Autostop comparisons

[cwstnsko]

Hi folks... just bought a Gundam machine and found your site.


My kids love the coins, going in and falling out, so I wouldn't go for the coin mod, but I really like the feel of the vegas style autostop. I cannot find one anywhere as Vince is not listing and http://www.pachislo.com/pachislo/autostop.html is currently out of stock. I'd pay the $59 and I'm under a time crunch as I promised to have it ready for my mother-in-laws 50th B-Day party.

Anyone know where I could get one of the solderless cable solutions? :confused:

Sable

For a while, the information page on pachislo.com said they were out of stock, but if you clicked the order button, it would tell you they were in stock. Now it looks like they are really out.

There a guy selling boards on E-bay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

These boards are complete boards with the PachisloUSA chip installed. If you ask, he'll leave wire hanging off for pins 2,3 and 4 in case you want to wire them up later.

The guy whose selling these is not the most highly regarded individual by this board for reasons not related to his autostop board.
I bought one of these boards before he got slammed on here. The board works great, and I got it in a reasonable quickly. He was fairly responsive to my inquires. I can not endorse this seller completely, but my transaction went well, and base dupon that, I left him positive feedback.

If you're interested in reading more about my comparision of the autostop chips, read my next post

[Freelance]

Thanks for the reply. Vince got back to me, but if he doesn't get a chance to send me one I may check that one on ebay out as time is a factor.

Sable

[pachislousa]

The guy selling those board on ebay seems like a great guy.. I've chatted with him for a few hours on the phone. While I can't comment on his custom slot work, but he really does apply himeself to a project, and isn't out to rip anyone off. He molds his own Slot arms, and can make you a custom one (for what I think is a *very* reasonable price, since he has to physically make a mold)

[Freelance]

That's cool. Though the arm on the side would add to the feel of the game (I like the bandits) My kids would probably just rip it off, so I'm going to stick to the small start arm that it's got.

I have noticed though that my Gundam has a single bet button and a max bet button, but during normal play I cannot seem to make it let me play for one coin. During bonus play it uses only 1, and during super bonus it requires 3.

Is there a dipswitch or menu setting that needs changed to make the single bet button work? I only received a generic manual with the game and while my spoken japanise is just rusty, my kanji is non-existant.

Thanks again for all the help.

[slotter]

Hi Freelance! That machine is a Max Bet machine, meaning that it will only work as you just described it... normal operation is 3 bets or tokens, but during bonus, it just takes 1 token. Can't be changed. (I believe all the newer machines operate as Max Bet type.)

[cwstnsko]

I've played with all of the autostops that I could find that claim to work with almost every machine built in the last 15 years. I have "evaluated" the PachisloUSA chip (version 1.1), the pachislo.com board, and the Autoslot "extension" cable.


The Pachislo.com board.

This is a replacement reel stop board that has been modified. On the front of the board, it has had 3 leads cut from one of the ICs and 1 connector replaced by a jumper block.

http://members.cox.net/cwstnsko/Photos/pdotc_front.jpg

There is a resistor added to the back and some other components added to the back that are embedded in opaque putty

http://members.cox.net/cwstnsko/Photos/pdotc_back.jpg

This board is an autostop only, NO credit mod.
Installation is a snap, there is nothing to wire, just snap out the reel stop board, swap the connector to the new board and re-insert it.
This board stops the reels in a specific order that you specify, default is left, middle, right. You can also choose right, middle, left or middle, left, right. It always stops in exactly the order that is set, not just in a general direction. It is very quick and easy to switch between patterns.
This board does not "remember" the settings when it's powered off, but the jumper block on the front is used to determine whether the machine powers up with the autostop active or dormant.
This board has non-adjustable timing of the reel stopping that appears to be somewhat random, but is pretty quick. This board stops the reels in a hurry. On machines with interactive screen displays, it rushs through the scene without really letting it develop.
The autostop on this board is a great match to my simpler machines (Rattlesnake, Siomahal, Versus and Sea Master,) but on the other machines it feels like it's rushing things.

update: As of right now, I have run into issues with the pachislo.com board. Since it's out of stock right now, it may not matter, but I cannot reccommend this board at this time. I had issues with the 1st board I received , and pachislo.com was very quick to take care of me, but the issues have returned on the 2nd board after 5 or 6 hours of use.


The PachisloUSA chip.

