Episode 304 - Turf King Learning with Ava Baldridge 1-6-15

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·20m 11s·analyzed·Jan 9, 2016

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.025

TL;DR

Father-daughter restoration of Turf King bingo pinball with focus on maintenance and learning.

Summary

Nicholas Backbone and his daughter Ava discuss their restoration work on a Turf King bingo pinball machine, covering playfield cleaning, stepper maintenance, light bulb testing and replacement, and upcoming switch and relay adjustments. They explore the machine's design, artwork, and gameplay mechanics, with Ava sharing her learning experience working on the machine alongside her father.

Key Claims

Turf King uses 1.7 volt lamps, specifically 1458 and 1654 bulbs, which are the same as those used in Bounty, Double Up, Nightclub, Gay Time, and Caravan bingo machines
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone explaining lamp specifications during machine restoration discussion
Turf King's playfield is three to four inches taller than other bingo machines and is approximately the same height as Twinkie, but shorter than Circus or Mario
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone comparing machine heights with Ava
Turf King can be played without the glass on because the button selection mechanism does not require physical buttons and the playfield has a lower pitch without ramps or flipper action
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone explaining gameplay mechanics to Ava
Turf King's glass side rails and foot rail are all one piece as a single assembly
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone explaining the glass assembly structure after Ava discovered a leveling issue
Only two bulbs were out in Turf King and there was no corrosion on any of the sockets, which is unusual for machines Nicholas typically acquires
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone noting the machine's condition during lamp inspection
Mixing different oils on pinball machine components is not recommended because it makes the machine perform poorly, analogized as 'getting a fever'
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone teaching Ava about proper lubrication practices
Nicholas Backbone won over 100 replays during a lunchtime session playing Turf King
medium confidence · Nicholas Backbone casually mentioning a recent gameplay session to Ava
Turf King's jockey artwork on the cabinet door is only a partial painting because the bottom half has been damaged from people kicking the machine, which has a floor-length design with no foot space underneath
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone explaining the artwork damage history to Ava

Notable Quotes

“That's what I thought until my dad told me that it would actually not be good for the machine. Right. Yeah. It was like it would be getting a fever. Make it sick.”
Ava Baldridge @ mid-episode — Shows Ava learning practical pinball maintenance principles through metaphor
“because if it's really covered in dirt, like part of the playfield does, it would look really old and mashed up, used. So when I clean it, it looks like a brand new surface.”
Ava Baldridge @ mid-episode — Demonstrates Ava's understanding of restoration impact and aesthetic appreciation
“Turf King uses 1.7 volt lamps, which are the same ones that they use behind the bingo cards in, say, Bounty or Double Up, Nightclub, Gay Time, or Caravan.”
Nicholas Backbone @ mid-episode — Technical specification clarifying lamp standardization across bingo machines
“the nice thing about Turf King is that you can play without the glass on... the buttons that you use to select the things that you're playing for, if you're trying to increase your odds or your features or whatever, you can actually push them without the actual physical buttons being there.”
Nicholas Backbone @ mid-episode — Unique mechanical feature of Turf King that distinguishes it from other bingo machines
“I had unscrewed the screws which hold the playfield down, and I was leaving them unscrewed for convenience so we could lift the playfield easier. But you can't have the glass on there with the playfield unscrewed because the screws will prevent the glass from going down.”
Nicholas Backbone @ late-episode — Practical troubleshooting lesson about machine assembly and glass installation
“it's sort of like I'm in pinball school right now because I'm remembering most of the things”
Ava Baldridge @ late-episode — Reflects on experiential learning through hands-on restoration work
“I really like it because I actually love horses”
Ava Baldridge — Personal connection to game theme based on artistic appreciation and life interest

Entities

Nicholas BackbonepersonAva BaldridgepersonFor Amusement OnlyorganizationTurf KinggameBountygameDouble UpgameNightclubgameGay Timegame Caravangame

