From time to time I'd like to post some updates or news about what I'm up to at Pinitech LLC. Seems best to just create a single thread for this so anyone who's a fan of what I'm doing can follow along, favorite or bookmark this thread, and check in as time permits.

• Got a question, suggestion or feedback?
• Want to know when an OOS product will be available again?
• Want to just say hello or show your support?

This thread isn't just for my own updates / news or corny jokes, it's also for the fans and customers of Pinitech too!

Should be plenty of entertainment value as time goes on, even for anyone interested in seeing or hearing some behind-the-scenes of running a small business and creating these types of products.

And with that, off we go!!

LATEST HIGHLIGHTS

• Post #32 - Bally LDB Tester Available Again (DIY Kit or Fully Assembled)
• Post #31 - Samples of updated NVRAM design for Gottlieb Sys1 ordered.
• Post #22 - Announcement of "LAST CALL" method of organizing re-runs of OOS items. Bally/Stern Bench LED Display is first.

Just a few of our products..

• *NEW* LED Displays That Look Like Plasmas! for Classic Bally/Stern Games
• NVRAM (Battery Eliminators) *See here for compatibility list.

pinitech_logo (resized).jpg

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http://www.pinitech.com - "Pinball Inspired Technology"
NVRAM, Bally/Stern LED Displays & Mods for pinball machines

First thing I wanted to address..

When will XYZ diagnostic tool be available again? Are you still producing it?

Believe it or not, I feel horrible when a product is out of stock and remains out of stock long-term. It isn't serving the customer who has a problem to fix or wants a tool to assist in troubleshooting. It's also not good to show these products & have people excited signing up thinking it may just be just a few weeks or months for an item to be back in-stock when it could be years.

So I'm going to fix the problem & bump some of the diagnostic tools into a LEGACY PRODUCT category. Mainly this is about the Bally diagnostic tools, but a few others with light interest will get the same treatment. I'll then change the sign-up form to indicate the product WILL NOT be re-made or in-stock again UNTIL there's a few dozen people signed up for any given item, which could take months or years. That way, no one is disappointed or given false hope in availability of those tools going forward.

If you have any questions about availability of other items, let me know here

Been asked a few times. Even bought a Gameplan MPU2 board with a blown chip off eBay a few years back and intended to fix it and get it booting at the bench to develop an nvram. Based on production numbers of those machines though, it's been low priority.

I'd actually like to get the compact Gottlieb Sys1 nvram out first before getting into any others. My experience just judging with Gottlieb Sys3 and Gottlieb Sys1 is if it requires soldering or board modifications and is for an older game, the audience is very limited. But that said, I like the thought of expanding the line and filling in the gaps even if only a handful may sell per year.

I think a few people were working on solutions. Again, probably priorities and production numbers are to blame for why Gameplan solutions don't already exist.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.games.pinball/3kLKOQm_9tE

I'll see if I can get something cooking AFTER the Gottlieb Sys1 compact nvram. I squished everything down to the size of the 5101 module I'm selling now, but never verified spacing of components and put the small board order in. Had to go with thinner traces, but if it works out, it'll be a pretty sweet little compact module for Gottlieb Sys1. Would like to get that available before I proceed with any other new types of NVRAM. I actually felt bad after working out a deal with CactusJack on his Gottlieb Sys1 boards because I meant to switch over from his larger PCB to my compact module without having a huge delay in-between... but life got in the way.

Prototype of the design I had worked on last year for the Gottlieb Sys1 NVRAM..
sys1nvram.jpg

Believe me, I've got a lot of interesting things to post in this thread! Should be fun! I see it as more "Casual Friday" for the vibe, versus suit-and-tie of having to be quite as professional on the website or Facebook.

These days I'm really not doing any new development of diagnostic tools, though they were a core focus 2014-2016. I've had to move on and redefine what people associate with the name "Pinitech" and focus on less niche products.

Thought it'd be neat to remember some of those abandoned projects/prototypes over time..giving them official entries in the "Pinitech Prototype Graveyard".

Pinitech Prototype Graveyard #1..

