What's new
Pinball info

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Star Post LED - Order Now

lukewells

lukewells

Registered
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
2,377
Location
Blackpool, UK
AllWithClearPost (Medium).jpg
All with Clear posts ( White / UV / Pink / Blue / Green / Yellow / Orange / Red )


AllWithColouredPosts (Medium).jpg
All with matching coloured posts ( White / UV / Pink / Blue / Green / Yellow / Orange / Red )



I am now taking pre-orders for illuminated Star Posts.

This edition is for the DIY’ers. You will need a soldering iron to add your own wiring (easy instructions provided)

If you don’t want to solder, then in the next few months the “plug and play” solder-free version will be available. This version will of course cost more, but will be perfect for the beginner/non solderer.



So, the DIY version…

The Star-Light PCB’s come pre-assembled with your choice of coloured LED’s you just solder on the wires for power.


Power Supply

You will need 1 power supply PCB (this is just a simple small PCB that takes 6.3VAC from your GI, and give you a strong DC output. There is a very large filter capacitor to ensure that any flicker is eliminated) Screw terminals are provided for the input and output, so no soldering is required for this PCB. An inline fuse holder and fuse are included.

One power supply PCB will easily run 35+ Star-lights, so this should allow you to illuminate every single post if you want, in pretty much any game.


dcpsu.JPG
This is a mock up of what the PSU will look like (the screw terminals are not shown in this picture.

Edit: Yes it is a simple DC rectifier with a large value capacitor, you can of course make your own power supply if you have the means


Star Post List Type 1

These lights are completely concealed inside the post, do not stick out and the post will still fit flush with the playfield. This only works with the standard sized posts that contain a hollow area (Pinball Mania is the best supplier for these)

The wires can exit through the bottom – Perfect for movable outlane posts!

Alternatively, you can dremel a slot into your Star Post for the wires to exit from one side. This is what I did with Taxi (photos in a post below)

These are the smallest and cheapest Star Post lights in the world!

inPost1.JPG

inpost2.JPG


Star Post Light Type 2

These lights feature a small tab that protrudes from under one side of the post, to allow connection of power.

These lights use a special ultra-thin PCB as the star post will sit on top of the pcb.

Unlike my competitors, there are no unsightly diodes and resistors sticking out of the side. These are the smallest and cheapest star post lights of this type, in the world!

stapostv2.JPG

This is a preview of what they look like.



Pricing

The Power Supply costs £10 £8 – 20% off for pre-orders only!

Star post lights cost the same, type 1 or type 2 in any colour (Red/Orange/Yellow/Green/Blue/Pink/UV/White)

Star Post Light £2.50each £2.00each – 20% off for pre-orders only!

Please note, I am offering 20% off for pre orders. The production run will take 4-6 weeks depending on the numbers ordered.

Pricing
 
Last edited:
The UV coloured LEDs

It is important that you understand that the UV LED's are very dim looking, compared to the other colours, this is down to the wavelength. If you look at the pictures above, you can see that all other colours are brighter.

When placed against a white background, you can see that it makes the white glow blue/purple.

UV (Medium).JPG



Also here is a demonstration showing that it makes these 2 florescent posts glow, when they are placed near the UV light source

uvTest (Medium).jpg



Make sure that you understand, that in the pictures above, the UV light only looks bright because of the white background. In a dark background they are very dim
 
Last edited:
I'm after some of these to put on my Rollergames. It has red posts. Do you think the UV option might be better for this pin as it has a lot of 80's fluorescent colours? Just wondering if the UV leds might make the red posts look the part etc.
 
PeteB said:
I'm after some of these to put on my Rollergames. It has red posts. Do you think the UV option might be better for this pin as it has a lot of 80's fluorescent colours? Just wondering if the UV leds might make the red posts look the part etc.
Click to expand...

With a red post in place, the red is filtering the UV and stops local objects from fluorescing. So that one is a no sorry.


IMG_20150607_224747 (Small).jpg

I do know for a fact that there are parts on Rollergames playfield that will fluoresce under UV, but not with a coloured post
 
Thanks for the heads up Luke.

You can put me down for 1 Power Supply and 6 of the blue type-1 illuminated star posts.

I'll probably want more but right now i'm not sure what colours i'll be putting where. Will probably use the 6 that I buy for the slingshots but might well want to grab more in the future; but as my playfield is currently totally stripped I can't say for sure what i'll need/want.
 
Put me down for an order too. I'll take 20x type 1 in RED plus a power supply.
 
Monkeyboypaul said:
Hi Luke,

Is the brightness adjustable?

Ta.
Click to expand...

Not with the basic power supply. There is a dimmable version which I have prototyped, but I had a couple of issues with the production of those. I was planning on sorting those out at a later date, but if enough people would rather have a dimmable version then I can sort that out :)
 
18 uv for me, Dracula needs a little lift. And I take it I'll need a power pack thingy as well.
Will I have them for pinball night this week ?

Also need you to take a look at my Wh20 she's gone nuts.
 
Gaz Shiells said:
I'll take a kit for Taxi mate. What works best with the blue star posts ?
Click to expand...

I used blue LED's on light blue posts on mine. I am going to replace the light blue posts with regular dark blue at some point, but yep, blue LEDs look best on Taxi (in my personal opinion)
 
GrizZ said:
Is there a deadline for pre orders Luke ?
Click to expand...

I'll keep orders open until interest tails off.

This will be a one time big hit at a discounted rate (I need to sell about 250 + 250 for myself in order to make it worth while - the PCB houses HATE fully routing out tiny round boards :rofl:) and then after that I'll be hopefully handing over to someone else to supply/distribute in the future at normal price.

Anyway, no immediate rush, but let me know if you want anything or have any questions :)
 
Are you planning on showing us these in action at NERG or Ely or UKPP or NLP Luke? I expect I will take a machine's worth ie power supply plus 8-12 posts but would like to see in person if poss before deciding on type 1 or 2 and colours. I'm usually a major anti-LED type so I want to see them not flickering.
 
cooldan said:
Are you planning on showing us these in action at NERG or Ely or UKPP or NLP Luke? I expect I will take a machine's worth ie power supply plus 8-12 posts but would like to see in person if poss before deciding on type 1 or 2 and colours. I'm usually a major anti-LED type so I want to see them not flickering.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately a paradox has been detected. When I have them to show off in my machines, the pre-order will have already been completed.

I can however assure you that when used in conjunction with my power supply board, they will be entirely visible flicker free. £3 of the cost of the power supply is a large filter capacitor to ensure that the ripple remains at under 0.2v even with a large number of posts connected
 
Last edited:
Monkeyboypaul said:
Any UK suppliers of the fluorescent star posts?
Click to expand...

Not that I know of, but if you want a few, I would try asking @pinballmania, as he is my go to guy for Star Posts. The ones that Andy sold me are the same as original posts you will find on your machine from new and also have the correct cutout inside to fit the type A boards inside the post.

Be aware that posts at Best of pinball are not made from the genuine molds and the centre hole is way too big.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom