Leaderboard

A few weeks a go I had a good friend say that if I wanted to sell my new impact CPU cards then he would be happy to take care of the logistics of sorting out the selling on my behalf, so it got me thinking... the joy I get is designing them, building them... then I just store them! so I certainly need space back so I will be moving things forward to sell my ones. 3 new types will be available, NONE use the obsolete ZN404 but a nice modern replacement that is not as temperature temperamental as the old ZN404 gets especially in the cold. it is old technology. I have 3 types made, but all are interchangeable and do the same job left, green, a original remake of the original not using a ZN404 (but the circuit board has the holes for it) middle, blue, a remake version utilizing some cheaper surface mount technology, so card is cheaper than the green! I can also fit standard leaded components in these boards to be like the green boards if needs require Right, blue, made smaller, and all surface mount components as possible! this is the cheapest due to those factors, it also has a extra RESET led on it which DOESNT load the reset line like the one on the mainboard which your supposed to remove, and cut a leg on a chip to stop reset troubles. all have the option to have a coincell or rechargeable battery to be fitted onboard to remove extra battery fly wires. all will be available in the near future hopefully and at good prices too.

Yeah its me mate..... Thanks for the tag

Well, I have been involved one way or another with fruit machines for quite a few years now. I started off buying from suppliers, then from freeads, ebay- and since I discovered the mpu mecca, I have now owned, or repaired, a vast variety of gaming machines. I was never able to keep all of them, but through curiosity, or chance, or deliberation I have suceeded in owning every tech platform out there, all save for system1 which has never appealed to me anyway. Dont ask me why, it just doesnt. I seem to have a flare for troubleshooting and to begin with my soldering was far from great, I still dont always rate it, but I have had my efforts rewarded with dead machines springing to life for me after laying forgotten in sheds or garages foreever more. My Number1 is an example of this, and DADsFME has articles on a few of my other sucessful projects. And to think! all this started from one of the weirdest obsessions, and ambitions you could ever think of... THE DESIRE TO BUILD A FRUIT MACHINE, A ONE OFF, MY OWN DESIGN, FROM SCRATCH, and see it out there in an arcade or whatever. Now dont ask me why I have this really silly life goal. I just do. Its become an obsession these days, I sometimes drive my wife up the wall with boxes of bits here, reels there etc and I know Im a pain. Im always downloading service manuals, schematics etc and putting them aside in my projects folder. I never really thought tho that I would get this project done, for one thing, no one would give a prototype the time of day would they? Well thats what I thought, but now I am sitting here with the knowlage that I have as much spares and refrence availible to me that I will need, and that I have access to machines, and this project , as crazy as it is, may well become a reality. Not only that, but as you can get single chip computers these days for relatively cheap cost, and that they are surprisingly easy to use, I KNOW it will become a reality! its gonna take time. But now, its gonna get started. And as you all have done so much for me, I am going to do this for you. This will be an open to public project. If I write code, itll be open source. IF I program chips, youll get a copy of the HEX. If I draw up schematics you will get a copy. I am not doing this to make money, I am doing this because I want to, and I want to take as many people as I possibly can along the way. You will either be proven in your suspicions that I am crazy, or you will enjoy reading about an interesting, diffrent project, or both. One things for sure, you wont be bored. introducing, coming soon, MAGIKS EPS - Eighties Play and Sound!

Tut, get your priorities right man!! Fruit machines first, everything else second. She can stand outside in the rain to get a wash FFS!!

