Count me in! BH is almost pinball perfection IMHO. Owned my BH since 2004 and it has been very reliable (hope i didn't jinx it) since I went over it and did all the upgrades.

I still remember when I first saw BH in the back of an arcade in Bristol, UK in 1981/2. I was almost scared to play the game and it was set at 50p/game which back then was equivalent to $1.25! I played until my money ran out (not long!). I never got to play another BH until I got one in my own collection - every game I came across on location was out of order (no surprise)!

Just for a laugh here's the homemade reset board that was in my BH when I purchased it I haven't dared to touch it since I got the game so assume it is working fine.

BH Reset Board Hack.JPG

Nice! Details please...

Same here, I always line the bats up with the guide. As in most things in life, droopy is not good

Another reason to get the upper right standup targets is that they light the lower yellow drop targets for 3000 (3 Ball). Now if you have both gforce lamps lit (for 3x scoring) lit and 5x multiplier lit each yellow drop target is worth 3000 x 3 x 5 = 45,000

My gameplay strategy is this:

Get at least one gforce lit on lower pf by completing either upper drop target bank.
Complete all four (or at least 3) yellow standups to light lower yellow drops
Avoid going to lower pf until the above two tasks have been completed as the bonus you earn will be minimal.
When you do get to the lower pf, complete 3 bank ASAP to open return gate at tube.
Whack away at the yellow drops and increase bonus multiplier by completing lower loop.

I don't usually try and setup for multiball but when I do get it it really can be an amazing pinball experience. I can get into an almost zen like state looking through pf window not really focusing on any ball in particular just trying to react to action on top and bottom pfs simultaneously. You'll understand when you get there....

Show off! One day I'll get 7 digit scoring going on mine...

Love,love, love my Black Hole!!!! It's almost pinball perfection IMHO....but the one thing I hate, more than draining the ball back through the gate, is getting 2G lit and then having the ball drain immediately, meaning you have to start all over again. grrrr just happened to me. I had all the yellow standups completed, knocked the last drop target down to light 2G and then bam, STDM. No chance to even go to the lower pf and rack up some monster bonus. If you just have 1G lit and drain then it carries over to the next ball.

If I were able to change the rules, I would make 2G carry over from ball to ball until the lower playfield has been played at least once.

Rant over.

Just had a great game on my beloved BH 2.4Million on 3 ball setting and only a million of my high score. I keep my high score sheet in the game and as I was looking for it I found a hard drive I had stashed away for safe keeping that I thought I had lost

BH is the fastest game I have ever played. Mine seems to be getting faster with old age... or is it me getting slower?

Thanks for the heads up Ed. Just ordered my adapter

My shooter looks the same as yours (and my other Gottliebs) - never worried about it.

I got three multiballs in one 3 ball game. On two occasions though I didn't clear either lower target bank to gain re-entry Grrrrrrrr

I love this game!

Going to spend the evening with crimper in hand and convert my BH to seven digits Wish me luck!

Thanks Steve!

Had a good night; added the additional wiring and re-pinned the Player 1 connector - that's enough for tonight!

Minor problem .... the nipple on the back of the 7 digit display in Player 1 position is interfered with by a screw that secures a PCB standoff. Will look at that tomorrow.

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_{Post edited by woz: added pic}

I only have 3 displays right now and they all have the cap installed so countersinking the screw sounds like the way to go. Thanks for the tip.

The upper playfield looks nice as it has factory(?) mylar installed. Good luck with the restoration - good to see another BH saved!

And this why you need 7 digit scoring on BH Finished the conversion a few weeks ago and all went well. Still awaiting my Player 4 display though

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For those that want to convert their games to 7 digit scoring all the info is here:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/converting-any-system-80-6-digit-gottlieb-to-80a-7-digit

Thanks to Steve (blownfuse) for compiling all the conversion guide. I the followed the instructions verbatim which confirms the wiring and pinouts are correct Why did Gottlieb have to completely remap the connector pinout when they went from 6 to 7 digits? Grrrrr!!

