Shoot me an email and I'll drop you a line when more are ready. Slowly but surely I'm getting the website up to date, adding all the new MODs to the store page. Moving forward that will be the place to go. It's just easier for everybody.

I have a few of these back in stock:

http://pinballmiked.com/?product=cftbl-hologram-mod

More units will be in stock by the end of next week (3/6/15)

No, we've delayed the release to account for some needed program changes (new version of RPi = new SD card image). That's why we bench test everything before it ships. Sorry for the delay.

3/11/15

They're backkkk!!!!!

Only have a few of these left.

Down to two units.

We're currently sold out of this product. If you missed out we'll be doing a small production run in April.

Everything you need to know about the CFTBL Power Supply MOD

PMD CFTBL Power Supply.png

Ok, so what is the "Power Supply MOD" and what does it do?

The PS MOD was designed to power the PMD CFTBL LCD MOD independently from the pinball machine's power driver board. The PS MOD plugs directly into the game's 120VAC service outlet, so it's important to note that this MOD will not work for pinball machines outside of the US. The PS MOD utilizes the game's 12V circuit to determine when the machine is power on or off. Therefore, devices connected to the PS MOD will only be energized when the pinball machine is turn on.

Great, so why would I need the Power Supply MOD?

The true is most people probably don't need this product. We designed this MOD solely to accommodate customers with weak/questionable power diver boards. Remember, the LCD MOD utilizes the pinball machine's 12V circuit to power the Insignia TV and the game's flasher circuit to power the Raspberry Pi. If your game's 12V circuit is overloaded then you may lose power to the TV. Likewise, if your flasher circuit is overtaxed the Raspberry Pi may experience a voltage drop, forcing it to reboot (like the infamous BR2 MPU reboot scenario commonly seen in WPC machines). We use the flasher circuit to generate 5VDC power for the Raspberry Pi, hence the large heat sink on the LCD MOD's interface board. Anyway, if the 5VDC power drops too low, even for a few milliseconds, the RPi will reboot. Then you'll see a "NO SIGNAL" message appear on your TV screen.

Ok, so I want to use the PS MOD to power the LCD MOD, do I need anything else?

Yes, you'll need a 5VDC 1A (or greater) micro USB wall charger. Here's the one I use to bench test every CFTBL LCD MOD prior to shipping:

http://www.insigniaproducts.com/products/computer-speakers-accessories/NS-AC1U2M.html

5VDC Micro USB Charger.png

This unit is available at your local BestBuy. It's rated for 2.4Amps, so it has more than enough power to run the RPi. You could probably find one cheaper at Amazon, just make sure it meets the specs listed above.

You'll also need a power strip, like this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia-6-outlet-surge-protector/5741024.p?id=1219153732253&skuId=5741024

Power Strip.png

Here's a cheaper option from Home Depot (Only $3.72):

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Belkin-6-Outlet-Power-Strip-F9P609-03-DP/100654575?N=5yc1vZc4o9

Hopefully, you kept your TV's power cable. If you didn't then you'll need a 12VDC power adapter like this one:

http://www.insigniaproducts.com/products/home-office/NS-AC501.html

12VDC power Adapter.png

I'm sure cheaper alternatives are available, just have to shop around.

So, how do I hook all this stuff up?

(0) UNPLUG YOUR PINBALL MACHINE FROM THE WALL OUTLET!!!! Remember the service outlet is hot even when the pinball machine is powered off.

(1) Install the PS MOD, mounting it to the side of your cabinet as show in the picture below:

PS MOD Install Step 1.png

Use 1/2" #6 screws to mount the PS MOD (you should have a few that were removed during the install of the LCD MOD).

(2) Now, plug the male pig tail into the service outlet and plug your power strip (or power splitter) into the female outlet connector on the PS MOD as shown in the picture below:

PS MOD Install Step 2.png

(3) Unplug the LCD MOD's 12VDC power cable from the TV and plug it into the PS MOD as shown in the picture above. Again, this is how the PS MOD knows when the pinball machine is powered up.

