This is the prototype mech, which is why I was confused. Figured it out, but it wasn't the ramp relax setting. The upper right lock saucer was "dead". One activation by finger of the upper right saucer and the ramp arose from its decades long slumber with the zeal of a fire alarm in a high school on senior prank day.... Now the tower diverter isn't working. Good stuff.

I'm going to be joining the club this weekend....just hitting the club up for any suggestions regarding mods/things to look out for/ upgrades...I need to shop it - any suggestions for rubbers? I was thinking going Titan silicone light blue on the flips and clear everywhere else. Probably a Cliffy ramp protector....I think I'll need to update the ROMs....

Always open for feedback!

Matt
M&M Creations

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When I had mine I remember getting Cliffys because that left out hole is getting hit constantly. I did throw mirror blades in and they worked really well since the back board for the playfield is mirrored as well.

I went with clear titans to help with lighting. The machine is pretty challenging to shop out as there are just so many parts to it. I posted a ways back how you can perch the back of the playfield up in the glass trim to make access a lot easier, just be sure to throw a towel in there so you don’t scratch the dmd.

I've 'landed' an Airborne....I'm officially in the club...

Drove from Indy to Long Island last weekend with my son...bought it from a guy that had it 10 years and wasn't on Pinside, RGP nor Facebook...he had a lot of NOS mechs to go with it...

So, first thing I've done is got Cliffy the specs for the left ramp flap - mine was half there - but now Cliffy will be making replacements for all owners!

I've got to de-LED the backbox- no OCD board - he didn't understand that...maybe one will come up soon and I can keep them...I've got to replace the flipper bats - but all I can find is black - be nice to find some yellow - but black won't look too bad....re-rubber with Titans...update the ROMs, replace some drop target decals, fix a popped weld on one of the wireforms, put on a kickout and right ramp protector...

And rebuilt the 4 standup targets - the plastic on them are shot....and no foam backings...one of them is missing the gold contact on the blade - what have folks been doing for the standups....looks like some are in Australia - but I assume they can be rebuilt....

Anyway - open to feedback as I head towards the shop job....

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I saw some pretty nutty ways to get a Capcom playfield up and open for shop....but to be honest - it made little sense to me how it stayed put - the things I saw could easily cause the playfield to dislodge...maybe there was a secret that wasn't depicted in the photos (I reached out to the OP's but no one cared to clarify) - but I would not recommend what I saw....so here's what I did....simply make a jig to hold it....scrap wood and 30 minutes and it was done....Airborne ready for shopping!

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Sorry I couldn't / wouldn't help, but glad you figured something out. I was out of town for my 10th wedding anniversary and didn't want to entertain getting on the phone and talking about shopping a pin I traded away more than a year ago. I would prefer to stay married and out of the dog house.

Here is a post in the pinball magic forum that shows the same thing
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-magic-club/page/42#post-6337280

Nearing completion on the shop-job....um, yeah - wow....but anyway - I found out quickly that the manual and ALL the kits I found out there are not correct if you choose to replace all the rubber in the pin....here is the correct and complete rubber kit (you don't have to mimic my colors) for Airborne:

https://www.titanpinball.com/kits/index.php/view/id/2177

4 years later...I found my left scoop opto wasn't working - and saw the resistor was missing...same thing...all the resistors are 330 ohm, but in the manual/schems it calls for a different value...as soon as I snag one to replace I'll report back - but the manual is definitely wrong...

Matt

So...since my partner at M&M has a proto-Airborne - we confirmed the manual matches the proto for the opto board resistors (560 ohms) but that is not what went into production (330 ohms)....got the left scoop fixed and the flippers rebuilt...Airborne is done! Lots of work for that pin...but damn is this a fun pin!

matt

I love mine! Good audio and some different game playno doubt. Fun fun. I just need to find a right plastic ramp. Mine is a little melted looking lol

Got word from Randy P today that Airborne colorization is in progress...no ETA...but sounds promising....I can't wait to see those dots....

Matt

Hello Airborne fans,

There is an Airborne available out here in New Mexico, and it appears priced pretty well at $2,700. I am not the seller (nor do I know the seller), but when I saw what they are selling for here in the market, I thought you might like to know about it. Checkout Craigslist for Albuquerque.

That's a steal no matter the condition.....

I am working on the sticker from the middle of the apron.
They will be 1to1 and die cut for peel off and exact measurements. Also the decal above the shooterlane is in work.
If you need one , let me know.

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I need the plastic over the shooterlane .... someone has one left, a source or a good scan for me ?

I have right now 3 Airborne and this plastic is broken on every machine ...

