42 replies to this topic

[maxxsinner]

I am at a point where I am starting to plan my build and buying some gear for my pinball machine and while scanning around the Hyperspin forums, I noticed that a lot of people have trouble with the electrical side of building a digital pinball. So I decided to write a guide for how to connect everything from flipper buttons to the Ipac right the way through to all the bling that Chriz99 has on his machine (and I will on mine ) A lot of the guide refers back to Hyperspin forums and to Chriz99's ideas but I figured that a few people could use the guide over here aswell.

Pinball Electrical 101
Enjoy

Edited by maxxsinner, 17 January 2012 - 04:24 AM.

[Rincewind]

Great! Thanks... will be very useful!

[hassanchop]

nice one!

unfortunately this is like reading chinese for me. but when i decide to try this one day i will look at it for sure

[maxxsinner]

Cheer Gents. Post any questions you have on here too as anything that helps you may help others I will add it to the document.

[DedRok_V]

I like the idea of the tvs turning themselves on.
Be nice to know which ones will switch on , and the ones that dont.

[maxxsinner]

Dont quote me but I believe a lot of the new tv's have autosense for a digital input. If a signal gets sent on the HDMI input, the TV will switch on and select that input. Might be worth checking out.

[ynneBBenny]

I can see you have done a lot of work preparing that PDF. Your effort is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

One question. In what circumstances when building a pincab would you need a CRE LED?

Benny

[maxxsinner]

Cree led's is an idea from Chriz99's cabinet. I think he has a thread on here for his cabinet and he certainly has a massive one on hyperspin forums.





From Chriz99's youtube

Personally I love the idea.

[Tesla]

I am at a point where I am starting to plan my build and buying some gear for my pinball machine and while scanning around the Hyperspin forums, I noticed that a lot of people have trouble with the electrical side of building a digital pinball. So I decided to write a guide for how to connect everything from flipper buttons to the Ipac right the way through to all the bling that Chriz99 has on his machine (and I will on mine ) A lot of the guide refers back to Hyperspin forums and to Chriz99's ideas but I figured that a few people could use the guide over here aswell.

Pinball Electrical 101

Enjoy

The link is down.

I sure would like to get a copy if possible.

[maxxsinner]

Link repaired Tesla. Thanks for the heads up.

[Darkfall]

Link repaired Tesla. Thanks for the heads up.

Has the link been giving you trouble, maxx? If so, I can host it for you on the company webserver, if you like - then it won't be a problem again.

[007]

Cheers.

EDIT: Perhaps guide this should be in the "Tutorials" section? Just a suggestion.

Edited by 7, 06 August 2011 - 09:50 AM.

[maxxsinner]

Link repaired Tesla. Thanks for the heads up.

Has the link been giving you trouble, maxx? If so, I can host it for you on the company webserver, if you like - then it won't be a problem again.

Thanks for the offer Darkfall. I had dramas with my hosting service a little while ago. They got hacked and crashed a heap of servers including mine. Forgot to update this link so it should be right now.

Cheers.

EDIT: Perhaps guide this should be in the "Tutorials" section? Just a suggestion.

Thanks 007. Will put the link into the Tutorials section.

Edited by maxxsinner, 06 August 2011 - 12:26 PM.

[Tesla]

Link repaired Tesla. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks. Very helpfull document by-the-way.

So, it looks like a iPaq board is the way to go. No matter what kind of custom cabinet you build, the iPaq board will always have a purpose.

Right now, I'm at a "proof of concept" stage. The Pinball Wizard is nice, but a little pricey for me right now. Plus, if and when I get to the stage of building a real cabinet, I will have to take it apart and install in the real cabinet ... or just put it aside or sell it.

But if I wanted to get to build a very basic "Pinball Wizard like" box myself quickly (in a day or so), just to get ...
Vertical flipper buttons,
Start button
Plunger (simple button)
A couple of spare buttons

... has anyone ever tried hacking up an old USB HID mouse or USB joystick? I understand it wouldn't usually be on any ones radar, but just wondering.

[KloggMonkey]

... has anyone ever tried hacking up an old USB HID mouse or USB joystick? I understand it wouldn't usually be on any ones radar, but just wondering.

Check this site out, it has I-PAC and other methods of Arcade(Pinball) controls to PC interfaces.

Arcade Controls

[Itchigo]

... has anyone ever tried hacking up an old USB HID mouse or USB joystick? I understand it wouldn't usually be on any ones radar, but just wondering.

I have. It was a pain in the ass to get the solder to stick. It's what I used before I got my Key Wiz.

[Arcade4]

Thanks for the guide.
I have not made it that far yet, but I'm sure it will come in very handy when I do.

[Darkfall]

Link repaired Tesla. Thanks for the heads up.

Has the link been giving you trouble, maxx? If so, I can host it for you on the company webserver, if you like - then it won't be a problem again.

Thanks for the offer Darkfall. I had dramas with my hosting service a little while ago. They got hacked and crashed a heap of servers including mine. Forgot to update this link so it should be right now.

No problem-o. If anything changes and you need a place to host the file, I'm happy to help. I don't have dramas with my hosting service, because I am the hosting service - they're my own servers in rack space downtown.

[sharkus]

The document is great! Thanks!

However, the link in the top post is not working.

I was able to get the document by changing the name from "Pinball_electrical_Ver1.06.pdf" to "Pinball_electrical_Ver1.07.pdf" in the page URL.

[sharkus]

One other topic that would be great to add to the document: "DIN for dummies". I'd never heard of DIN rail / terminals before, and was hoping someone could document some best practices and what can be done with a DIN rail.

Thanks!
Sharkus