Star Tech Journal

Issue: 1983-March - Vol 5 Issue 1

20
STAR*TECH JOURNAL/MARCH 1983
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The names of various video games comprise
this issue's word puzzle. Find and encircle
these words that appear below. They run
vertically, horizontally, diagonally and
sometimes backwards.
VIDEO GAMES
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Find these hidden words in the above puzzle:
JOUST
BURGERTIME
PACMAN
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MILLIPEDE
ZAXXON
PENGO
GALAGA
POPEYE
XEVIOUS
Here is the answer key
to February's puzzle:
PINBALL PLAYFIELD PARTS
B

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By Mark "Bear'' Attebery, Vending International Corp., San Juan Capistrano, CA
Hello there techs and future techs. The reason I say that is, I've had numerous calls from persons
working as gameroom personnel, doing game repair and board swapping that read Star*Tech
Journal and have asked that I go into more detail on digital logic and how it works. For those
people I will start expounding on basic digital building-block logic. For the more advanced
technicians, I will be finding and bringing basic building-block circuits each month also. But let's
start off with the first future techs lesson.
There are two states in digital logic: "on" and "off'', which is also known as "high" and "low",
or " l " and "0". I will use "l" and "0" as it is easier to write and sometimes I get lazy.
OK, a digital signal can be a solid I, a solid 0, or a pulse sequence that looks like this:
C
M
?4 i~~
D C, E
lJ j~•: C
·' A ::<
C .::::. z
~
C '3
p
;:1
* DIGITAL LOGIC INTRO* 555 TIMER CIRCUITS
* KASCO " DRIVER II" * TICKET DISPENSER FEEDBACK
Now when you have a signal that looks like this on an "0-scope", you should line up the lower side
of the pulse on the reference line of the "0-scope" and measure the voltage from there ...
-------·r-7-------- +10v
___ __j
l _ _ _____ Ov
. .. like that for instance. This is a square wave. Using a logic probe, your high, low, or pulse LED
indicator will light up, but we are going to stick with explaining the logic using oscilloscope
illustrations so that you can see the wave shapes. You also can put a signal other than a square
wave into IC chips and get a different predictable wave form out ( depending on the logic chip). For
you persons who have heard the abbreviations TTL, DTL, MOS, CMOS; these things mean
(respectively) "Transistor Transistor Logic", "Diode Transistor Logic", "Metal Oxide Silicon
( or semi-conductor)", and "Complimentary Metal Oxide Silicon ( or semi-conductor)".
Since a wave form shape can be changed by using a transistor, diode, or capacitor, then the
same changes can be accomplished using IC chips. (Keep this in mind when trying to figure out
why that sound board went out!) What I want you to do if you are really interested in learning how
digital logic works is this: Go down to your local Radio Shack or electronic supply house and
purchase a "proto board" ( your cost will run six to twelve dollars), a cheap + 12-volt power supply
( or if you prefer using TTL I Cs instead of CMOS, a +5-volt power supply) or make one using one
of the schematics (see Figures 1-A and 1-B on page 21).
.. . and the following IC chips: CMOS 4001, 4011, 4069, 4071, 4081, or TTL 7400, 7402,
7404, 7408, 7432. (Remember that if you choose TTL that you can only use a +5-volt power
supply.) You will also need some LEDs, and IC bread board, some 24-gauge solid wire, and that
will be enough. Since this column cannot consume the entire Star* Tech Journal, we will continue
this later.
Now on to a super linear IC that has a million uses. The NE555 timer chip. This chip can be
used to produce a clock pulse, cause frequency tone bursts, and many other functions. Let's disect
this bug. Pin# I is GND, #2 is trigger, #3 is output, #4 is reset, #5 is your control voltage, #6 is
your threshold pin, #7 is the discharge pin, and #8 is VDD. The NE555 IC was the first IC timer
chip and is probably the most widely used, and is extremely easy to use! First, remember your
formula for finding an RC time constant ... for you who have not done this . .. an RC time constant
stands for Resistor/Capacitor time constant and the formula is: (Time= T) T = 1.1 (RI .Cl) So
let's say you want a one second pulse.That means that your resistor value (IM) must negate your
capacitance value to = 1.1 second.
C
= .!.
R
I sec
.
-1 -
= lu or l nucro
meg
So your RC circuit should include I megil resistor and a l mf capacitor.