Hi I just joined the club with my project one and realize I’m missing the back left ramp, was hoping somebody on here has one or has a parts machine? I don’t care really what kind of shape it is in since mine is missing altogether. Plus I plan to repro it if I do happen to find one

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Hello everyone - been working on this game the past couple of days, have a little damage on the driver board, but the game will fire up and go into attract mode, the DMD is completely blank. Any tips with where I should begin to look? Display, power, and cpu boards looks great, connections all line up, display itself looks clean and free of damage. Was hoping to get into the menus, could be related to the driver board damage - but not sure. Just looking for some direction, thanks!!

have a look here:

https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Capcom_Repair

And a very close look on the DMD powerboard next to the CPU. This has often faulty capacitors.
Maybe you can buy/borrow a Pin2DMD display which only needs 6 - 18 Volts and is great for testing purposes. Also check the flat cables that they are connected right.

Nice to see another Airborne in the area!! If you want to borrow a colordmd or my DMD power board you are welcome to!

Do any of you know which plastic trim/channel Capcom uses around the translite? I tried a couple different pieces I found at Marco, can't seem to find any that work well. Drop me a link if you know of some that would work!

I am wondering, WMS standart should fit. Maybe use some tape on the bottom side of the glass if it is too losse.
The plastic H-Molding on top of the speakercover is also WMS but other holes must be drilled and shortened a little.

I have these, along with a lot of other parts, but probably a long way to you from Austria.

Here's a question - just need a little direction. I haven't gotten this in-depth troubleshooting before - but basically I have finally got my game up and running, and there are a couple of problems:

The loop coming from J23 on the lamp board seems to have some kind of wiring issue - basically certain lamps are stuck on, or won't come on at all, and cause lamps on other loops to freeze up as well - unplugging the J23 connector on the lamp board allows all the other lights to behave correctly. Plugging it back in creates some jank.

Also, the tower diverter coil doesn't fire and I can't find anything specifically wrong with it, solder joints look good, moves freely, so some direction there would help as well.

I put a brand new power driver board and lamp/solenoid board in - so I don't think the problem is with the board, but maybe the wiring or one of the other boards in between?

Actually, I have no idea what's going on, J23 is unrelated, it looks like J2 (Red) and J6 (Yellow) are the ones with issues.

Yep so, here's what I figured out so far - the main ribbon cable that goes from the driver board to the switch board to the CPU is touchy - I blasted it with some canned air and re-seated it, and that seemed to resolve part of the issue with the lamps freezing. The other issue was one of the wires in the connector for J2 needed to be jostled around a bit. So here we are, lamp issues 'solved' (I think I should get a new ribbon cable and fix the J2 connector just to be safe) - but that Tower Diverter coil which is the purple/brown wire that goes to J21.1 still won't fire. I traced the wire from the coil all the way to the driver board and it seems 'fine' - anything I could test further to diagnose?

I believe you should be able to fire that coil - have to double check the schematics (you have them right?) or PinWiki/Clay's guide - like any other coil - by grounding the tab on the transistor for that coil - that will tell you 1 of 2 things...it'll at least tell you that power is present and that wiring is good - but that doesn't mean the transistor is good - you are technically bypassing it...you should be able to test the transistor in circuit though - and get a read of that...before you replaced the driver or switch board - did it work?

Matt

Thanks Matt - when the game is powered on, current is at about 79 on either pad, when the game is powered off it's showing 0.2 ohms which to me makes it seem shorted, the other coils in the game are 3-4ohms powered off which is usually a good range. I'm not really sure what to do to track that down or fix it from there - I don't know if it worked before the boards were replaced - because the game didn't function at all prior to that =)

Thanks for your help!!

General Solenoids in Capcom machines are driven by an STP20N10L logic level N-channel MOSFET. When a solenoid problem occurs the software will report a solenoid problem in the diagnostics.

Locked on solenoid A locked on coil is often caused by a defective MOSFET driver on the driver board. With the power off, first test the resistance between pin 2 (middle) and 3 (right) of the MOSFET, disconnect the connector to the affected coil first so you only measure on the MOSFET. When the resistance is zero or close to zero the MOSFET is defective and needs to be replaced. Before powering on the machine after replacing a defective MOSFET, test the coil's resistance and check the tie back diode and it's connections because these are the main causes for a defective MOSFET. If the MOSFET seems to be good next to test is the input of the MOSFET on pin 1 (left) for a signal. When there's no pulse on pin 1 while testing the solenoid in diagnostics it could be a defective 74LS74 driving the MOSFET.

