Friday, May 20, 2005
Want to learn more? Got your own machine?
Im trying to get a little cash in my paypal account, so I can pay for a item I just won, so I
I am selling of a great little manual, its a field service manual for MPU 4 based machines, and covers all sorts of technical details.
You can find it on ebay here
I would have had more saved up, but some con-artist picked up a item I sold on ebay, saying he would pay on paypal, foolishly I let him have it (thinking its only 3.50 and he is local....)
Bad move that was, the fella now wont pay, had to call the police and he still wont pay! Fresh promise that he would, but nothing yet, so I left the con-artist a neg to
warn others. It confuses me how someone can go to such much trouble to steal 3.50, they must be not all there in the head.
If you own a HP laser printer (4, or 4+, 5 or similar) then check out the other items I sell, as I have a sale on the memory upgrades. They really are great value, and make a big difference - just check what people said in my feedback about them!
Ok, thats my little sales pitch over, keep an eye out for more posts back on topic soon!
I am selling of a great little manual, its a field service manual for MPU 4 based machines, and covers all sorts of technical details.
You can find it on ebay here
I would have had more saved up, but some con-artist picked up a item I sold on ebay, saying he would pay on paypal, foolishly I let him have it (thinking its only 3.50 and he is local....)
Bad move that was, the fella now wont pay, had to call the police and he still wont pay! Fresh promise that he would, but nothing yet, so I left the con-artist a neg to
warn others. It confuses me how someone can go to such much trouble to steal 3.50, they must be not all there in the head.
If you own a HP laser printer (4, or 4+, 5 or similar) then check out the other items I sell, as I have a sale on the memory upgrades. They really are great value, and make a big difference - just check what people said in my feedback about them!
Ok, thats my little sales pitch over, keep an eye out for more posts back on topic soon!
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Let em spin...
Modern fruit machines use electronically controlled reels, they are not like in the
dim and distant past when they used reels with carefully machined metalwork, and
springs, weights etc.
They use "stepper" motors, which are motors which are capable of being turned very precisely in small defined increments.
In the case of machines like the pie factory, the reels are controlled by a reel controll board (which translates signals from the main mpu board, into the electrical signals to turn the motors to a certain position). The mpu talks to the reel board via a serial link, which keeps wires in the machine to a minimum.
Reels have a plastic tab on them, which breaks a sensor once per revolution, this is used as feedback so the fruit machine knows the reel actually has turned a full revolution, and so it can find out the position of the reels when turned on.
The graphics on the reels are illuminated by fixed lamps, just under the plastic reel bands (strips of plastic which go around the reel, and show the reel graphics).
Here are some photos of reels, from various angles, so you can see what I am waffling on about.
dim and distant past when they used reels with carefully machined metalwork, and
springs, weights etc.
They use "stepper" motors, which are motors which are capable of being turned very precisely in small defined increments.
In the case of machines like the pie factory, the reels are controlled by a reel controll board (which translates signals from the main mpu board, into the electrical signals to turn the motors to a certain position). The mpu talks to the reel board via a serial link, which keeps wires in the machine to a minimum.
Reels have a plastic tab on them, which breaks a sensor once per revolution, this is used as feedback so the fruit machine knows the reel actually has turned a full revolution, and so it can find out the position of the reels when turned on.
The graphics on the reels are illuminated by fixed lamps, just under the plastic reel bands (strips of plastic which go around the reel, and show the reel graphics).
Here are some photos of reels, from various angles, so you can see what I am waffling on about.
You can often see people peering into the machine, trying to see what symbols are next in line when the machine offers nudges, usually you can make out the next symbol, which can be helpful sometimes.