The hardest part was finding some decent wire that was long enough and similar in colour to match the existing wire from an old wiring loom.

I also got to use a friends Hakko desoldering tool to remove the original PROMS and I must say that I was very impressed with how well it worked. Think I may pick one up myself now.

Also thanks to Ed at GPE for supplying the PROM adapter.

https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=140-101

The quick boot is a nice addition using the new PROM though it took me by surprise the first time I powered up!

5X bonus lit and 302,180 bonus on the lower pf I think I ended up with 350K.

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I only really needed one 7 digit display as I only ever use the Player 1 position anyway

BH has been my goto game for the last few months...I just can't stop myself! My game seems to be getting faster...or is it just me slowing down?

A few tweaks to the rules and it would be pinball perfection.

The lower playfield only scores bonus points which are displayed in the lower playfield display.

Bonus points scored on the lower playfield are added to the main score when the ball in play drains in the outhole.

Displays being garbled: the bonus and credit displays share the same 7448 segment driver Z23 on the MPU board. I would start looking there. Things to try...

- Check that A10P5 and A10J5 are securely plugged together.

- With the power OFF disconnect the bonus display and see if that changes anything. If not reconnect the bonus display and disconnect the credit display. Don't forget to turn power OFF when disconnecting/reconnecting the displays or you will do damage to the MPU!!!!!!!

Just received the last display and now the 7 digit conversion is complete!

Has anyone converted an MGOW to 7 digit? I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble but it would be cool to have

BTW all the 7 digit displays I have came from Cavemans that had been parted out - not sure how many working ones are left out there of that title.

Black Hole 7 digit.jpg

Had a pretty good first ball last night: 5X multiplier, 2G lit, extra ball earned and still two balls in play from multiball.

Needless to say balls 2 and 3 and the extra ball were shite!

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Just broke 3,000,000 on a 3 ball game

BH just keeps sucking me in for more. I love this game! except when you just light 2G and then the ball immediately drains and you have to start over again.

I think you summed up the BH experience perfectly!

Well I learned something today. After all the games I've played on BH I didn't know this!

Does Pascal's board support 7 digit displays (for those of us that have done the conversion)?

That's been my strategy as well. Uniformed players will shoot for the lower pf because it's just so cool but before they have set it up for maximum potential scoring.

BH Proto story here (scroll down to "The Story Behind Black Hole - Joe Cicak")

http://www.pinballnews.com/shows/expo2006/index6.html

and also here:

http://www.geocities.ws/system80pins/Blackhole-prototype-2.html

Super fast game - I waxed my playfield the other night and it's just wayy too fast for me right now! I would say BH is the fastest game I have ever played.

Another scenario that seems to occur all too often recently: setting up the lower pf for big bonus scores by lighting both lower pf G-Force lamps and yellow targets then SDTM. There is no carry over of the G-Force multipliers or yellow lamps and you have to start all over again

....or when you aren't even trying to catch the ball and it just rolls up the flipper and through the gate. bye bye.

A good multiball on Black Hole is a surreal experience when you have balls on both playfields. I find myself not really focusing on anything in particular and I just get sucked into the game ...

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Got my new high score today!! As per usual the majority of the points were scored on 1 ball lol

First pic is my bonus during ball 1 with 5X mult lit. When I took the pic I had just finished playing a multi-ball. The majority of the bonus was scored with only the 2G playfield multiplier lit. Game is set for 3 balls per game and earned 1 extra ball. I only beat my previous high score by 90K after getting 2.8M on the first ball

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Clean and check the U relay contacts as they control the upper flippers and GI.

Anyone installed a set of Mirco BH playfields yet? I've got mine ready, just trying to find the time as I have a few other projects to finish first.

frunch I did this mod to my Black Hole last night.... That gate clicking during attract mode has been bugging me for years.... but not any more lol.

The clicking you're still hearing is the L relay on the lower playfield which controls the lower playfield GI during attract mode.