into my indy game as a secret/bonus mode for players to find.<br />
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<br />myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-43068686722107316802014-07-19T11:42:00.003-07:002014-07-23T02:31:25.880-07:00Gottlieb System 80B CPU<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Some pics of my rev2 cpu board for system 80b gottlieb games. This project has been ongoing for the last year and is finally coming to fruition. Everything is working lovely now and the final little niggle was worked out yesterday. I've been testing the operation of it for a while now and i think its pretty bullet proof. One has been running in my Gold Wings for around 6 months now.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIoa4UO5Pv-kbP2Ee2wxvUNX9ZsmVE_sWoN4jUui92JKFwLGFau7l7qM495wYElHhtOAeQyCcLQEgPHVIW0zhDE6SvCVKsiCH0K0ajN0bUrk7aLqZJ52iX3tAgj7Ahc1st_AuWEY1IOeP7/s1600/IMG_2385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIoa4UO5Pv-kbP2Ee2wxvUNX9ZsmVE_sWoN4jUui92JKFwLGFau7l7qM495wYElHhtOAeQyCcLQEgPHVIW0zhDE6SvCVKsiCH0K0ajN0bUrk7aLqZJ52iX3tAgj7Ahc1st_AuWEY1IOeP7/s1600/IMG_2385.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rev 2 Board running in my Gold Wings</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lots of improvements on the original design include:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Decent ground anchors</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Test point pads</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Leds for common signals and voltages</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Led for LEON test rom</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Reduced component count</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Built in reset board option</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Usage of modern rams for bookkeeping</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Improved and simplified cpu reset section</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Plate through design, socketed ics</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Molex 0.156" header for 5v input</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rev 3 boards will be finalised shortly and sent off to the manufacturer that i use. Turn around is usually within a few weeks. Deciding at the moment whether to add gold plated edge connectors. I am also thinking about adding a 40 pin ribbon cable attachment for linking up to other driver board replacements. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcdwhPlEcUMB3KjesSo3oBi5p3kO408G4VgPeqgwX8BygNn8l0DFIPlift2r0RRikKDvkYsRuXh1V38Gq7_x0QRNeWob1psPHXaGsxYj6_kEDN_gJBXergfRch4YBolDQHW9PHRpa9vAxO/s1600/IMG_2400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcdwhPlEcUMB3KjesSo3oBi5p3kO408G4VgPeqgwX8BygNn8l0DFIPlift2r0RRikKDvkYsRuXh1V38Gq7_x0QRNeWob1psPHXaGsxYj6_kEDN_gJBXergfRch4YBolDQHW9PHRpa9vAxO/s1600/IMG_2400.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rev 2 board on left , Rev 1 board on right</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The above pic shows the first prototype board on the right hand side. Things have moved on a lot since then. I always think its good to have a proper prototype board to experiment on though rather than trying to use a strip board in the first instance. With boards like this it just gets too messy and complicated not to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have priced the assembled and tested board at £180 plus postage to your country. Roms can be added on for an additional price or you can use your originals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The list of 80B games is as follows:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Amazon Hunt II</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Amazon Hunt III</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Arena</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bad Girls</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Big House</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bone Busters Inc.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bounty Hunter</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chicago Cubs "Triple Play"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Diamond Lady</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Excalibur</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Genesis</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gold Wings</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hollywood Heat</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hot Shots</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Monte Carlo</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Night Moves</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Raven</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Robo-War</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rock</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rock Encore</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Spring Break</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tag-Team Pinball</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">TX-Sector</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Victory</span></li>
</ul>
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myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-76135767414508335122014-07-18T09:40:00.001-07:002014-07-18T09:42:57.759-07:00Revenge From Mars Super Mod in development<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">So i've been thinking about an RFM super mod for awhile now and it all came together on the bench last night...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The idea is that the rfm saucers will generate full rgb patterns and then tie in to the correct mode colours during each scene. See below for a quick testing video. It will take lamp inputs to </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">change the colour patterns for the scenes. (I am simulating that in the vid with wire inputs)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #909090;">Here is a picture of the pcb that fits into the existing saucers with no modifications needed. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #909090;">The kit will contain 2 assembled pcbs for the saucers and a controller board, which is driven from an arduino controller. I am thinking about setting up a github/code source area to release the controller code as open source so that others who buy the system can start to improve and modify the code, add new patterns, take it in new directions etc.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #909090;">The whole kit will be 'a neat installation affair'. I am passionate about making super mods that look factory. There will be NO crocodile clips, NO loose wires to solder on. It WILL be all professional williams spec connections where it interfaces to the original lamp boards, or driver boards etc. (I am still experimenting with the best place to install the controller board and the cabling designs. More info on that later.)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #909090;">Regarding the pricing. I am hoping to offer it for under £100 all in. This is not confirmed yet, but i don't want it to be massively expensive. We do live in reality though so i will see how we go. As with my other projects, i think they have been priced affordably.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #909090;">The cabling coming out from each saucer pcb will be 3 wires. This is a serial design similar to how the </span><a class="AutoLinkClickListener" href="http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=3781" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-top-left-radius: 5px; border-top-right-radius: 5px; color: #e4e4e4; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Attack From Mars">AFM</a><span style="color: #909090;"> mothership led lamps worked and the helmet lamps on </span><a class="AutoLinkClickListener" href="http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1502" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-top-left-radius: 5px; border-top-right-radius: 5px; color: #e4e4e4; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="The Machine: Bride of Pinbot">BoP</a><span style="color: #909090;">. Recent advances in RGB LED technology (driven by LED TV's and advertising sign developments) have enabled simplification of the designs. Note the pcb in the pic has lots of unpopulated parts as i've managed to simplify it somewhat! I think 3 wires is the least number possible. :)</span></span></div>
myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-49612985751022689262014-07-18T09:31:00.006-07:002014-07-18T09:31:49.908-07:00Latest Videos for Custom Whirlwind software game playHere's some of the latest videos i shot of the whirlwind custom software i've been working on.<br />
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<br />myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163053846540816015.post-13116372509246332792014-07-18T09:06:00.001-07:002014-07-18T09:27:33.874-07:00Auto Launcher for Whirlwind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So i decided to add an auto launcher to my custom whirlwind code rewrite using a selection of readily available parts. The benefits i think to a pinball game with an autolauncher are immense. You can do so much more and the software can be so much better.<br />
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Whirlwind has this nasty habit of letting an opponent steal your locked balls, so with an auto launcher you can stop that. Also with software settings you can enable or disable the control to for the purists about.<br />
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Using the stern kicking bracket and arm gives just enough room to allow the ball release mech to still function. Thanks to Scott for showing me his Earthshaker. This made is much easier to position</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marking out the hole positions</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-naJkp5w1m32lRDJ2L4YqAnxywxqqP2fhF9QONRY4SaOeOz3jrdgsDvqOfnuPgMlZd1Kn3xgCKghIXjg65Q0fwjQ2aTbDMILtSfjGOb0jl9wo7d0jciubB6JbnyHnIdkXfm3yJJ4qeXk/s1600/IMG_2724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-naJkp5w1m32lRDJ2L4YqAnxywxqqP2fhF9QONRY4SaOeOz3jrdgsDvqOfnuPgMlZd1Kn3xgCKghIXjg65Q0fwjQ2aTbDMILtSfjGOb0jl9wo7d0jciubB6JbnyHnIdkXfm3yJJ4qeXk/s1600/IMG_2724.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Testing the shooter alignment</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All done, time to test</td></tr>
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myPinballshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03279641670788729646noreply@blogger.com0