# Episode 435 - Happy Thanksgiving, Robo-Frenzy Wiring, Adding Progressive Jackpot to a Bingo Pinball

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2018-11-22  
**Duration:** 7m 49s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-435-happy-thanksgiving-robo-frenzy-wiring-adding-progressive-jackpot-to-a-bingo-pinball

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## Analysis

Nick Baldridge updates on his RoboFrenzy restoration project, which is approximately 50% wired, discussing remaining tasks including positional units and coin section wiring. He concludes a listener contest for bingo row prints and provides a detailed technical explanation of how to add a progressive jackpot feature to a Zodiac bingo pinball machine, while clarifying his personal preference for preserving games in their original factory condition.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] RoboFrenzy is approximately 50% wired, with player unit, timer unit, relays, lamps, and switches complete — _Nick Baldridge, self-reporting on personal restoration project_
- [HIGH] Zodiac is a 20-hole bingo pinball game using mystic lines with score doubling features and art package superior to later bingo machines — _Nick Baldridge providing technical specifications of existing game_
- [HIGH] Progressive bonus would require adding a stepper or reflex-type unit linked between payout switches and replay counter to function as a multiplier system — _Nick Baldridge explaining technical modification methodology for progressive jackpots_
- [HIGH] Reflex units handle initial portioning for coins dropped, not guaranteed awards, whereas progressive bonuses are tangible guaranteed awards — _Nick Baldridge distinguishing between mechanical bingo pinball components_
- [HIGH] Nick Baldridge prefers restoring games to original factory condition rather than modifying them for personal tastes — _Nick Baldridge stating personal restoration philosophy_

### Notable Quotes

> "I have been continuing to wire the game. I'm approximately 50% wired, I think, at this point. I have the player unit, the timer unit, various relays, a lot of lamps, and a variety of switches complete."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, 00:00:30
> _Project status update on RoboFrenzy restoration_

> "What catches on fire first basically. So I'm looking forward to that."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, 00:01:20
> _Humorous acknowledgment of risk in powering up restored electromechanical machine_

> "A progressive bonus which for the uninitiated would be something where your payout would be greater depending on how much you're putting into the machine versus how much you're taking out."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, 00:03:15
> _Clear definition of progressive bonus mechanics for listeners_

> "This is different from the reflex in that the reflex is not a guaranteed award. Instead, the reflex just handles the initial portioning for any coin that's dropped."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, 00:03:45
> _Technical clarification distinguishing reflex units from progressive bonuses in bingo pinball_

> "I like the games to play as they did when they came from the factory. So, I know for some people, you know, that is what they're about. Tweaking the game to their particular tastes. We are making a series of videos about pinball, and to make sure you're watching them all. But that is just not the way that I like to fix games."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, 00:05:30
> _Nick Baldridge's restoration philosophy and personal approach to pinball preservation_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast, homebrew bingo pinball designer and electromechanical restoration enthusiast |
| RoboFrenzy | product | Custom electromechanical pinball machine restoration project in progress by Nick Baldridge |
| Zodiac | game | 20-hole bingo pinball machine with mystic lines, score doubling features, and available in four color variants |
| For Amusement Only | organization | Podcast dedicated to electromechanical and bingo pinball machines hosted by Nick Baldridge |
| Multi-Bingo | product | Homebrew multi-game bingo pinball machine designed by Nick Baldridge with 70+ games programmed |

### Topics

- **Primary:** RoboFrenzy restoration and wiring, Bingo pinball mechanical engineering and modification, Progressive jackpot implementation on Zodiac
- **Secondary:** Electromechanical pinball restoration philosophy, Reflex units and portioning mechanisms
- **Mentioned:** Community engagement and listener contests

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[restoration_signal]** RoboFrenzy electromechanical restoration project at 50% wiring completion, with scoring section recently completed and remaining work on positional units, lamps, relays, and coin section (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge detailed breakdown of completed and pending wiring tasks
- **[design_philosophy]** Nick Baldridge expresses preference for factory-original restoration over customization, contrasting with operators who modify games to personal specifications (confidence: high) — Explicit statement: 'I like the games to play as they did when they came from the factory'
- **[design_innovation]** Technical explanation of how to add progressive jackpot functionality to bingo pinball machines using stepper/reflex units and linking replay counter mechanisms (confidence: high) — Detailed technical methodology provided for Zodiac progressive bonus implementation
- **[community_signal]** Contest running with positive participation to win bingo row prints, demonstrating active listener engagement with podcast content (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge reports 'good response' to contest and provides email contact for final entries
- **[content_signal]** For Amusement Only EM/Bingo Pinball Podcast maintaining regular episode schedule with multi-platform distribution (iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, RSS, Google Play Music, website) (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge lists distribution platforms and episode number (435)

