Hmm, maybe I'll do that one and leave the Shield ones alone for now. They are pretty far out of the way. The clear ones do look cool but I kind of wish I had bought black ones so that I could just change some out and they'd still all match.

I need to figure out the Vengeance one, though, because it looks pretty bad mis-matched and because those ones take a beating as well.

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WOW!!! GREAT job.

Awesome.

i got a buddy who does air brushing and he is going to do my borg ship next week... ill keep everyone posted on how it turns out

A Star Trek collection.....nice.

Capt'n... I have one you can have for 300. But it's project.

I haven't installed any of the LED caps in my NG yet. No immediate plans.

Have left the shields as is for the moment to. However, can tell you you only need to loosen the ramp and not remove it. This will create enough space to remove the plastic and install the rubbers I estimate. Will try to put this theory in practice sooner or later

Went for a mix of transparant and coloured ones

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Just as I had been coming to the realization that post passing was next to impossible on Star Trek Pro, my 9 year old daughter just did it twice in a row -- left to right and right to left.

Been back and forth with Pat from Stern on my ball stick issue. No solution yet.

What ball stick issue? The magnet during vengeance mb? I heard twisting the opto wires that go to the board below the pf fixes that?

Yeah - I did that a while ago and had no luck.

Post a video? Maybe your issue is different to most. One look at it in action and someone may have a brainstorm. I think the experience for most people has been; ball sticks a lot, twist wires, ball now sticks sometimes but is dislodged with shake due to magnetised balls, change balls, no problem. And that's all we can relate to.

The easiest way to tell if you are having the same problem as everyone else is to manually test it with the glass off. For most people, everything works like it should if you roll the ball up there with your hand. The problem occurs when you propel the second ball up there with the flipper. For some reason, this causes the opto not to respond properly, and the second ball sticks to the first. If this is the case, twisting the wires usually helps.

Happy 1st. That went fast.

I'm still having the same issue. Have a new opto board on the way from Stern to try. I twisted wires and even put ferrite choke cores on the wires. Also replaced the balls with the pinball life ultra gloss (this fixed it from happening as often). But still have the issue. If its a hard shot they get stuck. A tilt does not release the balls. Only waiting until the machine searches for the balls allows them to release, but that costs the ball save time.

Is this the same issue that causes Vengeance MB to start prematurely? Just started happening to my machine, I figured it was something with the Vengeance optos.

you're a role model.

have not had it start prematurely ever. Only that that when hitting the stuck ball both balls stick instead of releasing, like the opto may not be registering all the time.

I have the same issue as you. Wires twisted, ferrite beads and non magnetized balls but they still stick every time. Please let us know if a new opto control board rectifies your issue!

No, that's an issue with the drop target. Does the target spazz out at the beginning and register a bunch of hits on the ship?

Made it to Kobiyashi Maru MB last night! I broke my previous GC score, but only by a little (I think I hit 78m). I was having problems making ANY shot - I was posting nearly every shot. It was so damn frustrating because I know I could have scored so much better...That said, I think I would have enjoyed KM more if I had more control over my shots. It was neat to finally get to wizard mode 1 of 3, haha.

I think if I want any chance of the 2nd and 3rd modes, I'm going to have to get to a point where I can achieve KM in 1 ball.

Update for my issue. Received a new Opto board today. Replacing the board has fixed the magnet not disengaging. When hitting the perfect shot I still have the two balls stick together slightly, but a light nudge drops both, the top ball seems to actually be resting on the top edge of the cliffy installed around the magnet (magnet is level with cliffy but cliffy obviously sits slightly above playfield) and the second ball seems to just be magnetized slightly to the other. I believe removing this cliffy would 100% fix the issue, but Im ok with a light nudge 1/10 times as opposed to wear.

I hope Stern has learned what is causing these boards to go bad and has fixed it otherwise it could be real bad for us 5 years down the road when all of a sudden they tell us "we have no more boards".

Thanks! Ill contact Stern.

Yeah, right after initial ball launch, happens when ball is bouncing around the jets.

Well I can say my was bad out of the box. Have had the problem since day 1. So maybe it was a bad board in the first place. I guess we will see.

I see, glad to here it's fixed for you and you can enjoy the game now.

These are standard tranceiver boards that they use on many games. I don't see Stern stopping production of them any time soon.