Signals

?
restoration_signal: Detailed discussion of playfield cleaning procedures and the visual improvement from removing accumulated dirt and debris
high · Ava describes how cleaning reveals a 'brand new surface' and discusses the process of cleaning various playfield components including rivets and bumper caps
?
restoration_signal: Comprehensive lamp inventory and replacement for Turf King; identification of rare 1.7 volt bulbs (1458 and 1654) and standardization across bingo machines
high · Nicholas Backbone identifies lamp types and notes only 2 out of many were burned out with no socket corrosion, indicating well-maintained electrical systems
?
restoration_signal: Stepper cleaning and lubrication, proper oil selection to avoid damaging components, and switch/relay adjustment preparation
high · Discussion of cleaning steppers, proper lubrication practices, and upcoming soldering work on broken wires and relay issues
?
design_innovation: Turf King's unique design feature allowing play without the glass enclosure due to button selection mechanism not requiring physical interaction
high · Nicholas Backbone explains that Turf King buttons can be operated without physical contact and low playfield pitch allows safe gameplay without glass
?
technology_signal: Use of nickel coin tube accessory from another podcast guest to streamline gameplay and reduce repetitive coin insertion
medium · Ava discusses benefits of the coin tube for extended play sessions without constant coin reinsertion

Topics

Pinball machine restoration and maintenanceprimaryBingo pinball machines and their technical specificationsprimaryExperiential learning and mentorshipprimaryLamp specifications and standardization across machinessecondaryPlayfield cleaning and cosmetic restorationsecondaryMachine design and mechanical featuressecondaryArtwork appreciation and technical drawing challengessecondarySoldering and electrical repairmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Warm, educational tone focused on mentorship and learning. Ava expresses genuine enthusiasm for the restoration work and the machine. Nicholas is patient and encouraging. No conflicts or negative commentary about the machine or industry.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.061

