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Inside Slot Tech MagazineInside Slot Tech MagazineDecember 2004December 2004December 2004December 2004December 2004

Page 2 - EditorialPage 4 - Aristocrat DC Ballast 430946 and 4309595 - Bulb, Be Gone!

MCM Stocks LED Replacements for Incandescent LampsPage 16 - The Big, The Bad and The Bonus - Part 5 of 5Page 23 - Heber at EELEXPage 24 - UNICUM Joins MicrosoftPage 25 - EELEX Experiences Further GrowthPage 26 - Job Descriptions, Testing and TrainingPage 30 - New Products From Asahi SeikoPage 32 - FutureLogic GEN2 VST™ Printer Wins AwardPage 33 - What A Rush! - Inrush Current LimitingPage 36 - Subscriptions and Back Issues

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Slot Tech Editorial

Randy Fromm's

Slot Tech Magazine

EditorRandy Fromm

Technical Writers

Martin DempseyKevin Noble

Herschel W. PeelerScott Reynolds

John Wilson

Advertising ManagerDennis Sable

Slot Tech Magazine ispublished monthly bySlot Tech Magazine1944 Falmouth Dr.El Cajon, CA 92020-2827tel.619.593.6131fax.619.593.6132e-mail

[email protected] the website at

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Copyright 2004 under the Uni-versal Copyright Convention. Allrights reserved.

Slot Tech Magazine December 2004

Randy Fromm - Publisher

Randy Fromm

I’ve been waiting for some-one to contribute an ar-

ticle on electronic ballastsand, as usual, HerschelPeeler comes through witha vengeance. In thismonth’s look at AristocratDC Ballast 430946 and430959, Mr. Peeler haseven provided us with areverse-engineered sche-matic diagram so we canunderstand how the unitoperates and how to repair

it when it fails. We shouldall know how these devices,also known as “inverters”operate as inverter failureis a common thread in bothstandalone lighting and theillumination (backlighting)in LCD monitors. In manycases, when you have anLCD panel failure, it’s notthe LCD itself that hasfailed, it’s simply the in-verter that drives the back-lighting. The image is there;you just can’t see it. It killsme to see a casino send inan LCD panel for repair (or>gasp< buy a new monitorfor $2500) when the repaircan be effected so easilyand cheaply in many cases.

In a double-header for thisfinal issue for 2004,Herschel also presents anoverview of job descrip-tions, testing and trainingin an article entitled “JobDescriptions, Testing andTraining.” Flip to page 26 ifyou want to skip the tech-nical and go directly to theSlot Tech Management se-ries.

Have you been followingJohn Wilson’s series on slotmachine mathematics? It’snot as difficult as youthought, is it? In fact, it’sall pretty interesting. Butall good things must cometo an end and so, Mr.Wilson’s saga, The Big, theBad and the Bonus comesto a close this month with

part 5 in which you com-plete the Max Millionsproject and fly to a desertisland to live with Elvis.

In this month’s Slot TechElectronics 101, we take alook at a potentially de-structive force called “in-rush current.” As the nameimplies, this is a surge ofelectric current that canrush into a circuit andcause destruction. Whatcauses the inrush currentand what can be done tomitigate its destructive ef-fects or prevent them alto-gether? Turn to page 33 -What a Rush!

That’s all for this month.Happy holidays to all. I’llcatch up with you in 2005with a report on the record-setting TechFest 10.

Oh . . . Just kidding aboutthe Elvis thingy.


Slot Tech Feature Article

By Herschel Peeler

These assemblies arepurchased by Aristo-crat, not designed by

them, so documentation isharder to find. The originalequipment manufacturer’spart number for the 15-Wattlamp version, 430946 (Aris-tocrat), is EB2415A (Setec Pty.Ltd). The 6-Watt version,430959 (Aristocrat), isEB246A (Setec Pty. Ltd). Theassemblies are similar in op-eration but not interchange-able. The Setec part numberbreaks down simply: “EB” forElectronic Ballast, “24” forthe voltage it runs on, fol-lowed by “6” or “15” for thelamp wattage it is intended todrive. Most of the parts aregeneric and clearly labeled.

We will first describe the 15-Watt version, then the 6-Wattby noting the differences. Wewill cover circuit operation,then common failures. Anelaborate test fixture is notrequired. All that is needed tobench test these assembliesis a 24-volt power source ca-

pable of about 1 Amp (actu-ally 0.75 Amps for the 15-Watt or 0.32 Amps for the 6Watt) and a lamp (15-Watt or6 Watt). A bench grade powersupply with meters for cur-rent and voltage is suggestedbut not required. If you buyeverything you need cheaplyenough, this is another ofthose $10 test fixtures. Ourswas built out of scrappedcables and cost us $0.00 us-ing the bench power supply.The connectors going to thefluorescent lamp are 0.093"Molex female pins with nohousing, just heat shrink tub-ing. The same connectors fitboth the F15T8 and F6T5 sothe same cable setup can beused for either.

With the exception of thetransformer, all the parts arecheap, making this a repair-able item in my book. It is abit more elaborate than thedesign IGT uses and seems tohave a much lower failurerate.

The Design

The main IC used is a PulseWidth Modulator, part num-ber SG3525AN. “SG” is justthe manufacturer’s designa-tion. “AN” designates the 16-pin DIP package. “3525” isthe actual meaningful partnumber. This integrated cir-

cuit is kin to the ever-popular3524 used in many other as-semblies by a dozen otherpower supplies. If you knowone well, the other is easy.

The 3525 is basically an os-cillator with two alternatingoutputs, “Out A” and “OutB.” These pulse high one at atime. “Out A” turns on Q1.“Out B” turns on Q2. Q1 andQ2 drive the primary windingof the transformer that hastwo windings. This is a“pseudo-sinewave” generatorthat fakes an AC-like input tothe transformer. The fre-quency is set at around 55KHz. Feedback is provided bythe circuitry made up of D4,D5, C16, D9, Q4, R15, C7and D1. The pulse width var-ies slightly during operationand looking at it with a scopeyou will see a little jitter dur-ing operation. This is normal.