Oh OK. Just goes to show you how much I know.

Yup, that's the drop target. The screw on the side with the spring is pushing it off the lip just slightly, you need to either find a smaller screw head or what I did was take the screw out and run it back from the other side. Has nothing to do with the optos.

That was it!!! Thanks for the tip. Working perfectly now. Made a huge difference in gameplay.

Had a GREAT day yesterday. Had some buddies over for BBQ, cocktails and pinball. I hit Kobayashi Maru for the very first (and then second) time on ST, cracked a billion on STTNG (getting within one shot of Final Frontier- arghh!!!), and reclaimed the high scores on both machines.

Excellent. I had the same problem, Rarehero was the one who figured out that fix, so just passing it along.

Hey guys, where can I buy a set of pop caps for my Pro? Thanks

This weekend I made these changes to my ST Pro:

1) Changed the upper flipper from a Superband back to a stock black rubber. It really does help hit the Warp ramp more consistently. I had Superbands on there from game one and was getting frustrated with that shot and trying to earn the extra ball. It's still a tough shot, but it does seem to make a difference.

2) Followed Markmon's suggestion of putting a little piece of a fuzzy self-adhesive Velcro strip at the end of the far left lane. After that at first it was kicking it too far to the right and going towards the drain or the tip of the right flipper, but by also reducing the power (25, I think), I finally achieved a pretty reliable kickout to the left flipper. Previously it was all over the place and would actually hit the top corner of the left sling more often than not. Now I'm no longer scared of the Start Mission shot!

3) Moved my outlane pegs down to the lowest (easiest) setting. Hard to tell just how much of a difference it makes, but I'm sure it saves a drain here and there.

With those changes made, the game is much less frustrating. I'm still not rocking it like some of you guys (still haven't beaten the default Grand Champion score of 75 M), but I feel like I have a chance now.

I moved my post down too. At first, I didn't think it made much of a difference, but after many more games, I have definitely noticed that I get a lot fewer drains. And, I've made it to KM multiball several times, which I wasn't doing at all with the post in the normal position. If they add a virtual ball save with the code update, I may move it back. But, right now, I'm enjoying the game a whole lot more without all of those seemingly unfair drains.

Been logging more games these past few days. Decided to switch the bottom flippers back to superbands, but left the upper flipper standard rubber. Difference is minor, but the aesthetic is great. I do NOT like having a superband on the upper flipper as the warp ramp shot becomes nigh impossible for me.

Also, I'm thinking of trying to dial back the slings a bit. Has anyone toyed with their's and found a good number? It's not that I don't LIKE the slings having some pop, but there have been a few times where the ball would bounce between the slings and fly to the right outlane with zero chance of saving.

Still enjoying the game immensely - I would LOVE to see an update that gives me some additional side missions to work on (outside of Warp 9.9). I feel like ST has the potential to be HUUUUGE if the update delivers like X-Men or MET did.

I have my slings turned down to 18..... seems perfect. Factory setting is waaaaay to strong.

Cool, thanks. I'll give that a shot over lunch and see how they play. I would agree that factory settings are a bit over the top, haha.

E: Also, transparent rubbers...Where can I order them from? I'm also considering putting speaker lights in finally. Anyone have a suggestion on the best place to order them from, too?

Here is one place to order speaker light kits from. A quick search will give you other options as well (Flipper Fidelity)
http://www.speakerlightkits.com

Pinball life sells the transparent rubber rings, but they are on summer holiday.

I have mine set to 15. Anything north of that gave me air balls. There is still some decent bang coming out of them, but it is much more controlled.

Sorry for the probably obvious question, but can you use this superband minipost rubbers from Marco on the Star Trek Pro: http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/39-2364-7

The outer dimensions are just slightly different and the site lists different Stern part numbers, but I assume the inner diameter is the same, and I recall Steve Ritchie saying you could get them from Marco. My factory rings are shredded after a month and falling off the posts. Thanks!

Set mine to 18 and noticed a difference from factory, albeit only a little. Still played fine, too.

Also, I realized a new thing my game does that drives me mad....If I'm going for Warp Ramps and hit it weird, the ball will go up JUST before breaking, come back down the ramp, and go directly down the right outlane. Like, the geometry is PERFECT where it will ride the outside of the ramp and flow like butter down the drain.

STTNG is notorious for doing the exact same thing.