For Amusement Only Em And Bingo Pinball Podcast

Cleaning the ball arch on a metal rail EM is important, though no one but you will ever know!

Bzzzzt!  What makes the machine tilt?  There are many tilt innovations that occurred after the 30s (when the plumb bob tilt mechanism was invented), and several interesting tilt innovations in Bally's bingos.

Description of the gameplay of the 6 card Bally Ticker Tape and the current status of my project Gigi.

I talk with my friend Clark Fraley, who is a technician for an operator.  Clark has been with me on a couple of pick ups now, and is a great guy to boot.     Interviewed after we moved my new bingo and played for a bit.  I hope to have him on again soon(ish) to discuss his upcoming acquisition!  

Another new pickup!  Gigi described - gameplay to follow after I shop it. I describe how to perform adjustments on an EM game.

I interview Phil Hooper, creator and maintainer of http://bingo.cdyn.com, the Internet's source for technical information on Bally and United bingos.   Phil conducted this interview on 4/5/15 via email.

Ramps, lighted scoring, DC-driven coils, multi-level playfields - all were children of the 1930s, and continue to inform today's games.

What's the point of shaking a machine?  How much is too much?  How do you know? Are bingos games of skill or games of chance? Can older games make you a better player?

High voltage can hurt or even kill you.  This is a warning about how to identify high voltage in your machine at a glance and the super easy way you can avoid getting hurt. Your health is more important than getting a game running.

How does a bingo know to lock you out of features after shooting a certain ball?   How does it know _not_ to lock you out if you are able to reach the ball return without landing in a trap hole? 

When your bingo doesn't count replays approporiately, what do you do?  Manual, schematics and observation are a help, but knowing the units involved will set you on the right path faster.

How to break down and transport a game, then how to reassemble and start cleaning!

How to disassemble and clean a drop target bank, and how drop targets are typically constructed.   Not mentioned:  how much I dislike solid state Williams drop targets.

What are the main things to consider when looking at your first bingo?  Condition is king, but if you are like I was at first, you'd never seen one of these before.

Talk about how EMs are able to determine the game state.   Tech: How to properly adjust a relay, and when to hit it with a hammer (really)!

How were Bingos persecuted in the United States?  Why did Bingo production cease in the 80's?  These and other questions answered in this episode.

I talk about a toy invented in the woodrail era that is still in use today - the Pop Bumper.   Tech: Changing pop bumpers, and how to increase pop safely (by cleaning).

Woodrails gave us some of the toys and mechanical devices that we still use today.   Tech talk: flippers - how to disassemble and rebuild.  These same basic instructions apply to anything with an EOS switch (basically machines up to 1990ish).

I talk with Ava about Pop-A-Card, the first game I purchased, and the machine that brought me my love of repairing and playing Gottlieb machines (all eras) and EMs and Bingos!

I talk to Steve Smith and give him wide berth to tell his view of how we met and how I fell in love with bingos.  He discusses various topics, including differences between flipper vs. bingo pinball, playing on location as a kid, and how he got his first pinball.   Forgive sound quality - I was sitting too far from the mic and didn't notice.