Episode 77 - Hubris and Bingos

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·10m 26s·analyzed·May 27, 2015

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.015

TL;DR

Nick debugs a bingo machine by learning not to ignore unfamiliar components.

Summary

Nick Baldridge recounts troubleshooting a six-card bingo machine's search disk issue, learning a humbling lesson about not dismissing components that appear functional. He successfully diagnosed the real problem in the selection unit's winner circuit after consulting Phil Hooper, fixed a broken wire, and achieved 256 credits ($64). He also fixed his multimeter probe issue and reflects on the importance of thorough diagnosis rather than assumptions.

Key Claims

The selection unit in a six-card bingo controls how many cards are lit to score appropriately based on coins inserted
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, explaining the function of the unit after consulting Phil Hooper
Every six-card bingo machine has a selection unit
medium confidence · Nick Baldridge, based on his knowledge as a bingo restorer (first six-card machine he's worked on)
One of the wiper feeds from the selection unit connects to the winner's circuit
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, confirmed by Phil Hooper and validated by the fix
Nick achieved 256 credits ($64) after fixing the selection unit wire
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, direct experience with the repaired machine
Bally's schematics and unit layouts clearly map every solder tab to its destination and schematic position
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, noting the documentation quality for future reference

Notable Quotes

“you should not ignore a unit just because you think it's doing the correct thing”
Nick Baldridge @ mid-episode — Core lesson learned; advice for other restorers
“I had stupidly discounted this unit, thinking that since it was lighting up card number 5, surely that was all it needed to do. Well, I don't think I could have been more wrong.”
Nick Baldridge @ mid-episode — Self-awareness about the diagnostic error; shows hubris as per episode title
“there's only so many things that can go wrong with a search disk”
Steve Smith @ referenced — Advice that guided initial troubleshooting
“My cheapo meter now actually works appropriately”
Nick Baldridge @ end segment — Resolution of secondary issue; humor about fixing rather than replacing

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonPhil HooperpersonSteve SmithpersonTaylor VApersonFor Amusement OnlyorganizationThe Pinball PodcastorganizationPinheads Pinball PodcastorganizationBallycompany GottliebcompanyAvaperson

Signals

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restoration_signal: Nick's documented troubleshooting process on a six-card bingo selection unit, highlighting the importance of not dismissing components and consulting technical documentation
high · Detailed recounting of testing continuity, consulting schematics, and ultimately finding the broken wire in the selection unit's winner circuit feed
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community_signal: Cross-promotion and reference to other pinball podcasts (The Pinball Podcast, Pinheads Pinball Podcast) and community expertise (Phil Hooper, Steve Smith)
high · Nick mentions listening to other shows, citing Taylor VA's appearance, and collaborating with technical experts
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content_signal: For Amusement Only podcast has noticed significant Australian audience; Nick seeking local bingo and machine history information
high · Nick observes unexpected number of listeners from Australia and explicitly asks for feedback on Australian bingo presence
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historical_signal: Gottlieb had significant presence in Australia with EM machines, especially later models
medium · Nick states: 'I know Gottlieb had a big presence in Australia with their EMs, especially the later ones'
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restoration_signal: Bally's documentation quality and layout practices for schematics and unit positioning praised as excellent resource for restoration
high · Nick emphasizes Bally's clear mapping of solder tabs and schematic positions as key to future troubleshooting

Topics

Bingo machine restoration and troubleshootingprimarySix-card bingo selection unitsprimaryDiagnostic methodology and avoiding premature conclusionsprimaryAustralian pinball and bingo scenesecondaryMultimeter maintenance and repairsecondaryBally documentation and schematicssecondaryCross-podcast collaboration and communitymentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Upbeat and reflective; initial frustration about the problem (hubris) is resolved into satisfaction and gratitude. Nick expresses genuine excitement about the fix and appreciation for community help. Humorous self-deprecation throughout.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.031