1.1 = 1.1 second. ((1 x 106) x (1 x 10-6)] = 1.1 second.
Now that you have that down, let's move on ... let's build a one-shot timer.
21
STAR*TECH JOURNAL/MARCH 1983
FIG. 1 ·A (+12v Pos Regulated Power Supply)
AC. Power
Switch
2
Bridge Rectifier. 4 Amp Full Wave Bridge
Transformer Primary 117 Volt/Secondary 18.2 Volt 2 or 3 Amp.
FIG. 1 ·B (+5v Pos Regulated Power Supply)
AC Power
Switch
7805
AC Plug
3
2
~
.1 uf
}+sv,110,i
::i)TI
Secondary
Primary
l
Bridge Rectifier. 4 Amp Full Wave Bridge
Transformer Primary 117 Volt/Secondary 12.6 Volt 2 or 3 Amp.
VDD
6
C1
7
4
NE555
=-
IN
,?I
.01u
5
2 3
R1.C1
= T
1 meg x 1 micro = 1 sec
1,000,000 X .000,001 = T
T=1sec.
Out
""1....r
~
The input trigger can be a negative pulse or a switch to ground ( if a switch is
used, install a .01 uf capacitor from input 2 to ground to eliminate noise or
voltage spikes that can re-actuate the circuit).
VDD
VR1 = 1 meg .n Variable
R2 = 1k
C1 = .01 uf
C1
.01uf
'---4.JUl.JlfL
Output
A pulse timer to clock your future digital projects can be built like this: Play
with this chip. Study it, and when you see it again, you will understand how it
works.
There is a very useful fun book put out by Radio Shack with these and
many, many other circuits written by Forrest M. Mims III, who also is a
contributing edictor to "Popular Electronics" magazine. The book is
yellow, with the heading "Engineer's Notebook II" on the cover. It costs
$2.50 and is worth much more. Also, if you are working with CMOS and
cannot find a 4000 series chip that crosses with a TIL chip number, get in
touch with your local distributor and ask for help ... more and more you will
find chips with a 7400 series prefix that are CMOS! Example: 7490
and 74LS90 BCD decade counter. National Semiconductor now produces
a 74C90 (this C means ... yes CMOS). So, when working on those
circuits .. . experiment
Well, I know that last month I promises some data on the new retro-fit
panels for Destron "Astro Graph" and "Biorhythm" units. Well, Destron is
doing such a booming business right now that they weren't able to get the
information to me by this issue's deadline. We will be looking forward to
distributing this info to you in the near future.
Now let's look at the "Driver II" manufactured by Kasco. If any of you
have a "Driver" game, you know that the game is very popular, makes lots of
money, but was built rather (should we say) flimsily? Well, you won't find
that in the "Driver II". The cabinet is constructed twice as solidly as the
original. The coin box door hinge is ten times better than the original. The
seat won't tear up without a large hammer, and the graphics are much nicer!
And that's just the cabinet! The game is much more sophisticated and has
more improvements on the inside than the outside. For instance, in the
"Driver'' the action stayed the same speed, no matter how hard you pressed
the pedal. The scoring would speed up but that was it Well, we now have
some wonderful options! As you press on the gas, not only does the score
speed up, but so does the action on the screen! The old mechanical
adjustment for the side crash limits have been replaced with an easy-to-
adjust PC board with "pots" for each side! All in all, the "Driver II" is a far
superior unit when put up against "The Driver''. The only thing that hasn't
been improved that really should be is the projector that is used for the
"attract mode". It's the same old slide projector system that the bulb always
seems to be going out on. When I had "The Driver'' at the electronic theatre
that I worked for in Abilene, Texas, I replaced this projector bulb and wired
in another style that laster longer and cost less. I went from an expected bulb
life of 50 hours to 500 hours!
And last but not least, I have heard from several Showbiz Pizza Place
district service managers who came up with a good solution for the Bob's
Space Racers' "Whac-A-Mole" and "Skeeball" ticket dispensing problem
that was discussed in my first article (S*TJ, Dec. '82). The solution that
they came up with was to add an air line that was hooked to the exhaust port
of one of the character air solenoids and run that air line to the optic switch,
so that when the character jumped up during a game, a burst of air was blown
across the photo-optic switch to remove the fibers that come from the tickets.
Sounds good to me. As I've said before, if you've got an idea on how to
improve a non-video arcade piece, get in touch! You'll receive credit!
714/661-6808.
·~
Until=•_,., "Bom'N

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