for all my banging on I aint got very far in my project here yet. But it will get there. Most of the research now is already done, and just 1 hour ago I found a little schematic that gave me a brainwave. At the minute tho, I am being slowed down through a lack of a decent printer, scanner. I dont need a camera any more, I have a damn good one. But the scanner is essential, because I want to showcase each and every element of the project, be it drawings, schematics, or design pictures. I want this to be something that those, who are technically minded and want to build this project, CAN build. And as this is only a starter project, and being open source itself, the members who choose to experiment can do so any way they wish. Anyways that being said, I had a think about a basic, VERY basic timetable 1- TEST RIG- before I can work on a platform for a fruit machine game, I will have to come up with a test rig for the platform. This will have to include an in circuit programmer so I dont have to constantly plug in or remove chips. The rig doesnt have to do everything, but it should at least show the basic features of the hardware are working. 2- ELECTROMECHANICAL MACHINE- as its quite straightforward to come up with a machine based on electromechanical reels, a simple single feature fruitmachine will be designed and tested 3- ELECTRONIC MACHINE - with stepper motors and lamp matrix this will be the biggest part of the project, and possibly the most expensive 4- A LOOK AT VIDEOFRUITS- I have the AVGA software stored away here to make this possible- I wont be going too far into it, but something will be done videofruity wise. so thats the ground rules. Soooo, onwards and upwards, time to get a farnells order in so the test rig can be conceived (mostly done in my head at the minute, but it will need to be realised on board.)

sooo you ask am I going to do this- and whatever for? Well the how is going to have me branded a fantasist right away- by myself, on stripboard, with AMTEL atmega technology using whatever ideas I can come up with and any schematics that I can find. The aim here will be to embrace old concepts with new technology- for example myself and many of my freinds in the community are fans of SRU, so elements of the SRU system will appear, or at least the concept behind them, will appear in this system. Im a fan of MPU3 sound so I will try to give any machine built on my platform that sort of audio profile. And it surely cant be that difficult either. After all what is there to a fruit machine these days? I have been doing a lot of digging lately and not only have I found countless AVR and PIC electronic projects, I have found VIDEO sync projects, and even a ready made single chip VGA driving games platform. Handy that this platform, called AVGA (web link to follow when I find it) is also open source, so I could if I wish, and I do wish, to build a video fruit machine. NOW THAT WOULD be something to see!

So..... why on earth would you want to build your own fruit machine and what is the point of this project? well, because you can, and because we do custom video game cabinets over and over, there must be hundreds built every day! But you never see such a phenomenon with fruitys. Probably, I guess because there are restrictions on what you can build without a liscence when it comes to gaming machines. But, that is assuming you are going to market or site your machine- theres nothing stopping you from doing it for a personal project. I always look at fruit machines that are out there new and old and I always have ideas for designs, or features, or gameplay ideas. I look at PCBs and hardware and wonder if I can do it better. Well this project is about just that. Doing it better. Taking ideas that I have had for fruit machines, and taking them to the point where I have a playable unit in front of me. But I playable unit with a concept that I know the PLAYER would want, not the industry as it is in modern times. 50p play? no thanks Anyway, Im also going to embark on a voyage of innovation and discovery with this. And hopefully help a few freinds out along the way. I am interested in, and always have been, electromechanical machines for example.in particular the hybrid machines pioneered by gowerpoint and bellfruit that combined the traditional reel assembly with the first microprocessors. And I have always wanted to build a combined machine of my own. I have owned JPM system80 machines before and always wondered just how easy it would be to come up with a new method of driving the hardware. And video fruitys, not the FOBTs of now, but the classic 80s releases, I have always wanted to do something with that in my own design. Up until recently , its all been a pipedream. Something that I had on paper but would never see the light of day. Well, nowadays there is a wonderful selection of hardware thats affordable and versatile, that the hobbyist can get a hold of, and it makes my ideas possible. All of them, even the video fruitys. This project, if it works , will take the dreams to reality. The goals of this project are: to build a working electromechanical, electronic, and video driven fruitmachine to sucessfully demonstrate hardware and software for each part of the project to be completely OPEN and consise about everything I do. Thats right, I will make this project, wherever I can, totally open for fellow members to experiment themselves. Its only right that I do that. What is the point of blogging a project if no one can follow and experiment with your work. Also, due to the nature of the design work involved, and the construction of each element of the project, there are bound to be some snazzy test rigs created along the way. I will walk the members through each and every peice of gear that evolves. This people is the culmination of many years research. One of the reasons I have collected PCBs and machine parts for so long is to gain a good knowlage and understanding of fruit machine designs and concepts, and now I am ready to put into practice what I have learned. I hope you all enjoy the ride!!