(Topic ID: 202660)
Linked Games
Star Gazer
Stern Electronics, 1980
Topic Gallery
4 weeks later
Maple Ridge, BC
Just joined the club, had never played one before, loving it so far.
Anyone know if the yellow zodiac targets are available and also the spinners?
Quoted from extraballingtmc:Anyone know if the yellow zodiac targets are available
There is a pinside shop that has the reproduction Wico plastic targets that Stern used.
Wichita, KS
Quoted from extraballingtmc:Just joined the club, had never played one before, loving it so far.
Anyone know if the yellow zodiac targets are available and also the spinners?
Pinball Resource carries the yellow targets.
http://www.pbresource.com/pfswitch.htm
Marco carries the yellow spinner decals
Are the pop bumper caps available with the hot stamping around perimeter?
Pbr just has the ones with no stamping.
Quoted from extraballingtmc:Are the pop bumper caps available with the hot stamping around perimeter?
Pbr just has the ones with no stamping.
No. There is a stencil design that you can use to make some decals that look pretty good. The decals have been posted about previously but I'm not sure I can locate the thread.
Quoted from cottonm4:No. There is a stencil design that you can use to make some decals that look pretty good. The decals have been posted about previously but I'm not sure I can locate the thread.
Thank you. No biggie, I’ll just use what pbr has. Just a pq game anyways.
If anyone has a single original with the stamping around, I have two good and one broken one. Would love to get the whole set.
Quoted from bpull:Still working away on mine, slow go but getting closer. Unfortunately lost most my pictures of disassembly due to a corrupt disk. Using pictures I find here to get it back together.
Brian
[quoted image][quoted image]
if you need more pictures let me know and i can share a onedrive folder, i keep all mine
Quoted from hisokajp:if you need more pictures let me know and i can share a onedrive folder, i keep all mine
That would be awesome! I'm having issues with a few areas that are hard to tell what post go where.
Here is my email. [email protected]
Thank you!
Brian
Quoted from play_pinball:If anyone has a single original with the stamping around, I have two good and one broken one. Would love to get the whole set.
Me too! Someone part out their game and sell us your bumper caps! C'mon - do it!! 
Quoted from extraballingtmc:Are the pop bumper caps available with the hot stamping around perimeter?
Pbr just has the ones with no stamping.
Quoted from extraballingtmc:Thank you. No biggie, I’ll just use what pbr has. Just a pq game anyways.
Canadian Pinball has you covered.
Quoted from CanadianPinball:STN-13A40 at PBR + the following printed on a waterslide decal
[quoted image]
Quoted from extraballingtmc:Never heard of cdn pinball. Link?
Here.
Quoted from CanadianPinball:STN-13A40 at PBR + the following printed on a waterslide decal
[quoted image]
I am looking to purchase a worn out Star Gazer playfield. If you have one, please contact me. I need it to check colours compared to the newly printed ones.
PM please.
Can anyone post the dip switch settings? Specifically the one that sets replay award to replay not eb?
Quoted from extraballingtmc:Can anyone post the dip switch settings? Specifically the one that sets replay award to replay not eb?
Here is the manual from IPDB.org
https://www.ipdb.org/files/2346/Stern_1980_Star_Gazer_Manual.pdf
High Score replay. Switch #6
Screen Shot 2022-03-14 at 7.07.26 PM (resized).png
Special awards replay. Switches #31 and #32.
I was able to take the test print with me to visit a friend today. Have a look at the test vs an original.
37745100-711B-44B4-9BE6-8EB089C66667 (resized).jpeg71C2D15D-6618-4A28-BAA0-7FAAEDC10B06 (resized).jpeg741F69A2-8E08-4F10-97E8-025AE4BAF216 (resized).jpegAB68F173-651C-4100-A967-5C0942783CC7 (resized).jpegB3A4D7A9-AFC3-4601-A015-9777A600F833 (resized).jpegE6FB39C2-811E-44E1-B39A-31C46C025EC8 (resized).jpegEE2F743B-0B1E-4A90-AF8A-43309E5E93C8 (resized).jpegLooks pretty good! New red looks a bit more maroon or brick red compared to the original. New yellow might a bit on the orange side. Pardon my critical eye, I know color matching is difficult, and cameras can lie.
Central logo is missing the red, but I assume you know that.
It was noted that the printer did not pick up all the objects in the file. Most notably the red dots that make up the gradient mesh in the “Star Gazer” letters. It also missed the white background layer. I see that all the colours are a bit darker than they should be. This can be seen in the blue of the eye compared to the original. I will lighten all colours and compare again.
Each printer gives a slightly different result. Unfortunately I don’t have an original on site to compare with, so each comparison requires travel time.
It is interesting that the bright white seems to work on this playfield. The Seawitch looked wrong with bright white so it was changed to ivory bone.
1 month later
1 month later
Χαλκίδα
Quoted from Axaios:Hello guys,
I am repairing the playfield on my star gazer, any chance to know what is the original playfield color?
Thanks
The colour of your playfield will be different depending on the day it was made. I have digitally measured the colour of many playfields and found variations. If you are repairing yours, then mix the paints to get a reasonable match.
