Dongle news and price discount!

[mudfud]

why not add a sensor like the pachicounter has on the payout ball output and count there? I have a couple spare sensors that I bought, thinking I would put them on several machines and move the pachicounter around. could send them to you, if you want.

[daverob]

I was thinking of a simple gravity fed system. A box with Three or four troughs being fed into individual sensors.

This would be possible, but would require a dedicated standalone system, as there aren't enough spare inputs on the dongle to cope with that number of sensors.

The main problem with a dedicated circuit is the high development costs against the smaller number of customers. The original dongles needed about $1500 of investment from me before I sold the first one, but this was fine as there was plenty of interest and I was sure I would be able to sell enough to break even. If I'm designing a new circuit that will only appeal to a handful of customers, it's a bit of a gamble whether I'll ever cover the costs.

I did ask a while ago if anyone was interested in a standalone smartcard writer (which could easily support up to 8 ball count sensors), and got very little interest. Perhaps it's time to ask again ?


I don't think there'll be too much of a problem with the speed of the balls past the sensor, and even if there is a problem, it shouldn't be too hard to figure a way of slowing the balls down.

why not add a sensor like the pachicounter has on the payout ball output and count there?

I would think a reflective optical sensor (like the pachicounter uses) would work best in this application, they're cheap and readily available (unlike the inductive sensors used in pachinko machines). Their only disadvantage is that they need to be kept clean and I don't think that is that much of a problem for us pachinko collectors.

I wouldn't see the point of counting balls as they come out of the payout unit, as you'd have to figure out if they are loan balls or prize balls, and then you'd have no idea if the player is draining them from the shooter tray to 'cash in' (where you'd want to add their value to your smartcard) or is playing them back through the machine (where you wouldn't).

[orsonandshiris]

As I mentioned in an email to you before, I would be interested in ball counter that could add credits back to the smart card.

So count me as one vote for "yes, please make!"

[daverob]

Now that most of the hard work is out of the way for the rev 2 dongles (for me at least, it's just about to start for the beta testers!). I'll have a bit of time to dedicate to these other projects.

The plan is to finish off the enclosed version of the smartcard reader first. This needs a bit of investment in new equipment and tooling to cut the card slot in the plastic box, but is a relatively simple project. Hopefully I'll have these finished around the same time that the rev 2 dongle is available to purchase. They will be available as either a complete enclosed card reader, or just the plastic box to put your current reader board into.

I'm also prototyping a design for a small handheld card reader, that can be used to view/add credit to a smartcard. Not sure if this will make it into production yet, but I'd like to take the design far enough so I've got the option of adding it's PCB to the panel when I order the rev 2 dongle PCBs in quantity.

Next up would be a small ball counter add on for the rev 2 dongle. This will be designed so that the balls can be counted as they are drained out of the shooter tray of the pachinko machine, and the count will be credited straight back onto the smartcard.

This will then be expanded into a complete stand alone ball counter kit. This will comprise a counter board with an LED display, and a sensor unit to count the balls which you can build into a hopper that you empty your ball trays into. You will also be able to attach a smartcard reader to the counter board so that your count total can be transferred back as credit onto the smartcard.

Both the counter projects will be more of a mechanical engineering project, as I will need to design the sensor modules, so that they can easily pass the balls through without jamming, but also to regulate their speed past the ball sensor(s) so that they are counted reliably.

After this, who knows? I'll certainly have made all the bits I want for my pachinko machines, but I expect that I'll think of something else between now and then...

[MrFixit]

Thanks for creating the rev2 dongles. I'm very impressed with it's features as it does more than i need it too. Keep up the good work.

[CarlW]

Thanks Dave,
You have an informative website and I'm happy with our transaction.

Purchased two dongles (for two modern pachinko machines); they allow a user to dispense pachinko balls throgh the machine just like in a Japanese parlor! Definitely worth the small investment. Great for kids and the disabled!