The transformer has two out-puts. One goes to D11, C3,C4, C5 and C6, and shouldbe +24 Volts DC at the cath-ode of D1 or the positive sideof C3, C4 or C5. The othertransformer output is about150 V AC (Peak-to-Peak ifmeasured with a scope) orabout 50 V RMS (if measuredwith a meter). This outputpowers the fluorescent lamp.At 55 KHz you may not beable to get a good meter read-

Aristocrat DC Ballast430946 and 430959

ing, depending on the qualityof your meter (in general, digi-tal multimeters are lookingfor 50/60 Hertz, sinewave ACin order to provide a trueRMS reading). This shouldlook like a good sine wave onthe oscilloscope. This AC volt-age passes through a coupleof capacitors (C13 and C14)before going to the lamp con-nector. Measured at the lamp,this should be about 45 V ACbetween pins 2 and 4 of theconnector. Pins 1 and 3 of theconnector should measureabout 0.7 Volts to 1 Volt AC.

The lamp is turned on by Q1(a P4NB80 N-channelMOSFET) that sits inside abridge of rectifiers made ofdiodes D5, D6, D7 and D8.Thermistor RT1 should pro-tect Q3 from overloading athigh currents but . . . well,the world is not perfect. Q3 isdriven from Q4 (PN100A, anNPN transistor) that is part ofour feedback loop. PuttingQ3 (that runs on DC) inside adiode bridge allows it to con-trol an AC signal. A neat trickworth spending a paragraphon.

Lamp Current Circuit

Looking at the output of thehigh voltage winding, we haveAC. Assuming the negativeon the top wire (as shown inthe picture) and positive onthe bottom wire, let’s look atthe “electron current” flow.Current flows out of the nega-tive side, through C14, pin 2of the lamp connector, oneside of the heater of the lamp,pin 1 of the connector,through D7, up through Q3,

through the thermistor,through D6, pin 3 of the lampconnector, through the otherheater, pin 4 of the lamp con-nector, C13, and back to thelower (positive) side of thetransformer winding.

During the following half-cycle, the top wire is positiveand the lower wire is nega-tive. Current flows throughC13, pin 4 of the lamp con-nector, one heater of the lamp.pin 3 of the lamp connector,D8, up through Q3, the ther-mistor, D5, to pin 1 of thelamp connector, the otherlamp heater, pin 2 of the lampconnector, C14 and back tothe upper (positive) side ofthe transformer winding.

We have AC going throughthe lamp being controlled bya MOSFET transistor that ispassing DC. This circuit wasworth getting familiar withbecause most failures occurin this circuit.

About the Resistors

Most of the resistors are 1%types. These have five bandsinstead of the usual fourbands you find on 5% resis-tors. Reading them is similar.Instead of two significant dig-its and a multiplier, we havethree significant digits and amultiplier. Brown, Black,Black, Red would be 1,0,0followed by two zeros, or 10KOhms.

Personally, I see nothing inthis circuit that requires 1%values. I would be tempted touse 5% values for repairs.There is probably a valuable

lesson for me in there some-where but I haven’t had toreplace a bad resistor on thisboard yet so I haven’t learnedit. I just don’t see the need forprecision values in this cir-cuit.

The 3525 circuit

Going around the 3525, Pins1 and 2 are the inputs to theError Amplifier. Pin 3 is theSync input (not used). Pin 4is the Oscillator output (alsonot used). Pins 5, 6, 7 and 8are the oscillator circuit. Ma-jor frequency determiningcomponents are C8 and theresistors around it. Pin 10 isShutdown (also not used). Pin9 is frequency compensationand C8 determines howquickly the Error Amplifierwill respond to changes inoperating conditions. Pin 16is the Reference Voltage out-put of the 3525 and shouldbe 5.1 Volts, plus or minus1% (or the 3525 is bad). Thereference voltage powers theOscillator section of the 3525so the oscillator should befairly steady over broadswings in power supplychanges. Pin 13 is the Collec-tor Supply Voltage and shouldnot be more than 15 Volts inthis design. During operation,it should read close to +15Volts. This voltage is also thehigh side of the output driv-ers. Pins 4 and 11 are our twooutputs. These can drive ac-tively High (+15 Volts) or Lowbut should alternate. Theyshould not both be High orLow at the same time or the3525 is bad. Pin 15 is +24Volts, supplied to power theError Amplifier in the 3525.Pin 12 is ground.


Quick Voltage Checking Points

The Drain (tab) of Q1 and Q2should read about 24 VACwith a meter or about 50 VACPeak-to-Peak with an oscillo-scope. If you don’t see AChere, the 3525 is not operat-ing. While one primary coil iscollapsing the other is ex-panding. This actually givesus a primary voltage of around50 VAC as the two voltagesadd together.

Pin 1 of the 3525 should be+24 VDC. This comes fromthe +24 Volt output of thetransformer. The cathode ofD11 should be +24 V DC butyou may not get a good read-ing of AC at the anode, againbecause of the high frequency.This +24 VDC is filtered byC3, C4, C5 and C6, which areall in parallel.

Pin 15 should read 15 Volts.This is the high rail side of theoutput drivers so if it is incor-rect, so will the output’s highside.

Coming out of the high volt-age winding, you should seearound 50 VAC with a meteror 150 V AC P-P with a scope.With no lamp connected, thismay be 500 to 600 Volts!Always run this board with aproper lamp connected!

Between the ends of the lamp,you should see around 45 to50 VAC. Across each filamentat the end of the lamp youshould see around 0.7 V AC.