Fantastic!
Quoted from FantasticPinball:The colour of your playfield will be different depending on the day it was made. I have digitally measured the colour of many playfields and found variations. If you are repairing yours, then mix the paints to get a reasonable match.
Fantastic!
Actually I am going to use an overlay. Dimensions are ready, and I have tried many printings. Now I just need to decide the colour. So I was looking for a colour mane. Printing colours have certain code names I think.
Quoted from FantasticPinball:The colour of your playfield will be different depending on the day it was made. I have digitally measured the colour of many playfields and found variations. If you are repairing yours, then mix the paints to get a reasonable match.
Fantastic!
I’m not sure about that. It was a low production game. Many are just faded or aged to the point they look different.
Quoted from FantasticPinball:The colour of your playfield will be different depending on the day it was made. I have digitally measured the colour of many playfields and found variations. If you are repairing yours, then mix the paints to get a reasonable match.
Fantastic!
I was going to say "Blue"... 
Quoted from jj44114:[quoted image]
Original in nice condition cleared.
It looks like the replacement part is identical to the original.
Fantastic!
32331205-5F42-41DC-A3F1-E5414184D645 (resized).jpeg 3 weeks later
I have a request to make another Star Gazer lamp board. However, I am out of the material I prefer to use. I would like to help this guy out but I would have to buy enough for 4 lamp boards.
Is anybody else in need of a Star Gazer lamp board?
Quoted from dothedoo:I could use a lamp board.
Here is the latest. I just came from Menards. My preferred material MDO is out of stock and the cost has shot to the moon. The lamp board on my Catacomb is made of MDF and it is still looking good, but you can figure Stern was looking for ways to cut costs before Gary finally went in other directions.
MDF is an option. But I am not fond of MDF because it weighs a ton and if you handle it wrong it can start chipping ( Think about all those cheap, cheesy, computer desks that Walmart sells).
The plywood I see is usually warped and bowed as it sits on the shelf. I am not confident that any lamp board I made out of today's plywood would not warp and bow after I start cutting it, or shipping it.
Which leads me to this: Oriented strand board. It is glued together chucks of wood, glued and pressed into different thicknesses. It is moisture resistant and will not warp. It is paintable and since it will be hidden behind a back glass and not visible I think it will work OK.
The other plus is that I can buy OSB in smaller sizes and not get stuck with any left overs.
Just joined the club and loving the game. Quick question for the club here. My bonus 24,000 feature light blinks from the start of the game. It is Similar to the cadence of the lights blinking on the four inserts by the flippers(blinks roughly every second ). If I earn the 24,000 bonus by knocking down all the stand ups two times it will remain solidly lit as it should.
Is this normal or is there something going on with that insert light?
Quoted from Pmaino:Just joined the club and loving the game. Quick question for the club here. My bonus 24,000 feature light blinks from the start of the game. It is Similar to the cadence of the lights blinking on the four inserts by the flippers(blinks roughly every second ). If I earn the 24,000 bonus by knocking down all the stand ups two times it will remain solidly lit as it should.
Is this normal or is there something going on with that insert light?
Is it an LED? Original lamp board? i would say connectors, pin bad solder joint, etc...
Quoted from hisokajp:Is it an LED? Original lamp board? i would say connectors, pin bad solder joint, etc...
Yes LED with new light board. Its not a random flickering but a on/off with a consistent cadence. I re-soldered the wires there as well but no change...
Quoted from hisokajp:that is weird, usually flickering LED could be due to a bad connection on the connector or socket side. Not sure if you are describing some kind of weird shorting signal?
Its not flickering. Its turning on and off just like the insert lights are down by the flippers. Its almost as if the code is doing this.
Quoted from cottonm4:I have a request to make another Star Gazer lamp board. However, I am out of the material I prefer to use. I would like to help this guy out but I would have to buy enough for 4 lamp boards.
Is anybody else in need of a Star Gazer lamp board?
I now have requests for 4 more Star Gazer lamp boards. I have ordered a fresh sheet on MDO. I do not know when it will arrive but will contact all 4 of you when I have the MDO in stock.
And thanks.
Quoted from Pmaino:Its not flickering. Its turning on and off just like the insert lights are down by the flippers. Its almost as if the code is doing this.
Add a resistor to the socket.
Quoted from cottonm4:I now have requests for 4 more Star Gazer lamp boards. I have ordered a fresh sheet on MDO. I do not know when it will arrive but will contact all 4 of you when I have the MDO in stock.
And thanks.
I just got another request for a Star Gazer lamp board. That is total of 5 people in need. One sheet of MDO makes 4 lamp boards. I am waiting for the material to arrive.
But now I am looking for 3 more people in need of a lamp board so I can help the fifth pinball builder out.
Let me know.
Thanks.
Quoted from cottonm4:I just got another request for a Star Gazer lamp board. That is total of 5 people in need. One sheet of MDO makes 4 lamp boards. I am waiting for the material to arrive.
But now I am looking for 3 more people in need of a lamp board so I can help the fifth pinball builder out.
Let me know.
Thanks.
If you plan on making a dragonfist one I'll take one
Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