Universal Tester

Here's one I was working on in 2015. Ideally I could have developed this into an all-in-one display tester for some of the earlier pinball machines and other input/output testing of boards. The project was too expansive though and seperate wire harnesses would have been required for each device it connected to.

universal_tester.jpg

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/checking-interest-universal-tester-lcd-for-pinball-machines

I think someone with a lot more experience with PICs or microcontrollers could develop a handy board like this and expand its uses over time. Basically a display & then various headers for the various PORTA, PORTB, PORTC, etc inputs and outputs.

Internally, I've used it to test 64 Switch Matrix Testers & the wire harnesses for them. Also wrote some code for the Classic Bally/Stern LED display demo I had last year at the Allentown pinball show.

Pinitech Prototype Graveyard #2..

Universal Lamp/Solenoid Tester Board

This is another project I really wish I could have completed. I had a period of creative inspiration and knocked out some things that I thought might benefit the community. This tester was going to compliment the 64 Switch Matrix Tester, except it was going to be a universal tester for lamps & solenoids.

universal_lamp.jpg

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/checking-interest-universal-lampsolenoid-tester-board

The reason this never progressed anywhere is I had spent literally hundreds of hours to figure out wiring/cabling diagrams and on the 64 Switch Matrix Tester.. and get all of the switch data entered into a database. This would have required the same. My plan was to have overlays that sat over-top of the larger dot matrix display, that would have numbers of the lamps/solenoids per manufacturer.

Anyone want to guess what the inspiration was for the name "Pinitech"?

First person that nails it gets a free nvram of your choice. Not something I've ever disclosed publically before so should be fun! I'll give 24hrs to guess and will update this post as soon as someone guesses correctly.

Gonna have to limit this by where to where I can ship (US, Canada, Australia). Will need to charge shipping if outside the US.

We have a winner!

Anything I'm designating with an official entry in the "Pinitech Prototype Graveyard" in this thread is not something I plan on putting any more development time into myself. The costs are too high and I've since changed directions in the types of projects I'm investing time into.

I figure by listing some of this stuff and designating it this way, it may allow others with the time to dedicate toward it to be inspired. This way it's not forgotten, but actually may have a fighting chance of someone carrying through with the idea.

Good guesses, but not how I came up with the word originally. I did want something techy sounding. I was thinking of names with "pinball" in them, but also didn't want something that pigeon holed the name into JUST pinball. Wanted it to look professional.

The "Pinitech Inspired Technology" slogan/tagline actually came AFTER the word was chosen and I thought of other meanings of the "Pini" letters. Tech was already settled as technology. Pin was short for pinball. Just a matter of figuring out what "i" word sounded good in-between and I figured even if I branched into arcade or other electronics, saying "inspired" made sense since I was starting with pinball products.

I'll give a hint. At least somewhat based on a word mentioned in a 90s movie. We'll see if that gives it away

BINGO!! HAHA. That was fast!

PM me with your nvram choice & shipping address, if you need one, and I can get one mailed off to you

Back Story -- I found Office Space, the movie, in College in 1999. It became a cult classic in our dorm. I think I exposed a lot of people to that movie haha... even my first boss out of college who gave his 3-4 employees a red stapler for Christmas one year. References to it would come up pretty often. Later I joined Corporate IT world (2006) working for a 7000+ employee company and Office Space stopped being funny. It was like, wait, this is just a typical day in a cubicle world. I was a real life Peter Gibbons.

PIN lead me to the PIN-ITECH.. and then the thought of "Pinball Inspired Technology". I was sold! Plus, being in my early 30s, with a creative / humorous view of life, it was too amusing not to go with that name when I was trying to break out of the cubicle job.

