The AM Forum

 Hi All,

Reading a post from Don, KYV about remote ant switches stirred up a memory from some time ago before video games when Pinball machines were common.

A friend serviced these machines and I remember that they used many stepping relays using a 28volt solenoid mechanism similiar to the Telco steppers but with much higher rated contacts. These came in many configurations including up/down, reset to 0 position and many different contact counts from a simple 4 X4 to more than possibly needed. Some were just cam operated as well.

So if you might know of a local Amusement Machine company or former Pinball service man these steppers would make great Ant selectors.

Bill, KB3DKS in 1 Land

A stepper with 36° per step might not work considering the amount of torque required to rotate the switch and the precision of the travel distance  required for each step.  But one with 6° per step, for example, could be configured so that 6 pulses would move the switch one step between contacts and that should work.  The problem with the remote switch is the necessity for indexing the switch exactly, so that the rotary contact always reliably meets the stationary contact very close to TDC.

I doubt that a modern day amusement company would have any of that ancient electro-mechanical analogue hardware.  Pinball and other arcade machines have operated electronically for many years. Collectors and history buffs might have some of the old hardware on hand, but that would be comparable to finding parts and tubes for 1920s-50s radios.

You might be surprised Don.  Just like there is a niche for vintage radio, there are a lot of vintage pinball machine enthusiasts.  They will not likely be local to you but google vintage pinball and you will see many shops that restore and resale them.  I for one LOVE old pinball machines and there are a few in my hometown of Lafayette still being placed in strategic locations such as pizza and beer joints by some of the amusement companies.  My best friend growing up was the youngest son of a family that owned and ran an amusement company.  We used to have a blast on his collection route because we were able to enter bars to collect the coins and service the machines... of course in those days in south Louisiana, ID's were rarely asked for anyway and the drinking age was still 18.

I remember from my student days, one of the old transmitters (W3YA) at the Penn State radio club had a telephone dial and a telephone rotary switch for bandswitching.  These were the ones the telephone exchanges had before electronic switching.

I remember those.  My very first real job with a regular paycheck was CE at a 1 kw daytimer, and my very first malfunction was in the remote meter reader circuit. The thing used the telephone dial at the studio and the stepper relay at the remote site.  What a PITA for that to malfunction my first day on the job.  I had to call the engineer at another station for advice, since I  had never worked an anything like that before.

Now if only they made jumbo versions of those stepping relays, complete with ceramic insulation and 3/4" spacing between silver plated contacts...

Or if only I had kept that 8" wheel and worm drive.  As a matter of fact, it  came from that first station where I worked, in a load of "junk" (actually a '62 Plymouth trunk crammed full of goodies) that the boss told me to get rid of after I had thoroughly cleaned the cluttered transmitter building, and that in a few days he was coming by to inspect the job.

The boss was surprised and delighted at how promptly I followed his directive.  :)

There are step motor controlers on Fleabay cheap.  They even come with a Computer program to control many of them for this purpose.  I would rather have a simple stand alone design. I dont want to have to rely on a computer to talk on the radio
C