Old pinball machines are amazingly complex

[@jhbange]

I used to work with a guy who repaired old electromechanical elevator systems. His previous job was a pinball repair tech, before they all went electronic. He said although elevator tech paid a LOT more, it was much easier!

[@njjeff201]

I have an older game from the 50’s blowing a fuse. I contacted a company in Philly stating they wouldn’t touch it, “Too complicated.” Although they rebuild & sell older units are not his doing. Now I can hopefully flip the top I can gain access to possibly a shorted solenoid. Thank you for your time & expertise sir!

[@matthewellisor5835]

I love some good old relay logic controllers! You beat me to it.

[@rockstopsthetraffic]

Pinball machines are "children's toys", elevators have to be repaired immediately to comply with ADA by a "qualified tech". It is what it is.

[@RealCadde]

Elevators might be easier, but there's a whole lot more at stake with elevators. Hence the increased pay. If you make a mistake with a pinball machine, the worst than cam happen is that it catches fire, hopefully they don't leave them powered on unattended. If you make a mistake with an elevator, it's going to cut someone in half and spit out their shoes. Or catch fire. And who watches the elevator? Only the rider if there is one and elevators stay powered throughout the night. So the increased pay is warranted because you actually have to be certified and know exactly what you are doing and what implications it might have. You are supposed to spend more time learning the tech with elevators, even though they are much simpler than these pinball machines.

[@BenvanBroekhuijsen]

@@RealCadde Eeh imagine some 70's diner catching fire and all people dying because of that. I think that is as bad. While elevators have mechanical safety measures to prevent it from falling down to the ground floor for example. That is at least not part of the electronic circuits.

[@MajesticPinball]

I'm a full time pinball engineer and am honestly mindblown by the level of detail you reached in this video whilst also still making it really understandable to outsiders to pinball engineering. Incredible filming too, I cannot begin to imagine the tedious process of filming all of the intricacies of the machine. This video is such a huge credit to the pinball community 👍🏻👍🏻

[@poiwytlee]

How does one become a pinball engineer?

[@MajesticPinball]

@@poiwytlee Dedication and hard work plus electrical/engineering knowledge and a general knowledge of all aspects of pinball.

[@vinylsolution2522]

​@@MajesticPinballWhen does Pulp Fiction start Shipping !?? Haha.

[@manuelfreire4260]

Your right I see you appreciate the effort put into this video. He did an exceptional job explaining things. I work on motor controls. Some very old stuff too. Late 1800’s up to modern times. This guy knows his stuff and is able to accurately communicate it to his peers and hopefully to those with lesser experience.

[@MajesticPinball]

@@vinylsolution2522 You'll need a psychic for that one! 😂

[@gameroomwizards448]

As an arcade technician for 42 years( yeah- I can't believe it's been that long) this is the most concise video for beginner collectors or techs. Thank you for what you do!

[@jesijames644]

More like an arcade tech priest. This stuff is almost witchcraft nowadays.

[@pizzalord3n]

​@@jesijames644deploy litanies of faith in the machine spirit

[@Arcadehollywood]

@gameroomwizards488 as a long time collector of both coin-operated arcade video games and pinball machines I agree with you 100%...great stuff here.

[@TylerTMG]

​@@jesijames644ye olde wizards of thy olden times art the best

[@JeffFrmJoisey]

Much like an old telephone exchange. All the complex thinking done electro-mechanically.

[@nsahandler]

Professional Arcade Technician here Congrats. You made the best beginner's-guide to pinball machines ever created. It goes into as much detail as necessary to diagnose almost any pinball machine on the market, and I'm glad you got one with all the bells and whistles.

[@NachitenRemix]

All the bells and whistles, literally

[@heavysystemsinc.]

Mostly bells.

[@spblat]

This is the most accessible, thorough, and comprehensive overview of pinball I have ever seen and maintaining a pinball collection is literally my job. History, theory, technology, it’s all here. Truly extraordinary work!

[@RandomUser2401]

the video we ALL have been waiting for. what a great Sunday

[@cthecheese1620]

I’m glad you validated my feelings because TC should be applauded for how they structured and setup all this information. I’ll be shocked if this won’t go down as one of the top videos on the channel

[@bartowl]

A truly masterpiece!

[@obeseperson]

Badass job

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

This is also the most accessible, thorough, and comprehensive overview of pinball I've ever seen! (I've never seen one before.)

[@patrikmoller3643]

This is why I love youtube, an entire hour of utterly nerdy stuff about a pinball game, and not hacked up in 15min bits with 10min commercial in between. Thank you for sharing this, it's absolutely amazing to see and I'm so damn impressed by old engineering like this

[@BM-jy6cb]

And a 3 minute recap after each advert break. Can't bear to watch the telly anymore - just dumbed-down crap repeated ad-nauseum night after night, like stale chewing gum for the vacant eyes of modern society.

[@patrikmoller3643]

@@BM-jy6cb yes! I haven't had regular TV channels for over 15 years, I stream all my TV entertainment, rather pay so I can watch what I want when I want than deal witch commercials and mainstream media. Also when you don't have regular TV channels you realize how much the commercials affect people, I hear people talk more about commercials they watch than what shows of films they watch

[@samuelfellows6923]

@@BM-jy6cb 🇬🇧 ~ you’ll like our BBC , we have to pay our TV license and we don’t have any adverts on their TV channels and radio stations 😁 as long as we don’t mind [indirectly] paying them for it. Unfortunately this hasn’t caught on in the US so you have to put-up with them 😠

[@profile2047]

This KZbinr specifically is responsible for this amazing research and commentary. I spend too much time on KZbin and it’s incredibly rare to find someone of this caliber in my opinion.

[@patrikmoller3643]

@@samuelfellows6923 i liked BBC when they had Top Gear on it before Jeremy punched the director 😁 But I live in Sweden and we have tax financed television here as well, unfortunately it's badly corrupted, almost every week there's some new information on how they filter or angle the news.

[@jasonritner9662]

Its amazing to me how much of an engineering marvel a pinball machine is. No matter what era it's from. They are a perfect example of art, engineering, and design being merged together perfectly to just entertain people for a few minutes at a time. Can't wait for part 2.

[@_o_]

My only gripe about pinball machines (across the decades it seems), is how chaotic the artwork and overall presentation is. Looks like even at the early stages they were really going for eye candy at the expense of readability/comprehension. "What the hell is going on" is my general take on pinball machines. I'm a software developer so it reminds me a lot of user interface design gone absolutely bananas.

[@BixbyConsequence]

@@_o_ That's part of how a player forms a relationship with a particular machine. It takes time and repeated plays to learn some of its secrets. Keeps you coming back.

[@teds9896]

That or so many gambling/gaming machines. Heck, even scratch off lottery tickets often enough are unnecessarily "busy". User interface design is a wonderful thing! I think actually it's why many of the "Golden Age" gaming systems are so popular. Ex: NES or Super Nintendo or Sega the games are complex enough to be interesting(ex: surpass Atari and early computer games) yet not so involved that you have to read books to figure them out. Then again that's actually what game designers learned in that era too as for the wonderful titles, there were some really really lousy ones too with a few games were all but impossible to win. There's a part of me that wishes we could have video game designers of today have a project to design a pinball game(or games) but they're only allowed to use electromechanical tech.@@_o_

[@nathancurran612]

Few minutes, try hours

[@KingKrouch]

@@_o_I’d probably have a pinball machine or something if a lot of them weren’t walking photosensitivity hazards. Played a bit of Pinball FX and even saw a pinball machine in person, and it’s not for me. My experience with pinball is mostly from Sonic Spinball, that one Jak’s Pacific DragonBall plug and play game, Mario Pinball on GBA, Space Cadet, and that one Senran Kagura spinoff game. Which is a shame, since I find the gameplay loop of pinball to really hook me.

