Star Tech Journal

Issue: 1989-July - Vol 11 Issue 5

COIN MECHS SURVEY
Recently, MicroProse conducted a survey on STARnECH Journal's Electronic Bulletin
Board (BBS). While their aim was to identify the best components available to use in their
new game system, valuable feedback was gained for all. The subject of this article is Coin
Mechs: 1. Who makes the best coin mech? 2. Do you prefer plastic or metal coin mechs?
REPLIES
"Coin Mechanisms Inc. Metal. Plastic won't
reject Canadian coins."
:------~-:
\
"I like the plastic, precisely because it takes
a Canadian. It saves me the hassle of having
to run a service call 60 miles away to unjam
a stuck Canadian quarter. I'd rather lose the
quarter, than the time and labor to run the
service call."
CJ + \·--:
\ _ _ _ /
"I agree, plastic acceptors are the best; but
what's this about them accepting Canadian
Quarters? Coin Co. coin acceptors company
has been making a plastic mech that is
standard in most equipment (Atari and Taito
anyway) for the last five or ten years that is
U .S./Canadian selectable. Instead of having
that big catch-all magnet it has a little bar
magnet and steel pivot point."
/
/
SQUEEZE
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I
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/
{/
: *<- /
:--------------#
l--------:
:-------------------:
CLEAN ONLY WITH
HOT SOAPY WATER
________ _
Ca
: _ \ \
CLOSED VIEW
_/
:
\
[]
\
+
:CJ
*
\/
---\
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·,
:--------;
: \
:-------------------
CLEAN ONLY WITH
( a.
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HOT SOAPY WATER I
'-~--------:
OPEN VIEW
"ACCEPT U.S. QUARTERS ONLY"
SETTING
:-------:
f
\

f
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\
"When the bar magnet (denoted ==== on the
2nd & 3rd diagrams) is against the pivot
point (denoted {} ) Canadian Quarters are
deflected off their normal path and into the
coin return without jamming. When you
slide it away from the pivot point it accepts
U.S. and Canadian Quarters."
*
I TCJ OPEN
I
I\
"Nah, plastic mechs are much more reliable
and so what if they accept Canadian quar-
ters. I'd rather they do that instead of jam-
ming on the magnet. I like the Coin Controls
doors because they don't bounce, but I've
had quite a few log-jammed quarters stuck
in the mechs. I don't know who makes the
best door these days."
__ _; :cJ:
: \/
__
:
/
: []
#
*
\/
---\
/--\ \
+ \--:
___
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{}
--------:
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#
:-------------------:
\
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\
_\
CLEAN ONLY WITH
HOT SOAPY WATER :
________ _
OPEN VIEW
"ACCEPT U.S. AND CANADIAN QUARTERS"
SETTING
Seeburg SHP Am.ps
"Have you seen Coin Mechanism's CC-16
and model CC-40 coin comparators. They're
totally electronic and compare the players
coin to a coin you supply (it clips into the
rejector). I was impressed, but the prohibi-
tive cost of $50 to $80 dollars a unit kept me
from purchasing any."
"Have you seen or tried the comparators?
One thing in particular I liked about them
was that they fit into all existing coin doors
and can run off of 12VDC or 15 to 50 VAC,
(yes AC). Coin Controls has a similar prod-
uct, but it only fits into their special coin
door and is priced at $100+ a unit. When I
asked them why they didn't design it to work
with other brand coin doors they got all
snotty and explained that with a superior
~" product like theirs, compatibility was un-
necessary!"
"The electronic coin acceptors are beyond
my price range when the good old made-in-
the-USA, Coin Mechanisms metal mechs
work just fine. When it works, I don't fix it,
and we're learning to stick with the tried and
true."
"I've had many problems with the plastic/
metal Coin Controls acceptors used on
Leland's Quarterback and Team Quarter-
back. Players normally insert many coins at
once to rack up enough time to complete a
game. If 1 coin gets stuck in the cradle,
others will logjam behind it requiring a serv-
ice call. So far, no solution."
"CoinCo. Plastic. I'm on tokens in all loca-
tions and fmd the plastic much more reliable
~ and trouble-free."
"Coin Controls plastic acceptor. Extremely
reliable except under very dirty (dusty) con-
ditions."
Mark Gavett
Summit Amusement
St Paul, Minnesota
SYMPTOM
Amp blows fuses on initial power up or the
amp has a very distorted output.
CURE
More than likely the amp has one of the four
diodes that form a bridge rectifier either
shorted or open. Replace bad parts.
SYMPTOM
Audio output has a buzzing crackling or
hissing as well as possibly being weak.
CURE
One of the two power supply filter capacitors
has failed. These are the two mounted on the
top side of the amp nearest the transform-
ers. Measure the AC ripple across them and
replace the defective part(s). The AC ripple
should not be more than about 1 volt RMS.
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