Electromechanical Fair-Play BB-200 Basketball Scoreboard In Use

Here is a Fair-Play BB-200 basketball scoreboard that I am testing after making some adjustments and cleaning. This is entirely electromechanically-controlled; it has no ICs or semiconductors except for a few diodes.
In the first segment, I turn on and off the bonus lamps. The clunks are coming from the relays inside the scoreboard. Then I add scores to home and visitor. The clunks are from the rotary selectors inside the scoreboard that advance each time I advance the score. The hum heard in the video is not related to the scoreboard -- it is from our overhead paging system.
In the second segment, I turn on the clock start switch on the BB-2 control console. The clicks are from the switches inside the console sending pulses to the scoreboard to advance the rotary selectors to count down seconds. The clunks are from the rotary selectors in the scoreboard advancing.
In the third segment, I removed the cover from the clock pak (located under the "Period" panel in the scoreboard). The rotary selector on top controls the tens of seconds, selector on the bottom controls the minutes. The selector for the seconds units is behind the seconds tens selector.
In the fourth segment, I put one minute on the clock and start counting down. There are no burned out lamps in the clock; some of the contacts are dirty, misadjusted, or broken on the seconds rotary selector. As the clock counts down, I add scores to each side. Then I advance the period lights. Lastly, I turn on the home bonus light. Don't know why the horn didn't sound at the end, though. Either I didn't turn it on or it has another dirty contact.
Kudos to Fair-Play for posting the schematic of this scoreboard on their Web site!
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[@douro20]

I got to use one back in the early 1990s in middle school. The thing was built back in the early 1950s. I believe they made them up into the early 1980s. They had an electronic one on the opposite side of the court but it wasn't as reliable.

[@decline2state]

I timed a number of 7th & 8th grade basketball games using a Fair-Play FF-1S many years ago. The FF-1S was similar to this, except that there was no bonus indicator, and the scores only went up to 99. As noted elsewhere, there were 2 blank spaces between the 0 & the 1, & the tens digit did not increment automatically, so you had to be able to see the board to be sure it had the right information. This was a chore in the old gym where the games were played, as the board was on the wall above and behind the scorer's table.

[@jamesschock4296]

The reason the horn did not sound is you did not flip the automatic horn toggle forward while the clock was running. This resets the mechanism. I used to be a high school and college timer on one of these babies as the kids say back in the day. I hope this helps

[@aaronberns8485]

Aww. The sweet sounds of electromechanics

[@jamesmchenry4909]

Don’t make me pull the toys out, huh Don’t make me pull the toys And fire up the engines... HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

[@nyarome8436]

yes

[@w8nwo]

Just an update! This scoreboard worked well since my last maintenance when I took this video. That is until it suffered a catastrophic failure where the selenium rectifier failed and a rotary solenoid overheated and seized up in the clock pak. I have another broken clock pak; as time permits, I'm going to see if I can take the two and make one good unit to get this scoreboard back in service. The clock paks I have are different enough that this might not be easy.

[@TMAC4928]

Nelson - I recently purchased a BB100 and want to restore. Can you please send me post the link to the Website you used for Fair Play's schematics?

[@w8nwo]

@@TMAC4928 I got them from fair-play.com. However, it looks like they've replaced their website since I retrieved that information nearly 10 years ago. I couldn't find any schematics on their new website. Best I can say is to contact Fair Play and see if they still have them on file. I still have the BB-200 schematic that I downloaded. If that is any help to you, email me ([e-mail]) and I'll email it back to you.

[@greggrichwine7980]

Selenium rectifier failures are bad. Toxic...don't breath in the smoke. If the bad rectifier was in that clock pack, it wasn't original. A BB200 with the 161 wedge bulbs would have been new enough to have come with 1N4000-series silicon diodes. Guessing the original clock pack failed and was swapped with a used/reconditioned one. I've never tried to swap solenoids on Fair-Play stuff, so I can't help you there.