[@markfarrell6810]

I used to repair these crazy things back in the 70's and 80's. The owner of "The Machine" was one of the brothers that created Aladdin's Castle that was later bought out by Bally. He gave me a phone number one day of a guy that came in to ask if anyone repaired old machines. So I call and go out to his house and he's got a very old low serial number (2 digits) Gottlieb that is all 18V AC relays, steppers and solenoids and I have to disassemble all the relays, burnish the contacts and manually cold rub silver on what is left of the contacts. They are all octal base and varnish cambric woven wire coating. Took me two days and a couple of hands full of my hair. I had to improvise a few things like lights. I found 21V lamps with the same socket, but no 18V. Made things a bit dimmer, but at least they worked when I was done. I remember I got careless, thinking all the relays were 18V AC and grabbed one of the ball return solenoid wires and wiggled it. It was 90V AC, just enough to remind me to be more careful. Other than being a rats nest of dust and loose wires (someone else had been in there before me) it was in really good (exceptional) condition. One of the worst I ever worked on was the F14 (or F16) fighter with the motorized chair that swiveled when you moved the life size joystick. All of the contacts were actually made from paper binding "brads" with the contacting surface having the same thing. When the screen (a contraption like a player piano scroll) made a contact and the chair was in the right position making a contact and the joystick was in the right position making another contact and THEN the trigger was pulled, you got points. The grease they used between all the contact plates was filled with what was left of all the brass brads that had worn down to powder and everything made contact including the power rails that almost started the thing on fire. I had to replace all of the brads, remove the grease and then repair the gearbox and slip plate in the chair. Two weeks and lots of money. lol

[@JuanPerez-cs1gx]

I was wondering when watching the video how common it may be for people working on these to stick a finger or accidentally brushing an arm or hand in the wrong place. Probably it's not fun.

[@Nando_Prime]

What is the name of the jet pinball machine?

[@stevehofer3482]

This fascinating video made me wonder about the circuits inside animatronic characters, like the Presidents at Disneyworld or those at Chuck E Cheese. If you have any connections, that would make a cool video.

[@alfa4pete]

Creating the script and coordinating the shots must have been a major undertaking. The fact that something so complex flowed so smoothly is very commendable; well done!

[@FindLiberty]

Yes, AN OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION EXAMPLE !

[@b0nz1official]

Also the way he implemented the sounds was amazing. No unnecessary music, just the pin ball machine sound.

[@PrivilegeYT]

42069 lol big W

[@Tom_Tom_Klondike]

Yeah, i can not believe how well planned this was. 😮

[@ajazmansuri4151]

I like this video

As a software developer it blows my mind how reliable this is with so many relays and contacts. The amount of stuff which can fail in this is enormous. Yet, it's still working. Amazing. This is one of the pinnacles of your channel by the way, a great way to celebrate 2M+ subscribers.

[@RR35031]

Things were built to last before unfettered built in redundancy profit became the norm

[@a.p.2356]

The beauty is that nearly all electromechanical parts have specs for how many cycles they can be expected to operate. Big honkin solenoids and leaf switches can run a LOT of cycles before they wear out, and leaving the contacts exposed like this machine does means you can service them too. This crap lasts *forever.*

[@davidfergusondbf]

@@a.p.2356 - That the devices could last forever was a problem for commercial electromechanical pinball operators. There were economies of scale which required careful market analysis and lifecycle planning if the objective was to operate a successful business. Too many old electro-mechanical games in your fleet generally meant more broken machines that weren't collecting quarters on any given day. Selling off your old games (into your market) could turn your purchaser into your competitor. Large numbers of these games were physically destroyed and replaced with new ones after a threshold of total plays. Sometimes you can find containers of old games for sale, games that escaped the junkyard. They might work forever, with the necessary TLC.

[@Dschonathan]

My anecdotal familiarity with pinball hobbyists is that they spend 80% of their time repairing their machines and 20% playing them, if not more.

[@SteveJones172pilot]

@@Dschonathan Probably not far off, although I will say if fixed right, you can do better than that!! :-)

[@TheGolux]

I really find electromechanical stuff like this fascinating because it kind of shows where the whole idea for integrated circuits came from and like, what they're doing on a more macro scale.

[@alexatkin]

Plus how that ultimately translates to software programs with some idea of how that can ultimately be so much less efficient than an integrated circuit to do the same job.

[@WilkinsonX]

They should come out with a modern computer that rings bells and shoots sparks, like the good old days.

[@EVPaddy]

@@WilkinsonX you sort of get that once you connect a raspi to some relays… you might build a pinball with them :)

[@superslash7254]

The clue is literally right in the name: Integrated circuits.

[@daniels-mo9ol]

​@@alexatkinits only inefficient in the sense of maybe signal latency or if external dependencies are implemented. A mechanical unit like the Aztec would be extremely expensive to produce in bulk compared to modern technologies, not to mention fixing post production bugs or issues not having software options.

[@MrDuncl]

Fun facts: The first computers like Eniac used over a thousand relays. The term "debugging" started when a real bug (moth) got stuck between two contacts of the Harvard MKII and caused it to malfuction.

[@richardchambers256]

That also how I heard it.

[@KnakuanaRka]

@@retiredbore378Althought from what I’ve heard, that also included a phrase along the lines of “First instance of an actual computer bug”, so the word has been around since before then, though that likely popularized it.

[@bartz0rt928]

Not for the main logic, though. ENIAC used vacuum tube electronics (thermionic valves), which allowed it to be much faster and more complex than earlier computers that used relays. Nobody had made a machine that complex before because the tubes were too unreliable. They first had to come up with a way to build a reliable machine out of unreliable parts. (if memory serves, ENIAC was the first _general purpose_ *and* _electronic_ (rather than electromechanical) computer. There were earlier computers that ran on electricity, but they were one or the other)

[@MrDuncl]

@@bartz0rt928 Check out Colossus, which although not a true computer was equally complex and used vacuum tubes. The problem was it was so classified that few people knew about it until the 1970s. As for the reliability "problem" they realised that when tubes fail it is usually at switch on so the machines were left running 24/7.

[@punman5392]

@@retiredbore378also Colossus was extremely secret. It was originally going to be kept secret literally forever

[@marshallwebber9682]

As a former pinball repair tech, this was not only fun to watch, but it left me wondering how many times you shocked yourself making this video. Especially holding the relay units. Brave!

[@JoeJ-8282]

Honestly, he probably never actually got "shocked" while making this video, (unless his hands are SUPER sensitive to electrical voltage like this), because only 24 volts is totally harmless and (usually) cannot be felt with your hands, (again unless your hands are EXTREMELY sensitive!), so, unless he ever touched the AC MAINS input side of the main power transformer, then he probably didn't get shocked while making this video. All of the "arcing" you see is relatively minor, and is only caused by the back EMF of the relay and solenoid coils when they are de-energized. This arcing isn't harmful to us though, as it is again, happening at only 24 volts AC, which most people cannot even feel with their hands... unless maybe they're wet, and even then, it would only feel like a mild "tingling" sensation... but usually it takes over about 50-60 volts across your hands before it feels "shocking", and it really isn't actually really dangerous until the voltage is above about 100 volts or so, (and that would be even more true especially if you have a heart pacemaker or something, but I doubt he does), so really ONLY the AC MAINS INPUT part of this machine, (which in the USA, is at 120 volts), would be actually shocking to touch, that of which is only a VERY small part of this overall circuit, and is limited ONLY to the primary side of the main power transformer at the very bottom of the cabinet, so if you avoid touching THAT specific part of the overall circuit at least, then you'd be totally fine working on and playing around with this machine. (Carefully, at least, as there are also quite a few metal sharp edges to watch out for too, but that is an entirely different hazard.)

[@thedickghost]

@@JoeJ-8282 my dude, he literally said he repaired those things for a living, I don't think you need to explain to him how electricity works.

[@richardwillson101]

​@dickghost5232 that made me chuckle too 😂... Talk about telling somebody all about something they have a good understanding of.

[@richardwillson101]

​@@JoeJ-8282as somebody who has worked with 12v, 24v and 28v DC electrical systems (plus many more higher AC ones), you can absolutely get a "shock" from them. And it WILL "hurt" if you are grounded by somewhere more sensitive than your hands. 28v across an aluminium floor when the skin by my elbow was resting on an adjacent piece of structure was enough to make me yelp. The full starting current of a 24v motor directly through one hand was as painful as a 415V AC shock that I took once. If I hooked the back of your leg up to 12v DC you would certainly feel it! Ever had a shock through your face? 28v certainly smarts when it goes through your cheek or lip!

[@AliceYobby]

@@JoeJ-8282you’re giving an expert some novice knowledge as if they don’t know it

[@saipranav7233]

A 1 hour Technology Connections video on pinball machines that I never knew I needed? Sweet.

[@FirefoxyLeGibus]

it's like the video about the jukebox

[@M4TCH3SM4L0N3]

I love the way that these are just a complete surprise to me; I'm not sure if he announces the subject of future videos, but as it stands I never want to know ahead: I just want an unexpected and delightful nostalgia trip turned anthropology/technology lesson peppered into my life.

