As mentioned in my Twister rewrite journey thread here - https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twister-software-rewrite-the-journey during the restoration of my own game i came to the conclusion that i should really make a new magnet processor board for this game and goldeneye. The one i have is hacked up to death and even though it works i'm not sure for how long.

So i've created my own version of the board with some improvements (mosfets drivers, reset switch, reset and power leds etc) and simplifications like i have done with my other pcbs products over the last few years.

Here are some pics of the prototype design.

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If you are interested in this project and would like one once they are available then please let me know in this thread. I am aiming for a price point of around £100 plus shipping though this isn't set yet.

No problem. Added to the list

Prototypes of my new magnet processor board have now been ordered I will soon have 5 test boards to mess about with and refine the design, make any tweaks etc.

I think its just twister and goldeneye

Thanks for all the replies and interest. Anyone who expresses interest here will be at the top of the order list

I am hoping to have the first prototypes board blanks here in a few weeks, so i will start to test and post updates here.

Regarding Lost in Space specifically, i don't think this game uses this board even though it has a similar/same spinning disc mechanism. This board is mostly about the ability to detect a ball crossing the magnet as well as having the power switch circuitry. I think on Lost in Space they just controlled the magna disc in a more traditional way from the main driver board and used timing for detect. If theres anymore info on this game though it would be interesting to know.

Latest updates on receiving the first prototype blanks is 14th/15th June

Will keep everyone interested here up to date

I ship anywhere in the world, no problem. Most of my products go to the USA along with Australia, Canada, France, Germany

The pic chip is still part of the design, though the pic chips will be brand new latest mircochip parts, not 25 year old parts. I have improved other areas of the design such as the driver section, but the pic chip holds the logic for the board and is integral to the sega design.

Prototype blanks should be arriving here today (11th june). Out for delivery

Prototypes arrived

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Part way through the first pcbs prototype assembly. I am assembling the processor section and the disc magnet drive and control section first. Then after this is tested i will assemble the diverter section. Theres a few things i learnt today to about how the diverter section is controlled which i'll talk about later.

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Finished the first part of the assembly now

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Here's a video on my instagram page of the first board test.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj73csIFvWE/?taken-by=mypinballs

Notice that there are now more leds to help you understand what the board is doing. Red led for 5v. Green led below that which tell you when the board is enabled and out of reset. And then the mag2 led which is more like a status led and blinks 3 times when the board is enabled. Previously though it was hard to know whether the board was enabled or idle as the mag2 led flashes then goes off. Now its easy to see.

I dont think they engineered a better way. This boards design is the ultimate in detection in my view. I think they just made the games cheaper and simpler using timing.

No problem i will go through a few things and explain the designs once i get further along, as well as other things that i have learnt regarding how the boards work in twister (and golden eye). I should point out that my design does include all the service bulletin updates as well as my own improvements.

I have also been experimenting with what likely failure points there are and what happens if certain components fail or are missing etc.

As a quick reply though , i believe there are a few causes of pic failure., Firstly the age of the chip as it is much more complex internally than just a std logic ic. Microchip have improved the production of the chips over time, being flash ram based now, but most complex ics (processors, ram, i/o ics) are borderline when plus 20 years old. Roll all of them into 1 single ic and you have multiple failure points.

Secondly the pic ic is reset repeatedly during the game cycle (at every ball start) this is so the board can reconfigure itself and keep an accurate picture of the magnets/core for detection. The design of this circuit was improved in the service bulletin as if the chip doesn't come out of reset reliably then the board is disabled. This is another reason why i've included a reset led on board. The reset line on all cpu type chips is a key area.

Some good progress today. The board is fully working. Both magnets work in game and i was able to test the diverter magnet in test to. (Something that did not work with my original board). Not without a lot of head scratching during the day though and plenty of swearing!, but my design is now proven

Pic of the fully assembled board

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Some videos of testing on my instagram page

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj-W9MWlZvO/?taken-by=mypinballs

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj-Y9Vhl4qY/?taken-by=mypinballs

I've also learnt a few more things today on what needs to be functional and installed for the board to work at all. Even though the board has 2 mirrored sections, one section is more important than the other and must be functional before the other will work etc. I believe this is because only 1 section is used to create the references after the board comes out of reset. If this initialisation doesn't not pass then the board will do nothing.

I have a question for owners of original boards. How many pins is the j1 connector on your game. 14 pins or 15 pins? The schematic says 14, but the original board i have has 15, but my connector only has 14. Possibly pin15 should be another +5v (same as pin14) Let me know what you board and connector is like. Also send pic of how your board mounts to your playfield underside.

Thanks. Looks like the connector is 15 pins but pin 15 itself isn't populated on the connector even though the board has 5v at pin 15.

Anyone got a goldeneye with board that they can take some pics of, so i can see how that board is connected and mounted?

More tests done today and the sense and grab is super responsive with the new board. Much better than my old tired board.