Most Often Failed Components

Q3. The P4NB80 by STM. You

can find the data sheet on theSTM web site. I could not findan NTE cross-reference forthis puppy. I left an e-mail forNTE to suggest a cross-refer-ence but got no answer backas of the time this article wassubmitted for publication. Itis an N-Channel MOSFETrated at 800 Volts at 4 Amps,well above the 50 Volts thefluorescent lamp normallyruns on. As the lamp goesbad and flickers, the voltagespikes to 500 to 600 VAC,which can stress this tran-sistor, causing failure.Change the lamps when theystart blinking, please! The

same thing causes most fail-ures on IGT DC Ballasts andprobably anyone’s as well.

Blinking lamps are not justunpleasant; they cause volt-age spikes that take out theDC Ballasts. The magneticfields (EMI) from the high volt-age spikes also can reek havocwith other circuits in thegame.

Differences Between the 6-Watt and 15-Watt Designs

On 6-Watt ballasts, C14 is a6.8 nF (as opposed to a 10nF). C3, D12 and R18 are not


used on the 6-Watt version.

Caveats, Disclaimers andHelpful Suggestions

These drawings were madeby reverse-engineering theboard and I confess to notspending a lot of time on theparts of the circuit that sel-dom fail, notably the areaaround U1. Don’t be sur-prised if you find errors.

If you replace the IC, install asocket. This is generally agood idea. Changing the ICputs the board under stress.Changing the IC twice usu-ally ruins the board, unlessyou are very good. Installinga socket makes later changesno stress on the board at all.

Remove the IC by cutting theleads off as close to the ICbody as possible. The leadscan then be removed one at a

time with less stress to theboard. ICs are cheap. Boardsare expensive. Spare theboard as much stress as pos-sible.

Parts List, substitute partsand available sources

U1

SG3525AN, 16-pin DIP(substitute xx3525xx as longas it fits, NTE1721, or any-thing that crosses toNTE1721)(511-SG3525AN, Mouser,$0.70)(511-SG2525AN, Mouser,$0.74, improved temperaturerange)

(235328 from Jameco(UC3525AN, $0.62 ea, $0.58@10 BEST PRICE!) The cata-log may say it is an 8-pindevice but if you go to thedata sheet, you realize it re-

ally is the 16-pin creature.

Q1, Q2IRF540N, N-ChannelMOSFET, TO-220(substitute NTE2396)

(512-IRF540N from Mouser,$1.78)(210518 from Jameco, $1.05ea, $0.95 @ 10)

Replace them both if you re-place one. Use a matched setor at least two with the samebatch code.

Q3P4NB80, N-ChannelMOSFET, TO-220 (by STM,STP4NB80)(511-STP4NB80 fromMouser, $1.64)

Q4PN100A, NPN, TO-92(substitute NTE123AP,2N3904, or equivalent. Most

any NPN TO-92 with the samepinout will probably work.)(512-PN100A from Mouser,$0.10)

D1BZX85C-15, 15 Volt ZenerDiode(substitute NTE145A,1N3683A, 1N4744A)(512-BZX85C15 from Mouser,$0.10)(512-1N4744A from Mouser,$0.09)

D2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 121N4448, general purpose sili-con signal diode(substitute 1N4148, 1N914,NTE519, or equivalent, usedin everything I think. Keep ahundred on hand)

D5, 6, 7, 8, 111N4007, general purpose 1Amp 1,000 Volt silicon recti-fier(substitute NTE145, orequivalent) (512-1N4007 from Mouser,$0.05)(583-1N4007 from Mouser,$0.04)

Keep a hundred on hand.They are used in everything.

Connectors are Molex Mini-Fit family.

Sources of Data Sheets

Other than the manufactur-ers’ web sites, there are anumber of general sources ofdata sheets if the manufac-turer can’t be identified.

www.alldatasheet.com (tonsof data sheets)

www.web-ee.com (very edu-cational also)www.jameco.comwww.mouser.comwww.digikey.comhttp://us.st.com/stonline/index.html for ST Microelec-tronics (STM, was SGS/ Tho-mas)

Original Manufacturer:Setec Pty Ltd19 Henderson Rd.Knoxfield VIC 3180, Australia

Po Box 509Ferntree Gully Business Cen-ter, VIC 3156, Australia

+61 3 9763 0962 voice+61 3 9763 8789 faxwww.setec.com.au

Don’t forget, you can alwaysGoogle the part number.

- Herschel Peeler- [email protected]


For schematic diagrams, service manuals andmore, visit the Slot Tech Magazine FTP site.

Point your ftp client to:slot-tech-ftp.serveftp.com

username = Slot Techpassword = kxkvi8

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Bulb, Be Gone!MCM Stocks LED Replacements for Incandescent Lamps

Slot Tech Feature Article

The BonusBy John Wilson

The

Big,

The

Bad

and

Part 5 of 5

When we last saw our dynamic duo, itappeared that things were in a tailspin. Were the walls about to come

crashing down? Had they overlooked somevital mathematical calculation? Were theyabout to become greeters for a major depart-ment store chain?

All of a sudden, the CEO gets a worried look.He stands up and exclaims, “Oh, no! Thisisn’t right. We’ve made a big mistake some-where. What are we going to do?”

“What’s wrong, Boss?” you ask.

“Your PAR sheet. It can’t be right. You showthe cycle there - with payout percentage. Thetotal coins in is 1.8 million, and the coins out1.76 million!”

“Uh, right. That gives us 92% of coin in paidback out to the player.”

“That’s right. But the bonus game pays out4 million credits. We aren’t taking that intoaccount. We take in 1.8 million but wehaven’t paid out the bonus. That wouldmean we pay out 4.76 million coins plus theother bonus amounts. Oh, no. Tell me thatI’m missing something. The bonus gamepays out 7.5 million coins, doesn’t it? This

explains why our test results came up out-side of the range in the Volatility Index calcu-lation.” He sits down, shakes his head andlooks down at the table. Silence fills theroom.

