Just to be clear I agree wired is the way to go for Pinball. I only went down the BT path because I think with the cost of wire and the jack its actually cheaper to implement and we all know Stern likes the cheap route. The issue of multiple machines and pairing are valid and would be a pain with BT.

I the home environment there are several interestng things you can do with bluetooth output, if it is additional to standard output. Light effects, head phones or external speakers / subwoofers. So it really depends.

I guess I agree with both arguments. Bluetooth is dirt cheap and should be standard, your are correct it would be awesome for subs or surround speakers. For headphones wired is probably the way to go for Pinball. Now you got me thinking how good SW or GotG would be with surround sound. Pinball through my home theater audio would be epic. The right answer is why not both

You can make the knob only control headphone volume that’s default behavior actually .

Yes please. Would love to see the connector that plugs into the Spike 2 CPU board. Is it just a standard molex connector?

I’ll get pics tonight ... it’s like the node board connectors .

Huge thanks in advance!!! Really looking forward.

For context:
I have an export machine, so my goal is to modify the kit to make it fit into the tournament button hole. My interest is mainly the dimensions and details of a possible PCB and mounting of it on the reverse side of the coin door plate.

I have had no problem with the $100 cost from Pinnovators, but you do also get dedicated sub woofer output jack as well which is awesome.

Does this help ? The dial will be your biggest issue .

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Pretty sure it’s proprietary as it works with the software though most of the logic looks to be in the spike 2 board their cost on this accessory is low ... but I guess it’s like unlocking a feature on the Tesla

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Thank you for posting this!

To me it looks like it shouln't be a problemn to unsolder the dial and introduce an extension between the board and the dial. It's rather crude electronics.
That way the dial will most likely fit into the tournament button. If not it can probably be replaced by a equal spec/ different dimensions type of dial.
The jack itself can be fitted with an extension cable from amazon and re-routed anywhere elseon the pin or be connected internall with a BT transmitter.

Unless pinnovators come out with something more meaningful or practical aoon I think I will run the "risk" of ordering this and adapting it to my needs.

It's Pinnovator's or nothing for me. My Aerosmith awaits.

No need to do cabinet wires for your spike 1 or spike 2 system. We sell the spike sub adapter on our site that works for both systems for $35. Plug and play, also generates a better signal to the sub.

http://www.pinnovators.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=48

Your saying that I can use the sub adaptor from my GBLE on my Bat66LE ?

The link doesn't show that in the compatibility tab.

Yes. The spike sub adapter works on spike 1 and 2.... so every spike game from wwe to guardian of the galaxy and what else comes through

I've been using the cabinet speaker level connection to the sub. Are you saying your adapter will yield better sound than using this method?

Since your adapter taps into the backbox speakers, does it generate stereo sub signal or does your adapter mix it into a mono signal?

If your research what people have posted on other threads, anyone who’s switched from speaker taps to using my sub adapters will tell you they have to turn the subs down.
Yes the signal from the adapter is a stereo signal

I am a true believer in the sub adapter. It is a great product.
Still waiting on headphone jack system for my Aerosmith though.
Not buying Sterns if there is even a slight chance of Pinnovators getting one done.

I received the Stern Spike 2 kit today and was pleased to see that it has a couple of user selectable options:
1) The knob on the plate can control the volume for the headphones only or the headphones + cabinet
2) You can select whether or not you want to mute the cabinet when you plug in headphones

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what I miss for the bluetooth i to control CAB only. Bluetooth would always be plugged in. So the cab is what eeds to be turned down...

That Stern headphone plate looks like crap with that stupid sticker!! I just bought a Spike set up for my Kiss from Pinnovators and I love it! I am sticking with Pinnovators for these kits, this is one of my favorite mods.

Yea I agree wish it was just black ... I prefer pinnovators as well but they aren’t making one for spike 2

If you want bluetooth so bad just plug in a bluetooth transmitter.

A good one is like $30 on amazon.

Thats always been the plan - you post makes it seem like I hadn't mentioned that before. However, I would need to volume control the cab only for that reason.

It looks to me like there's barely any actual electronics here. The connecters are very standard 0.1" pin-headers. Then there's just a pot and a headphone connecter. The actual electronics are probably on the Spike board itself.

A casual glance at the picture says that anyone dedicated enough could build this for $10, and get the full functionality of the menu system as well.

