Thank you will do. Appreciate the pointer. Will be a good opportunity to learn switch locations in this machine.

I did some more diagnostic work and I'm leaning into switch matrix not being the culprit. I have all playfield lights constantly on power up and during gameplay, and in test mode, none of the light tests do anything to turn lights off and on. I went through and disconnected switch connectors from MPU, flipper board, sound and I/O, and display (only connected to power driver board via ribbon cable and power connector) and symptom remains after each step (all playfield lights on at power up)

I do have GIOCD and FlasherOCD boards in this machine, so that is the next area I'm going to start poking at.

Quick update. Problem is definitely with my MPU board. Pulling ASIC, NVRAM, ROM and populating my TZ MPU and all works perfectly in my TNG. I suspect some line(s) to the power driver board is stuck, causing lights to always be on. This is now beyond my pay grade so time to get it repaired. Appreciate the tips and insights!

Yesterday was diverter day. The shaft was so stuck that I had to break out the work gloves and muscle it free. Gunked up with a combination of dirty dried grease and loctite. A bath in Evaporust and a session on the buffer, and it's ready for the next thirty years of diverting. Before and after:

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You can’t use your TZ. Every game is wired differently. You can look at the manual online. From what I see it looks to be correct if the subway is loaded. Like I said though, you will need to double check with the manual.

Thank you for the cross check. Machine was wired correctly (some ribbons were flipped vs what I have in my TZ, but they were flipped on both sides). Agreed with your comment on the switch connectors 100%.

I am having some stability issues with my left and outlane sensors (the drift after a week or two). I have some of the self calibrating replacements on order which will hopefully take care of that lingering nit

That’s come up really well - great job returning this game to its former glory

Does anyone know of a resource which sells brackets by themselves.
Specifically, the brackets used commonly on the A-16998 16-Opto Board several manufactures sells for the Williams machines.
Most of the boards include the brackets, however I just need the mounting brackets themselves. see photo

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So after installing a Pinsound in my ST:TNG and playing around with it for a few days... I took it out. The product works exactly as advertised and there are a handful of already fully functioning sound packages on their site to choose from. However, after trying out the different packages that worked exactly as described and added new sounds and better music to the game, it occurred to me that the reason I liked ST:TNG was due to the nostalgia it offers me. Playing that game and hearing those chimes brings me back to my parents arcade when they had the exact same machine. I want to hear the same sounds I heard as a kid.

I still think its a great product, and will likely be moving it into LOTR to try a few packages there. ST:TNG already has a great sound package... apparently one close to my heart.

I bought mine from Marco’s. I bought the board from Dumbass and it saved my Enterprise!

I would say, if you were interested, the best sound package out there for STTNG is the ULTIMATE one (my opinion). Certainly they have the original sound package too to keep it like the game was when produced in 1993

Here is some cool information, for those interested in getting one of Victor's (Dumbass on Pinside) new improved 16-Opto Main Boards for your STTNG or similar machine.

Victor's board doesn't come with brackets, however as of today, Terry at Pinball Life now is.

https://www.pinballlife.com/opto-mounting-bracket-kit-copy.html?Category_Code=

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Yesterday was drop target day, and I've never seen such a thoroughly destroyed mech still in a game. Everything that could be wrong with it, was wrong with it. Obviously I'll be getting a complete new assembly from Pinball Life. Pics and observations here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/worst-hackrepair-you-ever-saw/page/74#post-7060491

Can anyone recommend a good set of replacement apron decals? The black powdercoating, or paint, or whatever it is, is peeling and I'm going to have my apron re-powdercoated. I'd like the decals to look as close to the factory original colors as possible, so no mirror chrome finish or anything like that. Please post pics of your restored apron if you have them.

Hi guys,
Hope all you Trekies are doing good!

So, the red flasher at the bottom right when standing in front of the playfield wasnt flashing, i took the dome out and to my surprise found this bulb (photo).

I have never seen one like this before. Could anyone tell my the reference of this flasher, please, as i cant seem to find any like this, anywhere.
Thanks guys!

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Are you sure it's not separated from the base?
Inspect the lampholder if it's not stuck in there.