And here she sits, the Official Swingline Red Stapler. Produced AFTER the movie made it popular..
stapler.jpg

Pinitech Prototype Graveyard #3

Skeeball Bench LED Display

Yep, it's a "bench display" display for Skeeball machines. There's a story behind this

skeeball_bench.jpg

For a few of the earlier years in the pinball/arcade hobby, my father and I were buying Skeeball machines and fixing them up. I got to learn quite a bit about all the models out there, including the Model 78/79 (early electronic alleys that used logic chips). I published info online as I learned by actually repairing various model Skeeball alleys. Worked on a lot of Model H and Model S machines, but we'd get the earlier Model D/E machines enough of the time too.. those were usually setup with bells for the ball to hit if you scored 50pts... that was the only sound option on those first solid state Skeeball machines!! Deltronic Labs did actually later make an add-on board for sound/ticket dispenser capabilities for those early alleys to "update" them.

Here's one of the articles..
http://www.techdose.com/articles/Model-78-SkeeBall-Information/402/page1.html

I was kind of a "Skeeball Historian" in a way... unearthing as much history as I could about Skeeball machines. Even found one of the elusive "Model V" MPUs (that came between Model H and Model S). What's cool though is everything I was publishing seemed to have helped quite a few people buying Skeeball machines for their home. I'd often get emails thanking me for the info.

As I got into doing the Pinitech stuff, I decided to work toward a full Skeeball display design... this bench display was basically a "small compact prototype" of a circuit I had meant to use in the full display design. Shortly after I did this, I was approached by an amusement company in California that saw this bench display and asked if I could do a full replacement display. Told them that was the plan. But, in 2016 I had also released the Pinitech RETROFIT conversion kits and had my hands pretty full with those through the end of the year. So the full Skeeball display design sat unfinished. And what happens often, happened, where someone else saw an opportunity to create something that was needed and to my surprise, put it out at a fair price. So instead of pursuing it further, I went forward with what would become the Pinitech UNO and Pintech TRADITIONAL full LED display kits for Classic Bally/Stern.

Maybe some day, just for kicks, I'll get back to the Skeeball display design. It was going to be pretty versatile in what it accomplished, and I'll leave it at that *just in case* it happens

[Some Business Updates For February 2019]

SALES TAX NEXUS
Lots of changes for small businesses occurred in 2018. One of the most notable, sales tax nexuses. While it mainly will affect larger distributors or businesses selling large ticket items, there's ridiculousness of transaction volume limits of 200 transactions or in some cases 100 transactions per state. That means it's entirely possible for a very small business doing a volume of small dollar transactions to hit these thresholds... and at that point, you back-owe sales taxes to the state that will come out of YOUR pocket since it wasn't planned. Not something I care to play around with and one of the main reasons I've decided to take it easy with selling in volume with some items.

The sales tax nexus laws are set by individual states, and it's a convoluted mess right now. It's also just a matter of time before requests are made to Paypal, etc by individual states, once they have made adjustments to their own processes and can start collecting more $$ for state revenue. My plan is to discuss with a CPA this year when I do my taxes & figure out how this affects me. That will help me set direction for 2019. While this change is good in some ways long-term, it's going to take a while for this to get sorted out enough it's easy for smaller businesses.

POSTAL RATES
Postal rates have recently gone up. Affects First Class Mail a good amount, but some other mail as well. I'm going to eat the difference right now for the most part, but may need to make some adjustments to some of the weight rates I've got setup as time goes on.

TRADE WAR
Had some recent FEDEX orders nailed with about $400 in customs duties. Suppose I shouldn't complain too much, as for the most part small orders don't get hit with anything & it's cost of doing business. This is a wait-and-see for me in terms of deciding if any price changes need to be made. Until I get hit with something that causes a significant rise in material cost, I'll try to keep prices where they're at now. Trying to order some things in-advance knowing it could get worse before it gets better.

1ST QUARTER 2019
Going to be busy 1st quarter between whatever orders come in and tax paperwork, along with trying to get ahead of inventory a bit. So I don't anticipate having a ton of time to knock out new designs unfortunately. As long as I'm comfortable with things around April/May time-frame regarding sales tax nexuses & other tax stuff, I'll then proceed with knocking out some designs I had going last year and working on some new projects. It's really a shame that the paperwork end of things hampers my design time so heavily, so I'd like to get setup better on that end so it doesn't continue to be a problem.