You take a moment to catch your breath asyou have a sudden rush of fear that perhapsyou did miss something key to the design ofthe game. No, you think, it’s exactly as itshould be. You wait for the tension to dropdown and take a deep breath.

“Actually, Sir, that’s not correct. I do see whatyou are thinking and at a glance it looks likea major problem has developed. However,”you reassure, “the figures are exactly likethey should be.”

The CEO looks confused and asks, “I don’tmean to ask a stupid question, but can youexplain where I’ve gotten lost here?”

“The only stupid question is a question youdon’t ask. It’s easy to get lost here so I willreview the math for you. I think that youunderstand the concept of the base game - 72symbols on 3 reels, 72 x 72 x 72 = 373,248total combinations available. Five coins pergame is 5 x 373,248 = 1,866,240 coins takenin per cycle at maximum coins played. Pay-ing out 1,720,445 coins per cycle, that givesus 1,720,455 / 1,866,240 = 92.19% of allcoins taken in that are paid out.”

“Right. I was with you at that point. I don’tget where the million dollars has gone.”

“Ok, I think I see where the confusion comesfrom. If you don’t understand what I haveexplained to you, then I obviously haven’texplained it properly. Let me continue. The


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percentage that we have cal-culated, 92.19%, takes intoaccount the payments fromthe bonus game. However, itis only the average bonusgame payment.”

“The bonus game contains40,000 possible outcomes,and each one is a winningoutcome. 8,000 of thesegames will pay 10 credits.8,000 of these games will pay20 credits, etc. Now then, ifwe look just at the base game,we see that it has 323,748possible combinations. Werealize that since every out-come is selected randomly,we won’t necessarily gothrough each of the 323,748possible combinations eachonce and only once beforestarting over. For example,in the base game, mixed barsoccurs 16,515 times. Thatmeans that in the 373,248possible outcomes, 38.37%of these (16,515) games willbe mixed bars. However, ifyou sit down at the machineand play 373,248 games, re-cording each time you receivemixed bars, it is doubtful thatyou will have 16,515. Therandom number generatorwill cause this to be slightlyhigher, or lower. That’s thevolatility factor.”

“It has been stated that if youleave the probability alone, itwill work itself out. That’svery true. Eventually, at somepoint, even with the randomfactor of the machine, thetheoretical probability willhappen.”

“The base game calls the bo-nus game 3,840 times each

cycle. The same thing hap-pens with the bonus game aswell as the mixed bars aswell. The base game mightcall the bonus game only3,000 times in a cycle, or itmight call the bonus game6,000 times. The random-ness introduces an elementof variance, or volatility.”

“In order to quantify the pay-out from the machine, we lookat the average payout fromthe bonus game. On average,over the long term, the bonusgame pays out just over 188credits each time it is called.We know the total amountpaid out from the bonus game,and we divide this by thenumber of bonus games avail-able. This number we pluginto the base game calcula-tion, and it will eventuallywork out as well.”

“It might be less, it could bemore.” answers the CEO. Younod your head. “So why isthe PAR sheet only showing apayout of 1.76 million?Should it not be higher?”

“If we looked at every combi-nation, then yes. We take ashort cut, if you will, in orderto make the values relate tothe base game cycle. We coulddisplay every base game thatwould result in all of the bo-nus game combinations be-ing selected. If the bonusgame has 40,000 combina-tions and is called 3,840 timesfrom the base game, then itwould take 40,000 / 3,840 =10.42 base game cycles toaccount for every combina-tion of the bonus game. Inthis case, our base game PARsheet would show 373.248 *10.42 or 3,889,244.16 games.The numbers don’t work out


evenly. That’s why we usethe average. It is accurateand it does work out. Foraccounting purposes and forapproval of our game, it’s asimpler way to represent thetotal payout.”

“We create the sheet in what-ever format the gaming com-mission wants. If we do it bythe base game, then we’reusing the average payout.Using the bonus game, thenwe’re not likely to have aneven number of base games.It’s more of an accountingreport in this case.”

“Right. Using the averagepayout, we get an exactamount of the payout overthe long term. The payoutpercent will be accurate. Thecoins paid out is for one cycleof the base game, which willbe pretty close but have somevariance. Given enoughgames, all the numbers willfall into place.” states theCEO. “If we did use the threemillion, eight hundred andsome odd games that you justmentioned, then the totalpayout would include all pay-ments from the base gameand would reflect the milliondollar top payment, the twohundred and fifty thousandpayment, the 8,000 10-creditpayouts, etc.”

“Correct. That’s where themissing millions went. Notinto my bank account butinto a condensed version ofthe bonus game payout.They’re still there, just shownin a format that is easier todigest.”

“Let me direct your attentionto the simulation on the CDI’m handing out now. Theprevious one let you play thebonus game and get a feel forhow it looks and feels. Thisone is geared more towardsthe numerical side of thegame, giving you play statis-tics. If you call the game upon your screen, I’ll give you abrief overview.”

The program is also on ourserver at www.slot-techs.comand can be downloaded in aZIP format. You will needWinZip or, if you are usingWindows XP, the operatingsystem will unzip it for you.There is a file in there calledSETUP.EXE. Run this pro-gram (double-click on theicon) to install the Max Mil-lions Simulation Console. Allof this software comes withan uninstall program to re-move it entirely from the com-puter. You get to this throughthe Control Panel and Add &Remove Software.

“Why would anyone want toremove this great software?”,asks the CEO.

“Beats me,” you respond.

“But, the feature is there justin case you want to.”

When you start the program,you will see an introductoryscreen. From here you canrun the simulation, exit theprogram, or open one of twowebsites - ours atwww.icsgaming.com orwww.slot-techs.com.