what's that sound it's for amusement only the em and bingo pinball podcast welcome back to for amusement only this is Nicholas Baldridge and ava hey it's ava ava how have you been good you know how i've been i know well i know how you've been but people haven't heard from you in a while. I know. So how's school going? Good. Yeah. Why are we talking about school? This is a podcast about your school. No it's not. So I wanted to talk with you about Turf King. Okay. Yeah. We picked it up the other day right? Yeah. And we drove it all the way home. And I helped fix it. And yeah you've been doing all the work on it. Except for you. Well you did part. Well, you taught me. Yeah. So, so far, can you tell people what you've done? I've cleaned a bunch of, I've cleaned the play field and the rivets, and I've cleaned, I've helped clean the Jones plugs, and we put oil on the rivets to help make them move smoother. That's right. And then what was the really cool thing that happened after we did that work? What did we do? We put in the board in the machine. Yeah. And then what? And then we cleaned the play field. Right, right. After we cleaned the play field, what did we do? Oh, I don't know. We played it. Oh, yeah. avi did such a good job um working on the steppers that's what she's talking about with the rivets she cleaned the steppers in the head and you cleaned the um score uh the replay counter and you also tested every single bulb in the machine you remember oh yeah yeah Yeah. That was in the back head thing. Yeah. So what were some of the things which you thought were interesting about that work? I thought that it was interesting that you don't put two oils together. Because I thought that would just help it move smoother. Right. So the more oil, the better, right? Yeah. That's what I thought until my dad told me that it would actually not be good for the machine. Right. Yeah. It was like it would be getting a fever. Make it sick. That's right. And as far as cleaning the play field, now you've helped me clean a couple machines before, right? No. Really? No. Oh. Really? No. Boy, I should have put you to work sooner. Yeah. Did you like that? Uh-huh. I loved it. Now, is it nice seeing the effect that cleaning has on an area? Yeah, because if it's really covered in dirt, like part of the play field does, it would, it looks really old and mashed up, used. So when I clean it, it looks like a brand new surface. Yeah. And it cleaned up very nicely, didn't it? Mm-hmm. Now, I cleaned the bumper caps because those are... Really hard. Well, they're fragile. It's easy to take the lettering off of those. Mm-hmm. So, but other than that, you did the rest. Yeah. I made the light show up by putting it on a 9-volt battery. Right. And if you put the light bulb down on both sides, it would make it show up. Most of them were pretty good, actually. And what was the interesting thing that I pointed out about the lights in Turf King? That they were really expensive and rare. Yes, I did say they were expensive. um turf king uses 17 volt lamps which are the same ones that they use behind the bingo cards in say bounty or double up nightclub gay time or caravan so ticker tape actually uses 47 yeah those are the the el cheapo bulbs the ones i like to use um but turf king uses almost all these 1458 and 1654 They're pretty good because only two of them were out. Yeah, it was impressive. I don't know how long it had been since it had last been relamped, but... They were pretty good. They were all in good shape, yeah. and there was no corrosion on any of the sockets, which is unusual for games that I get anyway. Yeah, and you're making a bunch of noise while I'm sleeping. Yeah, well, now you get to make noise while I'm sleeping, so that's good. Hey! So, well, here's another thing. You remember the guy that I met with from the other podcast gave me that nickel coin tube. Uh-huh. Do you like using that? Yeah, because it gives you more time to play. So you don't have to keep pushing it and pushing it and pushing it. So you can play more rounds without having to go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And for those listening, it's just a tube with a little slide. Yeah, it's like a handle. And you pull it towards yourself and it shoots out like four or five nickels. so you can get a nice handful going and then play around. And then once you're collecting the coins, you just take a handful and line them up and put them straight back in the top again. Mm-hmm. So... But you have to make sure they're not jammed or else the coin thing won't work and you'll have to take out all the coins. Well, you don't have to do that. I found a trick for it. Or shake it. Yeah. You can actually push up from the bottom and it'll fix it. So Ava, this may surprise you, but I came home and lunched the other day and guess what? What? I won a bunch on Turf King. I played Turf King at lunchtime. Without the glass? I know, I know. How many times have I told you to play without the glass? Well, the nice thing about Turf King is that you can play without the glass on. Weird. Yeah, because the buttons that you use to select the things that you're playing for, if you're trying to increase your odds or your features or whatever, you can actually push them without the actual physical buttons being there. Unlike on the bingos. On the bingos, you have to have a stick or something to press. So that's kind of convenient. But yeah, I won over 100 replays. So like on Mario, you couldn't take off the glass and play, because it's high? Because it has ramps? You know, it's not good to play any game without the glass on. But in the case of Turf King, because the ball could fly out and land somewhere. But Turf King is really low? Well, Turf King, the pitch is lower. And also there's not a bunch of ramps or flippers or anything that's flinging the ball around. Tell them the secret that you did that you didn't know. About the level thing. The screw. Oh, you mean when I first tried to put the glass on the play field? Yeah, and then you told yourself, how come this is sticking up when I didn't even do anything to this thing? Yep. So the glass side rails and foot rail are all one piece on Turf King. Uh-huh. and he figured out after a while that he thought it wasn't leveled at first. But that was actually part of the reason. But the reason why it wasn't leveled, it's because he screwed in those screws before he put it on the right slot where it was supposed to go. I had unscrewed the screws which hold the playfield down, and I was leaving them unscrewed for convenience so we could lift the playfield easier. but you can't have the glass on there with the playfield unscrewed because the screws will prevent the glass from going down that was the issue so then he had so then he wouldn't tell me and i had to keep guessing and then finally after like an hour he told me that's one of those things you know it took me a minute to figure out what i had done So do you think you're learning a lot? Uh-huh. Because I've never worked on anything like that. And now I'm like, it's sort of like I'm in pinball school right now because I'm remembering most of the things. So you're ready to quit regular school and just go to pinball school? Because they have too much homework for a third grade. Well wait until you see the homework