[@greggrichwine7980]

@@TMAC4928 The 200 and 100 are similar enough to get the basics down. If I recall correctly, scores only go to 99 on the 100, so the tens score cans will be A's. I have stopped at the plant to get schematics back in the day. Not anymore, Trans-Lux moved them to the St Louis burb of Hazelwood.

[@w8nwo]

That makes sense; thanks for the info.

[@w8nwo]

That's a good question. It sure seems that the tens should increment automatically but it does not. Neither score does. I'm not sure if it is faulty mechanism or just the way its designed. I'll try to take a look sometime if I have to have it apart for maintenance.

[@w8nwo]

Hi Bud, I will take a look at the controller and let you know. Wow, that's quite a find from a consignment shop! Good luck getting it up and running. No, as far as I can tell, this has never been repainted.

[@gmsnrich]

As I recall, the time out timer is just a wind-up Lux 1-minute timer with a one-ding bell at the end. As I mentioned before, the Clock Start switch should have been a momentary lever switch that you would hold up as you were starting a new period...it would spring back off as you let go of it. Purpose of the Clock Start switch is to bypass the relay contacts that stop the clock automatically when time reaches 0:00. For your units seconds display problem, if the rotary switch decks look OK and the connectors on the clock pak are firmly seated, check for issues on the numeral display assembly. Lamps rarely burn out, but the locking ears on the lamp sockets tend to break off and cause poor contact issues.

[@gmsnrich]

Expanding on others comments... Score units numerals run 1 thru 0 then two blank spaces. Tens digits do not automatically change when units go from 9 to 0 by design. Horn will not sound at 0:00 unless automatic horn switch is on, AND you are running the clock with the Time In/Time Out switch at the far right of the control. The Clock Start switch is only used when starting a new period, and should be a momentary lever switch. Normal start procedure for a new period is to have Auto Horn switch off. Start clock by turning the Time In/Time Out switch on and the Clock Start switch simultaneously. Clock start switch is turned off after 1 second of operation. Auto Horn can now be turned on. To time a 20:00 period, start the clock from 0:00 using the above procedure...clock will read 19:59 after one second.

[@w8nwo]

Thank you for the instructions!

[@eatmyvcr]

Thanks for posting! LOVE THIS VIDEO! I noticed that on this board the score digits "go out" incrementing from 0 and 1. On the old 4-sided boards of yesteryear at Philly's Spectrum stadium, the score digits go off momentarily between 9 and 0 when incrementing. Why is that?

[@nickpeck4561]

Don't make me pull the toys out, huh, Don't make me pull the tooooyyys, And fire up the engines- *clock hits zero at **2:23* *HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-*

[@alexsells108]

I like the mechanical horn in the scoreboard

[@w8nwo]

Oh, I didn't even notice that on the controller! I guess different color choices may have been available. I never thought about that until now.

[@w8nwo]

I think that the digits go out because either the contacts are worn so that there isn't any connection when moving from 0 to 1 on the rotary selector or there is a blank space between those two sections of the rotary selector. When I finally have a chance to install the new selectors, I'll have a better idea if this is just a result of worn contacts or an intentional design.

[@Glassia9]

Fair-Play's boards always went out between the 0 and 1 and never increased the 10's digits automatically. I noticed on your controller that the protective sleeve that covers the minutes reset is missing, along with the timer knob. I need to dig through my parts but I may have both of those, along with a spare controller. The reason the horn didn't sound at 0:00 was that you had the automatic horn switch turned off. The old scoreboards at the Spectrum were made by All-American Scoreboards and their digits clicked off between the 9 and 0. Just a manufacturing choice.

[@w8nwo]

Not only is the timer knob missing, the mechanism is broken inside. I haven't taken the controller apart to see exactly what is wrong though. I realized I had the automatic horn switch off after I shot the video. However, even with the switch on and the new clock pak I later installed, the horn still doesn't sound automatically. Do you know how that is controlled? Is there a separate line from the controller to enable auto horn?

[@w8nwo]

Our controller is model BB-2, code DS67. Hope that helps!

[@3Cr15w311]

Continuing since I'm limited to 500 chars: We had an old Naden N-595 at my junior high school that required the seconds to be on 00 to do minutes reset and it wouldn't stop properly at 0 and would keep going (annoying). Another question -- I notice that the 1s digits going from 9 to 0 doesn't increment the 10s automatically. It didn't on the old Fair-Play that I saw either, but sometimes the tens digit would go dim or flicker out, making me think the mechanism was there but faulty.

[@michaelwilson7061]

Did you ever get the auto horn to work? Maybe the toggle switch is bad. My old high school had a fair play just like this one in our old gym. The name fair play was under the period sign. The horn sounded like a broken car horn. Anyways I wish I would have bought it when the school closed at the auction. Now the new high school has NEVCOS.

[@w8nwo]

Nope, haven't gotten back around to that yet!

[@w8nwo]

Hi Bud, Our controller is model BB-2, code DS67. Hope that helps! -Nelson

[@3Cr15w311]

Yeah, I noticed the instructions on the controller said to have the clock off and the seconds on 00 but I noticed you did it with it not on 00 after I posted the above. I've seen a board very similar to this that has the recessed minutes reset button (maybe as old as 1967 since that's when scores to 199 became standard I think). Yours is all red, but the one I saw was green for the clock and red for scores.

[@w8nwo]

Thanks! No, now that it is working, the school has been using it on a regular basis so we are not interested in selling it.

[@tergro7575]

Basket ball it is a hammered gray on color but I don't know if 110v went in the plugin or what it was used for

[@uw91]

Do you know the model number of the controls? I have a friend that has this board, it works, and I'd like to locate a control for him. Thanks!

[@3Cr15w311]

One thing strange I notice about this Fair-Play is the minutes reset button is not recessed with a cylindrical attachment around it like most old Fair-Plays and this one requires the clock to be stopped and the seconds on 00 to do minutes reset. The older ones allowed the minutes reset to operate even with the clock running and it was likely recessed to keep it from being hit by accident during a game (you had to use a pen or pencil down the hole to operate it. What year was this made?

[@vintagesimplexfirealarmsof6440]

is that a faraday horn on it then a a national time 411 horn for fire alarm

[@decline2state]

3Cr15w311 posted: "Yeah, I noticed the instructions on the controller said to have the clock off and the seconds on 00 but I noticed you did it with it not on 00 after I posted the above." Even though the instructions did not so indicate, I finally figured out one day when I was running our middle school's FF-1S's that you could reset the minutes with the seconds showing something other than 00 if (& only if) the automatic horn switch was turned on. I don't know why that was. With the switch off, the minutes could be reset only if the seconds showed 00.

[@w8nwo]

I don't know when it was made for sure. Supposedly it was installed in 1975, but it looks older than '75. I could be wrong, or it could have been used when it was installed.

[@tergro7575]

I have a fair- play score board ff-1 everything seems to B there except the cord that comes out of the left side it's a 2 prong 1/2 circle what cord is this its is for 110v or what was wanting to get it working to put in the man cave for the games

[@w8nwo]

+Ter Gro I'm not sure! I know the kind of connector you are referring to, but I haven't seen one on our scoreboard. I'm not familiar with the FF-1, though. What unit is that?

[@lukeleonardrasmussen3550]

Can you imagine how much clicking if it was registered for tenths of a second?

[@w8nwo]

Yeah, that'd be crazy!

[@jenejamesbryant705]

Nelson, I just purchased the same scoreboard, do you have any idea where I can buy a controller? I only purchased the scoreboard and I'm looking to get it functional. Thanks in advance.

[@w8nwo]

+Jene & James Bryant I don't have any special ideas other than to watch eBay and Craigslist. I hope you find one, though. This is a fun scoreboard to use! If you are handy with electronics, you could build a controller. The controller doesn't seem too complicated. The clock is the only tough part -- you'd need some sort of 1 hZ oscillator. This was generated by a synchron motor and a contact in the original controller, but a microcontroller could probably generate it more easily today. You could trigger a relay with a micro to provide clock countdown.