(never seen such a lamp in a pinball

Hi. I need some help on the “home” switches in both guns. I can’t adjust properly. A pic or a tip is always welcome. Thanks.

Yeah, the glass bulb seperated from the metal base and that base is still stuck in there, possibly with the two thin copper leads touching so make sure you get that out of there before turning the game back on.

Do the home switches ever register in switch test mode or in the cannon tests?

Looks like a #89 flasher:

https://www.pinball.center/en/shop/pinball-parts/pinball-lamps/flasher/930/ba15s-flasher-ge89-89

I just replaced all of these in my TNG with the 8SMD LED equivalents from Comet:

https://www.cometpinball.com/products/8smd-flashers?_pos=1&_sid=ac7653036&_ss=r&variant=12386988752940

Most definitely your base is still in the socket or in the machine somewhere. On page 2-45 of the manual it has all the flasher locations. If you scan the list on the left, it will show you where are the #89 flashers are

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Also new at Pinball Life is the gun handle assembly/shooter.

https://www.pinballlife.com/star-trek-next-generation-gun-handle-assembly.html

https://www.pinballlife.com/star-trek-next-generation-gun-handle-set.html

Switches work properly. The cannon stops after the ball poper. Is just adjustment that I need help whit . Or a pic or a short video to see the switch lever position. Thank you

guys,

thanks so much, you were absolutely right and I feel like an idiot now haha.
indeed the base was left at the back of the back panel, and still in the socket.

much appreciated your posts and your help. Also many thanks, Ray, for pointing me towards those #89 LED flashers. I just ordered a bunch to upgrade my WPC games.

have a great Sunday folks xx

Anyone in the club replaced your plastics with the set from Planetary Pinball? I have a few plastics in my game from an unknown repro set that don't match the originals and I want to make sure that I avoid getting another full set of the same plastics. Instead of being screen printed with solid colors over a gray/blue-ish background, the slingshot plastic colors were printed as halftones over a white background. You can see in the 1st pic how the reprinted sling plastics don't even come close to matching the original inlane plastics. And in the 2nd pic, on the bottom reprint plastic you can see the halftones again and the muddy yellow instead of the bright yellow that should be there. Most telling is the purple (!) keyline in the reprint versus the bright pink that all the originals have, like the one above it.

Note that these are NOT necessarily from the Planetary set, I don't know where they're from. I'd like to get the Planetary set but I really don't want to throw away 200 bucks on a shit set of plastics. Anyone replaced theirs with the set from Planetary and could posts photos of it?

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At first I'm thinking.. what's he complaining about.. old plastics are yellowed and different runs have slightly different results.. but yeah, when you zoom in, that print looks like crap .

I don't mind a little yellowed on originals as long as they all match .... but the halftones of the newer ones look like shit .... and the purple and muddy yellow areas are awful. I'll stick with the ones I have now before I blow good money on whole set of those.

Here's a pic of a sling from an ebay auction - all solid colors, light gray/blue background, no halftones. Can anyone tell me if the Planetary set is printed similar to this?
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Star Trek Pinball Fans
Continue to enjoy the amazing people on this page. Experienced insight, solid solutions to issues, and always some creative mod to share.
Wanted to say thank you for the amazing feedback from those who got the Borg Alcove Display and LCARS Display mods.

SO SO happy to enhance your machines.
Eric

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Mickspinball is offering free shipping for the Red Oscillating LED kits. I initially invented this for ST:TNG machines, but they can be used anywhere or on any machine where there is an under the playfield single 44/47 type bulb.

Any questions, please let me know..

Mick

https://www.mickspinball.com/circular-red-oscillating-led-flasher

UPDATE, I do have the option to have clockwise and counter clockwise rotation. Please make a note when ordering if you want one of each for a pair ordered.

Weekend sale on my new Deanna Troi STTNG topper. Order yours now!

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Oh sorry I thought we were all supposed to post advertisements.

I'm sensing a lit extra ball.

Hey, sorry for the delay. Haven’t had a chance to dig into this really. D19 and D21 light up but D20 stays off. I’m assuming those are the three diagnostic LEDs, right?

Thank you!