This is a do-it-yourself autostop chip with credit mods and lots of configurability. You normally have to mount the chip on your reel stop board and solder up some leads and wires, but there are new "options" emerging such as the guy on E-bay who sells modded boards, or Spooners kit that he's working on. I cheated and got one from the guy on E-bay, but the installation looks doable for someone with moderate to good soldering skills. I have a couple more chips arriving today, so I'll get to do the next one myself :-)

Once installed, the main autostop function is contained to the board, but their are 3 "optional" wires that allow you to enable additional features. One is realted to better controlling the timing and sequence of stopping, and 2 are related to the credit mod.
When this chip is powered up, the autostop is dormant, ie. the autostop feature is disabled. To enable the autostop feature is a simple press of a button for about a second, but if you want Vegas style stopping when 1st powered on, this is not the chip for you.
Without any of the optional wires hooked up, the chip's autostop generates continuous stop signals, by default in a left to right pattern. Any reel may be the 1st to stop, but the pattern is left to right. The pattern can be switched to random, but this causes inconsistent timing of the stopping because the 1st reel to stop is not always at the beginning of the pattern. The timing of between stop signals is very adjustable, but the time to the 1st reel stop is inconsistent and commonly quite short. This makes this mode a little tough to use with some machines where screen activity would generally dictate a longer time before 1st reel stop. It is also worth noting that this chip resets to default on power down, so an adjustment you make to the pattern or timing must be repeated every time the chip is powered up.
With the optional wire to pin 4 connected (this feature works on many, but not all machines,) the autostop becomes more interesting. The stop pattern is now consistently, left, middle, right with a consistent time before the 1st reel stops. The time to 1st stop is not adjustable, but it is about the right amount of time for machines with screens to get their scene developed before the stop signals kick in, and is long enough that you can manually navigate some "assisted" spins without disabling the autostop. The random setting works nicely with this pin connected and results in a nice consistent stop to stop time. Another nice feature is that the autostop can be disable for just one round by holding the start lever down for 2-3 seconds. One thing I noticed is that if you hit the start lever before betting credits, the timer for the reel stops starts anyway. This is not a problem, but you do notice it if you inadvertantly hit the start lever out of sequence.
The other two optional wires are the credit mod. Again, this works on many, but not all machines. There's not much to say about the credit mod except that it's great! Holding down the right button for 1-2 seconds results in the credit counter rolling up to 50 credits + 3bet. Very nice espcially on the stingy machines where you have to open the door a lot to get tokens or the hopper tends to overflow before the bonus rounds kick in. Another feature that may be of interest to some is the ability to disable either the autostop or credit feature until the machine is powered off.
This chip, with all of the features hooked up and working, is a very nice package.


The Autoslot cable.

This is a fairly new product, and is still being actively enhanced, but I have worked with 2 generations of the product and have been quite pleased.
Installation is a snap. The Autoslot is attached to a short "extension" ribbon cable that is inserted between the reel stop board and the ribbon cable that is connected to it. That's it! (unless you're a Pachitalk member, more below!)
By default the Autoslot is enabled, and will stop the reels left, middle, right with a 2 second delay before the 1st reel stop and 1/2 second between reel stops. Both of these times are adjustable. The 1st reel stop can be configured in 1/2 second increments from 1-3.5 seconds, and the reel-reel stop can be set to 1/2 second or 1 second. The stop sequence can be switched to random mode as well. One of the nicest features of the Autoslot is that all adjustments and settings are stored in EEPROM memory, so once you get the timings and stop sequence set to you liking, they stay that way even after the machine is powered off.
There are a some machines that the autoslot cannot accurately determine whether the reels are spinning, (My Eleco Outlaw is in this catagory,) so the autoslot can be set to generate continuous stop signals similar to the PachisloUSA chip w/o pin 4 wired. When in this more, the chip acts very similar to the PachisloUSA chip without pin 4 wired.

Now for the Pachitalk unique stuff.
Even though Vince does not promote it to the general public in his e-bay listings, the chip does have a credit mod! Here's his page about it

http://www.autoslot.info/pachitalk.htm

This credit mod works great! It wires up in the same manner as the PachisloUSA chip, and Vince is adding a few extra components to allow it to work with higher voltage coin sensors as well.

Vince has been great to work with, he's actually gone out and bought a couple of machines to be able to re-create and resolve issues I had with the early version of the cable. He tells me he's got a few more tweaks to get in place before it returns to E-bay, but it should be back soon.

So what's my verdict? The Autoslot and the Pachislo USA chip with all of it's features functioning are great. For most machines, I prefer the Autoslot. I love the fact that you can adjust the timings to match the game play and the settings hold. For machines that the Autoslot cannot detect the reels spinning, I prefer the PachisloUSA chip provided the machine is one where all of the features can be activated (pins 2,3 and 4 wired).