[@millinge]

Wow, I did not realize a whole hour had passed...

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

... And there's a part 2 coming! But I'll be honest, my brain needs a rest after this!

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

My next hour is gone. I likely would not have noticed that it was an hour. Don't care, still gonna be here through the whole thing. I freaking LOVE pinball machines from a machine perspective, they're fascinating.

[@SvdSinner]

As an arogant kid, I'd be disappointed at how simple all the individual items are. As an adult with real world experience in mechanics and electrical systems, I am astounded at how much R&D had to have gone into making all this stuff to actuall work reliably. And I pity the factory workers who wired these and had to debug the problem is something got wired wrong.

[@xKapnKrunch]

That moment when you realize old technology wasn't stupid it was just the best with what we had.

[@CaptainDangeax]

Hi Alec. I owned a Williams pinball from 1975 and it reminds me when I fixed it, greasing, cleaning contacts, changing the light bulbs and the rubber bands, and even the flipper solenoids. Fun fact, in France we don't call those machines pinballs or "bagatelle électrique", we just call them "flipper" and we also invented the verb "tilter" which means breaking bad

[@9900killer]

Oh the good old days !

[@joolima]

Cool story! Here in Brazil we still call the machines flippers, the arcade fliperamas and “tilting”. My hometown even calls controllers manettes but that is not widespread

[@Wishbone1977]

The Danish term is also "flippermaskine", literally "flipper machine".

[@BLAZE-1001]

I love how with every topic you cover, you start at the super basics and slowly work up through progressively complex explanations. There are times I watch your videos on a topic I consider myself very knowledgeable about but because of your detailed explorations of that topic and well-structured development from history to early models then to more complex modern technologies, I find that I learn a lot about the things I thought I already fully understood! Definitely one of my favorite channels of all times.

[@ElCapitanDeLaNoche]

Ditto!

[@potterfanz6780]

His camera work and knack for manually triggering various things is also pretty superb

[@subs4794]

Not to mention how funny he is 🙄 /S

[@da3dsoul]

As a programmer, this is very straightforward and very satisfying. I wish more code was this well organized

[@Organized92]

As being organized myself (look at my name!) and also a programmer, I thought the same! Most of the logic pieces in this pinball would be great learning examples for object oriented programming. This would not only teach the basics of the programming language, but also how to structure your programs logic into smaller chunks, until they are easy to understand. Creating complexity by simply adding more layers of rather simple things is awesome.

[@MeriaDuck]

Still looks like spaghetti if you do actual maintenance on it 😂

[@Smidge204]

@@Organized92 The same style of relay logic was used in industrial controllers of all sorts. When digital computers came on to the scene, relay logic cabinets were replaced with programmable logic controllers (PLCs)... which were (and still are) programmed using "Ladder logic" - a style of programming where you are literally drawing the relay logic wiring diagrams that the computer then evaluates in real time. Modern PLCs are nearly 1:1 emulations of relay logic boards. Of course they're more capable, being capable of math and all that, but fundamentally it's the same thing in a different form.

[@DrSid42]

Well, wish more code was this simple ..

[@herscher1297]

Agree

[@docmarons3782]

My dad and I are restoring an old Bally Space Time machine off and on that sat in my Grandpa's workshop for decades. We've been completely in the dark, just using logic, wire-tracing, screw drivers and tooth brushes to figure everything out and it's about 85% functional. This video will probably actually really help a lot, thanks!

[@herbderbler1585]

You're engaging in the electronic equivalent of an archaeological reconstruction. Awesome stuff.

[@kixxalot]

It will be so satisfying once it's completely functional, knowing that you figured everything out and fixed it all yourselves!

[@Dw7freak]

@@herbderbler1585 They did say they were working on a Space-Time Machine, so hopefully in 50 years, when it's fixed, they'll come back and explain how they got it done.

[@joeysplats3209]

Hey best of success to you and your dad, fixing up that old machine. Tommy would be proud of you!

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Good luck, mate =)

[@markgigiel2722]

I'm an old electronics tech. A friend gave me an old Delta shuffle alley bowling machine. Just getting the beast to my house was a big job. Good thing I was able to obtain schematics. I had never worked on anything like that before. After weeks of cleaning, adjusting, rewinding, lubricating etc. it was a great feeling to have it working like new again. It's truly a work of electomechanical art.

[@nashrust]

Yes, they are insanity and magnificence all in one.

[@raygunsforronnie847]

Alec, your genuine gift is how you break down the concepts and organized your presentation. Your camera work, editing, and audio... all have steadily improved, too, as you've advanced the scope of your channel. Well done, as always!

[@SteveEfromStevesSidecarPlace]

Well said 👍

[@V0S1N0]

I find myself hating his voice and pacing, but the effort is really admirable, and the content is just too well prepared to get cranky about who's presenting it.

[@TheJacklikesvideos]

@@V0S1N0 that's funny, goes to show different strokes for different folks. there are lots of channels that i don't watch at all because i don't like the person's voice or personality, but i love the voice, delivery, and humor of Technology Connections; and on an unrelated note, Game Sack.

[@2barrell]

As a retired industrial electrician, the relay logic schematic is a memory hole I really enjoy reliving. I spent many an hour troubleshooting machines using just such a drawing. You have taken me back a few years to my working career. I have really enjoyed this video and cant wait for part 2.

[@kenbrown2808]

yep, soon as I saw that ladder diagram, I felt the comfrt of "I know how to read that, even if it is more complex than what I normally work on."

[@alanreid3063]

I'm in same position, bit like a PLC but I can see what a problem with sticky and or dirty contacts and so much moving parts

[@marblemunkey]

Relay ladder logic was still taught as the lead-up to PLC logic in college classes, at least as of 2010 when I took it. Retired engineers/techs always have the best war stories. A guy I was friends with when I was a teen talked about his early work on hard-drives. My favorite story was the design with 6' platters that had hydraulic head mechanisms that had to have them mirrored on both sides or it hopped across the floor.

[@joelandersson8504]

@@alanreid3063 Very much the same way we make a PLC-program, but instead of drag'n'drop you have to go down to the floor and tell the guys "I've just realized we need another set of NC contacts on relay F" for the 19'th time. :)

[@kenbrown2808]

@joelandersson8504 i think a lot of plc programming still uses ladder logic as a programming language. I know the antiques i got to play with did. It makes sense from an engineering standpoint

[@antipoti]

With all these switches, arcing, moving parts, friction, it is absolutely amazing that this machine survived for decades. I mean how rubust these flimsy copper sheets and plastic rotors have to be to withstand years and years of abuse, rapid activation sequences during a game. And how crazy expensive it must have been to assemble all this (mostly by hand I presume). A true work of art. Absolutely incredible.

[@AaronOfMpls]

Yah, I can see why this kind of thing got computerized once computers got cheap enough. The game is basically a _program_ with a bunch of subroutines and incremented variables -- just electromechanical instead of in computer software. Even so, a modern machine will still have a _few_ relays for things like the flippers and other mechanical parts of the playing field (bumpers, retractable targets, etc.). They're just connected to computer programming logic instead of electromechanical logic.

[@SteveJones172pilot]

I have one EM and 4 solid state machines, and I consider my EM to be the most reliable. As long as you use it to keep those parts moving, they tend to work.. if you let it sit, that's when you'll have problems. If you notice those leaf switches, when they open and close, because they're at a different angle from each other, the action of contacting makes them kind of rub sideways against each other, which tends to clean them automatically.. Sometimes if you have an intermittent switch, just playing it a couple times will make it clean itself up and it'll start working better by itself!!

[@johnmicheal3547]

Things are made to last back than. Now things are made to pass the 1 year warranty period. And some 30 days period. And you own nothing and HAPPY.

[@lokon1979]

@@johnmicheal3547That’s true for consumer products, but I assume commercial machines are still made to last these days

[@johnmicheal3547]

@@lokon1979 I pay attention to channels like fixing lawn mower and washing machines. These are machines that suppose to take a beating. They redesign the machine and new design have added flaws and weaken parts. Replacing reliable metal gears with plastic, cheaper to manufacture and most of all it doesn't last long. I see things that made not to last is win win for them and lose lose for consumer. Driving up price and services is also a win for them. Pushing consumer to "you own nothing and HAPPY". Right to repair is chipping away. You have no right over your stuff.