Just installed a 3 flippers + bushings Precision Pinball flipper set from 1956PINHEAD on my TNG (https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1341-precision-pinball-prod/06654-precision-flip-flipper-system ).

John didn't have white anodized aluminum available, so he suggested the plain silver and spray paint if needed. This looks pretty awesome as is (really fits the look of the gam), so I'll be keeping the bare aluminum

Too soon to comment too much on gameplay impact, but I did just post the high score on our machine (if this is placebo, give me more!

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Looks like the blanking circuit (D19) is not turning off after 1sec when the CPU board is booting - just double check the diag LEDs again when you power the game on (below is the description of how the 3 LEDs should behave).

D19 (LED201) - "Blanking". This LED should light when power is applied, then after about 1 second, go off and stay off. If D19 remains on, this is an indication that the blanking circuit is turned on which prevents the game from powering coils. The blanking circuit was implemented to eliminate the possibility of damaging the game due to locked on coils when the CPU isn't operating properly.

D20 (LED203) - "Diagnostics". Once the blanking LED turns off, this LED should begin blinking and remain blinking as long as the game is turned on. This LED is a simple "I'm working" indication from the MPU. This LED is toggled from pin 35 of the ASIC (DLED signal). D20 will also indicate basic issues with the MPU by blinking as such...
One blink - problem with the game ROM.
Two blinks - problem with the game RAM (or accessing the RAM, i.e. open traces).
Three blinks - problem with the ASIC (WPC) or a problem with the security chip (WPC-S and WPC-95).

D21 (LED202) - "5VDC present". This LED provides a simple indication of the presence of 5VDC. This LED isn't CPU controlled. It's illuminated as long as 5VDC is present.

The CPU board is not booting (no POST = power on self test).

The BLANKING signal is generated by the ASIC. U9 pin 34. It is distributed to the power board through the ribbon cable. The power board does not generate the signal. It is consumed (distributed) to the ~OC (output control) pin of each of the flip-flops. This allows the system to disable the logic of the flip-flops and prevent damage to the system when the software crashes (hangs).

@SNES:

I would start with the basics. Power off the system whenever you disconnect or reconnect cables / connectors between each step.

1. Isolate the CPU board by disconnecting everything except the power connector (J210).
2. Power on the system and see if the board POSTs. If the board POSTs then you have a problem on one of the other boards interfering. You can isolate the board by reconnecting the ribbon cables to each of the supporting boards one-by-one to find out which one it is.
3. If the board still does not POST then press firmly on the ASIC (U9). Try again.
4. If the board still does not POST then re-seat all the socketed ICs on the CPU board. These are the processor (U4) and ROM (U6). Try again.
5. If the board still does not POST then the next easiest thing to do is rule out the processor and ROM. The easiest way to do this is to use a known good CPU board.

Unfortunately your list of games does not show a compatible game that you can swap the board with. After all this and you still do not have a POST then you probably need to send the board out for repair. Those steps are the basics. Beyond that you need to look at the signals to see what's happening.

Thanks guys! Turns out it was isolated to the sound board so I reseated all of the ribbon cable connections and the game booted. It didn’t kick out a ball into the shooter lane so I need to diagnose that now, but she is alive!

Thank you Manny65 and DumbAss for the help!

Well, maybe I spoke too soon. Just went down to mess with the trough kick out and the game was doing the same no boot thing. I unplugged the sound board and it booted right up. Any suggestions on what to look for on the sound board?

Thank you!

First thing would be to try a new ribbon cable. They do fail occasionally(intermittent contact).

It's rather easy to miss install the ribbon cables, and getting new ones is always suggested. RED always goes to Pin 1 btw.

This is a multi-media screen capture of the various small displays used within my Star Trek Next Generation Pin.
Stay creative!

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My original "neutral zone" standup target assembly is missing entirely, replaced at some point with a plain round white standup. I know the black "box" and its yellow decal are available and it looks like the rest of the parts would include some longer-than-usual standup target blades. Anyone here ever cobble one of these together from scratch? What parts did you use and where did you get them? Or, if anyone happens to have one of these collecting dust that they no longer need, please pm me.

