Closer to two weeks, we're currently getting slammed but are getting units produced as fast as we can. We've got most of the bulk orders done and shipped out to the folks that ordered those. The next batch goes out tomorrow.

We'll keep everyone posted on lead times. We're also preemptively ordering supplies so nothing grinds to a halt.

-- Jimmy

If BoF is shifting all of the GI (and feature lamp data) out via WS2812 or similar addressable scheme, we'll have to develop an interface board for it to accurately detect the state. For flashers, you can tap into mostly anything. BoF hasn't published a manual or anything yet from what we've been able to find, so TBD on that. I'm currently in search of a local game here to test with.

We don't tap into the game's native voltage for those reasons alone. We ship a power brick that can either be plugged into the game's service outlet or an external wall outlet. The GI sensing circuit is what controls whether or not the unit is on or off.

Pros are due for release in the November/December time frame!

Most definitely! Everything you need to get going is included with every kit.

Hey there! beltking is dead on. They're universal between games. The only difference is if you select a Stern Spike I or II game, we include a shaker motor interface cable that allows you to trigger your UV flasher lights from the shaker motor in Stern games.

Agreed! So to get the purple out, all you have to do is change the GI Flasher Mix setting. Setting that to 0 in the app will remove the purple entirely. Regarding the ambient lighting effects that BallyKISS1978 is asking about, the Pinlights controller board is designed to also follow the dimming/fades of the GI. So when you get something like looping supers and the GI dims, the light bars will dim too. If you mix in a little bit of the GI flasher setting, the UV/purple rails fade at a different rate, so when the lights go dim, that actually can add more of a purple tint to the playfield in really really low light. Personally for Looping Supers, I think it works. Anywho, definitely takes some tinkering. See the attached two pictures for a completely purple free GI setting vs the factory defaults.

PXL_20240624_184214971~2 (resized).jpg PXL_20240624_184236970~2 (resized).jpg

... damn, I need to dust off those ecto goggles.

Good morning all! Production updates here:

We're working overtime to maintain the current backlog timeframe. The good news is after next week we should be completely caught up, at which point customers who order should have their sets shipped by the following Friday (our regular cadence).

--- Pro Light Rail Testing ---

Pinlights Pro prototype light rails worked out really well, we're just making some tweaks to the design. We should be able to maintain the same 12V power system we have while also limiting heat output.

Our current light rails are the same as the Ultra Slim models, which are black powder coated aluminum. We are also surveying having plastic extrusions made, but are also investigating ways to cut down (or eliminate) warpage due to heat.

--- Magnetics ---
Our magnetic strips are custom spec 1/32 inch rolls. We then apply a foam strip behind the magnet to aid in heat dissipation (so that it doesn't delaminate) which brings the thickness closer to 1/16 inch. We have been testing a 1/16" magnet with an aggressive adhesive that is rated for temperatures well above what our lights would ever be exposed to (normally). This offers a much better "snap" when using either the in-cabinet magnet mounts or the low profile metal mounting brackets (almost aggressively so). We've also been testing with steel receptive tape and the adhesion properties are also excellent. Several variations of these formulations are in circulation right now (as well as on our games here). We hope to have this uniform over the next several weeks. As always, if you have issues, we'll make it right.

--- Power Options ---
This one comes from a customer of ours (Ron) as well as Frogman who had asked about alternative power supply options. Generally we avoid the 12V system in any game like the plague so we don't over-tax the power supply, hence we ship a power brick rated at 60W. However many people have other mods competing for the service port, which we understand. So we've been doing testing with some of the Stern Spike mod power supply kits from Pinball Life.

Our tests were as follows:
The actual power supplies that generate their own 12V rail from the game's 48V supply worked well. The pinlights board powered up with the game, the lights came on at full brightness. All we had to do was make a pigtail cable that attaches to the end of the Pinball Life cable that converts it to a barrel connector.

Board: https://www.pinballlife.com/accessory-power-supply-for-stern-spike-spike-2-system-machines-cabinet-mounting.html
Cable: https://www.pinballlife.com/PBL-600-0367-00
Our cable:

PXL_20240702_165410720 (resized).jpg

The full hookup in the cabinet:
PXL_20240702_164838348 (resized).jpg

As you can see in the cabinet, we connected the 48V line that was previously coming in at CN1 to the input side of the PBL power supply board. We then take the cable that came with the PBL power supply and hooked it to the Z-connector/capacitor and ran THAT into CN1 on the cabinet node.

Just make sure you keep that capacitor on the power input to the cabinet node board. As always, you do this at your own risk so triple check everything.

Power distribution boards such as https://www.pinballlife.com/PBL-600-0489-00 did NOT work. The lights were dim as the 12V line on the factory Stern power supply didn't supply enough current.

So, there ARE alternative power options for those who already have something plugged into their service port, they just cost about $60 extra, we'd also have to have a custom cable batch run, but that's not really a big deal.

--- App Updates ---
We've now got hundreds of users in our iOS testflight program and nearly everybody is able to manage their Pinlights without an issue. We made some changes in June that introduced additional functionality for people with different (more restrictive) network setups.

We are now working on full management/configuration capabilities over Bluetooth. This is ideal for those situations where WiFi isn't available or the network is too restrictive (like at convention centers/shows). We will make this available via Testflight/Google Play as well as a firmware update for your Pinlights boards over the next 1-2 weeks.

I also just want to say that I sincerely appreciate the support and patience from everyone while I work through the backlog. As one guy handling all of the hardware design, software design, assembly, fulfillment, support, etc, it is fantastic to have such great support while I work to streamline the production, QA, support processes etc.

-- Jimmy

Ooh! Good catch! I'll snag a couple of these! I've got some of my games with Pinvision displays (WPC) and sets of pinlights. These will work beautifully (and are super cost effective). Thanks for the tip!

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll update my listings and include A/B photos comparing the two!

For reference, Ultra Slims are basically Pinlights Classic Editions mounted to a slimmer aluminum light bar. The regular plastic light bars are 0.65" wide, the aluminum light bars are 0.4" wide.

As soon as I get off my ass and write some code! Thankfully getting closer to catching up on orders!

The Classic Editions are basically "What you need" lighting (I use the term "need" loosely). Fully diffused warm white, cool white GI illumination with a UV/purple flasher rail. So you can mix the shade of GI you want, and the system integrates with the game's GI and one flasher circuit.

The pro models will have GI in addition to full RGB capability with 4 trigger inputs. So you can simply set the system up to say "When the shaker motor on trigger 1 goes off, do a fire effect up the length of the playfield." or "When the flasher on trigger 2 goes off, flash the rails bright red". We'll definitely have more information/demo videos on that as the software gets closer to completion!

-- Jimmy

Sure, you can, just let me know and I'll make a note on your order and toss them in. We have thousands of them. Or, if you don't want to wait, just snag some on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/GBSTORE-Plastic-Adhesive-Adjustable-Management/dp/B01GZX6G1W/ref=sr_1_8

I can't guarantee that these are exactly the same size we use, but they look REALLY close. Six bucks, toss em in a drawer, throw the remaining 23 out in 10 years