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Thread: Arepachi Project

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    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Default Arepachi Project

    This thread is about the Satomi Arrange Ball machine I recently had shipped from Japan that was documented in the Yahoo Japan Forum. That thread was mainly about the shipping process while this thread will be concerned with documenting my attempts to get it fixed as well as to gratefully receive any inputs from members.
    To recap: the machine seems to be fairly unique among the arepachis I have seen so far but arrived without it's two PCB/Logic boards. I've been told it's a fixable project by several programmers and electronics gurus I have spoken with and will likely entail using the PCB's out of my other Satomi to be used as guides. Also, I'm going to get those same existing boards reverse engineered to include schematics, a bill of materials, and gerber files in case anyone is interested. With those you could make your own arepachi like the one on ebay right now and one of the ones in my album.
    The latest thing I have done is to write up game play rules based on the similarities of this machine to my other Satomi and observation of the game's components. I had LT Teddy's help on this and we came up with a solid set of rules. Once this was finalized it was going to be submitted to the programmer.
    Thanks to CandyFlip I had the instructions on the machine itself translated and they pretty much set me back to square one in regards to understanding the game! Here are the instructions:
    How to Play Miracle 7A-II
    -Player gets 16 balls in one game
    -Player wins when balls are lined up as below (Vertical - 1, Horizontal - 2, Middle - 3)
    -Deposit medal to start the LED display spinning. The spin stops with the first ball, and when 3 of the same number are displayed, the Attack opens for 5 seconds.
    -When balls pass through Chuckers on the left and right sides of the machine, the Attack opens for 0.8 seconds.
    -With a left Attack, 10,11,13,and 16 will light up. With a right Attack, 1, 4,6,and 7 will light up.
    Alright sooooo I don't see an LED display anywhere and I've been through the machine pretty thoroughly. Also, I am fairly certain thru a translation on my Taiyo arepachi that the word "Chucker" refers to what we call tulip pockets.
    I'm not sure what "Attack" means either. It may mean the opening of the pockets but if it is open for a set amount of time then that implies that they then close. However, the solenoids behind the tulips can only open the tulips and a ball must go in to close them. As far as left and right "Attacks" go it may just mean that the first 4 balls in any pocket light the numbers posted on the left side of the pocket and the last 4 balls light the numbers on the right. But it's hard to tell from the instructions and "Attack" may have a meaning specific to pachinko machines. Ultimately this game can be programmed with whatever rules one wishes but I am trying to keep it as original as possible.

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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    I tried to upload some pictures from my "random pics" album but the server was too busy. There is a close up of the playfield where supposedly there is an LED display. And in the pic of the rear of the tulip a solenoid is visible. The spring-wrapped plunger is visible at top of solenoid. When this plunger moves down it hits the plastic projection jutting out from the left to then open the tulip.

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    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Ok, here are the pics. Please feel free to speculate.
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    SNORTARRIFIC! new in town's Avatar
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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Very NICE.

    A Very Clean Looking Pachi ! ! !
    72 Pachi's, 36 Pachinko's, 2 Pallots, 3 Pinn's & 2 Pachinko Bar Signs. Links to About Me: pachijunkie's Videos


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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Thanks. The machine itself shows little signs of wear and surprisingly the cell colors are not faded. It's quite dirty though-I've been more concerned with unraveling gameplay and programming boards so far.

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    Stuey - The RADministrator MrGneiss's Avatar
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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Do LEDs lighting stuff on the machine or just light bulbs...If there are LEDs behind numbers or something "LED display spinning" might actually mean chasing or something..like chasing lights..just a thought, I have no idea!!

    And I'm pretty sure I've seen the word attack or attacker before in some bad Google translations, but I can't remember what it was referring to...sorry not much help!!

    "Blowing smoke rings at the moon."

