I have to be honest with you, I don’t care. Also, the alignment isn’t correct because it was just being test fitted. I also wasn’t going to spend a fortune fixing the CRT. It was incredibly dim and the flyback fried and I’m not sure what else it took with it.

I agree with you. Although picture quality isn’t too bad, but the screen alignment is always crap. It’s like 19“ LCDs are to small.

It is not expensive to rebuild the monitor chassis.

I believe I went with a 20 or 21" LCD and the alignment got MUCH better.
$100 at Walmart, recommended earlier in this thread.

Jeff

Sorry, I know my comment was brief and pointed, but I'm really not trying to be a dick. If you consider that "great" then I can only assume that you've never seen an RFM with a properly working CRT.
Fixing or replacing the monitor chassis isn't that hard or expensive. For me, it's much easier to do that than to stuff an LCD in there. But I understand that's not the case for everyone.
Another thing to consider (if you don't want to fix what you have) is that you can adapt any standard 19" monitor to work. You just have to move it to that custom mounting frame and figure out the wiring. I mention this because there seems to be a common misconception that only that Ducksan (which is not a very good monitor to begin with) or a specific model of WG are the only ones that will work.

I can see where that would probably work as well. I’m going to play with this one and see how close I can get it. The CRT is definitely a little bigger

It’s all good. I should have stated in my original post that it looks great considering what it is. I know that an LCD can’t replace a CRT for black quality and alignment. All of my arcades are still running CRT and I would never change them unless it’s a last resort option. This however needs to be reliable and more visible in lighted environment because it’s on location. The weight savings is also a big factor.

True! These things are very awkward to move with the head on. And while they tried to make head removal simple, it's still a pain, and a 2-person job.

Breaking down and moving this game was an experience, for sure.

Has anyone had a random issue with sound distortion while the game is in attract mode? It's weird gremlin I'm trying to track down but so far no luck. The volume gets loud out of nowhere and distorts every once in a while while it's in attract mode. I've changed the audio cable and reseated some connections, but no luck. It doesn't happen at all when playing the game. I'm running version 1.5. Thanks!

Before you continue trouble shooting this

I recommend installing version 2.24 from mypinballs

https://www.mypinballs.com/software/rfm/code_updates.jsp

I really want to do the new code. Never updated a machine before.
Since you have done it:

1) Is it hard... or any pitfalls?

2) Is the new code "friendly" to novice players and advanced players alike? (In other words, will my wife still enjoy i, or will it be too difficult)

3) Does a 6 ball trough make a big improvement (if you have done it)

1) The code was easy to upgrade (I'm on original hardware)

I used a windows 10 laptop with this cable
It was allot cheaper when I bought it and Amazon could have it to my house by 5pm (Cheaper options available)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008634VJY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00

I bought his software and use it to upgrade my RFM

Friends use this cable or one like it without Mypinballs update software (Plenty of writeups you can find)

2) I have a 10 and 13 year old. They have friends over all the time and they all enjoy it. I would not worry about a difficulty difference and It can be put on easy modes. The kids really like Drunk Flippers.

3) Yes I've done the 6 ball upgrade. I was not difficult. I did cheat a little
Bought 6 Ball Trough's from pinball life instead of having to add optos to the existing 4 ball trough's (Upgrade optos are provided with the kit)
https://www.pinballlife.com/trough-opto-transmitter-receiver-board-set-6-ball-for-williamsbally-pinball-machines.html

Bonus
I also added the shaker using his loom
That is the most notable change and My wife and kids say it makes the game much better. I agree.

I also added his saucer kit for the extra bling

Awesome!
Thank you.... I'm gonna give her a go soon.

6 ball trough... it will wait a few for now.

Ooh, there’s a cheat code to adding the 6-ball to the game? I might have to do that!

Pinball 2000 definitely benefits from a proper working CRT. Need the deep blacks to get that great 3D effect.
The original Ducksan monitor in my RFM is still going strong without a rebuild or video amplifier.

035A8DFA-1AE8-4959-94EB-F1D4CA64A029.jpeg817F8047-F4F5-4A01-A8E4-5A1C2045DE25.jpeg

Yours looks great. Mine was very dim and then the fly back was literally welding the frame lol. I’m going to asses the damage and see how bad it is but for now the LCD will do the job

I totally would love to see an OLED on this game... but I think they have to become more common place and cheaper.

I think the 6 ball mod is definitely worth buying. I waited myself, but after buying and installing I wondered why I hadn't done that before .

PS: I don't get to getmore than 4 balls on every game, but it's nice when it happens.

Indeed. The main issue is they only seem to be available in wide-screen form factor. Getting one to fit in the head and have the correct image height and aspect ratio is what's stopping it from happening.

