As far as I've heard, he's halting all production until his parts stock get fully replenished and then some so he doesn't run into production issues again. But, that might still be a while yet, sadly.

I've used the one marco sells, but I'd say that Ingo's version is the one you'd want.

However, working clock is better than 'maybe I can get something better someday".

Marco:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/CLK001P

Pinball Life:

https://www.pinballlife.com/twilight-zone-clock-pcb-assembly.html

People often ask me about vintage pinballs... can I get parts for something made 30 years ago... I say... maybe.

What happens now is that somebody sees a need for a part, and some hobbyist makes a few. Then parts are available... until they run out. Then somebody sees a need for a part and makes a few...

Parts can come in fits and starts. Best advice is to buy while it's available, because maybe that hobbyist won't produce that product ever again, or it might be years until the part is made again.

This is particularly true with 'better than factory' parts. Like Ingo's Clock board. Like the 'auto-sensing eddy board' that was briefly available. Playfields. Ramps. It can be difficult to get what you want when you want it.

Good luck with your restoration... I'd probably buy Marco's replacement, and try to get an order pending with Ingo, if he ever makes these again.

I waited for about a year from Ingo, just recently canceling.

Slow responses and repeated bad excuses of it ships in 2 more weeks for the last nine months. I was willing to wait and did very patiently, only asking for update every couple months. In the end i felt, i didn’t want to support the lack of honesty.

Skip Ingo's.... you'll have a new one tomorrow from PBL or Marco and it works great. Not worth the headache of trying to get it. Many have tried in the past couple of years and nobody has succeeded unfortunately.

I bought the Casper board from PBL and it works great.

https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.pinball/c/FY0bSS7UqaA

Scroll down to the post by GPE (Ed). It gives you a good reason to get Ingo's board. Take it from Ed. He knows his electronics sh*t. The other boards currently available for purchase (RottenDog CLK001, Caspers Electronics 103501, PindoraBox) all use the TCS1103 directly on the switch matrix. The other side effect of this is that there is a 470 Ohm 1/2W resistor that heats up quite a bit. Some of these boards attempt to deal with the GI AC to the LEDs. Some don't. It looks like there is a bridge rectifier on Ingo's board to properly convert the AC to DC to drive the LEDs instead of using the AC input.

A lot of other slotted opto boards (not just the TZ clock boards) on the market also suffer from the same TCST1103 on the switch matrix problem. Only one (other) board manufacturer implemented a separation of driving the slotted opto from the switch matrix. Unfortunately, that manufacturer no longer makes their boards.

The Ingo board is a masterpiece. It squeezes an amazing amount of stuff in a small amount of available space with lots of hazards (fixed component locations).

ingo_front.jpg

A little birdie hinted that there is something in the works.

clock_board.jpg

That’s all well and good but it’s 100 percent unavailable.

Not going to disagree with you.

I generally don't like posting things like vaporware. The board is in fabrication at this time. It is a ways out from being available. Consider it a courtesy notification of a potential future product.

Negativity is fine but I prefer to be positive about things. The glass is half full not half empty.

Only if the glass is being filled. Its half empty if it’s being consumed.

My clock works fine and I’ve been waiting to order german-pinball clock board for about 2 years, hopefully he is able source parts and start producing the again. I think some people in the EU were able to get them but from what I read it was hard for him to get them shipped to the States.

I will continue to wait patiently.

I'm assuming with all this unexpected down time, he's been working on v2.0?

Still waiting on mine. Fortunately mine is currently working. I ordered about a year ago and have sent emails occasionally and at first I did get the "should be shipping in two weeks". The latest said my order is number 2 in the cue, I'll see. I still would like to have one for back-up. I'll update if I hear more.

Finally gave up. I'm not sure what happened, I received email saying they had shipped a few, but didn't receive mine. He did give me a refund. Maybe in the future. For now my clock has been working.

My reproduction (redesign) board (rendered above) is available as an alternative to other popular boards available.

See https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/dumbass-test-and-reproduction-pcbs/page/24#post-7431461 and scroll to the end of that particular post. There is even an included video showing that you can perform the clock test on the bench!

A point to note: The board has unknown compatibility with PWM boards. The board expects AC input for the GI.