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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Thanks Mr Gneiss. I was thinking the same thing about chasing lights but I can't find of those or any LED's at all. Also, the instructions say that in this supposed LED display there are numbers spinning and when 3 of them match then the "attack" opens up for 5 seconds. In this picture you can see the a,b,c, and d buttons. The red light above says "select now" when it's lit. So I think this is what the attack refers to. When whatever criteria are met, you then have a limited amount of time (5 or .8 seconds according to instructions) to push one of these buttons when the "select now" is lit to cause the corresponding tulip either to open and/or light one or both of it's numbers in the center matrix. My limited powers of deduction also tell me that since the buttons are not mentioned in the instructions in any other way then this very likely means they are the attack function. It would just be too odd to have those buttons on there and not tell the player what they do. But I could be wrong...
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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    The latest: Much to the dismay of my girl, I have been spending lots o' time on this arepachi. I removed all the trim plastics as well as tulips, coin tray, token insert strip as well as removed and/or cleaned all the electronics and any electrical contact. Why go thru all this for a non working machine? Well I found a programmer will design and program new electronics (PIC chips) according to my specs and make sure all other components are up to par. From the moment the machine arrived I was on the phone and online trying to locate businesses and/or programmers who could help me out. I found a guru in Virginia who became excited about once I sent him pics, and game info.So the end result will essentially be an original frame and mechanical components running new software. I am shipping it out this week to him and should have it back in a couple of months. The game play is as follows: Basiclaly the same as other 16 number matrix arepachis with some differences. First ball in a pocket lights first number assigned to that pocket and second ball in lights second number. Ball in top center pass thru pays a token and starts 5 second bonus mode where player presses lettered button and that opens that tulip. Ball in bottom pocket lights number 14 as well as opens c and d pockets and flashes red lights on either side. Also sounds will acompany game start, a ball in any pocket, and bonus mode. For those I downloaded some sci fi sounds in keeping with theme of machine. Since the programming is custom I may also have selectable modes of play at the flick of a switch in that a ball in top pass thru may open all pockets a la powerflash. To have this programming done as well as the entire machine picked apart and made factory fresh is quite expensive. So if it's not much more then I'll do the selectable mode idea. Otherwise game play is going to be as described above. I'll post a pic soon of the cleaner but not totally clean machine soon. Probably also gonna Mylar the play field to preserve those great colors once it gets back.
    Last edited by emmadog; 03-07-2010 at 05:57 PM.

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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Here's a pic. I have the ashtray off now and the coin tray will be coming off for shipping. Also I removed one of the spinners to figure out best how to clean it. They have a cool little spaceship on them. The key hanging on the center jackpot box is for the door and to open the case itself. Turn it left and the front glass opens. To the right and the case opens up.
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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Here's the latest little bit of news. It turns out the speaker with the machine had a functioning sound board but needed a potentiometer (dunno what that is) replaced. I wanted to keep the sound effectst original but I have decided since this machine curiously does not match it's instructions, to go with the custom sounds I sent him. Anyhow for those interested here is the sound clip of the original sounds.
    YouTube - Satomi Miracle Arrange Ball Sounds
    The original soundboard and speaker can be seen in the video.

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    Waste not, Want not mudfud's Avatar
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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    that spacy kind of sound is similar to the kyoraku that ttc recently refurbished. perhaps this was a standard chip? my wife couldn't stand this sound track, so this is part of why both semi-modern kyoraku's moved on to other pachi folks.

    was the video a post by your engineer?
    PachiTalk

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    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Yeah the constant electronic noise is part of my aversion to moderns. I love sound effects but they need to stop after whatever happened to trigger them is over. Yes that was the guru at work. I'm pretty much the opposite of guru when it comes to programming although I did by a book on PIC chips.
    Last edited by emmadog; 03-18-2010 at 04:06 PM.

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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Here is an email I just received on the latest with this machine. Throughout this process he sends vids and emails with the status. makes me wish I knew more about electronics...
    Hello John,


    Spent some time on the machine yesterday and this morning:

    I put a new 15' AC electrical cord on the machine.

    Can anything be mounted (possibly two relays) on the existing 2" x 4" red plate located below the fuse and on/off switch? Please advise if this plate has another future purpose.

    The tokens sometimes stick just inside the "put in medal" slot...just an FYI mechanical issue for when you get the machine back..should be easy to fix but I'm reluctant to start bending on anything.

    The token tube bottom level limit switch is caput...
    The token select upper limit switch mechanically sticks and is electrically intermittent...
    Options:


    1) Design-in functionality and leave for future repair?

    2) Design around - no low level?

    3) Repair? - the repair option will be an adder because it will require researaching/buying additonal switches (unless you have access to spares - my google search did not reveal any replacements per the part number) and some demo/install work that I had not anticipated. FYI - Part Number is W-S-25

    The 50/85 level select slider swtich works electrically and mechanically.

    Token Eject solenoid works good electrically and mechanically. Operation at 120 VAC / .7A will not be a problem that I can tell. It ejects tokens (1) at a time.

    Ball Eject solenoid works good electrically and mechanically. " "

    On/Off switch works good.

    Token continue to play 12v / .25A solenoid at top left of machine works good electrically and mechanically.

    Token detect switch works good electrically and mechanically.

    All (4) Tulip solenoids 12V / .5A work good electrically and mechanically. Tulip pass through switches work good.

    ABCD and Payout pushbuttons work good electrically and mechanically.

    Ball pass through switch in top center of machine works good.
    Last edited by emmadog; 03-20-2010 at 11:39 AM.

