Play Meter

Issue: 1977 November - Vol 3 Num 21

Mailbox ....
Critic's Corner
believers
My wife and I read Roger
Sharpe's monthly "Critic's Cor-
ner" with great pleasure.
Pinball has been our personal
past time for many years. As a
hobby, we recondition older
vintage machines, and find taking
a poor, old beaten-up pinball and
putting it in as nearly the original
condition as possible very re-
warding. It's a toss-up which we
like more, playing or repairing.
In closing, we are looking
forward to Roger's long awaited
book and, of course, many
additional installments of "Crit-
ic's Corner."
Bob and Tori Ayers
Denver, Colorado
•••••••••••••
Tech Editor responds
After reading Fred McCord's
response to my Breakout article
in Mailbox-September, I find
myself a bit puzzled. While it is
true that 4016's are susceptible to
static regardless of the system
that they are used in, it is also a
well-known fact what input buf-
fer failures do to static are a very
common fault in video games.
This raises a few questions about
Atari's intentions regarding
Breakout, which I understand is
still in production.
Is Breakout now produced with
4016's or 4066's? Does Atari plan
to distribute 4066's to the people
who are operating unprotected
Breakouts? Will Atari alter any
existing Breakouts? Will Atari
6
stand behind their distributors
and authorize them to perform
the modification?
As a method of preventing
further unnecessary losses due to
downtime, perhaps more effort
should be made on the part of
Atari to inform the owners and
servicers of Atari equipment as
to common faults and their
solutions.
Robin Minnear
Game Doctors
San Jose, California
Logic comparator
I am interested in obtaining the
complete parts for building a
logic comparator board. What I
would actually like are the circuit
board and the logic parts needed.
Your articles in Play Meter for
February and March on building
the logic comparator, I felt, were
very informative.
Philip Barney
Russell-Hall, Inc.
Holyoke, Massachusetts
BACK TO SCHOOL
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ATARI Jet Fighter ........ 845
ATARI Tank II ............ 895
ATARI Cops n' Robbers .. 1045
CHI COIN Speed King .•... 545
CHI COIN Speed Shift .•.. 645
EXIDY Oldtlme Basketball 795
EXIDY Car Polo •....•.... 3195
EXIDY Destr. Derby ....... 945
EXIDY Death Race ....... 1345
EXIDY Attack ........... 1145
FUN GAMES Tankers •.... 895
FUN GAMES BI-Plane .... 796
GREMLIN Blockade ...... 996
GREMLIN Hustle ........ 1095
MEADOWS Drop Zone-4 .• 595
MEADOWS Cobra Gun ... 995
MEADOWS Lazer Cm'd .. 1145
MEADOWS Bonkers ...... 995
MIDWAY Gunfight ...... 1145
MIDWAY Tornado
Baseball .............. 1125
PSE Maneater ............ 495
PSE Bazooka •....•...... 1195
RAMTEK Trivia .. .•••. .... 595
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SEGA Road Race ......... 995
SEGA Fonz ............. . 1095
SEGA Tracer ............ 1145
U.S. BILLIARDS
Shark (new) ............ 495
CHI COIN Twin Skeet ..... 495
CHI COIN Rifle Gallery .... 595
CHI COIN Shoot Out ...... 895
MIDWAY Top Gun ....... 1045
Cocktail Tables:
U.S. BILLIARDS Survival. 395
DIGITAL Ping Pong ....... 395
ATARI Goal-4 ...•........ 395
UNIVEX Electro Dice ..... 595
FUN GAMES Take-5 ...... 745
BAILEY Fun-4 ..•......... 795
UNITED Video 5 Plus 2 ... 1045
SEGA Tic Tac Ouiz ........ 995
MIDWAY Gunfight ...... 1245
ATARI Tank II ........... 1095
EXIDY Score ............ 1295
ATARI Breakout ......... 1295
Over 100 late model flipper pinball!i ready for locationl
NSM SALES, PARTS, SERVICE IN THE U.S.A.
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call collect:314 1652-1600
L-_ _ _ _ _ __
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ --..J
November, 19n, PLA Y METER
[Ed - Because of limited response
concerning circuit boards for
logic comparator I wiU not be
producing them at this time. For
those who stiU intend on building
the comparator, I have a slight
change which wiU cause a little
less confusion when reading the
LED's. This also uses a less
expensive switch. By hooking the
compare circuitry up in the way
shown below, you no longer have
to disregard the readings on the
pins that are input pins. Notice
' - - ---+-'----1,&
.$WITt."
O"C,N a O\Jl9\JT
(1.00'\.0 a ,oJP"'T
~""I.4L~~
"tf'l
L [ D '.
C, kC ",,. .. -t
that the switch is now a S.P. S. T.
instead of a S.P.D. T. When the
switch is in the output position,
the two chips are being com-
pared. When the switch is in the
input position, aU the inputs
(including the 71;86's), are tied
together, this wiU cause the
corresponding LED not to light.
This change, for the better, was
brought to my attention by
Charles Rowland of Richmond,
Virginia. ]
•••••••••••••
AMOA's strength
The question is asked: What
gives AMOA its strength? The
answer is: AMOA has the abiding
interest and informed loyalty of
the operator. AMOA was found-
ed by operators and the bulk of
its membership is made up of
operators, with a strong and
much-appreciated
supporting
membership from other catego-
ries. Its purpose is service to the
operator, and as long as AMOA
serves the operator, it will in
effect serve the whole industry,
and it will prosper.
AMOA membership is open to
all operators regardless of size-
small, medium, large. AMOA is
not oriented toward, nor domi-
nated by, any particular group.
Any operator member, regard-
less of size, who has the will to
work, may be elected to officer
leadership. The small as well as
the large operators feels com-
fortable in the AMOA. Which is
another reason why operators
hold this association, their as-
sociation, in such high regard.
During the past year it has
been my privilege to work closely
with President Garland B. Gar-
rett, Sr., who was once himself a
small operator. For that reason
he is mindful of the operator's
problems, and it was he more
than anyone else who organized
the AMOA mechanics schools
this year, which have served the
operators so well. We all owe
President Garland Garrett a
warm vote of thanks for his
successful efforts on behalf of the
operator and the national associa-
tion.
Frederick M. Granger
Executive Vice President
AMOA
PLAY METER. 19n. November
7

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