“Ooh, that’s handy.” repliesthe CEO. “That Slot Techwebsite is chock full of veryvaluable information!”

“Once you start the simula-tion, you’ll see a black screenwith tons of information on it.The screen is broken into vari-ous components. I’ll take afew moments to explain eachsection.”

“This shows the payout. Itdoesn’t change colour like theprevious program you have.It was designed to allow youto play the game and give youan idea how the game looksand feels. This is more math-ematically oriented and isn’tquite as fancy. If you clickthe box below, you can selectthe coins played, from 1 to 5.The marquee payouts change

to show you how it would appear to theplayer. When you run the simulator, how-ever, it always plays at five coins. That keepsthe stats working at the max-coin level.”

The next section allows you to set how thesimulator will run. Each time you run it, itwill go through a certain number of bonusgames, allowing you to see what combina-tions came up. In the top box, “Bonus gamesto run”, enter the number of bonus games tohave. The default is 1,000. Below that, itsays “Update every ? games.” As the simula-tor runs, it will update the statistical displaysevery so often. If you enter “1” it will updateevery game. However, this slows down thesimulation and causes a bit of display ‘flicker.’

If you set it to ‘10’ then every 10 games, yourdisplay will be updated. You could, forexample, run through 40,000 bonus gamesand update the display every ’10,000' games.This will show you the current statistics fourtimes when it is running. At the end of thebonus games, the displays are automaticallyupdated and the simulator stops running.Incidentally, the numbers are all saved foryou when you leave the program, so you cancome back later and pick up where you leftoff.

To the right is a small display showing howthe overall payout is. It is based on a payoutof 188 coins per bonus game. If the simulatorhas that value, then it shows 100%. If it’s90%, that means that the actual payout isonly 90% of that, or 169.2 credits. The bluebar gives you a graphical representation,showing 50% payout to 150%. The simulatormay run outside of this range for a short time,but it will eventually settle pretty close to100%.

As the simulator runs, it shows a white boxaround the amount paid out. To the right, itshows you how many times each payout hashappened. For example, next to ‘10’, youmight see ‘8,000.’ This means that therehave been 8,000 bonus games where 10credits were paid. The number in the paren-thesis is the percent of the payout. A ‘10’credit payout should happen 20% of thetime. You’ll see the value get very close to20% very quickly.



The red box shows an overview of the bonusgame. It tells you how many games therehave been, etc. It also shows you the valuethat the random number generator picked,from 1 to 40,000. It also tells you how manybase games have been played, etc.

The part above this red box gives you theheart of the statistics. It will display howmany base games have been played, in orderto pick the base games. This is random, so itwon’t be exact either. On average, though,the bonus game will happen every 8.92% ofthe base games. If we have 1,000,000 basegames, we’ll have close to 89,200 bonusgames.

The “Maximum base games to bonus” tellsyou the longest run between bonus games. Itshould be “97” since the bonus game hap-pens every 97 games. However, the maxi-mum will probably end up around 1,500games. The “Minimum base games to bonus”will end up as “1.” This means that one gamehappened between bonus games at somepoint. In other words, eventually the playerwill get a bonus game and then anotherbonus game on the following spin. Again,randomness comes into play here.

The “Total bonus payout” is how much wehave paid out on all bonus games. The“Average Bonus Payout” should end uparound 188. If you get a million-dollar pay-out early on, though, it will be quite high. Ifyou don’t, it will be lower. In test cases, manysimulations start out around the 63% markand stay there for a short time.

You will see three buttons at the top. Exitdoes the obvious. Run starts the simulatorand runs through the number of bonusgames you specified. Reset has a doublefunction. When the simulator is running, itwill stop it. If you enter 10 billion games andthen decide you don’t want to wait for thesimulation to finish, Reset will stop it beforeit’s finished. When the simulation is notrunning, however, Reset will allow you toclear all of the statistics and start from thebeginning.

The board members talk briefly amongstthemselves while Larry comes back into theroom. He’s ready to demonstrate the proto-type game, hoping that all has gone well withyour presentation. In a few minutes, theCEO stands up.

“Gentlemen, on behalf of the board, con-gratulations! We think that we have a winneron our hands. There’s quite a bit of informa-tion to digest and we’d like to run both of yourprograms a bit more. We’re pleased with theresults, though! I think we’ll be sending thegame to the gaming commission for approval!”

After some chitchat with the board membersand a high-give from Larry, you head back toyour office.

Late Friday afternoon you’re sitting in youroffice at ICS Gaming. The bonus game for theMax Millions/Blazin’ 7s games have tenta-tive approval by the board and should begoing to the gaming commission for ap-proval. After a long project, you’re planningto ride the wave from this game for some time.Kicking back and resting your feet up on thedesk, it’s a perfect chance to catch up yourreading with some back issues of Slot TechMagazine. Next week promises to be a walkin the park! Thirty seconds of silence arebroken by a knock at the door.

The V.P. of Game Development comes intoyour office and sits down.

“You know, I had a thought. If we couldconvert Blazin’ 7s to a 5-reel video pennygame, you could put that same Max Millionsbonus game into it and . . .”

- John [email protected]

Slot Tech Magazine

Heber Limited, design-ers and manufactur-

ers of the Pluto and Fireflyelectronic control systems,will be exhibiting at EELEX2004 (Moscow, Russia) forthe first time in December,and will also preview amajor new addition to theirexisting product range.Heber will use EELEX 2004for the first ever showing ofthe new Axis product range.

This is a compact, high per-formance dedicated videocontroller, with new levelsof security and multiple I/O connectivity options.

‘We are very excited aboutpreviewing our new Axisrange of controllers atEELEX 2004’ said RichardPlacito, Managing Director‘EELEX is the perfect plat-form to show the potentialof the Axis system as itmeets with the technicaldemands of the EasternEuropean market. EELEXis also the perfect lead upto Axis’s official launch atATEI 2005 where it willmake it’s debut and exhibitit’s full potential. ‘

For further informationabout Heber Limited andthe new Axis range visitwww.heber.co.uk or phone+44 (0) 1453 886000.