[@biggunnerdog]

Nelson - I picked up a BB-200 from a consignment shop the other day, but has no controller. Can you tell me the model number of the controller please that you have? I'll see if I can find one. Did you repaint the unit? Bud

[@phillethbridge5975]

Hi - any idea where i can purchase one of these ?

[@eatmyvcr]

Pretty certain it was intentional design; after a Sixers game, they'd increment each score digit up through 9 until it went off, then the whole board was shut down. My guess is if this wasn't done, the score would remain after being powered up again. Just a guess...

[@stphinkle]

My guess is that it uses stepper switches similar to those used in pinball machines of that era

[@ST4609]

This board was built from 1975 till 1979. different version of ti was made from 1965-1979 this one had the plastic number banks instead of the metal one's they started doing that in 1974-75

[@jasonsteggs6457]

Avery, it sounds like you know a lot about these boards, I am trying to find info on another one of my finds, know where I can find model information?

[@w8nwo]

The minutes can be reset with the clock running. Still, I'm surprised that this doesn't have a better reset system. I don't see why the company couldn't have implemented a simple mechanism something like you use for a mechanical trip odometer. A solenoid could be connected such that it disengaged the rotary selectors and pulled them all back to starting position. One button on the control console could activate the solenoid instantly resetting the clock.

[@broypapovich]

You know, I didn’t hear any buzzer with the scoreboard. I wonder if it’s broken. Because I see the buzzer device on the scoreboard.

[@w8nwo]

It didn't trigger automatically for some reason. It works if you manually activate it, though.

[@powerwings4383]

@@w8nwo That's because the autohorn was off on the controller

[@theray2009]

I see a National Time 411 fire horn next to it

[@MrNumbers4219]

The 4th digit time matrix’s were burnt and they were glitching

[@scienceguy722]

They need to fix the lights

[@izzydinh3959]

I Like That.

[@firealarm2903_]

Is that alarm horn next to it connected to the scoreboard or is it a fire alarm

[@w8nwo]

Old fire alarm system.

[@firealarm2903_]

@@w8nwo Ah, btw it's a National Time 411

[@MichaelDeSanta1285]

Quality

[@namdang4144]

What your name?

[@scienceguy722]

Is the AdaptaHorn the scoreboard alarm

[@Fahrenheit4051]

No, the round black Federal horn in between the top two numerical displays is. The horn on the left (made by National Time) looks like the fire alarm.

[@scienceguy722]

Newageserveralarm has a national time horn and it Is LOUD!

[@tergro7575]

It was in the building that I baught all I know is that it was used for bobbob

[@firealarm2903_]

The horn is a national time

[@w8nwo]

Thanks!

[@firealarm2903_]

@@w8nwo National Time 411 to be exact

[@leboriobalequia6817]

Paano mag stall

[@TheRealDorran]

1:23

[@bigcactus4497]

there is a smaller and beat up fair play scoreboard in my auxillary gym, don't think it works no more

[@technologyisknowledge9762]

Nice 📱📲📞

[@S97795]

FairPlay is crap, Daktronics is the best

[@makeshiftlake3519]

88MS88 my town has a football field with a fair play scoreboard from the early 2000s, price of shit, they just replaced it with a brand new daktronics, best scoreboard ever!

[@johndeerefan725]

My high school (Built in 2008) had 6 Fair Plays, Now down to 5, the football scoreboard was around 9 years old before it was replaced, it did had a few burnt out LEDs, clock kind of glitches when it hits 0, it was replaced with Daktronics. The Basketball Fair Play models work fine but with some controller issues.

[@roydeles6149]

,hyuuuii

[@TheJakeman789]

No thanks. old pos. Bulbs burnt out, horrible clicking. Pass

[@MrNumbers4219]

Agreed

[@TheRealDorran]

1:09