Thanks for the pics. Interesting that the board is mounted the opposite way round on golden eye with the connectors at the bottom. I've seen alot of twister boards where the disc magnet connector cable is stretched over to connect at the lhs (mag2)

https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=3976&picno=30443

Working through my updates for the first run of the boards. Initial run will be 25 i think. Have a few parts to move into better positions and also add a 50v led. I am also play testing the board in my game.

I don’t need any pics from lost in space but thanks for the offer just twister and golden eye use this board

A couple more of the wiring loom connections to the board on goldeneye would be good though

Added to the list. I will make sure everyone who expresses interest here is at the top of the order list. Once i have finished the revisions for v1.0 and the blanks are ordered for batch 1 i will contact everyone here so they can order and be at the top of the list, then i will add it to my website store page.

Currently testing a couple of tweaks to some resistor values on the sense circuit.

No problem. I've added you to the list. Once i have the v1.0 design completed and the first batch of blank pcbs ordered, i will contact everyone on the list with an invoice to order like with my other projects. Likely cost will be £125 plus shipping to your country. Boards will be fully assembled and tested.

Added to list

Update. The v1.0 board design is now complete and the first batch of blanks (25) will be being ordered this week. I have added a 50v led, the unused 15th pin on the J1 connector and also alternative connector positions for the 2 magnets, as i think having the board mounted with components facing left on Twister (when looking underneath the playfield) allows for a better connection and less stress on the magnet cables. There are also some other tweaks to the components used and some minor layout changes from the v0.1 board

sega magnet processor board v1.0 layout (resized).png

I am now starting the order list invoice process, which will be done from the order in which people contacted me here on the thread and privately. The lead time for the completed v1.0 boards will be around 4 weeks once i have the blanks here.

Added to the list

v1.0 blanks were ordered 31st July. Estimated arrived date to me is 22nd August give or take.

Update: So i received the blanks a few days ago! Yes sometime my schedule works out ahead

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The first v1.0 board is now built and has been successfully tested in my personal twister game so it will be heading state side shortly.

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Just sorting out some nice boxes and antistatic bags as well as the serial tags. Something that i already do on all my products.

On the orders front, i have invoiced the first 10 people on the order list so far and had about 7 paid up, so these will go out first, then i will invoice the next 10 people and so on etc. I dont want to hold on to peoples money for too far in advance, like with all my other products and because i build everything myself from all the sourced parts i like to have control over the time frames, so the wait isn't too long for folk. Working at Zidware did teach me a few things as well as to get payment upfront for contract work

I'm off to London for the weekend to see Iron Maiden live, play some pinball and meet up with old friends. Thanks again to all who have supported this project so far. You are all awesome and i hope we keep twister and goldeneye running for years to come \../

Boards are being assembled at present for the first set of orders. I aim to have them done, tested and shipped in the next few weeks. After that I will get the next set of invoices out for people on the list and start assembling those.

Completed boards waiting for testing. 4 of these are going to the USA and 1 to Germany

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All board upgrades are included in the my redesign, plus some of my own improvements, but you should still update the motor cabling itself, as that is outside of the scope of this project.

Also a note on receiving boards. As there are 2 chip versions for the board, the golden eye programmed boards will have a gold dot on the chip for easy identification. Also each board will have a serial number so i will be able to check which boards were sent for which games. May help in future when games change hands etc. Spare chips will be available should you wish to put your board into another game. Please DONT plug the board into a random game though without first checking which version the board is setup for.

The service bulletin mentions changing the usual neon bulb with a resistor in series with the cap already in place. As shown on my game below.

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I assumed that everyone wanting a board would already have done this playfield wiring update. If this isn't the case, then i can include the 22R 0.5W resistor in the box for people if that is wanted.

My board has all the board specific updates already applied to the design.

First lot of board orders are heading out the door. People who ordered a golden eye specific one should get a shipping notification via paypal. Twister orders are packed and ready waiting for the complimentary 22R resistor to be added to the box then they will go out to. The next lot of people in the queue will get sent invoices soon.

All orders paid for and waiting are now shipped. Onto the next batch.

£125 plus £20 tracked shipping

If you want to be included in the list let me know and i'll contact you when i get to you in the queue.

Great to hear. Another game back up and running

No problem. Added

Added to list

Not the board. On my game where all boards are tested there are no errors. I would check the diverter magnet in game play and also the diverter magnet fuse. If that's working then maybe an old error message thats not been cleared.

Quick note, i'm moving through the order list and contacting everyone who wanted to order a board in the order they got in touch privately or on this thread. Please make sure you respond to me so i know whether you still want to be included, otherwise i will move to the next person on the list

Quick note for owners. Please remember that my board works in 2 games and has a pic specific to that game in it. Installation of boards meant for another game will cause strange results, though will work to a degree.

For my own logistics, I mark every pic programmed for goldeneye with a GOLD dot on the ic. Pic ics for Twister have no dot and are just plain. Please bear this in mind if you buy 2 boards or want to swap the board to a different game. Contact me if you want an alternative pic for your board. Swapping pic ics is at your own risk though.

Latest invoices for people at the top of the queue have just gone out. Please check your pinside inboxes. These are the last boards i'm sending before the new year. After these go out its time for a rest and some christmas holiday cheer over at mypinballs hq I'm ready for the holidays! This year has been busy!

