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Don't release many on here maybe i should but the roms came from here so its only right #Next up is a 90's machine from the spotlight/searchlight range £6 token or goto edit mode and tick the checkbox in yellow for £3 All Cash whether this has the original neon lights roms or spotlight's roms we'll never know, but its a step up from spotlights smaller jackpot level thanks goto @Stylez for getting the roms from a person called james, from his actual machine uploaded via the mecca @kirsty a newbie creator in the making for her classic layout, which gave me the idea to redo the "spot" from my spotlight art to "Neon" shortcuts are as standard, the 20p input is 20p cash as the token input doesn't register on the "in" meters for some reason not sure if the roms goto 10p play as never tried, might do that now anyways all lamps now blended where needed instead of split like on spotlight Enjoy and Happy Gaming!!! Neon Light maygay £6 5p Wdx.zip

Hi All. Found this site just a few days ago. Memories came flooding back. Here goes with my first encounter with fruit machines and the following years. 1966 I was 16 years old; I had an interview at A.C.E. with a Mr Dave Shenton (more about him later). I was lucky I started work the next day. A.C.E. was a relatively new company it was set up by the Collins family, Maurice (the father), Michael and Roger (brothers). Dave Shenton was a director; he was the brains behind the company. He had spent some time in America learning as much as he could about ‘one armed bandits’. The company was working from 46 Charles Street in the centre of Cardiff. The ground floor was offices, the second floor production line, wiring section, test area and stores, third floor more offices. There was also a basement which became the machine shop making most of the metal components for the machines. The Jolly Roger was the first machine made by A.C.E, although it was called by the old fashioned ‘one armed bandit’. This machine for anybody that is not familiar with the Jolly Roger I’ll give a brief description. I have tried searching for photos of the Jolly Roger without any luck The best way to describe the cabinet is that it was shaped quite like a coffin standing on its end. It had the traditional ‘arm’ on the right hand side and a glass front with the picture of a pirate front centre (if my memory serves me right). At the top of the cabinet were three small round windows, lights would flash showing the symbols (I will describe later how these would light the individual symbol). There were just four of us on the production line, myself, the foreman, David Davis, Ralf Foward (later to become the store man) and John Jenkins. Working the test area was Tony Mathews We would turn out between 5 and 10 machines a week. I was interested in the workings of the machine so I would spend my coffee and dinner breaks sat behind them trying to find out how they worked, little did I know both Dave Shenton and Tony Mathews noticed my interest that later on they would offer me promotion which led me from production line to testing, fault finding and helping design. Not to make this too boring I’ll post this and if anyone is interested I will add more about life in Charles street and A.C.E. moving from the City centre to A.C.E. house in ferry road

Yep, can't shite react you but have this💩💩💩💩

Okay, 46 Charles Street The production line was just that, these coffins disguised as a ‘one armed bandits’ were in a line of about five, just the basic cabinet. We would fit all internal workings i.e. coin mechs, overflow tubes, payout mechs ,looms, I think most know what would be fitted inside, payout cup, handle boss e.c.t, each screw, nut and bolt by hand. The Jolly Roger didn’t stay in production for very long. Dave Shenton was working on a new type of machine, one which none of us were aware of. A complete new design of cabinet, new inners, new face front glass. If my memory serves me right (in my 70s now, mind gets muddled a bit) this “new” machine the mighty Monte Carlo. This machine made it harder on the back, bending over to install the inners, not so much for me as I was young but for the oldies Ralph was in his 50s John in his 70s. Later when sales picked up a raised platform was built with rollers (less backache); an air compressor system was installed allowing the use of air tools, drills, screwdrivers and so on. In the same room but behind a partition was where the girls worked, wiring reel units, control boards and payout boards. On the same floor was a store room, machine test area, a unit test area and an office for Dave Shenton, all this in a Victorian house. My basic wage was around £5-£7 a week but the bonus system was so good that I was bringing home between £25-£30 a week. As production increased more people were employed, bonuses decreased. Here is an interesting fact that now we would be saying “how could they do that”. In the storeroom there was a trap door when lifted there were stairs leading down to the basement which as I said earlier was the machine shop. If anyone wanted anything from the stores they would have to walk from the basement up two flights of stairs. Roger Collins said that this was a waste of valuable time so he decided to open up the stairs in the stores. Stacked high were dozens of Jennings and other makes of ‘one armed bandits’ Today when seeing these machines we would say “treasure trove”, heartbreak time, I and another worker called Karl had to strip these machines of all their inners (plenty of old 6d pieces, still currency then, needless to say they went into our pockets) and throw all the metal shells into a van that was then taken to the local rubbish tip and dumped. Why they would want to do that I do not understand because just up the road at 58 Charles Street was another company called Lynguard amusements, they had these types of machines rented out but they decided, “chuck them away”. Little did I know then I would work for that company a few years later. Behind the scenes the company had bought the premises in Ferry Road. We, the workers had no idea until one day we were told that production would stop, a meeting was set up with the whole work force, we were then told we were moving. Everything was taken from Charles Street, if it moved we took it. Vans were parked in the lane behind the building being loaded up. At Ferry Road all the buildings were set up ready to start production. Raised platforms with empty cabinets all ready for work to start. A wiring department, two test areas, a building for a machine shop, also one for cabinet making. A.C.E. was becoming big. More later if interested

That looks fucking ace!! Love the textured powder coat finish too, real class. I've got a couple of old cash boxes if you want. They'll be a bit rusty but judging by what you've done with this machine it will be a walk in the park for you! Drop me a PM and I'll get them over to you.

It would be good to get some pics with the cases off. C & D look like the same PCB issue, they're just populated differently? Wouldn't mind betting you can use either of these for the samething. Who knows get the cases off and B might even be the same flash board in there?

The 68000 in the socket is the CPU. The other IC at the top in the picture is more of a peripheral. That CPU won't be any good sadly. Unfortunately there are no schematics for impact 1 or impact 3 tech. If you know impact 1 well you can rationalise out Impact 3. It's difficult to not be brutal and realistic but there is some Rot on that board and every trace needs a closer look at the copper to be successful and a new CPU if you're serious about repairing it. My rule for impact 3 is if the Rot has gone all the way under the sockets to the RAM or 96way connector then it's buggered... sure it could be fixed but it's an extreme difficulty level to sort out.

Looks good 👌

looking good mate 😁

Ah thats great mart .look forward to the pics.

Ice Burger

Aftershock

CHR chip issue sorted - thanks so much to all involved - what a forum 🙂 On with the restoration ....

There is hope yet for this machine, thanks to John (patching) and Tony (supply/writing the roms) we may have the gamecard sorted 🤞, fingers crossed I can then get to work restoring her back to something to be proud of. Its just up to Bob to sort her brain out (no pressure Bob its heading your way MONDAY! 😬 to be fair the MPU3 looks very clean and very original, so I am quietly optimistic). The alpha never worked but Mick is looking at that for me, if not I can source one I am sure or use an early MPU4. Here is a pic of her, the bottom of cab is pretty shot but hopefully I can sort with a new plinth/patch work. Front cash door was totally rotten (what was left of it stuck silde in the bottom rail, like rotted cardboard) - the rest I think will be OK, some minor artwork blemishes but nothing in all honesty compared to many machines I've see. Inside is a right mess but its just from years and years AND YEARS of cold damp storage in a shed.