I've got the cable coming tomorrow to update, so thanks for the help with that. I have another question that maybe someone can help with. What secures the playfield plastics under the ramp on the left side? I thought it would be a screw, but when I took it off it was just a hole without a nut or anything for a screw to tighten into. Is it a plastic spacer or something? I couldn't find it in the manual. Thanks for all the help!

Well I finally did it - solid Super Bowl Squares win provided the cash. My first purchase with it is the 6-ball MB and loom for the shaker motor!

You wont regret it

Question - what’s the verdict on Video Amplifiers? Looks good without one, but wondering if I should get one anyway. Shows as $23 on Ultimarc, but then checking out it’s $42. So that’s what I’m balking at, is it worth it?

YES and YES. It's the best bang for your buck you can get. You'll wonder how you ever lived without one

Yes, it's crazy what the picture is missing without it. It's definitely a requirement.

Awesome, I’m on it. Thanks guys!

Well... I was trying to decide on what colour rubbers to put on... and your pic just decided green is the way to go! Thank you.

I did the art blades and they really brighten up the interior cabinet. Also getting applejuice software once I get my laptop issue figured out.

‘V1.6’ lol , was the last official and no game play changes from v1.5, but there’s plenty changed since then …

I posted earlier about the LCD swap I did on my Revenge From Mars. Here are a few pics showing some of the details of how we did it.

The original CRT frame also holds the light for the translite but leaving it in place makes it difficult to close up the gaps around the monitor to keep light from bleeding around the edges and down to the playfield. I completely removed the original frame and light with the CRT and built a bezel out of 1/4” plywood and painted it black. I then attached the LCD to the bezel with some machine screws. I still had a tiny gap around the edge but it was easy enough to use electrical tape to close the gap completely. I then laid the monitor into the cabinet and turned the game on to align it and get the position the best I could, however the dimensions aren’t the same as the CRT so it’s not perfect, but close. Once positioned I ran screws through the bezel to hold it to the cabinet.

I used an adapter and splitter to run power to the monitor and new LED backlight from the power supply in the PC box overhead.

The monitor has CGA and VGA input and I found that you can run the VGA connection to the computer and it supports the CGA signal just fine and no converters are needed.

The LCD doesn’t have a true black like a CRT but you can get it looking ok if you dial the brightness back and turn the contrast up a little.

It was pretty straight forward but isn’t a direct fit so hopefully this will help someone else one day.

3474B357-854D-4A93-A8AF-A9B06A4607FD (resized).jpeg

120352E3-15AE-4CD2-9C58-CD6F02504A10 (resized).jpeg

0244B7EA-546E-41B9-997F-BE0C4EDBACC3 (resized).jpeg

94E16EB8-F9CF-41FB-9113-29AB64B0A51C (resized).jpeg

A37EF09A-D8FB-40C8-BC1B-7FCDF21A945D (resized).jpeg

E0BC68D6-CEF6-4FD5-8254-C31A400351F2 (resized).jpeg

I'm trying to figure out if you're deliberately "lost" or just being obtuse.
applejuice has graciously provided improved code for the RFM pinball machine - for free @ https://www.mypinballs.com/ ...

The modified code wither unofficial or not is worth the installation. If you aren't putting it on your game for some reason; then well... that's your choice. Code improvement are better than any mod you may or may not put on this game.

Jump out of the chair?
Humm, ok.
As I stated, your choice... But it's a werid one.

Total plays cannot be erased unless you take the prism battery out and why would you want to, as it shows the real history of the game

Led use will cause erroneous error messages unless you run my updates where I added an option to ignore led errors.

Better to leave it all original. No modifications to the factory capacitors.

You should absolutely upgrade to the Applejuice code. Lots to it and certainly worth it.

BTW, the blue LED's look awesome.

Exactly what I thought. 30+ years of repairs knowledge here and I only fix what’s broken. Changing all capacitors for the sake of it will more than likely just cause issues, but leave him to it. Seen it hundreds of times where people change things there’s no need to, then break it. Just my 2p

Hey applejuice

Sent you a pm

Anyone ever get this error when trying to open pinball 2000 updater? It's happened on 2 separate computers now.

16457383434935774010297247669573 (resized).jpg

Not in the club yet, but looking for advice.
Saw a machine looks decent its on code 1.2 I think it never been update what's the price range for the machine ?
The guy offer me trade for 2 pins police force agents 777 and 2 arcade to trade for that machine
Any opinions please?

That seems like a trade that heavily favors the owner of the RFM. Not sure what Agent 777 is. Which arcade games? I'd say this game is going for $4K to $4500, presently, based on a few recent sales. Mine was on 1.0 when I got it. Guy was the original owner and never updated.

Agents 777 its pinball machine made by game plan

Looking forward to doing the update software, ball trough, shaker, and knocker!! Purchase in progress!! Norton security is not happy running your software!!