PINITECH - BOUTIQUE PARTS MANUFACTURER
I'm now calling PINITECH a "boutique pinball parts manufacturer". The products I'll be offering will be high quality, unique and creative solutions that look and/or function different than what else is out there. Projects will be chosen, as they often have, based on my own creative interests in wanting to improve a design or see something exist that can solve a problem in a unique way. In other words, I have no plans to be doing the reproductions of original boards like MPUs, driver boards, power supplies, etc. There's enough of that out there & it's not a business model that interests me.

Instead, I'll be keeping it "boutique" and provide great service and high quality products that are different than what else is available. The products that go out of stock, if there's plenty of demand, won't be out of stock for long. The stuff that doesn't sell that often may have delays of months or longer. So if you're interested in anything niche (ie. diagnostic tools definitely fall into this category), I'd suggest buy it when you see it's available to order because there may be significant delays in when it's available again.

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http://www.pinitech.com - "Pinball Inspired Technology"
NVRAM, Bally/Stern LED Displays & Mods for pinball machines

Had a productive day yesterday. Should make some people happy that have been waiting on PIGGY DEUX boards since last Fall. Just have to finish testing them today & then I'll run through wait-list sign-ups first. Any remaining boards will hit the website.

piggydeux.jpg

Also, on a related note, I just now realized I spelled "DEUX" wrong on the silkscreen. I'm surprised no one called me out on that I'm spelling it right on the website and everywhere else. So really what we have here are Limited Edition PCBs! If anyone wants one of these last remaining boards signed and numbered, let me know!

The good news is, this board solves problems in an easy, plug-and-play way. Once in a while I catch someone mentioning it in a thread and talking about how it fixed their issues with a game not booting or having intermittent reboots. I'll definitely try to keep better availability of this board going forward in 2019.. but since this finishes up my first run of PCBs, it may not be until March/April timeframe before a new batch happens.

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http://www.pinitech.com - "Pinball Inspired Technology"
NVRAM, Bally/Stern LED Displays & Mods for pinball machines

Just a pre-announcement of some things to come..

I'm going to use this thread and my Facebook page as a way to organize some "last calls" for batch runs of boards that have been OOS for a while & have some interest via waitlist (mainly diagnostic tools). These last calls may *in fact* be the last time some of these boards are ran. The intent is to use up materials I have on some of these runs & fulfill some requests for items that have had a minimum of a dozen sign-ups. It's likely these items may not be offered again if there's little interest via sign-up forms, which is why it's being called "last call".

This way of doing things should help for a variety of reasons..

• A 30-60 day notice is announced for the "last-call" to get signed up on a product that's been OOS for a while.
• With a hard deadline set, people KNOW it will happen.
• I can use up remaining materials I have for these items on the last-call runs.
• I can help people that have been waiting for these items get what they need/want.

First item I'm going to re-run are the Classic Bally/Stern Bench LED Displays.

**** LAST CALL **** LAST CALL **** LAST CALL ****

BALLY/STERN BENCH LED DISPLAY
https://www.pinitech.com/products/ballystern_bench_display.php

This is a handy little diagnostic tool that connects directly to the MPU's J1 header and allows you to "see" display output and switch between any of the player displays or credit/match display data. Along with a switch tester, you can basically simulate a game at the bench and it allows you to do more MPU testing than you could otherwise with just the standard MPU led blinks.

Consider this a last-call notice of getting one of these boards. Get signed up on the waitlist via the product link above if interested.

Deadline to get signed up is 03/31/19. Boards will be ordered shortly after this date. I would then expect to have boards in around May 2019 and to start emailing anyone that was interested. No payment will be required until I'm ready-to-ship.

**** LAST CALL **** LAST CALL **** LAST CALL ****

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http://www.pinitech.com - "Pinball Inspired Technology"
NVRAM, Bally/Stern LED Displays & Mods for pinball machines

No, unfortunately I won't be at TPF. The only show I've attended with [very limited] inventory is the local Allentown, PA show in recent years and that's mainly been to help my father with a 2-space setup and bunch of project machines & parts he's brought along. I prioritize helping him since he's in his 60s and it's something we can do together.