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 i learned a powerful lesson last night and today which uh maybe one day i'll remember but for now I wanted to talk for a moment about some other podcasts which I do from time to time a friend of mine, Taylor VA was just on the pinball podcast with Don and Jeff and that was enjoyable to listen to they talked about Wizard of Oz and I also noticed looking at the stats for my own podcast that I have quite a few listeners from Australia. And I was a bit surprised at this. I know nothing about bingos in Australia. And I am more than a bit curious to know if any of them made it to Australia, where they might have been, what the local scene was like. I know Gottlieb had a big presence in Australia with their EMs, especially the later ones, but I have no idea about anything else. I've never been to Australia, and the only thing I know about it is what I hear on the Pinheads Pinball Podcast, which is an excellent show, and I've really enjoyed listening to that one. The production values are much higher than my recorded in a converted garage with an air conditioner running in the background. But any of you folks in Australia, I would love to hear from you. let me know if you ever saw a bingo and if it was paying off I'm incredibly curious so moving on to another one of my mistakes I said before and I say it again this is not a search disc episode I will say that over the weekend I took a bunch of time and took apart the search disc again and checked every single solder point on the underside, on the edges, and on the top to ensure that there were no partially broken wires. Jiggling the mini, mini wires on the underside is quite the chore, but one that the search disk passed. And so at that point, I broke out the schematic and started looking at that and was testing various points and everything was coming up roses as far as continuity. And so, in a fit of desperation, I emailed Phil Hooper. And Phil, if you'll recall, runs the bingo technical site on the web. And I said, hey, here's what's going on, and I laid out all the detail of the things that I had tested. And Phil emails back and says, well, here's what you need to test for and he let me know and one of the things he mentioned was the selection unit now in a six card bingo this unit controls how many cards are lit in order to score appropriately so if you have only input two coins it's only going to light the first two cards and any numbers that you make on cards three through six will not count towards replays. So, in my hubris, I had stupidly discounted this unit, thinking that since it was lighting up card number 5, surely that was all it needed to do. Well, I don't think I could have been more wrong. As it turned out, there were a few wipers on that unit and a few feeds that jump off to other parts of the machine. And one of the feeds in particular is in line for the winner's circuit. So the lesson that I learned and the lesson which I would like to impart to all of you my faithful listeners and to myself one day is that you should not ignore a unit just because you think it's doing the correct thing. Also, you shouldn't ignore a unit if you have never run across its like in any other machine. Now, this is the first six card machine I've ever worked on, And every six card machine, as far as I know, has one of these selection units. And again, I just said, well, surely that's working. No need to even look at it. So tonight I came home and soldered the single broken wire on the spider. and then tested it out and sure enough it scored on card number 5. Then I played a bunch of games and I was able to rack up 256 credits before calling it quits which equates to $64. So I was pretty thrilled with that result. So in other news, this is big news now, my multimeter, which I'm constantly complaining about, over the weekend I also decided to do something about that and took a look at the probes and realized that they were similar to Jones plugs. And a Jones plug has a male and a female component, and the female component on this couldn't be bent in to make better contact. But what I could do is take the male component on the probe and split it. So it was already quartered, but the quarters were all kind of crimped together. And so I just spread out the end, plugged it in, and what do you know? My cheapo meter now actually works appropriately. And for those of you wondering why I don't just throw it away, aside from being a cheapskate, I actually really like this meter's layout. Its display is large, and it has all the functions that I need and generally works appropriately But now it works perfectly which is pretty cool So two birds one stone It only took the involvement of everybody on the planet in order for me to realize that I was looking in the wrong spot. So big thanks especially to Phil Hooper, and also to Steve Smith, who pointed out to me in the very beginning, you know, there's only so many things that can go wrong with a search disk. And he was right as well. Now, I've worked on several machines that had search problems, and this one did have a search problem, but it wasn't the problem I was trying to resolve. So, lesson learned for today, and hopefully I'll remember that next time I crack open a bingo and realize that I'm looking at something that I've never seen before. I'll take a moment to read the manual and see where all those feeds are going to. because very nicely Bally laid out every single solder tab on each unit and where it goes to and what it's doing and also its position on the schematic. So if I had taken but a moment and looked at that, it would have pointed me right in the middle of the winner circuit that I was looking at and ignoring that disc. oh well for now I'm enjoying it immensely and the game of course has taken on an entirely new dimension since I can score in card number 5 again so I'm really excited to get Ava back down here and see if we can run up quite a few replays together alright well that's all for tonight and thank you again for joining me my name again is Nicholas Baldridge you can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com and I was serious about you guys from Australia please send me an email 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com and you can listen to us on iTunes Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS on Facebook or on our website which is 4amusementonly.libsyn.com thanks again for listening and I'll talk to you next time