[@alastairvize7052]

I enjoyed this far more than I anticipated - clicked on it on impulse, thinking I'd probably skip through it and found it completely riveting. Loved the discussion of the various mechanisms, all so gloriously analogue, answered all the vague, half-formed questions regarding pinball machines I had accumulated over the years. Great work, very much appreciated.

[@Simple_But_Expensive]

Actually, nothing about this machine is analog. It is all switches, relays, and solenoids, which are by definition discrete devices. Analog denotes a continuously varying signal, (examples are pressure and temperature transmitters, (analog inputs), and valve positioners (analog outputs)), while discrete devices are on/off signals (such as switches, (discrete inputs) relays, (discrete inputs/outputs), and solenoids (discrete outputs)). Nothing analog about it except the path of the ball.😊 Not digital does not always mean analog.😊

[@Wishbone1977]

Technology Connections always delivers. It doesn't matter what the topic is or whether you have ever had even the slightest bit of interest in it, he'll _make_ you interested 🙂

[@billysmidway7032]

As a long-time pinball technician and current arcade owner, I commend you on this video. I was very impressed that you explained some of the more complex circuits so well that I actually understand them better myself. When you’ve got your head in the back box (light box / head) it’s difficult to see what’s happening under the playfield and on the score motor all at the same time. Excellent job on that! While I like most pinball machines, the older “EMs” (short for electromechanical) are especially fun to work on and play. I recently added a 1933 bagatelle style pinball to my arcade and it is purely mechanical without any electronics, similar to Baffle Ball and Bally Hoo. I’ve also got two 1947 flipperless “woodrails” and a 1954 impulse flipper woodrail that I’ve been operating since 2018. I’m also working on a few EM rifle and driving games. They work similarly to Aztec but have some impressive visual effects using projection or other lighting and colored plastics as well as printed targets that flip over and stylus type of contacts to determine if a target is hit. They are fascinating to watch in action but also teach in a visual way how solid state circuits work on the microscopic level in integrated circuit chips.

[@smittywerbenjaegermanjensen]

Are you in the US if you are can you please respond to this comment, my rabbit chewed up the cord to my dad's pinball machine, and unfortunately his pinball technician passed away. I need to find somebody in Pennsylvania to repair the machine, I am having great difficulty in finding somebody to fix it. Is there like, a technician's guild or something?

[@dylanherron3963]

Thanks so much for this comment, sir. I'm 31, and growing up I always had this PROFOUND respect and wonder about Arcade/Venue Games technicians. Even though I'm very aware that during my most formative years, Arcades (or the one's left, it's obviously a difficult niche to stay in) were already digital. The oldest of the mechanical games left had worn-out wood, were always breaking down, and were eventually replaced with other games, being that they cost money every day they stay in the building. It wasn't until I got a bit older that my fondness drifted towards more and more retro pieces, and I LOVE the company/development history that comes with it. These electromechanical skill games walked so chips and software could run!

[@dylanherron3963]

@@smittywerbenjaegermanjensen Info is on his page mate "Billy’s Midway Arcade - 312 Lafayette Ave Hawthorne NJ - Classic arcade games - Open to the public" Maybe run that through google and see if ya can get a phone number. Even if he can't do anything he might point you in the right direction of someone within a 50mi radius.

[@stickyman05]

​@@smittywerbenjaegermanjensenis there a reason you couldn't replace the power cord yourself? Is it not just splicing or completely replacing the power cable? In all honesty, an electrician should be able to do a quick power cord switch with no issues.

[@steveskeletonneii6336]

@@stickyman05 i second this. It wouldn't be hard, I would think?

[@clubofseven7442]

Currently my absolute favorite part of the schematic is at 16:28 "NOTICE: Due to wire shortages beyond our control, some wire colors may be other than indicated on wiring diagram." A window into the past and relatable! In retail, some bottle manufacturers have struggled to keep cap colors uniform in the past couple years. I'm sure many things have examples like that, nifty!

[@grn1]

Corrugated paper (mostly cardboard) has had a lot of shortages recently. I think it's better now but there was a period at work where we used whatever we could get our hands on which often resulted in a whole lot of back pain I work in a press shop and got stuck stacking a particular series of parts, alot, which was hard enough with our normal boxes but with the substitute boxes I was at my limit. I ended up missing a lot of work because I was in so much pain and I've still not fully recovered (doesn't help that I'd already messed up my back at previous jobs).

[@worawatli8952]

It is very nice that they put that notice in there, some manufacturers today don't do that anymore, we just have to check it for ourselves. Heck, most don't even provide an easy to read diagram or one at all.

[@renakunisaki]

@@worawatli8952 manufacturers today just put "warranty void if broken" stickers everywhere

[@DarklordEntertainment]

@@worawatli8952 It is very nice and wish they still did that to this day especially for servicing anything. Lately I've been restoring old sewing machines which also is very good engineering on super old concepts. These days nothing is meant to last though and if they can get away with using a plastic part instead of steel, they will.

[@marcfuchs6938]

This video is a good example, why videos on this channel take so long. Imagine how much work it is, to analyze such a machine to the detail, then write a logic and comprehensible script and do all this video work in tight and and uncomfortable spots. Great work.

[@brianchristopher4493]

I LOVED this video. I was the luckiest kid on Earth and had a full size Williams pinball machine in my bedroom growing up as a kid. I remember opening it up to replace the rubber and polish the board, it even smelled like vintage tech inside. I loved every minute of that machine. You mentioned a (part 2) but I can't seem to find it. Thanks for the memories!

[@MonguzTea]

As a technician i am absolutley fascinated by all those relays and switches. Also as a tech i am absolutely horrified by those arcing contacts

[@jacqueschouette7474]

I work in EMI/EMC. I'm having nightmares about all those contacts.

[@snoopdogie187]

I'm just a random person that has had to clean contact points. That many contact points, in such a small area, always arcing, I am now afraid to ever own one of these old pinball machines.

[@onefastslimjim]

And did you see the state of those contacts on the flipper buttons? 😬

[@curtisroberts4269]

I am also a technician in Automotive casting, machining, and assembly manufacturing. I fully agree, seeing these Relay Logic machines is fascinating, especially considering how much they used to do with the limitations of the time, BUT GOOD GOD PLC’s make everything MUCH easier. Relays and contactors are good for current control but a massive pain for Logic, especially when making process changes “shudder” lol

[@teds9896]

Yup! It's a lot easier to alter things in software than hardware! And before they had software, it's why stuff was designed on paper!@@curtisroberts4269

[@fluffycritter]

Even with the modern “it’s a computer” one has a lot of cool stuff to look at. I’d love to see an explanation of how it keeps track of the ball through electromechanical devices, or how the bumpers work.

[@TechnologyConnections]

Don't worry, we'll get there!

[@CompiledGabriel]

@@User0000000000000004 who hurt you? lol

[@andydelle4509]

Well that jungle of wires and relays is also a computer!

[@neurokinetik]

A more modern game will still have switches, lights, and solenoids on the playfield, but the relays and switch stacks that you see in the EM machine will instead be handled by the MPU board. Also, the pop bumpers still mechanically work exactly the same on a modern machine as they did on the EMs, but the scoring and such will be handled by the MPU board, and the solenoids usually get handled by their own driver board.

[@magnemoe1]

Yes but the modern ones are much simpler as all the controls are done by the computer you still need all the switches and solenoids. I saw inside an more modern one as they was repairing it while I was at a pub. I also assume an modern one is much more reliable and fail safe

[@Mr.YExplains]

It was proposed that if Babbage had used relays (which existed at the time) instead of cams, he might have set computer science years ahead.

[@Alex-vr8gw]

If ifs and buts were cams and relays, we'd all have a quantum computer.

[@mikeydflyingtoaster]

@@Alex-vr8gwbut we’d have no candy nor nuts.

[@gretarreynisson3280]

…now I’m just imagining the 1940s with modern social media. Imagine if Churchill had Twitter. I know it wouldn’t have advanced computers that far, but still.

[@mshonle]

If only Babbage had the magic of buying two of them…

[@djmoch1001]

@@gretarreynisson3280 Well, the acronym OMG has been around since something like 1917 when it was used in a letter to Winston Churchill. :) I thought that was a neat fact.

