Great, thanks so much! Both added.

Apologies for the lack up updates recently. I'm still waiting on two shipments to arrive before I can start fulfilling the list. The first is the new board designs, which should be sometime this week, and the second is a bulk package of Arduino Nanos. Unfortunately this package was returned to China due to unpaid import fees, although I was never notified *sigh*. The strain on RoyalMail here in the UK at the moment is really noticeable. While I wait for that package to enjoy its circumnavigation of the globe, I've ordered another 50 Nanos from another supplier, which will hopefully arrive sooner. Still looking like a couple of weeks though. I'll keep everyone updated.

In other news, the UK beta testing has gone really well, with nothing major popping up during the install or usage tests. Looks like the only consideration worth mentioning will be those people on v1 of the Swinks mod, as the EL wire for that version wasn't being powered by the insert or GI. In later versions the LED strips are powered by a comet matrix adapter, plugged into either the Snackbar insert or the GI. It's this matrix adapter that is used to power my mod, so we may have to look at supplying that adapter for anyone missing it. When it comes time to start fulfilling the list I'll PM everyone separately to work out those details.

Really keen to get started, so please bear with me while we wait patiently for the mailman.

Hey Jimmy @compy, thanks for the kind words. I've been following your TZ backboard work, absolutely next level stuff mate, and clearly getting the attention and excitement it deserves. Fantastic to see so many great projects starting to see the light of day. Now, if only we could get this supply chain sorted.. my workshop is starting to look like a badly run mail sorting centre. Looking forward to the day when it can go back to looking like a badly run workshop again.

Appreciate the offer of help too, you may live to regret that

All the best, Davey

Sure thing Bryan, and appreciate the kind words. Jady's snackbar mod is a stone cold classic. Added!

Just waiting on the Nanos now

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The first shipment of Nanos has arrived, which means we're now ready to start fulfilling orders

I'll be building and sending them out in batches of 10 or so, with the UK list being done first. The US/OS list will follow very closely after that. Expect a PM in your inbox in the next week or so laying out all the details.

Thanks for your patience!

Sure thing, added!

A nice review from the UK beta tester for those interested:

https://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/move-your-snackbar-a-lighting-mod-for-swinks-cftbl-snackbar-sending.46813/post-371274

Both added, thanks!

Thanks Jimmy. I know exactly what you mean. Add to that .. Did I put the right postage label on the right box? I have had to develop a process to make sure everything gets done in the right order, but I tell you what, it has certainly given me a newfound respect for people who work in fulfilment centers!

Definitely exciting (and a wee bit scary) to be at this stage of the project. Really looking forward to getting some of the first reactions back in.

Davey

First two boards went out today! That includes yours @fifty. Four more to make on the UK list then I'll shift over to the US/OS list. Emails coming soon laying out the details.

Great stuff, i'll make a note about your version (all v1 users need an additional Comet Matrix adapter).

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Thanks swinks appreciate the offer! I'll do a stocktake and see how many I have. I'm guessing around 1 in 5 people will have v1s on the list?

Of course, thanks! Added.

Last four UK boards going out today, exciting times. Looking forward to getting starting on the US/OS list, not far away now.

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Those people who recently received PM & invoices, your mods are ready! woot woot!

These are #8 - 15. Should be be starting on the next 8 sometime next week. Check your PMs!

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Next 9 boards ready. All those recently contacted, expect your tracking details tomorrow. Packages to the US seem to be arriving relatively quickly by RoyalMail which is great considering everything that's going on at the moment.

So, that means all boards up to #31 complete. I'm able to make around 8 or so a week at the moment, fitted around other commitments. There is currently 52 people on the list, so I should be able to get to everyone in the next 3 weeks. Those at the back, not long to wait now! Really appreciate everyone's patience, trust, and enthusiasm.

If you've already received your board, and you feel like you want to post some feedback here, go nuts. I'd love to hear about your experience.

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That's great - let me know how you get on with the install!

52 people on the list, which is way more than I expected, and only one or two dropoffs which is incredible. Great to get so much interest. There's been lots of soldering to do, which isn't great on the eyes, but I've got a bit of a rhythm going with it now and make sure I only do a few at a time. Going at it like this I can crack through about 8-10 a week, which means we should have everyones out the door in a week or two.

Then it's onto the next creech project!

Haha... sure why not. I suppose we can do a little sneak peek!

The new mod I've been working on is a replacement chase board for creech called the "Chase Echo" which aims to introduce some new patterns to the chase lights in the ramp and bowl, and (most importantly) fade the LEDs in a nice way so the don't look so static and on/off-y. A few of you might know that there has already been a couple of attempts at a redesign for this board, both as a direct repro and also some that provide additional patterns, but none so far that has managed to implement proper LED fading.

Until now of course

The reason this one has taken so long to come out is because the initial version I produced used PWM fading, which uses DC. While this worked great at fading the LEDs, it meant that all the bulbs needed to be oriented correctly in the ramp and bowl to achieve the correct polarity, which was a major installation fafforama and not really achieving the plug-n-play installation that I wanted. So it was back to the drawing board in order to produce a board that could fade the LEDs using AC.

This was the end result - Chase echo v1.1 - which uses falling edge AC dimming. And a crapload of mosfets.

Here's a little video that I produced to show the patterns, because why not eh? Put the headphones on the music is great.

I'll create a full thread for this soon, once the UK beta testing has finished (only about a week or so away!)

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I'll start a list

Still a couple of things to look at that have come back from beta testing but will post here with a link to the new thread when we're all ready to go. Thanks!

Sure thing, added. Many thanks for the support, again!

Will do. Many thanks

That's great feedback, thanks! So far so good on the installs, sounds as though the beta testing we did was able to iron out most of the confusion.

Got you on the list for the Chase Echo too. Many thanks!

Fafforamas are all the rage these days it seems! So yeah, thats definately still in the pipes too, Jady and I have been sending ideas and designs back and forth over the last few weeks, when we find time in between work on other projects. Will post some news on that when it's progressed a bit further.