Press Release

Heber at EELEX


Slot Tech Press Release

Unicum Group of Companies, the leadingEastern European (Russian) supplier of

gaming products and solutions, has becomea member of the Microsoft Windows Embed-ded Partner Program (WEP). A partnershipcontract was signed by Unicum Group ofCompanies and Microsoft Corporation to de-velop and provide Unicum gaming solutionsbased on leading-edge Microsoft Windows XPEmbedded technology and resources.

By choosing Microsoft XP Embedded oper-ating system, Unicum strengthens develop-ment and compatibility of its new genera-tion gaming products. Video slot games pro-duced by Unicum will be supported by theMS technology in its key functionalities andfeatures: games engine, graphics, sound andperipheral device management. The XP Em-bedded provides user interface and resourcemanagement services (such as memory man-agement, disk access, graphics display, pe-ripheral device interfaces) that would nor-mally require incommensurably more timefor a developer to create individually. By us-ing Microsoft OS which has become an in-dustry standard, Unicum’s Research and De-velopment professionals leverage their ownefforts on the knowledge and creativity al-ready inherent in the work performed byMicrosoft.

“Through this partnership, we have takenone of the many important steps towardslegitimising our industry in the Eastern Eu-ropean and international markets. We haveraised the performance bar for our competi-tors and have demonstrated to our custom-ers that we are committed to providing themwith products based on legally compliant andlegitimate software. That we have been ableto access superior development aids, tech-nical support and pre-release ‘partner soft-ware’ which will enable Unicum to deliverstable, advanced and leading-edge gamingsystems to our client base - surely a win-win situation.” commented on the new part-

nership Peter Moffitt, R&D Vice President ofUnicum Group of Companies.

Unicum technical specialists intend to usethe MS system in designing video slot gamesfor Tam Tam slot machine as well as otherplatforms from partner suppliers, such asAGT. The company also discusses furtherplans about implementing Microsoft technol-ogy into products developed for next genera-tion platforms.

For additional information, contact:Anastassia KojemiakinaPR ManagerUnicum Group of Companiestel. +7 (095) 933 7770/1cell. +7 (903) 225 2474fax. +7 (095) 247 9852e-mail: [email protected]

Russian gaming giant makes another step towardslegitimising gaming industry in the Eastern Europe

UNICUM Joins Microsoft

Anastassia Kojemiakina

Slot Tech Coming Event


EELEX 2004, the 13th inter-national tradeshow that

gathers leading gaming busi-ness representatives every yearin Moscow, represents not onlyfor the Russian gaming marketbut for the Eastern Europeanentertainment industry.

Once again, EELEX’s popular-ity and the interest of potentialexhibitors led to the show’s ex-pansion. Since last year thetradeshow grew out of two hallsand now occupies all three hallsin the Expocentr pavilion 2. Itallowed the EELEX organisersto offer 36 more stands andwelcome new participants. Themajority of stands were reservedat EELEX 2003 and the waitinglist has been growing ever since.

The number of exhibitors hasincreased to 200 companiesfrom 21 countries. This yearEELEX visitors will be able tosee more participants from theUSA, Belgium and Holland.Russian exhibitors account forover 50 percent of EELEX ex-hibitors. The show organiserspredict a variety of fascinatingand extraordinary stands builtby Russian companies whohave been experiencing impul-sive development of the localgaming market.

The largest world gaming pro-ducers and suppliers havetaken part in the recent EELEXexhibitions. This year 50 inter-national companies will intro-duce their new products to aRussian audience. It is a great

opportunityfor operatorswho come toMoscow fromall over theCIS to testnot only“ h o m e -made” equip-ment but toe v a l u a t etechnology produced by inter-national companies. The exhibi-tor list includes many familiarnames such as Atronic Interna-tional, Bally Gaming,Brunswick, IGT, Novomatic,Unicum, Unidesa and WMSGaming.

EELEX organisers anticipatethat the visitor flow will bringabout 10 000 visitors - casinoand entertainment equipmentconsumers; operators of gaminghalls and entertainment cen-tres; night and bowling clubowners. The show is the meet-ing point for suppliers, produc-ers and their customers. Thelargest percentage of visitorscome from Moscow and Moscowregion and Russia, followed byrepresentatives from the Balticstates, Eastern Europe and fur-ther afield.

It is almost a must for an in-dustrial tradeshow to have asupporting conference. Formany years the Russian Gam-ing Business Development As-sociation has organised a oneday conference (on December15) covering the most importantissues in the Russian gamingindustry.

The EELEX 2004 conferenceprogram will cover legitimateissues and analysis of the lat-est development of the gamingbusiness in Russia. Legitimateissues are always a big hitamong Russian operators, espe-cially those who come from theregions and have a poorer ac-cess to the current news ongaming legislation.

The second conference event isa round-table talk «ConsultingIn The Gaming Industry» hostedby Unicum Group of Compa-nies. The discussion will takeplace on December 14 at 13:00in the ‘Blue Hall’ of Pavilion 2.The organisers hope thatEELEX 2004 will prove its sta-tus among the largest gamingindustry forums; that new prod-ucts will find their customersand the results of the tradeshowwill reveal the future trends ofthe Russian gaming and enter-tainment industries.

For further informationemail [email protected] or go tohttp://www.unicum.ru

EELEX ExperiencesFurther Growth


Setting standards forpersonnel in a slot de-partment determines

the level at which the peoplein that department will per-form. Job descriptions mustcover the needs of operations.Tests given for promotionmust meet the needs of thejob description. Trainingmust fit the needs of the tests.