Non working solenoid A non working solenoid is often caused by a broken wire but other causes are possible. The easiest to check is the solenoid itself so check the resistance of the coil first. When the solenoid's resistance is very high or when it doesn't have any resistance at all the coil wire might be broken from the solder tab. When the solenoid seems ok check for continuity of the wires to the coil. When the wires check out fine as well the problem might be caused by a defective MOSFET driver. Check pin 1 (most left pin) of the MOSFET for a signal while the solenoid is activated in diagnostics, if there's a signal the MOSFET is probably broken, if there isn't any signal on pin 1 it's probably caused by a defective 74LS74 driving the MOSFET. After replacing a MOSFET, check the tie back diode and it's connections because in this case this is the main cause for a defective MOSFET.

Repeatedly broken MOSFET driver When a defective MOSFET is replaced but fails again after a short period of use, or even the first solenoid activation, test the coil's resistance and check the tie back diode and it's connections because these are the main causes for a defective MOSFET. This also occurs when a wrong type of MOSFET is used, a non logic level MOSFET (IRF540 for example) will not be driven correctly because the gate voltage will be insufficient to fully drive the MOSFET causing it to get too hot and fail.

STP20N10L MOSFET alternative In case of a defect STP20N10L MOSFET, this part is getting scarce but it can be replaced by the IRL540N which is readily available. Do NOT use the IRF540N instead (not logic level)! Please note that these MOSFETS are quite sensitive to static electricity.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/mampm-creations-mrs-catalog/page/3#post-7682526

We have developed the first MRS application for a spinner...luckily for Airborne owners - it was chosen first to demonstrate the technology....From the Capcom catalog it appears that BBB uses a different style for it's spinner, Breakshot has none, who really owns a Kingpin, and let's not mention the soccer one - leaving Airborne and - it seems - Pinball Magic for this application. That said, Airborne is easy to install - but Pinball Magic is much more difficult to reach and install....

Matt & Dan - M&M Creations

Thought I'd pass it along for what it's worth....put a spacer on the 8" woofer in your Airborne (probably Pinball Magic and other Capcom's are the same)...stock speaker, or not!!

I was upgrading cabinet mid/woof's in some pins...invariably, I thought why not upgrade my Airborne mid/woof....I'm not sure what made me check - but I realized the new speaker was bottomed out on the cabinet (I thought it could)...out of curiosity after examining it, I put the original woofer back in and noticed it too was bottomed out - from the factory!!! There are only 3 Airborne's in my state - and tonight I was able to check the other 2 as well - same deal....even though Capcom put a decent woofer in the cabinet - they did not use a spacer and the foam surround is bottomed out - robbing you of bass...I printed a spacer and noticed an improvement in the stock, I kept the spacer for the new speaker as well....very viable improvement in bass - -check for yourself!

Matt

Question for the club:

I love when the multiball starts and the pin goes crazy.
*BUT* I miss some extra beacons. So from a Alien project I have 2 LED beacons left over. To connect them I need a lamp or flasher which is only in the multiball mode activ and stops after the last ball from the multiball went out.
Alternate I could work with a timer but it would be perfect to have the beacons on all the multiball over.

Any ideas ??

Ordering today.....

Matt

I have been waiting forever for this color dmd.
Ordered mine.

This is one of the few machines I have that I've been waiting for a ColorDmd. Definitely will be a great upgrade.

I'm getting a mold done for the right ramp/shooter lane. Let me know if you interested in a brand new ramp. It will be thicker and a better graded plastic. I'm working with a plastic shop out here. I will see what my cost is first.

Thanks.

Very cool work ! I never saw such details on the normal DMD !!!

Anyone need a 5 piece set of cabinet art? Ordered over 6 months ago and got lost in the mail, sold the machine. $125 plus shipping (1/2 off).

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I can not find the firmware download right now ?!
Will swap the colordms´s a little around before buy the next.

Typical Randy....he noted in the email I got 'targeted' for release on 1/12....so, I'd expect any day now the ROM will be up on the site....

Matt

It's there!
for newer displays:
https://www.colordmd.com/support_firmware_chroma.html

Sorry, still can not find it.
Also refreshed my browser.

Try this direct link to the chroma.rom file

https://www.colordmd.com/download1.php?rom=AIRBORN_4_0

Thank you nerbflong !!

The ColorDMD is installed: WOW !! What a great work !
I have ColorDMD in BBB, PM, BS and now in AB. AB is the bummer !!

I'm glad you like the coloring! Although I'm confused that you call AB the bummer and I'm hoping that's a language thing because in English a bummer means disappointment.