Factory build date cuz why not!

C4E7B56C-949D-4A42-AD5E-FFD03B2B6205 (resized).jpeg

f3honda4me can you confirm the negative terminals truly are wired to ground? They are typically wired through a decoupling capacitor in series (which does not match the ST schematic, but oh well). A ground connection here is a bad omen and might explain why the amplitude is low. This node should definitely not be grounded.

This is where both negative are going. I was mistaken they are in fact just wired to each other with the cap. The brown piece is not metal.
64926AAA-D9CA-4294-A474-EEFBE8C41943 (resized).jpeg

Either way definitely does not match the schematic.
D3B4298F-6B73-4E93-A4A4-7C053D2D5902 (resized).jpeg

Despite the schematic, the below image is what I hand customers. It explains that left and right are swapped wrt the schematic, and that the left speaker is almost always swapped polarity resulting in an out of phase condition for the backbox. This can lead to crappy sound and might be a clue as to the backbox sound you are getting. Swapping +/- to test this out on one of the two backbox speakers will do no harm and might help.

To get the ultimate sound, you know you need one of these:

https://pinwoofer.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Fpinwoofer-powered-super-kit

BackboxAmpSchematicMonoOutputSeriesTarget (resized).jpg

Yep best sound mod ever for pins. I have this in several pins already. I will do some testing on the stock wiring first to see if they messed it up!

And then a Pinwoofer kit will go in place.

Man this pin is fun. Technically this is the 2nd one I’ve owned. I need to keep it around longer!
Definitely an underrated pin.

Mixed emotions now, I am selling my STLE (but have a premium in my vacation home). Think that I will always own ST it's such a great pin, sold my AcDc premium last week too. It is hard for me to let go of great pins but have been lucky to have been able to replace AcDc with Iron Maiden. I can't say one is better or worse they are both so great and now I will have some money to reload after selling ST.

I was playing a few games on the farewell tour of my LE and got to 6th mode with EB lit... drain-o.

then the next few games got to the 5th mode collected warp ramp EB and started 6th mode and drained.

I know that's no great shakes but it's really fun to do well in the modes and a bit farther here and there. Pinball is great and ST is a great machine.

Incase you've been offline today and missed this epic trailer:

Saw this yesterday and when also learning that Riker, Data, and 7of9 will be returning as well, I think I got some space dust in my eye...

Crazy that data is returning. Love it.

7of nine blew my mind tbh

Stoked about data and 7 of 9. I’ll bet having them was a huge factor in getting Patrick to sign up for this. Here’s what they might do to bring back Data as B-4:

The comic book series Star Trek: Countdown (a tie-in to the 2009 Star Trek film) and the timeline established for the Star Trek Online game depict Data as alive in 2387. Sometime prior, Geordi La Forge installed Data's emotion chip into B-4's neural net. This caused the uploads to B-4 by Data to fully activate, allowing Data's full memory and personality to assert itself, essentially resurrecting him. Starfleet decided to reinstate the android to service and, by the time of Countdown, Data had become captain of the USS Enterprise-E. The reactivated Data and Spock later converse on their respective "resurrections."

Wow! And no. I get it, everyone and their brother wants to build a streaming service. But I already pay for two streaming services, and no matter how cool the show looks, I’m not buying a third. I lived not buying it for Discovery, and I won’t buy it for this either.

Kodi

Yea the problem is there is no other good content on cbs all access. I'm currently paying for it but it feels like a waste of money.

And now we have to get Hulu for the next Orville. I thought it would be safe on fox but everyone wants a part of the stupid streaming pie now.

Wait til all episodes are out, pay for one month, binge it, then cancel. That’s what I did for discovery. Totally worth it.

I'm right there with you. I was so psyched when I first saw the trailer because it said it was on Amazon Prime. Then I learned that was only for people outside the US, and it is only on CBS’ service in the US. Bummer. It looks great, but I can’t support another streaming service at this time.

Should be free. CBS All Access. It's actually CBS pay-to-access. Forget it.

No disagreeing with any of you. I feel the same way.
Luckily; I have other ways of getting it.
That said; I do expect to pay for a month or two when all the new series are out. IE Season 3 of STD, Only season of Picard, and the animated series.

I noticed some ball wear on the outhole of my Stern Star Trek.
Outhole wear - LE

I designed a Mylar protector for it Mylar - Outhole and published some details on my blog at:
http://pinball-mods.com/blogs/?p=790

I'd think it would work for any modern stern; but I don't have another machine to check it against. If anyone else wants to give these a try I'm making them available at my web shop:
http://pinball-mods.com/oscom/game-specific-products-stern-star-trek-outhole-stern-p-62.html

Cliff makes outlane protectors for the Sterns, too.

Edit- I see you know that after reading the blog. I haven't had any wear on the left edge, but there was some on the upper edge. I will keep an eye on it. The Cliffy has been working pretty good so far.

I have the cliffys but the left edge takes damage b/c there is no cliffy for it.

I'm a firm believer in Cliffys… but when I bought my game and got a cliffy set for it; he didn't offer anything for the outhole.
I may still get the Cliffy for the front of the hole; but in the mean time I'll use the design I came up with.

Question:

I bought an LCD colorDMD for Star Trek (I’m still struggling to get the color working but that is another matter). When installed it’s not flush and there is a gap on the sides where you can see the innards and it looks bad. I’m considering putting weather strips along the side to hide the innards. Any thoughts or mods to cover it? I guess I should have gone with LED and not LCD but too late now.

http://shop.colordmd.com/lcd-foam-gasket-stretch-fit/

did you buy the spacer kit??

I bought one and had no problems. You have to order the correct mounting kit from Color DMD. I think StarTrek was the only pin that had two different mounting kits because it was the first Stern to have the new back box design and then they quickly changed it after release. This used to all be on Color DMD web page but now I can't find the option for the different mounting kits. Maybe it changed. Also I bought 1"(inch) black foam off Amazon to cover the gap. See link below. You need this especially if you have lighted speakers.... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BRVBN1N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00

You won't regret getting the LCD! I love Scan Mode but Dots XL is great to!

Thinking of getting one of these, but it would be LED this time. My TSPP has the LCD.

Does anyone know the part number(s) for the opto sensors used on the warp ramp? Mine have been acting up off and on. I'm getting ready for a full topside teardown service and thought that as long as I had it all apart it would be worth replacing the hard to reach optos.

Pinball Life has those optos, pretty cheap too.

Any idea which ones I'm looking for? I can't find a part number in the manual and would like to order them before tearing the game down.

Is this what I'm looking for?

https://www.pinballlife.com/data-eastsegastern-opto-transceiver.html

Typically the plugs on the opto boards under the playfield need to be reseated (I believe they are white little square boards) unplug, then and plug them in again firmly, on the board male pins you can bend pins inwards a little to put more pressure on the female pins, also twist the opto wires as much as you can within reason to eliminate inference.

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I've reseated them a few times, but they keep bugging out on me after awhile. Do folks here think that they aren't worth replacing? (Still haven't positively determined which is the correct replacement part.)

dont forget to twist the wires, lastly I almost forgot, make sure the boards are secure & tight to the bottom of the playfield, if they boards are loose it will reoccur much faster, the shaking of coils or shaker motor causes the opto connectors to loosen up causing warp ramp triggers. I haven't hand issues since I tighten up the boards.

https://www.pinballlife.com/data-eastsegastern-opto-transceiver.html

These are them. I replace them all when I get a chance. If your removing the ramps, it's good to take the time and switch them out. ST is known for faulty optos and causes a lot of problems. I've changed a bunch out on this machine and POTC. The Warp ramp is a little difficult. I believe I had to rivet 1 or 2 of the plastics.

Sometimes you can clean them up with a que tip and alcohol. You should check they are lined up too.

Thank you - since I'm doing a full year down service I'll definitely replace all of the hard to reach optos, modifying the installation with a line twist and a slight connector prong tweak.

I noticed that the price on these is less than half of what Marco charges! I hope that doesn't mean a significant difference in quality. (On the other hand, I also hope that Marco is not selling overly price inflated parts.) Unless someone has had a negative experience with the quality of the units from pinball life I'll go with them both to save a few bucks and because I've had some issues recently with Marco messing up the content of orders.

Marco is almost always overpriced.

Pinball life is where I order stuff from.

I bought a bunch from Pinlife and never had a problem.

Here's my take on Vendors for "Common" parts.
1) Pinball-Life - Large selection. Good quality. Fair prices on most things. They always seem to get my orders. Shipping is reasonable.

2) Pinball Resource ( http://www.pbresource.com ) - Awesome selection. Great Prices. Can't order "online"; requires setting up an account. After that; order parts by email (or call him) get the parts, send him a check. I *think* many vendors order parts from Steve at PBR as he knows who to get to make from original molds...but I could be VERY wrong. Very good vendor for hard to find parts for older games. Don't think he sells parts for anything "modern" unless it's a common item. Don't expect any modern currently in business manufacturer.

3) Marco - Probably has better selection that PBR … or seems to. IMHO: If the top two dont' have it. He might because he orders from many vendors. Prices are higher because he has to markup over other vendors as he buys from them. That said; I respect his selection of parts.

I can't figure out Pinball Resource. I wish they would revamp their e-commerce site. If I can't find it at Pinball Life, I go to Marcos next. Marcos usually has the better selection, especially for older games.

I like the Ghost Buster lights at Pin Life too. Except, they do ghost in certain games, haha.

heres how I look at it. We used to pay 89$ for a season on dvd. CBS ALL ACCESS is just 69 dollars for the year. Or you can wait and buy the dvd blu rays when they come out.

Or you can be Captain Hook.

Or a friend who hooks it on his Pflex server.
I do want to support the actors for at least a couple of months; so I will when all the Episodes have dropped.

Joined the club this weekend with a HUO Pro. Has Into Darkness mirror/pinblades, shaker, alt translite and I believe an alternate audio package from the movie. Trying to resist additional mods, although I am thinking translucent Titans to replace the black rubber are a must.

I know the light show on the Premium/LE is superior, but I am really impressed with what they did on the pro. The call outs and sounds effects are also fantastic. Loving it so far.

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Congrats and welcome to the club! If you can't resist at least one more mod, I highly recommend a color DMD. Truly enhances the game and gives it so much more depth (visually) IMO. Only problem - when animations come up I haven't seen before, I look up to watch and then lose the ball.