Another tip for those working on the Pachislo USA chip. I found a great wire to run pins 2, 3 and 4 from the door to the board. I used 4 wire phone cord, you know, those silver wires that connect your phone to the wall. The wires inside are small enough to solder to individual pins, and the silver wire routes very nicely and cleanly around the machine to get to the door. best of all, I have a pile of them in my junk box. Also, be sure and use some hot glue to hold the wires in place on the board when tying them into the chip or a board, they fatigue easily and break if they are not restrained in some way.

[slotter]

Wow! Super summary of what's out there. Thanks for posting this. :biggthump:

[azlew]

I've played with all of the autostops that I could find that claim to work with almost every machine built in the last 15 years. I have "evaluated" the PachisloUSA chip (version 1.1), the pachislo.com board, and the Autoslot "extension" cable......

Chris :

That is a fantastic review

THANKYOU !!!!

[Firewire]

Excellent Work!!!!!!


I am going to waive your membership dues this month!

We may take your post and put it in the Tip, Tricks section.

[cwstnsko]

Is there a reason I can't edit the body of my post any longer?

I spoke with a nice gentleman at pachislo.com earlier today. We went through a full reset with one of their boards in the machine to see if it would clear up my problem, but the problem returned within a few minutes. They gave me a choice of getting a replacement board or waiting a week or two for their cheif engineer to finish up a new version of their board.
Since I already know how the existing version works, and they may not sell any more, I opted to stand by for the new model. I'll post here when I hear more and definetly give a full breakdown when the send one out to me.

[Firewire]

I think there is a time limit to editing a post, but if something needs editing just let a moderator or myself know.

[Freelance]

I prefer the Autoslot. I love the fact that you can adjust the timings to match the game play and the settings hold.

Awsome review!

After that write up, I don't think I'm interested in any auto stop other than Vince's... Even if I have to wait for it I think.

[Tulsa]

The reason you can't edit your post is after an hour, it goes into pachi-lore to forever be seen as you typed it.

[autoslot]

OK, the AutoSlot Auto Stop is once again available. It is on E-Bay, or you can save a litle on shipping and order directly from my web site: http://www.autoslot.info/pachitalk.htm

It has a credit add feature only available to PachiTalk members who request it. Read details on the web page.

I'm also making available a Do It Yourself chip kit similar to the "other" Autostop chip, but with all the added functions such as storing the settings and adjustable stop times. http://www.autoslot.info/DIY.htm
(Available soon, I'm waiting on 8 pin sockets to arrive from my supplier.)

With both models, I'm including Quick T-Taps and spade disconnects to make the connections to the coin sensors simpler. (I REALLY like these!)

I've sent Chris W. a new cable and DIY kit today to try so he could test and post unbiased results.

Vince

[cwstnsko]

Lookingforward to getting the new stuff to check out.

Something Vince didn't dwell on that he told me is that his chip wires up exactly like the PachisloUSA chip, so if you have the PachisloUSA chip, and want to try Autoslot features, order the DIY kit, swap the chip to his, and you have Autoslot features without having to re-mod your board :-)

I need to send E-mail to pachislo.com as well. They are supposed to be sending me theri next-generation auto-stop mod as soon as it's ready.

More good things to write about soon.

[Czyotto]

Vince (AutoSlot) & Chris: Are you saying that I can swap the "other chip" with the AutoSlot chip and when I turn off the machine I will not lose the settings? If that is correct I will buy the chip from you and you don't even have to send the socket.

[autoslot]

That is correct. Pin for Pin compatable swap. My design uses a microcontroller with EEPROM to store the settings, without needing a battery backup.

[pachitom]

Autoslot
I have two of the "other chip" I would like to replace with yours. If you would sell the kit minus the socket let me know, I would like not to have to resetup after turning on machine.

Thanks

[autoslot]

Yes, I will sell a bare bones chip (available now) to anyone who wants to upgrade their existing chip. I've made this available on my web page:
http://www.autoslot.info/pachitalk.htm

Vince

[delphicoder]

That is correct. Pin for Pin compatable swap. My design uses a microcontroller with EEPROM to store the settings, without needing a battery backup.

Hi AutoStop. Please forgive such a lame question from me: I was under the impression that EEPROMs had a limited number of "writes" that they could handle. Does your EEPROM overcome that? Again, I apologize for such a stupid question.