I like the interaction and ability to demo things at the shows, but just judging from what I see with Allentown, what sells are things for the newer games, led mods, speaker kits, etc. Those are the popular items and it's worthwhile for those vendors because there's big $$ there. With what I sell, I'd have a hard enough time breaking even after travel expenses, food, vendor space, etc. Time's limited too right now, so the direct sales off the website are more my thing.

The 6264 NVRAM will work. Plug-and-Play. There's a jumper setting below the RAM chip that allows you to select between 8k (6264) or 32k (62256). If it's currently set to 32k you could move it to the 8k position when installing the 6264 NVRAM.

Location of the RAM:
https://www.pinitech.com/product_images/ram_locations/ramloc_whitestar.jpg

LMK if you have any other questions on that!

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http://www.pinitech.com - "Pinball Inspired Technology"
NVRAM, Bally/Stern LED Displays & Mods for pinball machines

I'd imagine the reason the AA's are in there is as the machine changed hands, someone just did what they thought was normal and put batteries in the battery holder. The timekeeper RAM has its own internal battery so they shouldn't be needed.

Replied! Not something I can take on, but I sent a link for someone that may be able to help out

Ordering up some samples of a project I had left off on last year.

NVRAM for Gottlieb Sys1 Machines **NEW, ULTRA COMPACT DESIGN**
Honey, I shrunk the NVRAM! The new design is the same size as the current 5101 NVRAM Module I sell, only with a bunch of extra components stuffed on it to support Gottlieb Sys1 machines that utilize the 5101 differently than Bally/Williams/Gottlieb machines. I'm not sure I could have fit even a few more passive components on the back of the PCB So hopefully it works out lol.

gottlieb_sys1_nvram.jpg

Should have a few sample boards in 1-2 weeks. If it checks out, I'll be looking for a few people to test.
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http://www.pinitech.com - "Pinball Inspired Technology"
NVRAM, Bally/Stern LED Displays & Mods for pinball machines

INVENTORY UPDATE..

After a long hiatus, I've got the Bally Lamp Driver Board Testers available again on the website as either a DIY Kit or Fully Assembled.

I have enough parts for a few dozen. I'll be sending out some emails today to waitlist sign-ups.

https://www.pinitech.com/products/ballystern_lamp_tester.php

Pinitech will be at Allentown Pinfest again this year on May 3rd & May 4th.

We'll have some of our NVRAM products and DIY Kits for Pinitech UNO / TRADITIONAL Bally/Stern LED Displays (ORANGE digit color). That's it for inventory, we keep it light since we're also helping family out at the show. You'll find our small table setup on the flea market side (just noting this since some people had trouble finding us last year). We'll have the LED displays on-demo, so shouldn't be too hard to locate.

On that note, the Pinitech website shopping cart will be down starting Sunday, 4/28 thru Saturday, 5/4 for the Allentown show.
We'll resume taking website orders again Sunday, May 5th.

That's it for now! If you'll be attending Pinfest, we'll see you there!

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http://www.pinitech.com - "Pinball Inspired Technology"
NVRAM, Bally/Stern LED Displays & Mods for pinball machines

A few business updates..

• Some small business changes last year have been affecting how I'm choosing to go forward this year. Unfortunately, the idea of doing a last-call for some items that I mentioned earlier is on-hold. I want to make sure I'm able to keep core products available on the website and get ahead of those inventories some before entertaining additional requests for items that only sell a handful a year. I don't mean to disappoint anyone in this, but it was "up in the air" until talking to a CPA and unfortunately some of the concerns I had were valid. So the landscape has changed a bit.
• Products that had been unavailable for some time have been removed from the website to avoid confusion. A "Closeout" category was added for things that have limited-stock or won't have longer-term availability.
• Going forward, I anticipate focusing on continuing to offer "something different" in what I'm doing within the pinball community. Creatively, that's how I started doing things for this hobby, so I'm wanting to "get back to my roots" in that sense with any business activities. I don't expect to be the lowest price on many products, but there will be unique differences in what I'm offering.

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http://www.pinitech.com - "Pinball Inspired Technology"
NVRAM, Bally/Stern LED Displays & Mods for pinball machines