I agree.
Looks as simple as it gets with off the shelf parts.

slots let you do volume control. Golden tee golf has player volume control

hello i' m french
i am new on pinside

the stern kit seems simple. Could someone tell me the pinout cn3 on spike-2 cpu?
or take pictures of the connector on the CPU and PCB with the headphone jack and the button.
thanks
regards

I have a Starwars Premium that I bought new in March and now it is detecting headphones and I haven't connected a thing to it. It's continually showing the headphone volume adjustment menu and playing the theme music at random. It also has disabled the service buttons so I can't access the menu. I called Stern and they have never seen this and are sending me a new sd card because they think it's corrupted somehow. I am baffled.

Check the wiring that’s bundled together right behind the start button or tournament button. I had a few stragglers not strapped in and I think they were grounding each other or up against the start button; can’t really remember to be honest but it was causing similar issues with my volume controller and not allowing me to use the service buttons. Once I rebundled them and strapped them in so they couldn’t get metal on metal contact, all was good.

Cool, thanks a lot. I will try that.

The component with the knob, it's not a potentiometer. What is it?

It looks like a potentiometer to me based on the picture above. It has 3 leads to the circuit board under the case. The 2 outside leads look like mounting tabs. Using an ohm meter, you could tell for sure.

It's not a potentiometer - I ordered a kit and did a bit of investigation before installing it. It's a rotary incremental encoder. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incremental_encoder)

My thought was this kit is expensive, and I can probably make my own for way less once I understand how the Stern kit works. After looking at it in detail, sure enough, it would be trivial to make your own for a few dollars worth of parts, but my conclusion after installing the kit is if I want this feature in another game I would absolutely buy another kit - it's worth it (for me) for the level of polish and finish on the game. I just love the faceplate that installs on the coin door with the jack and knob. FYI I end up using the volume knob not just when I'm plugged in with headphones, but also when on speakers to adjust the volume there (there's a software setting to turn that on or off)

Here's a quick video I took when poking at it a while back, showing how it's an encoder, along with a detail photo. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out given the PCB pins are labeled as such

headphone.jpg

Here is the wiring diagram of the entire unit, as I understand it. I created that based on a mod a user sold me, which was soldered with individual wires and not a PCB.

A video of the re-created kit is here:

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The photo shows it after removing all the hot glue. I tore off a connection but resoldered it according to this diagram and it works perfectly. The round unit on the right is the headphone jack, with jack facing downwards. The top unit is the incremental encoder with knob facing down as well.
Would you be able to figure out details on the incremental encoder used? If so, it would be easy to buy. The ones I found (STEC11B13) require 5V power - will those be OK?
Wiring diagram for CN13 (resized).png

The reason behind all this is that in Europe we have coin doors without the dollar bill hole. We simply can't mount the official kit. My approach would be to place the volume knob in the plug for the tournament button. The headphone jack would come out the coin return with a loosely hanging cable, as I dont want to drill my cabinet or coin door.

Probably - just looked up the datasheet for the one you mentioned and it looks similar enough. Don't think voltage is too critical as all these do is short ground to each signal pins in rapid succession in alternate order (A then B, vs B then A) depending on the direction the knob is rotated, and this is all low voltage stuff. It's such a cheap part you could easily buy one, wire it up and see if it works... please report back

Who are you to make my work public?

it s my video !!! my work !!
I will never have to sell you a kit !!

you are really a ..

I never claimed it to be mine. It's definitely not. You reverse engineered the Stern kit yourself, which nobody here has a problem with.
Buying a kit from you I would still recommend anyone, because it's a great kit and absolutely worth the money, even compared to making your own - if that form factor suits you. I do believe that open documentation helps the hobby to survive. The value of your kit is in no way diminished by it because what your charging is absolutely fair for the labor and everyone will see that.

Just ordered one from pinnovators for my Iron Maiden Pro. Looks like a nice piece.

Thanks Sprudeldudel for sharing this information.

Just a small remark about the connection diagram.
This numbering does not match that of Stern. The counting is from top to bottom 7,6,5,4,3,2,1

By the way,
If someone needs a low budget connection.
Pin 4+5 bridges
Connect 3 wire cable to pin 1+2+3.

1 GND
2 Left
3 Right

In the front the free hole can be used to install the 3,5 headphone Jack.

Volume must then be set in the menu.

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