We can not justly evaluate anemployee by criteria that arenot in the job description.The job description must be aminimal standard but set-ting this minimal level deter-mines the capability and per-formance of the people on thejob; the higher this standard,the better the personal per-formance of each employee.You get what you ask for. Ifyou ask only for minimal per-formance, that is likely allyou will get from the averageemployee.

Most people are capable ofperforming beyond the limitsthey set for themselves. Goodemployees are seldom pickedoff the shelf as if shopping forproduce. Good employees arecreated by good training pro-grams. Futures are betterbuilt by design than just ex-perienced by luck.

Will They Stay or Will TheyGo?

One concern in instituting atraining program is that the

employee will leave after be-ing trained. The casino aswell as the employee benefitsfrom the training. Seldomdoes the employee have theresources for their own train-ing. The employer should setthe standard and providestructure to the program. Itis the responsibility of theemployee to take the chal-lenge and perform.

In California casinos, we havelittle turn over among highertechnical jobs (compared tolower technical jobs). Thepeople are committed to thelocal area by family ties. Thisis in contrast to Las Vegaswhere an employee canchange jobs easily and staywithin the Las Vegas livingarea.

Employees are more apt to behappy and stay where theyare if training is provided andtheir accomplishments arerecognized. Contented work-ers accomplish more and doso willingly.

In California, all of our casi-nos are Native American. Thetribe benefits when the mem-bers get the training, whetherthe member stays at the homecasino or moves to another.His life is changed for thebetter by the education andthis flows down through fu-ture generations. I am astrong advocate of putting aportion of the casino profits

back into the education oftribal members in order toimprove their future and thefuture of generations to fol-low. California casinos do notnecessarily exist to provideentertainment for their cus-tomers. They are not the “forprofit” companies Nevada andAtlantic City have. They existin order to provide for thefuture independence of Na-tive American tribes. TheNative American casino hasmore in common with churchbingo than a Las Vegas ca-sino.

Will the trained employeemore likely stay after beingeducated? More likely a “yes”if he or she is tribal. Alsolikely to be a yes if there isonly one casino in the area.

Promote Then Train, orTrain Then Promote?

Promoting from within is, Ithink, healthy for the com-pany. It improves morale andgives the employees a senseof history with the company.Hiring from the outsideshould only be done if theneeds can’t be filled fromwithin. Earning a promotionshould be a reality for anyonewho wishes it. One big ques-tion here is: Do we promotepeople based on attitude andpotential or train people andpromote those who haveshown an ability to do thejob?

Job Descriptions, Testing and Training

Slot Tech Management Series

By Herschel Peeler


If we “Promote Then Train” amajority of our people is intraining for the job they cur-rently hold and are gettingpaid for. In a high tech worldof today’s casino this oftenresults in smoke from thegames, down games, andgames that stay down for longtimes because the tech justdoesn’t understand the realproblem.

The high tech nature oftoday’s and tomorrow’s ca-sino necessitates an approachof “Train Then Promote.”Today’s casino is a system ofsay 1,500 computers net-worked together. Each com-puter (game) may well havefour or more microprocessorsand microcontrollers thatwork together to make thegame work and make the floorwork as a system. Few build-ings have a network of com-puters similar to what we findin a casino. Every year, thisgets more complicated asplayer tracking and account-ing systems includebonusing, wide-areaprogressives and multi-me-dia features. Make no mis-take, there is an aspect of thecasino operation that is morethan just the hospitality andentertainment industry. Thisis a very high tech world welive in.

Technicians or Mechanics

In any most industries, amechanic is someone whotakes things apart and putsthem together. Little educa-tion is required. A technicianunderstands the technologyby which the device operatesand can troubleshoot from

the standpoint of knowledgeand understanding. Educa-tion is required. The defini-tion of Electronics Mechanicclosely parallels that of a SlotMechanic. The definition ofan Electronics Technicianclosely parallels that of a SlotTechnician.

The term “Technician” usu-ally implies a formal educa-tion of some sort and theability to pass a rigorous test.Automotive Technicians aregraduates of college levelcourses. MIS (InformationSystems) Technicians mustpass something similar to an“A-Plus Certification” test.This is usually the graduateof a formal course but thefield is well documented andthe education can be attainedfrom books. Certified Elec-tronics Technicians are alsowell educated, formally orthrough personal endeavor.Surgical Technicians are mostcertainly a product of exten-sive formal education andtesting. Atlantic City requiresan education before being aSlot Technician. Nevada ex-pects an education but doesnot require it by law. Califor-nia has no such standard ortraining.

Job Descriptions

Each level is more detailedthan the previous.

It is recognized that we can-

not jump instantly to thesestandards. We could set agoal that by, say 2006 all SlotTechnicians should fit thesestandards, 2008 all LeadTechnicians, and so on. Thetraining required for each stepis significantly more techni-cal and will take more time toattain.

For Slot Tech, this trainingamounts to about 480 hoursof formal education. In aschool, this comes to fourhours a day, five days a weekfor six months. RandyFromm’s Casino School is atwo-week class that offers 72hours of tech training (mostlyon monitor repair). The IGTclasses cover about 40 hours.TechFest covers about 24hours. There are still 416hours of such instruction tobe had beyond such training.

Each step up to Senior Tech-nician, Assistant Bench Tech-nician and Bench Technicianare about 480 hours each.There are few schools teach-ing such things. At present, itis the result of individual ef-fort.

Basic electricity, analog anddigital electronics may bepicked up through collegeclasses. Military schools cov-ering the same subjects arealso valuable, as are techni-cal schools in electronics ingeneral. Knowledge gainedthrough general educationseldom has immediate appli-cation to any specific indus-try, especially gaming. Thisis becoming easier as moregames are built around thestructure of personal com-puters.

"Good employeesare created by goodtraining programs."

