Pachinko News Nuggets

[dishpan]

Some headlines gathered from here,

http://www.fukuoka-now.com/news/index.php

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=468 bgColor=#cccccc border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=white><TD vAlign=center align=left bgColor=#cccccc>Fukuoka Police Uncover Pachinko Scam-05/13/2004 16:21</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center align=left width=28 bgColor=#cccccc>

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#cccccc>A gang of three Chinese and one Japanese were arrested and indicted in Fukuoka for a novel pachinko scam that netted several million yen from about 30 pachinko parlors in Fukuoka, Saga, and Oita Prefectures over the past year. The gang is accused of breaking into pachinko parlors late at night and stealing the ROM devices in the machines that control the flow of balls. They then allegedly sent the devices to accomplices in the Kanto region, who modified them to produce a higher ball output. The gang then broke into the same pachinko parlors and reinstalled the modified ROM devices into the machines. During each break-in, the burglars carefully repaired their sites of entry to avoid detection. They later sent pachinko-loving Japanese in their employ into the parlors to play those machines. They reportedly limited the day's take to 10,000 yen from a single machine and 50,000 yen from a single shop to avoid suspicion.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=468 bgColor=#cccccc border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=white><TD vAlign=center align=left bgColor=#cccccc>

Recycling Pachinko Screens in Taxicabs-04/08/2004 19:56

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center align=left width=28 bgColor=#cccccc>

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#cccccc>Electronic parts importer-exporter Dimple (spelling unconfirmed) of Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, has developed small video display screens for showing ads in taxicab interiors using LCD monitors from discarded pachinko machines. The screen is connected to the meter and will automatically start the display when a passenger enters the cab. The video will stop when the passenger leaves the cab. The company thinks the product is ideal for corporate advertising and tourist information. Plans call for the screens to be installed in about 500 cabs in Fukuoka Prefecture in April.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=468 bgColor=#cccccc border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=white><TD vAlign=center align=left bgColor=#cccccc>Man Arrested for Pachinko Fraud-05/13/2003 19:09</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center align=left width=28 bgColor=#cccccc>

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#cccccc>Police in Fukuoka City's Chuo Ward have arrested a 44-year-old man on May 11 for using an electric device commonly called a taikanki to obtain money from a pachinko machine. The device was hidden under the man's clothing, sending a signal to the pachinko machine that made it more likely to give out winnings. The man had stolen about 33,000 yen when he was spotted by one of the pachinko parlor's employees. The illegal use of taikanki has increased in recent months, leading to several arrests in Fukuoka Prefecture including two in Sawara-ku in May.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=468 bgColor=#cccccc border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=white><TD vAlign=center align=left bgColor=#cccccc>Oita Prefecture Considers Banning Searchlights -12/12/2002 17:54</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center align=left width=28 bgColor=#cccccc>

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#cccccc>The Oita prefectural government announced that it is considering passing an ordinance that would prohibit the use of searchlights for advertising. The measure is aimed at reducing the so-called light pollution caused by searchlights and would impose a monetary fine on violators, similar to ordinances currently in existence that prohibit littering. Searchlights are often used to attract customers to the locations of pachinko parlors, hotels, and parking lots. Some residents feel that the lights are a nuisance, ruin their view of the night sky, or evoke painful memories of the war. Currently there are searchlights placed in eight locations throughout Oita prefecture.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Tulsa]

Police in Fukuoka City's Chuo Ward have arrested a 44-year-old man on May 11 for using an electric device commonly called a taikanki to obtain money from a pachinko machine. The device was hidden under the man's clothing, sending a signal to the pachinko machine that made it more likely to give out winnings. The man had stolen about 33,000 yen when he was spotted by one of the pachinko parlor's employees. The illegal use of taikanki has increased in recent months, leading to several arrests in Fukuoka Prefecture including two in Sawara-ku in May

From reading this, my assumption is whatever the singal it was wireless. What could possibly be on a standard pachinko that would pick up a wireless signal and effect the payouts?

[arbycoffee]

? ? ?

[compirate]

It could just screw up the odds or be a unit that is directly connected to a metal part of the machine and gives it a jolt http://translate.google.com/translat...&hl=en&ie=UTF8

[arbycoffee]

cool!

[drcrippen324]

sounds like the old theory that you arnt ment to use CB radio at the gas station as it screws up the petrol mesuring device in the pump

[alstonj1]

every electronic device runs on or produces RF frequencies to run on if you were to match the proper one it is possible to make an electronic machine do alot of things "out of step" most have heavy shielding to prevent such occurrence and to prevent the RF from interfering with telecommunications devices which is why they usually have a FCC approval # if made in the states . it would require insider knowledge to know the frequency and pattern needed to trip the device , but one disgruntled tech could solve that .....

[Tulsa]

But to control that frequency range in such a way as to only effect the machine you're on when they are in such close proximity to one another would be close to impossible and the effect would render a series of machines in a given area to be paying out extraordinarily and certain to raise suspicion.

[daverob]

The ball payout sensors in modern pachinko are inductive proximity sensors.

They work by passing a high frequency AC voltage through a coil and measuring the current drawn. When the ball passes through the coil, the inductance of coil is changed by the proximity of a large lump of metal and so the amount of current passing through the coil will also change. By detecting these changes in current drawn you can determine whether a ball is passing through the sensor or not.

It is trivially easy to make a RF device that produces a signal that will be picked up by the coil in the sensor, but the filters in the sensor are likely to remove any RF content from the sensor circuit.

However if the RF signal is modulated with a frequency that matches the detection circuit, the RF will be filtered out but the modulated frequency will remain and will be highly likely to give false triggers. And false triggers on the ball sensors will give free spins and payouts.

If the transmitting aerial is sufficiently directional, then the RF could be focussed to affect just one machine, or maybe even a single sensor.

I'm not saying that this is the method used by these taikanki devices, but if I wanted to cheat a pachinko machine, it's the first method I would try.