Balls will not shoot with Emulator

[portercbl]

I have a Super Sea Story and the Pachinko Emulator from Dave Rob.
Here is my strange problem:
The machine works great right out of the box.
I remove the dongle it came with and plug in the Emulator.
The numbers on the front panel light up, add credits and it dispenses the right amount of balls.
I go to turn the handle to shoot balls and nothing happens. Ball shooter is dead.
So I try a second emulator from one of my other machines, and that doesn't work. Same thing , no shooting.
So I plug in the original dongle and the ball shooter works!
I have never had a problem with any of Dave Robs wonderful Emulators, and this really has me stumped!
Has anyone ever had this problem?
Every machine that I have ever plugged a Emulator into worked with out a problem the first time ,every single time!
Any suggestions?
Thanks, Jerry

[drcrippen324]

there is a part in the programming mode you can alter to change teh debounce if i recall correctly but im sure dave rob will be along to help soon if i remember the origonal prototype was tested on a sea story without any adverse effects or alterations

[daverob]

The Sanyo machines are a bit more fussy than other makes of machine with one of the voltages that the dongle generates. Some of the time it works fine but on others the Card Reader Emulator dongle or the pachinko machine needs to be modified to make the shooter handle work correctly.

I have the details of the machine mod for the earlier Sanyo machines on my website, but haven't had a Super Sea Story to play with to find out exactly where the modification needs to go on these machines, so it's probably best to modify the dongle in this case.

Send me a PM or email, and I'll get a modified dongle sent out that should work fine on this machine, or if you feel confident with a soldering iron, I can send out the parts needed to modify this one.

[daverob]

if i remember the origonal prototype was tested on a sea story without any adverse effects or alterations

The original prototype samples sent out to the beta testers had a minor difference in the power conversion circuits, and these ones worked fine on all Sanyo machines, but would overheat on Sankyo machines if the LED display brightness was set to full (hence there being no adjustable brightness setting in the beta test software).

Unfortunately the modification to beef up the power circuits meant that the output voltage to enable the shooter handle was now a bit too close to the tolerance threshold for Sanyo machines (although my own New Sea Story still worked fine).

I intend to completely revise the power supply circuit for the next hardware revision of the dongles, and make it 100% compatible with all machines from all manufacturers (and run a bit cooler as well !). But I've still got a couple of hundred circuit boards laid out with the original design in stock, so will have to stick with modifications for the few machines that are affected for the immediate future.

[Dexx]

i got exactly the same problem but with dave's help i fixed the dongle by replacing the old diodes with lower voltage diodes that dave sended to me, plug it back in, and the machine worx again

[Meathead]

While we're troubleshooting, I have a emulator dongle that suddenly shows three dashes across the display and no longer dispenses ball. I tried to 'reset' it by inserting the jumper and powering up the machine. It appropriately displays the version, and toggles through the modes, but I cannot get it to work in the machine again. I'm sure I am doing something wrong. Once I select a mode (the default mode is the one I like), how do I 'set' it and return the machine to normal use? And by the way, which mode is the default one? (hold right button for credits, touch left button to dispense 25 balls)

Thanks!

[daverob]

While we're troubleshooting, I have a emulator dongle that suddenly shows three dashes across the display and no longer dispenses ball.

Three dashes would usually indicate that you have it set to one of the smartcard modes, as the dashes are shown in the credit display if there is no card in the slot of the smartcard reader.

If you place the jumper in the setup position on the dongle and wait for the version information to scroll across the display, you will probably see 'o-8' or 'o-9' as the first setting. Press the right hand button until the display reads 'o-7' to set the dongle back to the default mode, then switch off the machine and remove the setup mode jumper.

Hopefully when you power the machine back on the dongle should be set back to the regular emulation mode, rather than the mode that needs the external smartcard reader to be connected.

If that doesn't work, then send me a PM with a list of the settings that are displayed when you cycle through them with the left hand button in the settings mode, and I'll see if there's anything else that might need changing.

[Meathead]

Thanks Dave.

I'll give it a try tomorrow. I have to say these dongles are great. They add so much to playing these machines!

[BigBearSteve]

Dave, I've got an issue with one machine.

It's Space Invaders by Okumura.

When it goes into a fever, sometimes the shooter stops working and the credit display goes blank.

If I unplug the dongle and plug it back in it works fine.

I've tried that dongle in other machines, and it works fine. (in fact all six of your dongles work perfect)

Any ideas??

[luckydog]

how many amps is your transformer. it may be overloading in fever??

[BigBearSteve]

how many amps is your transformer. it may be overloading in fever??

It has a 5 amp transformer on it.

[daverob]

When it goes into a fever, sometimes the shooter stops working and the credit display goes blank.

I've only heard of this type of problem once before ( in this thread ), in that case it was due to the transformer that was supplied with the game not being able to supply enough power during a fever.

Again the same advice offered in that thread is valid here. There's nothing in the dongle or the circuits feeding the dongle that should be different during a fever than in regular play. So the most likely cause will be the transformer voltage dropping due to the extra power required for the sound and light show during a fever.

Again it might be that the dongle you are using is extra sensitive to voltage fluctuations, so it's worth trying one of your other dongles on this machine to see if the problem still occurs with a different dongle.

If you have a multimeter it would be a good idea to take a few measurements of the voltage coming out of the transformer (24V AC). Firstly with the machines power switch off (but still plugged into the wall outlet!), second during attract mode, third during normal play (ie shooting balls) and lastly during fever. If the voltage drops below 21.5V AC at any time then the transformer is definitely out of spec.


As you say you've got a 5A transformer you should check the back of the machine for a sticker with the power specs for the machine, this is usually on one of the circuit board cases and will say something along the lines of 24V AC +/- 10% (could be 5%) and then a number followed by VA (which is the power rating). A 5A transformer is only good for a game up to 150VA, if the rating on the game is higher than this, then a larger transformer is recommended.

[BigBearSteve]

I did try the other emulator dongles with the same results.

I don't have a multimeter.

And I couldn't locate the specs, but I do have a 7 amp transformer,
I'll give that a try.

[portercbl]

Dave,
Problem solved! My Super Sea Story is SUPER!!!
Thank you for your Incredible Expertise!
You are a GOD in the Packinko World!
Jerry