Classic Mode

Play Meter

Issue: 1977 September 14 - Vol 3 Num 18

Volume 3/No. 18
September 14, 1977
Staff
Publisher and Editor:
Ralph C. Lally II
Managing Editor:
David Pierson
CALENDAR
International Editor:
David Snook,
Editor, Coin Slot
Technical Editor:
Robin Minnear
Game Doctors
September 16-18
Florida Amusement Merchandising
Association, annual convention and
trade show. Deauville Hotel, Miami,
Correspondents :
Roger C. Sharpe
DickWelu
Mary Claire ·Biakeman
J.W. Sedlak
Randy Fromm
Art Direction :
Meyer Alewitz
Typography:
Skybird Typography
Circulation Manager:
Debbie Barnes
Advertising Representative:
Ralph C. Lally II
Advertising Production :
Don Randon
European Representative :
Esmay Leslie
Coin Industry Play Meter, September
14, 1977. Volume 3, No. 18.
Copyright 1977 by Skybird Publishing
Company. Full editions of Coin
Industry Play Meter are published
monthly the first Friday of the month.
The Update news edition is published
monthly, the third Friday of the
month. Publishing offices: 4136
Washington Ave., P.O. Box 24170,
New Orleans, La . 70184. Tel. 504/
827-0320. Printing offices: Gibbs
Inman Co., P.O. Box 32030, Louis-
ville, Ky. 40232. European Offices:
Play Meter Promotions, 15 Great
North Rd ., Brookmans Park, AL96Lb,
Hertfordshire, England . Subscription
rates: U.S. and Canada - $25; Europe
and Japan - $45; elsewhere - $50 .
One order multiple subscriptions: 2-9,
$20 each; 10-24, $17 each; 25 or
more, $15 each . Advertising rates
available on request . No part of
this magazine may be reproduced
without express permission . The
editors are not responsible for
unsolicited manuscripts .
Application to mail at second class
postage rates is pending at New
Orleans, La . and other mailing office .
Postmaster: Send form 3579 to Play
Meter, P.O. Box 24170, New Orleans,
La . 70184 .
Caras resign$ Fl.
fromAtari '
C. Marshall Caras has resigned his
position as director of marketing at
Atari to accept a position as vice
president of marketing at Gottlieb
Company.
Caras, who has been active in the
coin-operated game industry for
over twenty years, had joined Atari
earlier this year, leaving behind a
general manager position at Rowe
International in Dedham , Mass-
achusetts.
A graduate of Harvard University,
he holds a master of business
administration degree from that
school.
Caras has been actively involved
with the International Association of
Amusement Parks and Attractions.
Change company
reports growth
Changer Service, Inc. (CSI) of
Redwood City, California, a service
organization for coin and bill
changers, has reported its fourth
consecutive year of increase in the
compound average sales volume.
The firm , wh ich is only four years
old, experienced a 54 percent
increase in sales volume over the
previous year and a 41 percent
increase in the company's profit .
According to the firm's president,
Jim Sedam, the company antici-
pates another record year during
1977-78. This projection is based
upon CSI's expanded facilities,
increase in personnel, and a larger
range of services offered.
Changer Service has branch
offices in Redwood City, Atlanta,
and Dallas .
September 22-24
West Virginia Music and Vending
Associatior., annual convention,
Heort-0 -Tovvn Mot)r Inn, Charles-
ton, WV .
September 23-25
Wisconsin Music Merchants Asso-
ciation, fall annual meeting, Hilton
Inn, Eau Claire, WI.
September 29· October 1
Music Operators of Virginia , annual
convention , Hyatt House, Rich-
mond , VA .
October 8-9
The Coin Operated Industries of
Nebraska, meeting, Ramada Inn
Central, Omaha, Nebraska.
October 13-16
National Automatic Merchandising
Association, annual convention and
t rade show. McCormick Place,
Chicago, IL.
October 28-30
Amusement and Music Operators
Association , annual convention and
trade show. Conrad Hilton Hotel ,
Chicago, IL.
November 19-21
International Associa~ion of Amuse-
ment Parks c.nd Attr< 1ctions Exposi-
tion , Rivergete, New Orleans, LA.
January 24-26
Amusement
Trades
Exhibition
(A.T. E.), Alexandra Palace, North
London, England.
Fixing your steering boards
For those of you who still have
doubts about fixing your own
steering boards, this little circuit
may help you get the job done by
letting you know if the infrared light
emitting diode is working or not
(See Technical Topics Update July
1977). The basic circuit is almost
identical to one channel of the
steering board itself with the
inclusion of a visible L.E.D. to
indicate the condition of the output.
CONSTRUCTION
I built my detector on a six pin
edge connector . Since Atari uses
the Molex connector for interface
with the games themselves, using
an edge connector lets you pick off
the five-volt and ground signals to
power the detector, while leaving
the steering board connected to the
game.
The photo-transistor is mounted
on the end of a pair of wires so it can
be placed in front of the L.E.D. in
the steering board. If the L.E.D . is
working, 01 will see the I.R. beam
and start to conduct. This will bias
the amplifier transistor 02 so that it
too begins conducting . The visible
L. E. D. on the output will then be
energized so you can easily see
when the photo-transistor is receiv-
ing a light source.
It's a good idea to mask the
photo-transistor, leaving just a small
hole for the L. E. D. to shine through.
This will keep ambient light in the
room from causing erroneous indi-
cations.
The staff at Play Meter welcomes
any suggestions, comments, tips,
hints, or questions. Address your
letter to:
The Technical Editor
Play Meter Magazine
4136 Washington Avenue
New Orleans, La. 70184
Awakening to solid state
IN Fit#\ fti::P
1.-~~t-tT
3:31 This easy-to-build infrared detector
will tell you if the steering boards
L. E. D. is working or not. The visible
L. E. D. can be any color desired.
Well, it looks like the industry is
finally waking up and getting to
know something about solid state
electronics. As an increasingly
larger percentage of the equipment
goes to digital control, operators
have been forced to get hip to the
repair scene or suffer outrageous
repair bills from local (or not so
local) distributors. Dependency on
outside circuit board or monitor
repair can cause downtime of weeks
or months; so a blown board really
means blown income.
As a result of this equipment
modernization,
smart operators
have been paying big bucks for
technicians to do solid state repair.
This often involves $2,000 or more
in shop equipment, but the invest-
ment is well worth it when you
consider the total cost of the
equipment being operated. There is
however, a missing link in the
business of keeping things running.
When a logic board or monitor fails
on location, can you fix the game
the first time out without having to
return to base for a replacement
board or monitor? Short of carrying
a spare board for every game being
operated, the only logical answer is
in-field printed circuit board repair.
Repairing boards on location is
not only feasible, but highly practi-
cal. If a serviceman has to make two
trips to repair a solid-state machine
(one to diagnose the problem and a
return trip to install a new board),
then there is room for improvement
in present day maintenance and
repair schemes.
Instead of taking your problem to
the technician (with the inevitable
delays involved), why not send your
expert to the problem? Since the
majority of P.C.B. repairs are simple
things like power supply problems
or shorted input buffers (coin
switch, start button, joy sticks,
etc .), fixing a board on location is
often a simple matter of making a
quick diagnosis and replacing the
defective component(5). I've had a
great deal of success doing P.C.B.
repair using only a logic probe, a
V.O.M. and a handful of common
chips.
Hopefully, it won't be long before
the field mechanic becomes a skilled
technician and replacing a bad I.C.
as common a field repair as
changing a burned coil.

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