[@nashrust]

I became a pinball and jukebox repairman at 19 years old from 1975-1977. This means I saw the transition to semi-electronic machines and the last and most complicated electro-mechanical Bally machines (Playboy, which had a 4th chime and Captain Fantastic) They were only 500 each of these machines and the rest were semi-electronic. I worked on Bally and Gotlieb but never on a Williams. I think their score motor is a little nuts. The Bally one is so much more straight forward, although they look similar. For really complex insanity, try a shuffle alley. That is the bowling game where you slide a puck down a 'lane' and the pins go up on hinges.

[@FntX-Video]

I'm not only impressed by the mechanical stuff - let's just pause a moment and appreciate the employee who has drawn the schematic. This is art by itself.

[@dennislyon5412]

How many attempts to get the layout “just so” with minimal crossed wires?

[@manoz6194]

I bet there is a hobbyist out there who has it framed on their game room wall

[@erik_erikson]

​@@manoz6194and if there wasn't one prior to this video, there will be now

[@msimon6808]

@@dennislyon5412 Many large pages.

[@cmdOptEscape]

You know, there are some videos that I see from you when they drop in my sub feed that I think "that probably won't be my cup of tea"...but god damn do you have a talent for making any topic entertaining and educational. You truly are a gift to humanity. Thank you for what you do ❤

[@larryg3326]

Thanks! I'm working on an 70s motorcycle and know that old wiring harnesses get brittle and faded. Can only imagine trying to decode a 60 year-old pinball circuit while being gentle and not cracking insulation. Don't want to let the magic smoke out!

[@feni_1553]

WOW ITS A SUPER THANKS

[@johngamer6255]

What sorta bike?

[@kkampy4052]

Been a pinball fan for over 50 years. Facinating and informative operational overview. There must have been a tremendous amount of ozone in those cabinets.

[@nat7278]

I've come back to this video four times. Worth it. My mind boggles at the sheer tedious detail of filming and editing all these clips together. Bravo explaining. Bravo filming. Bravo editing. I always appreciate it when BIG Clive gives you your dos. He really respects what you do. LOVE to see my favorite tech creators thumbing up each other. Bravo.

[@deed5811]

Almost as mind boggling as the people who designed the old school pinball machines.

[@msimon6808]

From age 15 to 18 I repaired and refurbished machines in my summer job. I went on to design the IO board used in the World's First BBS. I was also a pinball wizard - lots of free practice. I did a lot of testing.

[@dmo-demo]

Agreed! I came for the EM pinball engineering (we still have one my dad owned!) and was pleasantly surprised with the videography and editing as well!

[@JoeRitze]

I want a Technology Connections - Dating or Friends app. If you are into this channel I feel like we could be friends.

[@btaskoy]

I watched the video 2 times and I wanted to leave a comment. You have taken the words out of my mouth.

[@1950SFA]

My side job is a pinball tech, one of the few in my area who works on EM games (which are my favorite) in the Houston Texas area. Have followed your channel for years, fun to see you tackle this subject...I should have contacted you sooner! We recently held our 3rd annual Electro-Mechanical Only (EMO) tournament, with games spread from 1948 (El-Paso, with those jet bumpers!) to 1977 (Mars Trek). I make little videos showing highlights of how they work afterwards and share them here so that those who played in the tournament can get an idea of what they were actually make happen inside the games. I am only half-way through watching, but you are doing a great job on this, very impressed! Sharing now with the local pinball discords :)

[@SteveJones172pilot]

Mars Trek is a fun game! EMs are always the "equalizers" in our local pinball tournaments.. The ones we love to hate! ;-)

[@gurugee2112]

HA! I worked on these monsters in late 70's into the 80's in Houston. Always a pain in the but to find the relay contact that needs to be burnished. When the early machines went "solid state" there were many burned and melted connectors on the circuit boards that drove relays and strikers and banks of flashing lights. Ah, those were the days! I worked on jukeboxes, early video jukeboxes, video games including laser disc machines, vending machines, and anything that had a coin slot or money changers. Oh and pool tables too! All over southeast Texas. Getting in a truckload of 50 Ms Packman machines to test for issues!

[@davidadam6997]

Ever hear of a 1936 Jenning's Sportsman? I'm working on trying to get it operational again.

[@gurugee2112]

@@davidadam6997 wow! Is that pre- electricity? (joking) never heard of it. good luck with that.

[@1950SFA]

@@davidadam6997 Wow, what a cool looking cabinet that thing has! Just looked it up! Earliest I have worked on is from 1940, so nothing quite like that. The closest things I have seen would be from the defunct Lonestar Pinball Museum & the current "History of Pinball" group that can be found on Facebook that shows up at the Texas conventions. They have some cool all-mechanical games they bring for all to play.

[@AMan-cx4ns]

I miss this old machines. As a kid, I used to open up any electronics I found just to observe and they used to look just like this. The cloth insulated wires and those relays really brings me back. Every single connection was hand soldered with minor imperfections but was still beautiful.

[@postersm7141]

You are so spot on! I am the same way at 52 years old and was the same way as a kid. I now have a 1965 Rockola jukebox and an actual slot machine. I love just opening these machines up from time to time and observing there operation.!! I’m pretty much fascinated with anything coin op.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

All that hand crafted goodness was art, imperfections and all. Every machine I've ever met with this sort of "logic" work running it, 100% electromechanical items always have their own "personality"

[@geckoo9190]

Hey I used to do the same, then I started to fix my own electronic toys or some times extract the parts, once I connected some electric cars using a current eliminator, this was before I knew what was the difference between alternate and direct current so it was the most dangerous toy that I had no idea that I had.

[@williamhoward7121]

My father was one of the few electronics experts in the area of Kentucky where I grew up. He also worked on analog computers which were similar in many ways. I have great memories of helping him fix these and then he and I playing a game to make sure it worked properly! You did a beautiful job in putting all of this together I know it took a lot of time!

[@keylanoslokj1806]

What kind of computers?

[@ajosuql7468]

I genuinely cannot express how excited I got when I saw the title and who it was from! You videos are so wonderful and I’m depth that personally i find them to be a treat

[@lordgreylock]

Same here! I love pinball machines!

[@djlorenz11]

I literally screamed!

[@dancoroian1]

Same! Perfect for a rainy and gloomy Saturday afternoon

[@christo930]

The thing is though, these machines are just WAY less complicated than he's making them sound. This comes from viewing the entire system all at once. How you have to view them as a bunch of separate logic systems connected to each other after the fact. Think about how complicated electronic circuits look when viewing the entire circuit as a whole. But anyone trying to troubleshoot such a system knows that you have to go to the part of the system not functioning correctly, which will be a sub-circuit. Though still complicated, nowhere near as complicated as the whole of the system.

[@qiblik]

Got a notofication and was like.. I have to watch this right now! literally dropped everything.

[@gavincstewart]

Technology Connections is one of the best channels on KZbin. This video satisfies so much of my inner childhood curiosity. It's like hanging with your friend who's got a pinball machine, you both open it up and take a look and your friend just explains how it all works. It's seriously perfect.

[@darcieclements4880]

I love this channel but I found that a number of people can't focus well enough to appreciate it. I suppose different strokes for different folks as they say. I think I've watched almost every single one of these videos now and I've been watching since I think like the second or third video.

[@seanwfindley]

Easily one of the best. Look at his views per video to subscriber ratio. ALL of his videos have huge numbers.

[@ctdieselnut]

I like how he acts nerdy/quirky on purpose. Dry humor, etc. Probably would get along just fine. I get it, i nerd out over engineering, too. Doesn't matter what it is, i tend to find things I'd consider interesting in different devices. He has a good method of explaining things in order. Hope he is making decent money off his channel, there's not a ton of people putting this type of stuff out with this level of production quality, consistently.

[@DK-mv8pe]

My dad used to collect and fix old pinball machines and arcade games. He passed away a little while ago. This gives me some great flashbacks to watching him fix up the old games and passing him the tools he asked for. Thanks for all the great content and bringing back some good memories.

[@cva1122]

Your dad must have been very talented to understand the functions and interactions within these machines. Now, appliance techs push the power button a few times, then declare you need a new motherboard.

[@Adam.godson]

Best wishes man ❤

[@sylviam6535]

@@cva1122- As a programmer who has learned some analogue electronics, I think the latter is way more difficult than writing code. I am always amazed of the talent of previous generations.

[@JCWise-sf9ww]

I really enjoyed this video on explaining how the relays and switches form logic to do the pinball machine functions. The schematic does make a lot sense to me, for its Boolean Logic & because I use to program a Texas Instruments 5TI sequencer to automate machines. The programing language was Ladder Relay Logic, hence it made it easier for someone familiar with wired relay logic to transition to programming an electronic controlled processor (known as Programmable Logic Controller/PLC) that had hardwired inputs and outputs.

