Episode 166 - Solid State Bingo Ball Returns

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·6m 13s·analyzed·Aug 24, 2015

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.015

TL;DR

Solid state vs EM bingo catcher board design; ten-game bingo lot available in NJ.

Summary

Nick Baldridge examines the mechanical differences between solid state and electromechanical (EM) bingo pinball machines, specifically comparing their ball return/catcher board designs. He discusses how solid state bingos use a plastic shell catcher with a narrow opening that can cause ball jamming when multiple balls funnel through simultaneously, contrasting this with EM designs. He also announces a ten-game bingo lot (eight working, two projects) posted by a collector in New Jersey, urging interested collectors to contact about acquisition.

Key Claims

Solid state bingo machines use a plastic shell ball return board instead of the metal design found in EM games
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, examining a solid state bingo playfield; firsthand observation
Solid state bingo ball catchers have a very narrow opening that can cause multiple balls to jam when trying to funnel through simultaneously
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, witnessed during play of a solid state bingo game
Solid state bingos use microswitches exclusively with no cam-based switches, making them simpler mechanically but harder to troubleshoot due to computer intermediary
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, technical analysis of solid state vs EM design
EM bingo machines are more straightforward to troubleshoot than solid state games due to fewer layers between physical switches and diagnosis
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, opinion based on technical experience comparing both platforms
A ten-game bingo lot is available in New Jersey: eight fully working games and two projects in very good condition
high confidence · Nick Baldridge reporting on Vikamp posting photos of the lot

Notable Quotes

“The solid state games have a plastic Ball return board. It's not really a board. It's just a plastic shell that sits directly underneath the playfield.”
Nick Baldridge @ ~0:45 — Describes the physical difference in ball return design between solid state and EM bingos
“multiple balls trying to go through this narrow opening all at the same time... it doesn't have the advantage of the ballet design where it has kind of a funnel area everything has to crowd through this very small opening”
Nick Baldridge @ ~1:30 — Identifies the key mechanical flaw in solid state bingo catcher design that causes ball jamming
“On a solid state game you have so much in between the physical switch and the computer and there's so much that you don't know as technician that it makes it very difficult to troubleshoot by comparison”
Nick Baldridge @ ~2:15 — Highlights the troubleshooting complexity difference between solid state and EM platforms
“I do know that working on these ballet bingos is a treat for the most part. It's fairly straightforward to look at a game and determine what's wrong”
Nick Baldridge @ ~2:05 — Expresses preference for EM bingo serviceability over solid state equivalents
“these games are both highly desirable and very very attractive they in pretty darn good condition from the couple of photos that he posted”
Nick Baldridge @ ~3:00 — Assessment of the condition and desirability of games in the New Jersey bingo lot

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonFor Amusement OnlyorganizationVikamppersonBallycompany

Signals

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design_philosophy: Solid state bingo machines prioritize playfield protection (plastic catcher prevents mechanic interference) over ball handling efficiency, resulting in narrow openings that cause jams with multiple simultaneous balls
high · Nick Baldridge's comparison of plastic shell design versus EM funnel design; witnessed jamming during play
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product_concern: Solid state bingo catcher board design has demonstrated ball jamming issues when multiple balls attempt to exit playfield simultaneously
high · Nick observed this happen once during play of a solid state bingo; described as a problem inherent to narrow opening design
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operational_signal: Solid state bingo machines are significantly harder to diagnose and repair than EM equivalents due to computer intermediaries between physical switches and operator/technician visibility
high · Nick's technical assessment comparing layer of abstraction and unknown variables in solid state vs straightforward EM diagnosis
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collector_signal: Ten-game bingo lot available in New Jersey: eight fully working games and two project machines in very good condition; highly desirable titles well-maintained by previous collector
high · Vikamp posted photos; Nick reviewed condition assessment and encouraged interested collectors to contact
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market_signal: Quality bingo machine lots continue to surface in the collector market; functional machines are premium acquisitions for new collectors
medium · Nick emphasizes value of fully working games for new bingo collectors; describes lot as making 'any new bingo collector pretty happy for quite some time'

Topics

Solid state vs EM bingo machine design comparisonprimaryBall return/catcher board mechanical designprimaryTroubleshooting and serviceability differences between platformsprimaryBingo pinball game availability and collector marketsecondaryMachine maintenance and mechanical reliabilitysecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.75)— Nick expresses appreciation for EM bingo design and serviceability; enthusiastic about available bingo lot; constructive analysis of solid state design tradeoffs without dismissiveness

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.019

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. Recently, I examined a solid state bingo playfield. And if you remember a few episodes back, I talked about the catcher board, The ball return board that exists under a bally bingo and funnels the balls back to the trough. This will be a short episode today but I wanted to describe a bit about the difference between the solid state bingo playfields and their catcher board versus the EM bingos and their catcher board. The solid state games have a plastic Ball return board. It's not really a board. It's just a plastic shell that sits directly underneath the playfield. It's screwed to it. It comes out of the game with it. Now, the advantage of this design is that it prevents you from messing up the shutter motor switches, but on these solid state bingos, everything's a microswitch anyway. So there very little for you to mess up There are no switches that ride on the cams for example The motor just moves the shutter open and closed That it But this uh... ball catcher has a very narrow opening that pours the balls into the trough. And the problem that it can have is that multiple balls trying to go through this narrow opening all at the same time it doesn't have the advantage of the ballet design where uh... it has kind of a funnel area everything has to crowd through this very small opening in the solid state bingo ball catcher so in my very brief time playing a solid state bingo, I did see this happen once uh... it does have to do with the number of balls that you have on the playfield as they have 10 or more balls in a game at a time and depending on where you land you know gravities gonna play factor in how quickly everything gets to the appropriate spot so the big takeaway here is that I still feel like and the most thought out that I yet seen And not that I seen everything of course I mean I only just a few weeks ago saw my first solid state bingo so I don know anything about anything but I do know that working on these ballet bingos is a treat for the most part It's fairly straightforward to look at a game and determine what's wrong and from there to figure out which units are affected. On a solid state game you have so much in between the physical switch and the computer and there's so much that you don't know as technician that it makes it very difficult to troubleshoot by comparison so that's my two cents but uh... in other news uh... Vikamp today posted some photos of that ten game bingo lot now there's eight fully working games and two projects one that just ahead and another game that a project these games are both highly desirable and very very attractive they in pretty darn good condition from the couple of photos that he posted One of the back glasses that I seen has a bit of flaking but other than that these games look like they in fabulous condition It looks like the collector who owned them took very good care of them So I would urge anybody who has and any interest in these games to contact the camp and see what they might do. Now these games are located in New Jersey but they're all really interesting, good players, good titles and they'll make any new bingo collector pretty happy for quite some time especially since they're all fully working. You know, that makes a big difference with your first game. Well, that's all for tonight. 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, Pocketcast, VRSS, on Facebook, on Twitter at bingopodcast. You can follow me on Instagram at nbaldridge or you can listen to us on our website which is formusementonly.libsyn.com thank you very much for listening and I'll talk to you next time