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NEW Concealed Illuminated Star Posts

lukewells

lukewells

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May 1, 2012
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Here are some of the first batch of PCBs being made up.

These are concealed design and fit inside the star post, rather than the star post fitting ontop of the pcb as with some others.

Again with all my products Low Cost is a key factor to ensure they are affordable to everyone.


Stay tuned for more info as we test them!

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Love the concealed illuminati star post!

That's good old British innovation right there. Why have the pinball manufacturers not got someone like you designing stuff for them?
 
Maybe we should have a single thread listing all the products made and sold by forum members, there's quite a few now with Luke's new stuff ( displays, audio amp and now star post leds ) Mypinballs system 80b, S&T board, RFM saucer mod etc ) DR.Pinball's LCD-DMD and DMD extender.....I'm sure there are many more.
 
kevlar said:
Maybe we should have a single thread listing all the products made and sold by forum members, there's quite a few now with Luke's new stuff ( displays, audio amp and now star post leds ) Mypinballs system 80b, S&T board, RFM saucer mod etc ) DR.Pinball's LCD-DMD and DMD extender.....I'm sure there are many more.
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Agree with this. I hate having to dig around the internet looking for some obscure item, some obscure person made 5 years ago. A topic like that would be really helpful.
 
Well I am very pleased with the results of the first test!

The problem when you replace GI lights with LED's is that you end up with dark patches on the playfield (due to the limited viewing angle)

By putting LEDs in the stat posts instead, you can add colour, while keeping the original GI bulbs providing the actual light on the playfield. Works a treat!

I've done one slingshot on Taxi to show the difference with and without.

Please excuse the crudity of this demonstration, The star-posts I used were old and dirty, also I think yellow would of course look better on Taxi than blue, but blue stands out so you get the idea.

Another thing, the difference between "bling" and a subtle enhancement is the ability to adjust the brightness. No competitors have adjustable brightness.

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There are 2 options for wiring.

In this example, I have dremelled a slot into the side of the star-post, and 2 fine wires run from the slot and down the side of one of the GI bulbs under the slingshot. In reality, when lit up, the wires are almost impossible to see.

For lone posts where the is no nearby lamp sockets, you can drill 2 very small holes through the playfield for the wires.


Under the playfield, the wires plug into a controller board, which allows you to set the brightness of the starposts.

In older games like this one (system 11) I hooked the controller board up to the GI circuit, which means the star posts will flash if the GI flashes.

In WPC, the GI is triac dimmed, so it is probably going to work better being connected to the +12v aux circuit, and then relay controlled if you want to black out the star posts.
 
lukewells said:
you can drill 2 very small holes through the playfield for the wires.
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Oh hell no. Sounds like something Todd Tuckey and his gang at TNT Amusements in the states would do. Think they've managed to destroy every pin they've ever got their hands on.

Most star posts are within easy reach of a hole are they not?

Also, what about using the kind of wires found on ribbon cables? They're usually tiny. Would imagin they could conceal pretty easily.
 
Agree, I personally wouldn't be drilling holes in the pf just for wiring, but hey each to their own.... it's your machine :)

I have some of the Great Lakes star post lights fitted and to be honest you don't really notice the wiring. After all... its a pinball machine, you can see wires all over the place if you look. No biggie to me.

I'll certainly be giving these a go though.
 
Please take the drilling discussion to another thread else this will turn into the 100th thread about "is it ok to drill holes to install certain ramp protectors, is it ok to drill a hole to install the TZ third magnet, is it ok to drill holes to add missing lamp sockets where some manufactures cut then out of the production playfield"

9 times out of 10, you can route wires to a nearby lamp socket

1 time out of 10, there is a lone post with no nearby hole. In this event, you can drill 2x 0.7mm holes under the statrpost where no one will ever know they are there, and the playfield is not going to be ruined. If that really really upsets you, then maybe collecting porcelain figurines or stamps is more your thing.

While I wouldn't dare modify an NOS Cactus Canyon playfield. Adding a missing lamp socket on a system11 playfield with half the artwork worn away should not be enough to start a pinball riot ;)
 
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I've just found some yellow posts, some Taxi's going to get some yellow lamps made up this afternoon :)
 
Hmmmm, so yellow or blue?

All the factory posts are blue as are the lane guides.

Yellow looks more natural, but then i'll want to change the blue lane guides to yellow as well as the posts then to make it all match

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