Cheers to all those that have supported this project so far. More to make next year.

Just a quick update to answer all the above questions since jan, Yes i am making these boards still and will continue to do so for as long as there is interest. Anyone who has expressed an interest here or via pm has been added to the wait list.

I have been moving offices over the last few months, so appologies for the slower than normal reply.

Boards are being built as fast as i can make them and keep the quality that is important to me, so sit tight and you will get one

So far around 18 boards shipped to people and their games saved

Put yourself on my list for a new board! Thats your best option The originals are usually pretty toasted

Yes I can add you the wait list. I am waiting for the next run of blanks (50x) to arrive. The first run (25x) are all sold now

Quick Update. I am now on batch 2 of these boards (50x) and the next 2 boards are ready to ship, so the people at the top of the wait list have been contacted with their invoices. There are 18 people after this in the queue.

Thanks all for the continued support with my products

Just replied. Added to wait list

£125 plus £20 postage tracked

Will add you to wait list

Just finished another 4 magnet processor boards, so please check your pinside inboxes. If you've been waiting awhile you may now be at the top of the list.

added to list

Yes, the board was supplied with the golden eye ic - gold dot

See post #108

The boards are plug and play. The PIC ics are included

Quick Update. The next few boards are ready to ship, so if you are in the queue check your pinside mail.

Also, i am in talks with various manufacturers here in uk to get the next 25 boards assembled for me. Demand with these is such that i cant keep up manually assembling them. There may be a small price increase to accommodate this, but the delivery times will be vastly increased. I'll keep everyone in the loop and continue to manually assemble in the mean time.

We have currently shipped around 40 boards to people and saved this number of classic sega games

Found a great manufacturer here in uk, so the next batch of 25 boards is about to begin assembly. We are just finalising the full list of parts required before shipping everything to them with the blank pcbs.

We hope to have boards for all people on the wait list soon. If all goes well then we will repeat this process in the future once all boards are sold and also for other products we make.

Boards are now being assembled and I are scheduled to be completed and ship to me 4th March

I will be contacting everyone on the list in the order they contacted me.

If you want to be added to the list now is the time

Once these 25 are sold we may do another run but other boards will be higher priority first

Feast your eyes pinheads. 25 new boards arrived today all assembled and ready to go to new homes. If you are on the wait list expect a message and invoice in the coming weeks as i work through the list

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Just to let everyone following this thread and waiting for boards. I have contacted via pm everyone on the wait list i believe now, so please check your pinside mail. Also if you haven't been contacted by me, please get in touch. There are a lot of magnet boards here waiting for new homes and pinball games to save Possibly the largest amount of magnet boards in one place for nearly 25 years!!

Thanks to all those that have paid for a new board. I am packing them up and getting shipping labels ready as we speak. Tracking details will be sent you as i work through them all. Cheers Jim

The short answer is if you have a problem related to the disc on Twister then the first step is to REPLACE the magnet controller board. It doesnt matter if the magnets appear to be working (grabbing the ball) as that is only 1 part of a complex board design. The board is also a switch input board and detect balls moving on the magnets and them being in the centre which then send switch signals to the main cpu board for it to turn on and off other devices etc. In this case the disc relay and therefore motor etc

Hope this helps. I'm back in the office monday if you want to order a replacement board.

All wait list orders are now complete. The product is now added for general sale on our store page.

Please see here if you want to order one:

https://www.mypinballs.com/electronics/store.jsp

Cheers

Quick Update. I've sold all the boards i've made now. (75 out in the wild saving games). I may have a couple of extras still, need to check, but after those go i will need to get another batch made. Depends on interest as to when i do this.

Update: Another 25 boards are starting assembly this week. This may be the final 25. Should have them here in 3-4 weeks ish. Price is now £170 plus shipping. Your choice of ic (Twister or Golden Eye). Twister orders will also get the motor upgrade resistor for free as per previous orders.

Cheers

Jim
mypinballs.com

Yes back in stock on my site

https://myPinballs.com

Yes i have a few left currently

order here:
https://www.mypinballs.com/electronics/store.jsp

Hi,

Yes the latest batch is all sold out now. (~110 made and saving games now) I can only make so many at a time! Best to grab them when they are available.

However, i may be able to make a few more to plug the gap, before the next main batch gets under way. Depends on the parts i have in stock. Its a complex process making boards for old games, especially in these global parts shortages times.

I'll reply to all the pm messages today.

Jim

An update. I now have had enough pm's and emails asking for more boards to make another run possible, so i will be sorting this out in the next few months. Another run or 25 or 30 most likely. Please be aware prices will be higher than before and it all depends on the lead time of the parts and parts sourcing. Electronics supply and sourcing is now an art form!!

If you haven't pm'd or got in touch and do want one in the next batch please let me know. This will mean you are ahead of the general sale.

Stay tuned..

New delivery today! X25 ready for action

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Thanks for the message. Most people just install these and then i never hear a thing again lol. I get alot of emails from people with broken old original boards though haha

IN progress.. Will update here once i have more stock in my hands