Looks like you could buy an assembled one here https://www.coinoperatorshop.com/en/Automats/Pinball/Spareparts/targets/Special-targets-1248/Target-Stationary.html

Alternatively looking at the parts list, you can get almost all of the parts from PSPA (Australia) - the challenge is the 2 blades don't come with contact point (5860-09374-00 "cp prec met 7309fs") installed. The assembled shorter blade (A-11175) is used in other currently available switches (eg https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-18017-6) but that still leaves how to build the other longer blade (06-87) with a contact point (5860-09374-00)

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Thanks for that list Manny, I would have bought the one from Germany but it works out to about 85 euros with shipping, that's a little too rich for me. I believe I should be able to build my own if I can source all the parts, which I'm doing right now. As long as I'm building one, might as well build several, is there anyone else who can use a new Neutral Zone standup target assembly for their machine?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinballcenter-parts-needed#post-4824152

Cross posting here in case of interest. Just started upgrading the sound in my TNG, and writing up the process and recipe here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/improving-sound-quality-the-diy-route/page/19#post-7092703

Thanks to Eric_Manuel for the inspiration

Next: Pinsound, and maybe adding an amp to really shake things up (shaker TBD

Thank you my friend for the shout out. Pinsound will provide those speakers your adding to your system BETTER audio to work with, drastically. It would / will require you to run independent lines to each speaker Left / Right / Subwoofer or Cabinet speaker. Currently the original sound is mono, with filters at each speaker. Left is midrange, Right is the tweeter, and the cabinet speaker works as a subwoofer of sorts.

With Pinsound, you'll experience digital high quality stereo....My suggestion for the sound package (required) is the ULTIMATE one. In addition to adding the Pinsound Plus board, you can (thank you Rob Whent) also add an external REAL subwoofer, typically placed under the machine. This is wildly better and will improve everything.

Pinsound plus also offers a Remote Station for sound level, program switching and also a headphone jack.. Very recommended.

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Thank you for the suggestion! I just purchased some cables and will update when I get them installed.

Anyone done the roller-arm-switch update to their gun rotating mech? Do you have a part # for the microswitch?

I've never tried to locate one for sale, but here's the assembly drawing.

EDIT: Whoops - wrong drawing. Looking for the gun assembly.....

STTNG Catapult Assembly (resized).jpg

You'll find the original switch with the zig-zag bracket in the gun motor assembly diagram. There's a switch with a roller wheel on the end as an upgrade, it's supposed to allow smoother operation and prevent jamming. I think someone had it in a photo they had posted, I just don't know what the part number is.

5647-12693-06; use 180-5119-02 if you can't find the former. Pinball Life appears to stock the Williams part. The -06 switch was part of an upgrade kit released to address issues with the flat switch actuator blade wearing and breaking.

Yeah, that looks like the one I remember seeing. Just looked thru my service bulletin pdf's, here's the page addressing the gun switches. I'd love to see the instructions if anyone's got a copy, though I assume it's just a simple replacement.

EDIT: found the posts with the photo of the roller switch:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sttng-owners-club/page/20#post-3534054
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sttng-owners-club/page/36#post-3908111

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Newly designed 16-Opto Board for the Williams Star Trek Next Generation (and similar) pinball machines.
Since 1993, the original 16-Opto Controller Board has gone through some revisions and improvements. One of the issues with the original board, was heat. The resistors would get extremely hot, literally burning the motherboard they were attached to.
HomePin redesigned the board with “vent” holes and “stand-offs” to provide the resistors some cooling.
The new board designed by Victor (Dumbass on Pinside) has redesigned the board completely. In addition, added some amazing improvements. With Optos in a machine, trouble-shooting is complex.

Victor’s board has installed test leds (16 of them) on the board itself. When switched into Test Mode, each led will go OFF when activated on the playfield, confirming the operation. This method confirms each of the (16) transmitter and receiver sets are functioning correctly, on the playfield.
In addition, heat has drastically been reduced. You can actually hold your finger on the resistors, which are warm, however NOT burning.
There are other technical improvements related to current and voltage, I am not qualified to describe, but information is available on his Pinside page.
Plug and play functionality, and the machine runs fantastic.

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