I give you What You have to shop all my games out now So here a question You've done some minor switch adjustments, or I've showed you how to do that before on Pop It Card. But I have never done it by myself or with you. Well, guess what? There's a couple of switches that need adjusting on Turf King. Yes, yes, yes. Oh, yeah, yeah. Just so you know, that's my happy dance. Right. Well, you know, no one can see this happy dance. Dang. Yeah. So the other thing, there's a couple of sticky levers inside. I'll have to show you that actuate some of the relays that select your horses. So I actually took the bottom board out. I pulled it out so we can work on it. And you can see it's out in the service position way back in there. and it's right at Ava level. That's pretty cool, huh? Yeah. So now I don't have to use the steps, the ladder thing, to reach all the way in the back. Yeah, what do you think of how tall Turf King is? I'd say it's pretty usual. Pretty usual? See, to me, it seems like the play field is way up higher than the other games, But that's probably because there's just such limited space in the corner where we have it. Well, most of our bingo machines are pretty much the same height. Like, Gator and Nightclub and Caravan and, like, Bounty Double Up and Ticker Taper are all three. Yeah, Turf King's like a good three or four inches taller than any of the bingos. Yeah, but it's still pretty much in the same level. In the same range. It's about as tall as, let's say, Twinkie? Yeah, I think you're right. But it's shorter than Circus or Mario. Yeah. But it's about the same height as them. Because Mario's pretty big for its size. Pretty big for its size? For its age? Hey! Yeah. But Circus is pretty much almost the same height. it's just a couple inches taller. Yeah, and most of that's the speaker, that little speaker area. So, Ava, what do you think of the artwork? I really like it because I actually love horses. Mm-hmm. So I would, I just think it's amazing because it's really hard to draw horses the exact way they are. I agree. And because even my friend Kelly and Claire, they take course back riding. Right. And they still do it pretty good, but not exactly. Yeah. And that's like exactly, exactly it. So that, I'm pretty, it's pretty awesome. Yeah, you like it? What do you think of the back glass? The back glass, I'd have to say, it's pretty hard to get exactly the same thing over and over and over again. Like the same size. Right. When you're doing it by hand, right? Yeah. What they've done in the back, I really like because almost everything is the same size. Right. It's pretty easy to see. Now, do you like all the mirroring? Yeah, the little mirrors, I really like it because I like silver stuff. Yeah. Or shiny stuff, you could say. Right. What? I'm a girl! Okay. Because it shows these special features. Yeah, it just makes it more appealing. I have a little click. Yeah. Now, what do you think about that artwork compared to something like Gay Time or Nightclub or Bounty or Ticker Tape? Ticker Tape? I would say it's pretty more complicated than Ticker Tape because... I would say the same thing. Ticker Tape is only a bunch of squares with little tiny circles, but that's still complicated in the lines. Yeah, and the people. Yeah, but I'd say compared to turf king and turf king, that would be pretty, ticker tape would be pretty much a little bit easier. I'd say 21 could do ticker tape, 38 could do turf king. That's your estimate of the person's age? Uh because even though they could have been younger I just like doing art Right Now do you like the jockey on the front What jockey? Oh, you mean the jockey. On the door, on the door. Oh, that, I actually part, like half-half, because it is actually half of a painting. Right. literally it's like oh like exactly half so i like that half half because i like the painting real much but i i don't get it why it's not fully the painting i didn't tell you that no uh it's because people have kicked it or scraped it or whatever so originally do that well you know it's it's a floor-length cabinet so instead of having no space for your feet underneath you end up walking up to the machine and accidentally kicking it a lot or intentionally kicking it because you know it's taking your money or whatever um imagine it's not working yeah imagine if you uh put your money in it and just eat your money i've had that happen to more like i've had that happen like with my money to soda can drink thing yeah you know why because the machine either them thought in front of it is empty and misplaced or it's disconnected like a wire is disconnected or something. So now that you've worked on turf king it's not fixed yet right there's still a couple problems. I saw well you have to teach me how to solder. Yep yeah there's a couple broken wires that we found and uh there's an issue with some. I know what soldering is. Good. It's when you connect metal to something. Metal to metal, metal to wire. Yep. When you connect two metallic things with more metal. And you do it by heating up a softer metal. Because you heat up the metal so it actually melts. It pulls in that softer metal. Yeah. Yeah, and spreads it out and it makes a strong bond. So that it will break as easily. Yeah, exactly. And it conducts electricity. Mm-hmm. So, you know, you've been studying a little bit about electricity from your circuit kits. Yeah. And I've learned a little bit at school. Mm-hmm. Circuit kits teach you about light bulbs and batteries, right? If the thing is with a circuit kit, you never want to attach a circuit that's just playing, like, if you go down and then across and then up again. You never want to connect the negative to the positive on the battery with no load in between. Because it will catch on fire or something. It'll melt the batteries or, you know, do something bad. Catch on fire? It might shoot out acid. Who knows? Yeah. Maybe it'll sing a song. Hey! No, it won't sing a song. How come you keep bringing up these songs thing? Because you're always singing. I'm not always singing. All right. Well, are you excited to finish up our project? Uh-huh. Okay, good. Because I really, really, really like that machine. Excellent. But I'm still sad that you returned Baby Batman. Well, it'll be all right. Maybe I can see another one. Who knows? Yeah. Maybe sometime in the future They're out there Would you like For me to get rid of all the flipper games And get all horse racing games You know they made a whole bunch of horse racing games No No No No No No No Everybody thinks I should get rid of all my flipper games No No No No No No No I guess that's everyone but Ava Alright I'm really proud of you Ava you're doing a good job well that's all for tonight thank you very much for joining me 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-BINGOS1 724-246-4671 you can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Cast via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter at bingopodcast you can follow me on Instagram also at bingopodcast or you can listen to us on our website, which is 4amusementonly.libsyn.com at which you can, at this very moment, purchase your very own 4amusementonly t-shirt. They're available for a limited time only, so if you'd like one, put in your order. Thanks very much, and I'll talk to you next time.