[@danoconnell1833]

This was a blast from the past for me. In the '70s I worked 5 years at a company (in Seattle) that sold all kinds of coin-operated entertainment machines. We had a shop and a warehouse also, and that's where I worked. Much of my time was spent assisting the pinball mechanic, cleaning and adjusting and testing the used machines that came in. Testing was of course my favorite part, as I was told to spend ~15 min. playing the game to be sure it 'felt' right. When you opened up your machine it sent me right back!

[@whoever6458]

What an awesome job! They sure don't make jobs like they used to either.

[@danoconnell1833]

@@whoever6458 It was about 1/4 awesome and 3/4 drudgery, to be honest. A lot of my time was spent schlepping packages around the warehouse. But it did have its perks!

[@jerbear7952]

​@@danoconnell1833I'll bet that $1.25 an hour was pretty sweet. 😊

[@jayfrank1913]

I probably played a lot of the games you worked on, having grown up in Seattle in the late 70's and early 80's. Thank you for your service!

[@NipkowDisk]

I can think of two large companies in Seattle back in the day: Rainier Amusement and Music-Vend. I think there was a third one but its name escapes me...

[@brendanacord]

I've watched a lot of Technology Connections, though I'm far from a completionist, however this episode comes across as a magnum opus and distills everything I love about this channel, well done!

[@ramrod132]

At 50 minutes, he basically filmed and edited an entire documentary worth of content explaining in clear detail an incredibly complex pinball machine. Communicating that content in a way that was easy to understand and remained fascinating for almost an hour is super impressive.

[@bobthecomputerguy]

I think the 80 minute 2 part series on dishwashing machines might be the magnum opus, but this one is in contention.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

How can this be a magnum opus if it doesn't even talk about heat pumps and the latent refrigeration cycle?

[@chadrydjord829]

My dad was an old school pinball mechanic, so I got to see plenty of these machines opened up when I was a kid. This video brought me a lot of nostalgia, and I will be unbelievably hyped to see more videos about pinball machines.

[@raylopez99]

With a twist of a screwdriver he could make the game difficult or easy.

[@user-tc4xy6jl7o]

@@raylopez99when does he say this?

[@raylopez99]

@@user-tc4xy6jl7o Towards the beginning... It's well known tho, even if he doesn't say it. You can turn a screw to make any electromechanical video arcade game more or less difficult, as they have settings to do this for the arcade game owner or repairman.

[@ddegn]

@@user-tc4xy6jl7o At 4:09 the video mentions "three difficulty settings." I think most coin operated arcade games had ways to change the difficulty of the game.

[@johnd5398]

@@ddegn the old electro-mechanical games had screws or dials. The slightly newer microprocessor-based machines had DIP switches. The newer machines have setting in their operating systems. They all have varying levels of difficulty.

[@JellyMonster1]

Fascinating! I remember a pinball machine named The Surfer. I liked that it had an asymmetric design. The artwork on older machines (like the Aztec) are wonderful to look at. Thanks.

[@SuperC142]

Congratulations on so expertly describing such a complicated subject; I can only imagine how difficult it was to plan this video. This is some of your best work.

[@jimdennis2451]

As a teen I DREAMT of buying the HeathKit full-size pinball machine to build. It would only take me over a year of saving my measly stockboy wage to buy one though...

[@markheaney]

70 years ago, or so, this is how the telephone system worked too. That's why we had to rotate the dial on the rotary phone. Then you pulled to dial down it would pulse a series of relays to connect you to the person you were calling. Most of the relays used in this pinball game were invented by the phone company. I used to work for an elevator company and the old elevators all used a similar relay logic to operate. Relays are fun and it is amazing what can be done with them.

[@michaelimbesi2314]

I used to volunteer on a museum tugboat. Her rudder system was operated by the same type of relay logic. It was literally controlled by a box of relays out of an early 20th century elevator.

[@Drew-Dastardly]

The Strowger switch telephone exchange was still in operation in the UK well in to the early 1990's. No 70 year old about it. BT replaced it with "System X" and my phone phreaker devices stopped working locally. Thankfully other methods worked with international direct dial, using the 0800 freephone numbers for international operators. Sigh. I miss the good old days.

[@Krmpfpks]

@@Drew-Dastardlyoh yes.. those were the times, phreaking to connect to overseas BBS and using those expensive ‘party lines’ to have conference calls.

[@20chocsaday]

It was funny to see the forests of such machines, when you are not used to it. One near you would jump and chatter, then another buried somewhere among the rest, then another would start, I don't know how people thought down among it.

[@nitehawk86]

I am pretty sure he has done a video on old school phones.

[@grottyboots]

I made a living programming PLCs and CNCs using primarily in "relay ladder logic". Amazing that that experience let's understand most of what it does. Can't wait for part 2!

[@karryhardman8735]

I was just thinking this could be a great teaching tool for PLC logic. Boss I need $5000 for a pin ball game.

[@joeyhemlock]

I am in industrial automation primarily working with PLCs. While I prefer the text or function block based languages, my ladder knowledge sure helped me out here!

[@seifenspender]

@@joeyhemlockAfter first coming in contact with LD, FBD, SFC etc., I was surprised that LD still is used this much compared to something like C/C++. This video made me question this less.

[@reallyweirdperson1]

Yes! In trade school, for my senior project I programmed a “spin and win” type game using a PLC and ladder logic. I also made one using relays and timers, no PLC or anything like that. They both had a scoring system, multiple rounds, a time limit, and would speed up with each round. This video brought me right back to that, it was so fun.

[@BrendanReagan]

Part 2! Part 2! :-] Just being a bit funny too, imho.

[@nathansmith3608]

These Machine Age style machines are so impressive to me. They have so much style & they way everything fits together is a work of genius. Thanks for showing us what makes it tick

[@paulguk]

Outstanding! As a fellow pinball nerd I've watched a lot of videos on this subject, but I think this has instantly become the gold standard for introducing people to electro-mechanical machines and their circuitry. I cannot thank you enough for the amazing amount of effort that has gone into this. Hats off sir. Hats. Off.

[@Niki1A_]

This feels a lot like redstone in Minecraft, building complex behaviour from simple parts. Relays are so powerful because you can build logic gates from them, especially NOT-gates (using normally closed switches) and Latches (self powering switches). Just with NOT-gates and OR-gates (parallel wiring) you can perform any (finite) logic function and Latches can be used as memory. This means you can build programable computers with them, which was actually done before semiconductors took over.

[@vicroc4]

Some of the earliest programmable computers were relay-based. But vacuum tubes could switch faster, so that ended up being the predominant computer technology before semiconductors.

[@Stcroiss]

I’d argue it’s exactly like redstone perfect analogy

[@bengoodwin2141]

I was thinking that too!

[@danieltdp]

You people got it backwards... It's redstone that is like a relay 😅

[@Stcroiss]

@@danieltdp redstone is a way to simulate electrical wiring essentially, but since I first encountered these ideas in minecraft, it feels correct to say the older thing is like the newer thing. Not implying electrical engineers somehow stole the idea of early logic gates or whatever from minecraft 😂

[@Error1355]

The way you explained how the pinball machine worked, with adding additional layers to each part as the video goes did such a fantastic job. As every layer got added to the description of how it worked I understood it exactly, and even started to predict in my head 'oh so that must be for THIS' before the video explained it. I used to say your jukebox video was my favorite, but this one might beat even that one for me! Thank you for this channel, it's lovely.

[@shivorath]

Don’t know that Alex will see this or how he’d feel about it but I wanted to share what this video kicked off for me. This has re-ignited a long dormant love of pinball that started after my first watch with me digging out some old pinball video games, and is now manifesting as me prepping for the most complicated building project I’ve ever attempted: making my own (virtual) pinball cabinet, complete with SSF, physical toys, DOF controlled lights, etc. Kind of against the point of the video (the fascinating complexity of non-computer driven pinball), but given my space and money constraints it’s the only option I have. I’d totally be getting some physical machines if I had the option. Bottom line though: pinball is awesome!

[@scottjacoby2594]

Worked for a non profit after school program and we got an old school pinball machine donated. I had to trouble shoot some things and became fascinated by the mechanics of it. Glad you put out this video. Been wanting you to cover pinball machines since your jukebox video several years back reminded me of my pinball machine experience. Electromechanics are so fascinating!