(4) Now, plug the 5VDC Micro USB Charger into the power strip (or power splitter) and connect the RPi as shown in the pictures below:

PS MOD Install Step 3.png
PS MOD Install Step 4.png

(5) Now, plug the TV's 12VDC power cable into the power strip (or power splitter) and connect the other end to the TV.

(6) Route the power adapter cables around the TV stand, so they don't obstruct your view of the TV.

(7) Finally, you can now plug the pinball machine back into the wall outlet.

Ok, I installed the PS MOD as described above, but now my MOD doesn't boot up - what gives?

For the MOD to properly work, the TV must be energized first. When the Raspberry Pi boots up it will scan it's HDMI port looking for any connected device, so if the RPi boots up before the TV it won't see anything connected to it's HDMI port and the MOD will not activate the video player. Because your 12VDC adapter is larger than your 5VDC adapter, it takes slightly longer to power up the 12VDC adapter on a cold start.

Ok, so how do we get around this scenario?

DON'T PANIC

You just need to adjust the "boot_delay" setting on your MOD's SD card. With your game powered off, remove the SD card (or Micro SD card - depending on which version of the LCD MOD you own) form the Raspberry Pi. Plug the SD card into your computer. FYI - you don't need a PC to edit this file. In fact, I'm type this write up on my MAC, so I'll demonstrate how to make this simple adjustment using a MAC.

Open the SD card and you'll find a file named "config.txt" on the root of the SD card as shown in the picture below:

Config.png

Open the "Config.txt" file and scroll to the bottom. In this example you'll see "boot_delay=2", see picture below:

Boot Delay.png

In this case I'd change the 2 out with a 3 and test the MOD to see if the adjustment made a difference. Every game is different, so there isn't a fixed value that will universally work for every Creature pinball machine. Plus, the boot delay is heavily dependent on what adapters you're using with the PS MOD. If a value of 3 doesn't fix the problem then try a value of 4, and so on. I've had guys report anywhere from 2 to 6 (also, only use integer values for the boot delay parameter).

An important thing to remember, is that this problem is often only seen on a cold boot up. So, if you power your game up for 2 minutes then power it back off and on the MOD will probably work just fine. This is because the circuits in both the 5V and 12V adapters have a capacitor that will hold the charge (thus they stay warm for a certain amount of time). So, make sure you test your boot delay adjustment when the pinball machine is cold, meaning it hasn't been powered up recently.

I hope this info helps.

You just plug the original TV adapter into the power strip on the 120VAC side and then plug the 12VDC round barrel connector into the TV (basically like you're setting up the TV if you purchased it for conventional use). The power cable that came with the MOD (what is currently being used to power the TV) must be plugged into the PS MOD. Hope this answers the question.

Doing one more small run and then it's nothing but SDMD's for the foreseeable future.

I've updated the inventory at the web store for those interested.

Due to my current work load outside of pinball, I’m only going to do one more batch of CFTBL MODs until the holiday season. I’ll post when more units are available and in stock.

I have a few of these available if anyone is interested. I'll be taking a break for a few months and focusing on some other projects, so this is the last batch for awhile.

Sorry, this item is currently out of stock.

We'll be doing another run later this year.

Good news, just got some more boards from GLM

I should have some more units ready to go by the end of the week.

CFTBL.jpg

The web store has been updated, more units in stock. However, I will be traveling out of the country from 6/5 through 6/15, so I'll only be able to ship product until next Thursday (6/4).

Not at this time.

Here's a link for folks interested in building their own power MOD:

http://www.powerswitchtail.com/Pages/default.aspx

FYI - some Creature pinball machine's 12V circuit runs hot and the 12 volts is more like 13 volts. In that case you'd need to modify the board (this is what I do), replacing the resistors to accommodate the higher voltage.

Moving forward I'll be shifting all PMD restoration & MOD updates to our new Facebook page.

I'll post a link when it goes live, but it will be PinballMikeD

Creature MOD's are back in stock

http://pinballmiked.com/?product_cat=creature-from-the-black-lagoon

FYI - here's the link to the Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pinball-Mike-D/833126766772059

Only 4 more units left. Once these are gone this MOD is being retired, at least for 2015 anyway.

Due to my current work schedule, the next batch of CFTBL MODs will not be manufactured until 2016. Sorry for the delay.