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## Transcript

 What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only. This is Nicholas Baldridge. Just a few topics here. This is going to be a quick one because tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the US and a very happy Thanksgiving to all my listeners who are in the US and those without, thank you Thank you for listening. So RoboFrenzy continues apace here. I have been continuing to wire the game. I'm approximately 50% wired, I think, at this point. I have the player unit, the timer unit, various relays, a lot of lamps, and a variety of switches complete. And I still have quite a bit left to do. Positional units, a whole bunch of other lamps, and some other relays. One of the tasks that I finished this past week was wiring up the scoring section and handling the score Reels, End of Stroke, all that kind of thing based off of the Score Relays. And that's all looking good and should be ready to go. So I'm very excited about that. But I still have the coin section left to do, basically starting the game. The 30 volt coils need to be switched and then of course line voltage needs to be applied and then I'll have to see just how badly I've screwed up the wiring. What catchesonfirefirst basically. So I'm looking forward to that. Maybe I'll have enough time to do that this I going to be focusing on that mostly but if I do have time in the late evenings or late nights I be working on wiring and so far so good It taken a tremendous amount of wire I couldn believe how much wire I actually used in this project but again so far so good In other news, the contest that I've been running to win a print of the bingo row will be ending as of this episode. I will extend it through tonight, so if you have any last minute five in the lines, pre-Thanksgiving five in the lines, this is your time to get them in to me at foreamusementonlypodcast at gmail.com and I'll shoot you out a free print. I've had a good response to that Thank you all very much for participating and for getting those big wins. Lastly, I'm not going to do a featured game this time because I have a little technical discussion that I thought might be of interest and time is limited unfortunately. I had a listener email me asking if there was any way to put a progressive bonus on a zodiac pinball. Zodiac is one of the bingo pinballs and it is a 20-hole game, one that uses the mystic lines and it has the traditional, at that point in time, OK game as well as a variety of features for score Doubling. The game is available in four different colors each which can have their own sets of values for replays and a game that can score in the hundreds and hundreds of replays if you have it maxed out Zodiac also has a really cool art package compared to a lot of those later bingo pinball machines So I responded to make a progressive bonus which for the uninitiated would be something where your payout would be greater depending on how much you're putting into the game versus how much you're taking out. Um, this progressive bonus, um, would be potentially separate from your normal odds, um, and it would be just an extra cherry on top if you've been feeding the machine for a long time and not winning. Uh, this is different from the reflex in that the reflex is not a guaranteed award. Instead, the reflex just handles the initial portioning, uh, for any coin that's dropped. So, not the same thing. Progressive bonuses is an actual award. A tangible award. So, to make a progressive bonus, you'd have to add a stepper or a reflex-type unit that would decrement as you put money into the machine and increment as you won. Link that up between the payout switches on the control unit and the replay counter and another switch or unit to increment for each replay. The game will continue to pay until the replay counter hits the standard amount. So if you wanted a four times payout on a progressive nature, check the finger of the progressive unit in question, then step the interim unit, let's call it the progressive replay counter. Each time the unit hits four steps, pulse the reset coil on it and step up the replay counter one time. You could wire this in between all four replay counters on zodiac. Using a reflex type differential system you have a true progressive jackpot And in that way you know you be able to pay out four times max or five times max or however many multipliers you wanted to provide based on De has my These type of modifications are interesting to think about. I treat them as kind of a thought exercise but they're not something that I like to implement. I like the games to play as they did when they came from the factory. So, I know for some people, you know, that is what they're about. Tweaking the game to their particular tastes. We are making a series of videos about pinball, a series of videos about pinball, and to make sure you're watching them all. To make sure you're watching them all. But that is just not the way that I like to fix games. I like to fix them as they were and enjoy them as articles of the particular time period in which they came out, but to each their own. So, with that, I've got some wiring to do and I've got some preparations to do for some family time. So, I will bid you all adieu. For some family time, so I will bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for listening. My name again is Nicholas Baldridge. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com or you can call me on the bingos line. That's 724 bingos 1 724 246 4671. You can listen to me on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Google Play Music. You can follow me on Twitter at bingo podcast or on Instagram also at bingo podcast or you can listen to me on my website which is for amusement only dot libsyn dot com. If you're a video game enthusiast I also am on a video game podcast with my friend Don and that is at gaming on ten dot com. Well that's all. Thank you very much for listening and I'll talk to you next time.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-15 | Item ID: 2243af2e-125d-4df9-97c9-915110677465*