[@SilverWrinkly]

Hear Hear.

[@mittelwelle_531_khz]

Sometimes I dream about a world in which the nations around the globe competed by building more and more sophisticated electro-mechanical pinball machines (and running tournaments on that base), not obliging their best engineers to invent more and more deadly weapons to kill the "enemies" which just are people like you and me but happen to be members of a different nation.

[@JoeRitze]

​@@mittelwelle_531_khzI like the way you think

[@TheMrCougarful]

Oh, I played a LOT of pinball in my childhood. Best use of time ever. Once in a while, you would get to watch someone working on a machine, and that was REALLY cool. Pinball was probably my first use of a computer, and to tell the truth, became a career in computer engineering and software development, sadly none of it having anything to do with pinball. Retired now, but it was a real journey.

[@alanhump7303]

you just described my life lol

[@matthewbarry4464]

I can't tell you how happy I am that you decided to explain EM pinball machines. They are what I grew up with while I watched it evolve into what we have today.

[@tuseroni6085]

@@User0000000000000004 i didn't realize it was 2040 already.

[@matthewbarry4464]

@@User0000000000000004 Are you feeling okay?

[@jomercer21113]

Fascinating! There's an old pinball machine in my basement that I'd love to get cleaned up and running again.

[@TiborFuto]

This is awesome quality content! I don't usually donate, but the level of detail is mind blowing. Thank you for decoding the unholy mess.

[@TechnologyConnections]

Thanks very much!

[@DavidVenegas-w4t]

😎

[@thecrowfliescrooked]

​@@davi_dewwould you consider changing anything about your life, any aspect, for a stranger?

[@nneeerrrd]

​@@thecrowfliescrookednailed it 👍

[@coreybabcock2023]

​@@davi_dewthe icon is just fine

[@ryanseltzer3355]

Working on my grandfathers pinball machine as a kid is how I decided I wanted to be an electrical engineer... So glad you made a video on this

[@heyspookyboogie644]

Love these electromechanical vids. I’m sure they’re a HUGE pain to script, film, edit, etc. but man is it cool to see and understand.

[@RobollieG]

My neighbor Chaz (RIP) had worked for for a pinball manufacturer for about 30 years ( Stern Pinball, previously Sega, previously Data East). They'd do a lot of movie and TV show games. He gave me backboards to the Star Wars and Starship Troopers games.

[@jbfcrasher]

I'm not sure if you want to get into specific gameplay skills or tricks, but the "tap pass" is a flipper skill that is really cool and is a byproduct of pinball being mechanical, it's essentially pressing the button so quickly that you only get a partial flip. Definitely a tough skill to get good at, but very satisfying when done successfully. Love seeing pinball on the channel! I've been playing tournaments for several years and been running weekly tournaments for the past year and a half or so.

[@crankshaft3612]

Old telephone switchings centers (Rod and Panel,Step By Step) were almost 100% mechanical. 48 volt DC. I loved standing in a central exchane or large PBX and just listen to call progress happening. At one point the US telephone system was considered the largest single purpose computer. It CAN all be done with relays I even saw a DTMF decoder built with tuning forks. Not at 20 ips, but it worked.

[@dasy2k1]

Ahhh yes tuned electromechanical reeds Always fun. Especially when you start using them for safety critical FDM multi drop systems (they can be so accurate that adjacent channels are typically 3Hz apart!)

[@kerryjlynch1]

When I attended technician's school in the early 1970's,we learned how to configure logic using relays, tubes, & discrete transistors. Integrated circuits were a wonderful leap forward when we learned about them. At that time, I played a LOT of pinball. Later, while using punch cards to write programs in FORTRAN, we learned about Herman Hollerith. Over the years it's dawned on me that much of our computational systems are quite mature in concept, but needed a whole semiconductor industry to catch up and allow the miniaturization we enjoy today. Next step - tri-corders! I'm pro-Star Trek, anti-Mad Max.

[@AnonyMous-pi9zm]

When I attended engineering school in the late 2010s, we learned first about transistors and logic gates and relays and stuff, and I was kinda wondering why that's important when we don't really use discrete components these days. Why have 4 logic gates on a DIP chip when you have 4 billion logic gates, all programmable, on an FPGA chip. Why have relays when you have PLCs controlled by a computer. The realization I had when I discovered that the math involved in state machines and boolean logic were exactly the same as what is being used on the monolithic chips. That the code we put into it is just resoldering wires around to reconfigure the relay connections on the fly. It was amazing. We really are standing on the shoulders of giants. Then I got a job repairing discrete electronics from the 1980s, where I need to know what a 4n35 and an LM358 is. Full circle, back to the 1980s, with the TO-3 socket transistors and everything, things I never thought I'd see, let alone actually work on.

[@bjornspangberg3213]

This is so nice and good video, full respect for the serious gone through of a pinball machine. Impressive. ❤

[@christianstorms3950]

I am flabbergasted, in awe and frightingly curious all at the same time. On the one hand I wish I had such an classic pinball machine, on the other hand I would never have been able to troubleshoot it or follow the shematic. I applaud your attention to detail and your sheer power of patience.😮

[@ryanmitcham5522]

I'd be terrified to own one of these machines, super interesting, but so many potential points of failure.

[@teds9896]

It's not as hard as you might think. It can take a very long time...but you trace those lines and the parts they go to you'll eventually find the problem. The machines typically "tell you" too, ex: "oh; it's not registering the 10,000ths place scoring wheel"..."what relays/contacts/coils could that be?"

[@Hades948]

So cool to see how these worked before digital computers! Looking forward to the second part.

[@pastajensen]

Love how the schematic is basically a simple PLC ladder program. This was a fun watch, looking forward to the next part.

[@ericpaul4575]

These logic ladders were first and PLC were designed to replace the mess of cams and relays in these types of control systems.

[@aerionistari6315]

It's actually called a "ladder diagram"

[@nachis04]

Cool to see the OG way of doing ladder logic!

[@pastajensen]

Indeed it is @nachis04 , one of many reasons why I love this channel. I still have memories fault searching bigger relay logic control cabinets when I started of as a trainee.

[@reverz3]

@@aerionistari6315 PLC nerds unite!

[@shmackydoo]

I must say, i appreciate how amazingly bonkers this all is. I was expecting complexity and i got it. I love these machines

[@taylorrowe7759]

I think it would be really cool if Technology Connections did a year-end blooper reel. Just an entire video made up of bloopers from all the videos that year.

[@dansarfert3585]

Sounds like a great no-effort November video!

[@bradboardwell8295]

Alec, you once again, outdid yourself. Just when i dont think you can get aby better, you create another amazing masterpiece. I dont think anyone else could have ever tackled a pinball machine, and create a Mozart from it. You are an equal to the creators who made these machines. Rad!!!!!

[@AntoineWG]

This video is absolutely perfect at explaining how these electromechanical machines work. It also hit really close to home right from the start. My grandfather was a toolmaker in the Gottlieb factory in Chicago for 30 years until he retired in the late 90's. His attic floor was actually made of rejected playfields, which just got discarded. He's even ON a pinball machine.

[@rizzlerazzleuno4733]

I need to hear more about this please. Who was your grandfather and what game is he on? I was friends with a Gottlieb designer and want to know all I can find out about other Gottlieb employees. I need to contact you but YT makes it hard for sharing contact info. Thanks. (discoveries like this is why I read through a lot of the comments)

[@krijskovacic4938]

This is so awesome. Thanks for sharing. Would love to see photos of that floor. It must have been truly something to behold.

[@hubbsllc]

There was a Gottlieb "Jack N' Jill" at my grandparents' house that wound up coming to our house when I was a kid. Played so many hours on that thing. The lights never worked at my grandparents' but we took it to a vending/game machine company and they sorted it all right out. I think it was early 1950s - before roller digits - and it was mid-1970s when we got it. It had been played so much that some of the metal grommets that were contacted by a wire affixed to a bumper had worn down completely on bumpers that the ball only or mostly hit from one side; thankfully I was able to just rotate the grommets in the wire loop that held them in place and then they were fine. I can still hear it in my head.

[@TheYoyotrixter]

This video alone has sparked an interest in pinball in my friends and I. Just got a Williams Big Deal from 1977 to gain a better understanding of how these work! Thanks so much for making this video!

[@interestingoldthings4889]

I have a WIlliams Aztec and a Williams Space Mission. The original service manuals do a great job of breaking down what happens when, and are a big help in debugging them. My experience is that anything on an EM machine is easy to fix, once you figure out where the problem is.