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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    A little more info. Dunno whether to have a ball in a tulip light one number or two or even 4. The instructions state that a "left attack" lights up 6,7,11, and 16. A "right attack" lights up 1,4,10, and 13. If all four are lit and a ball goes in both a left and right pocket then that would light up the center 4 and yield a payout of 3. Would this make it too easy? Fun to contemplate but perplexing and now the engineer is even trying to come up with a scenario. I predict he'll be buying a machine soon. Anyway, here is his latest email.
    Are you certain that the tiny T-1 3/4 bulbs that were in this machine originally were 2187 type and not 2162 ?

    You had mentioned earlier that a ball going through a tulip lights up one of the numbers displayed on it? This doesn't seem intuitive since the tulips show 1 & 10, 4 & 13...etc...shouldn't the operation be: if the ball goes through a tulip that both numbers displayed are illuminated? Does the "&" symbol mean "or" in japan?

    Do the two ruby circles on either side of "CD open" function simultaneously? both on ...both off

    I would like to create a wire harness with a m/f connector for the Token dispenser ...this is in lieu of using the female edge connector on the unit.
    Here's the translated instructions againlayer gets 16 balls in one game.
    *Player wins when balls are lined up as below.
    *Deposit medals to start the LED display spinning. The spin stops with the first ball, and when 3 of the same number are displayed, the Attack opens for 5 seconds.
    *When balls pass through Chuckers on the left and right sides of the machine, the Attack opens for 0.8 seconds.
    *With a left Attack, 10, 11, 13 and 16 will light up. With a right Attack, 1, 4, 6 and 7 will light up.

    Vertical 1 point
    Horizontal 2 points
    Middle 3 points
    Until next time...
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by emmadog; 03-23-2010 at 07:44 PM.

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    Waste not, Want not mudfud's Avatar
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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    that's great info. sounds like your engineer is very "into" the project.

    I met with my engineer today, and he says the rules and gameplay are basically anything that I want. we could even have decision points where you could cash out or play double or nothing...

    he's helping me find the development board and programmer and lent me the design software so I can start figuring out what to do.

    at this point, I plan to use the Heiwa single shot I picked up a couple months ago. it works like an A, so I can have most of the area behind the center free for pockets and chutes and the "bingo" board.

    payouts will be in pachinko jackpots, instead of coins, saving me from building a coin payout mechanism at this point.

    I will probably do an acrylic cell again, so it's a see-through for the bingo board activators and solenoids.

    we discussed today what kind of switches, and he doesn't think microswitches are reliable enough. he recommended either optical, where the ball breaks the path of an IR beam, or I could try the shiny object sensor that Gaku uses (I found a couple of those to buy as extras for my gaku counter).

    he estimates that with a devlopment board and the programming stuff, it will cost around $200, but then I should be able to program other PIC chips for other projects. who knows what I might need for my electric vehicles and pinball projects?

    I will start a new thread once I get my basic game rules decided, as I would like pachitalk input on making it more interesting and fun to play.

    say emmadog, do you know what chip your engineer is planning to use?
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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    chewy-
    glad you like all this info. i'm sure it's mundane too many but i find it interesting and hopefully others can use it somehow. i like the idea of optical switches. if i were doing mine from the ground up i'd prolly use those too. the micro switches in my machine have been tested and they're still up to par so i'm sticking with those, plus i've never had any issues yet with ones in my other machines.
    -i'm not sure but i don't think my guy is using PIC chips afterall. i emailed him this morning and asked him to email me back the components, etc. that he is using for this project so i can post it on here. i know he is using a "stuffed" board to design and program and then will make an etched circuit board once everything is finalized. if you can do all this for 200 bucks that's great!! this is costing me quite a bit more than that. i shopped my project around to 3 or 4 other guys capable of doing this and the prices were all fairly consistent. i'll post one my guy is using once he let's me know.

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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Chewy, just spoke with the engineer and he said in 4 weeks he'd have the schematic completely done with components and all the other info. I'll send that to you or post it here.

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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Latest:
    Hi John,

    The dangling brown wire that you noticed and labeled has no apparent purpose. There are actually some other spare wires from point to point. I guess that one seemed odd because of its location.

    The red wire (with the spring) dangling on the side of the machine was just a terminal soldered "break-out" fuse holder between the circuitry and the main power supply. It's broken but I'll install a new one.

    Interesting info to me for obvious reasons. He's about a month or so out from programming. Right now wire tracing and component evaluation is going on but once programming starts in earnest I'll be able to post videos of the process as he sends them my way.

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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Addendum to above post.
    Finished going through all the wires... am in the process of drawing what I found...one of the next steps is designing and testing the MCU interface circuitry.

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    Default Re: Arepachi Project

    Latest:
    Hello John
    I applied electricity to certain parts of the machine today(see attached). The number 16 spring switch needs to be adjusted.
    Attached Images Attached Images

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