[@petertrudelljr]

Worked in an arcade in the 80s... this brings back memories. I grew up with the mechanical ones like this. My favourite was a baseball themed one. The pinballs in the 80s were a weird hybrid of mechanical and digital so I got got to mess with a lot of relays and leaf switches.

[@beavismount]

I got an old EM machine running a few years ago and it was an intimidating experience. Even as an airplane electrician who is comfortable with large wiring diagrams, the way these pin diagrams are laid out is different enough to freak me out. I could still navigate to the problem area and experimentally find a fix, but this vid explained a ton about how pin diagrams work and that will help me a ton next time!

[@hmack22]

This video is a triumph. I can only imagine how much work it took to figure this out and prepare a video that explains it so well. Bravo!

[@OmniGuy]

Absolutely fantastic video. The amount of engineering, both electrical and mechanical is mind boggling to me. Plus the incredible coordination between them. I wish I had a nickel for every quarter I ever put into one of these. I cannot thank you or praise you enough for this outstanding video. I hope I can find part 2.

[@PXAbstraction]

I'm also a pinhead (I own a Williams Rollergames machine and would own many more were I a richer man). I love the experience of playing them, but I am also just in awe of what feats of engineering they are. I've never been a fan of the older electro-mechanical machines because I just find they're not as fun to play, but seeing the madman level of design and engineering that went into these is beyond fascinating. Fantastic explanation of how these things work.

[@christo930]

I think you are wrong (not wrong, but you have bad taste) in that the older games are far more fun to play, particularly more fun than 90s and newer machines. The machines came to be dominated by gimmicks that really weren't possible without all the computers.

[@nedludd7622]

@@christo930 That is my opinion too. Long ago I tried the electronic machines and soon got bored. Too many bells and whistles.

[@shawnawesome7770]

Roller games? As in that roller derby show that was wwe ish in the 80s with the big wall ?

[@PXAbstraction]

@@shawnawesome7770 The very same! Williams made a machine for it in 1991. It's actually really fun but it's got a ton of various logos on it so the licensing is a nightmare and there's never been a digital pinball version of it.

[@shawnawesome7770]

@PXAbstraction thats awesome, i remember seeing it in arcades. My main pinball machines were elviras scared stiff and attack from mars.

[@RealKangarooFlu]

I'm blown away how anyone could ever read a schematic like that. This video is really great, and I'm amazed that you could break this down so well! If I could quadruple-like I would 😂

[@lazymass]

It is the same as with any other thing. It looks difficult when you've never seen it before, but when you see hundreds of them, knowing what the symbols mean, it's just all obvious at first sight...

[@SianaGearz]

I've never seen one like that before but it reads just fine, it's actually remarkably nice. Takes like a few minutes to adjust, and the legend helps. Then again i read modern laptop schematics and classic computer schematics on the semi-regular. Was reading PS/2 model 25 schematic not too long ago.

[@timothyjewett625]

This dude at 11:00 had the score at 420690 😂😂😂 Alec you are hilarious and informative. Love the videos, been viewing for at least a year if not more. You make such high quality videos on things I am curious about. Also your episode on Steve Ramsay’s podcast about pinballs was great.

[@alexweschler9470]

Thank you

[@hackdeez1075]

8:00 too

[@Jessev741]

@@hackdeez1075 uhhhh 2:08

[@marvindebot3264]

The likes are on 69 for this comment, I can't bring myself to change it. 😁

[@kenrowan7234]

As a pinball player from late 60's and early 70's, the older machines were much more fun to play as the later models had a lot more space between fewer devices. I have enjoyed your presentations and this one is probably the best which resonates with me.

[@CuriousMarc]

Relay logic. Used in pin balls, and computers. Our IBM 1401 computer peripherals (the tape drives, the card reader), use plenty of it. My IBM 029 card punch is entirely based on it. We collectively fear debugging these relay circuits. You did an incredible job explaining them!

[@mikeloeven]

Speak of the devil Saw your comment here just as I was recommending your FACOM Relay Computer video to someone

[@Medasian]

I absolutely love your videos, I have been watching them for years! You make incredible content, and I have loved electromechanics my entire life. Pinball is one of my favorite things ever, thank you for another amazing video! Can't wait for part 2!

[@blackhawkthepirate]

I used to work for a pinball machine vendor, and, occasionally, I would do small repairs, mostly replacing broken switches, flipper bands, and coils. I never did much work on the electromechanical, in part because they broke less often, but also because when they did break, it was usually something I wouldn’t have had the skills to troubleshoot. This video really brought me a lot closer to understanding how these machines work. And also how relays work. And also how schematics work. It’s all so much clearer to me now, so thank you very much, sir, and I’m looking forward to your future pinball videos!

[@ikelom]

36:21 I love listening to the sounds of the pinball machine as you turn the score motor in slow-motion...

[@b4cktr4k24]

Just a nod of appreciation for Tester #3, who ever you are. Imagine rolling through all of the game logic and filling out a report: Relay T wired to red with gray stripe on pin 3 instead of gray with red stripe on pin 4. Hand solder crew must have been slightly nuts too! I love pinball!

[@mystic839]

i really loved this video. one thing i was thinking the whole time was how this actually mirrors stuff used in modern video game development. the entire machine basically functions with the programming "listener" event handler. a whole bunch of different mechanisms are effectively listening to each target (event) via relays. the bell is listening, the score reel is listening, etc.

[@KooshiesElectronics]

Your right, The reality is that a computer is just a massive amount of transistors switching on and off, Its just like relay logic just at a nanometer scale. Imo and others, Relay logic is just an electromechanical computer. I've developed in java and C# and its cool to see the relays doing if, else, and and statements My knowledge in electrical helped me grasp programming and programming changed the way i think of electrical logic systems and probably helped.

[@TALKCalgary]

I used to service pinball machines, not just the modern micro processor based variety but the original purely mechanical types. I loved these machines they were the perfect example of engineering and art coexisting together in perfect harmony.

[@bobkaster1]

I repaired a Stern Pinball World Poker Tour machine during one of my deployments to Afghanistan. My unit had a continual presence there so during the next couple of trips out I did minor upkeep to keep it going. Was a great morale booster for when we weren't fixing aircraft! Unsure what happened to that machine when the unit closed down operations there and finally came home, kind of hope it was brought back and not left to rot.

[@medienmond]

This is absolute bonkers. Thank you so much for getting through the electrical design of such a unit. It is an absolutely insane amount of engineering, that was put into these machines. I am waiting for part 2.

[@gizmo4816]

Hey Alex! I'm really glad you did this video. I used to work on pinballs and video games, and I've worked on pretty much everything made from the 1960s up through the mid-1990s (when I got out of the business and moved on to other things). Each era had its own unique quirks and challenges, but the electro-mechanicals were a wonder of engineering and timing. Having a single switch close or open just slightly early or late could, in some cases, wreak absolute havoc on a system. Great stuff! Keep up the good work!

[@laurencebois5119]

I left the arcade industry in 2020, I feel the older games were better on so many levels. The newer ones are mostly shells with Arduino modules that play a copyright-avoiding clone of a classic.

[@Davet1187]

I work railway signals, and it was wonderful watching you go over this machine; We call those flipper relays "pick and hold relays." lovely seeing relay logic applied to something more fun haha. (Yes we still have locations that are all relays.)

[@paganmadnessYT]

Thank you sooo much for your videos. Your energy in taking things apart and teaching all of us how it works is priceless!

[@DeathInTheSnow]

I went the pinball museum in Rotterdam this year and it was _AMAZING_ seeing all of the machines from all of the different eras! I highly recommend the trip, especially as Rotterdam is a nice place in itself.

[@someguy2135]

Good news! There is more than one pinball museum. I have been to the one here in Las Vegas NV USA and recommend it. It sounds like the one you went to is similar. There are other arcade games besides pinball machines, btw.

[@alexzaretskiy1730]

@@someguy2135the Vegas museum is amazing, agree

[@StompboxBreakdown]

This is your Magnum Opus. The way the "computer" works to lock out new input while it's processing the current job is nothing short of breathtaking. Thank you for making this something we can understand and enjoy.

[@xenwall]

I've been around these machines most of my life but Alec's ability to explain, demonstrate, and illustrate has helped me understand them in a way I never have before.

[@cyboticIndustries]

I have never seen anyone explain anything so well. You are an incredible presenter indeed Sir!