Herschel Peeler


Training programs need tomatch the job descriptions.Tests for promotion shouldmatch the training. Teststhemselves present a uniqueproblem. If the test only cov-ers a few minor points of thesubject, the students tend to“learn for the test” instead of“learn the subject.” It is sug-gested a format more alongthe lines of that required for“Certified Electronic Techni-cian” and amateur radio op-erators be followed. The stu-dent must be sufficientlyknowledgeable of the subjectsto answer any question put tohim / her.

For the purpose of organiza-tion between Job Descrip-tions, Tests and Training, thesubjects are noted by a refer-ence number.

These job descriptions covertechnical subjects only andare aside from floor operationconcerns that would beunique to the specific casino’sneeds. Game and system spe-cific questions would beneeded also. They should beconsidered equally importantbut it would be difficult toinclude here and cover allcasinos, games and systems.

Slot Mechanic (Entry levelwith no schooling)

The Slot Mechanic takes someof the manual workload offthe Slot Technicians. Theseare Slot Technicians in train-ing. SM1 Moves games andwires them up under closesupervision. SM2 Makes mi-nor repairs to games such ascoin jams, replacing lightbulbs and cleaning. SM3 Fol-

lows procedures to performlower levels of PreventiveMaintenance on games. SM4Works under the supervisionof a Slot Technician or higher.

Slot Technician (Entry levelwith schooling)

The Slot Technician is gener-ally described as someonewith a two-year degree in elec-tronics (or graduation from aSlot Tech school of 480-hours) and a year’s experi-ence or five years of experi-ence and comparable self-education. The dearth ofschools teaching the requiredsubject dictates that self-edu-cation or in-house training isa suitable substitute for twoyears of electronics. It wouldbe ideal if a standardized testcould be given to evaluate theeducation and experiencelevel of people applying forthis position. ST1 Under-stands basic game assembliesby description and function.ST2 Repairs games by replac-ing assemblies. ST3 Followsprocedures to maintaingames. ST4 Able to operatethe games sufficient to get tobasic bookkeeping and diag-nostics.

Lead Technician

Lead Technicians are respon-sible for providing leadership,training, communicationswith other departments,handing out job assignments,signing out controlled partsand making technical deci-sions. (Thank you, KevinNoble for providing us withthat excellent description of aSenior Technician.)

The level of technical under-standing is somewhat higherthan that of the Slot Techni-cian. An understanding ofProgressives Systems, Ac-counting and Player Track-ing systems is expected. LT1Understands game assem-blies signals and operation.LT2 Troubleshoots problemsnot found by replacing as-semblies (wiring problems,etc.) LT3 Understands per-sonal computers to the op-erators’ level. LT3.1 Has afunctional understanding ofExcel, Word, and basic pro-grams sufficient to createpaperwork as required by thejob. LT3.2 Must be able tonavigate their way around acomputer network and findtheir way through directorieswith an understanding ofwhat they are doing and wherethey are. LT3.3 Able to sendand receive e-mail with at-tachments. LT3.4 Must beable to edit and manipulategraphics. LT4 Writes proce-dures to maintain games fol-lowing manufacturers’ rec-ommendations. LT5 Has amore complete understand-ing of game operation and iscapable of modifying gamesetup and configuration. LT6Has an understanding of thegames sufficient to match PARsheets and Program Sum-mary Reports and match thedetails of these reports togame operation. LT7 Teachesboth hands-on and basictheory of slot machines toSlot Technicians and SlotMechanics.

Assistant Bench Technician

ABTs do most common re-pairs on assemblies. Slot


Techs remove bad assem-blies. ABTs are the first line ofoff-the-floor repairs. Minimalexpectation is for them tomake quick repairs on thoseassemblies that have repeti-tive failures. Two years of col-lege level electronics is sug-gested. Graduation from agaming school emphasizingBench Technician duties issuggested. That is 480 hoursabove and beyond the 480hours for a Slot Technician’sschool. This is a Slot Techni-cian with some electronics.

Again, abilities should bemeasured by a standardizedtest. Source of the educationis secondary but it is expectedthat they understand how slotmachine assemblies work atthe component level. ABT1Understands internal func-tioning of game assemblies.ABT2 Troubleshoots assem-blies to board level. Repairscircuit boards to componentlevel on leaded (through hole)components. ABT3 Under-stands discrete active com-ponents (transistors) and howthey work. ABT4 Understandsmicroprocessors sufficient tofollow circuit operation. ABT5Understands schematic gen-eration software, such asOrCAD sufficient to create ormodify a schematic. ABT6Follows procedures to repairat the component level. Rec-ommends changes and im-provements to procedures toimprove functionality.

Bench Technician

A strong background in elec-tronics and gaming is re-quired. The Bench Techni-cian should have mastered

analog and digital electronicsas found in the gaming in-dustry. The BT should have adetailed understanding ofhow slot machines functionat the assembly, component,hardware and software level.An understanding of micro-processors is mandatory. 10years of electronics at thecomponent level. 10 years inthe gaming industry at thetechnician and/or instructorlevel. Specifying requirementsfor test fixtures, designing testfixtures and building test fix-tures are his responsibility.

The Bench Technician is theAlpha-Nerd of the Slot De-partment. In our casino hewrites the training programfor technical subjects, is ad-visor to Slot Managers ontechnical subjects, writesmagazine articles for SlotTech Magazine, creates andmaintains the web site forour training and referencematerial, suggests changesin policy and procedures thatdeal with technical subjectsand a hundred other dutiesas they come up. BT1 Re-pairs boards to componentlevel on surface mountedcomponents. BT2 Trouble-shoots boards with an un-derstanding of the integratedcircuits and how they work.BT3 Understands analog anddigital circuits. BT4 Identi-fies ICs by part number andunderstands how they work.BT5 Knows where to find in-formation on components indata books and web sites.BT6 Recognizes componentmanufacturers by their logo.BT7 Able to assign substituteparts based on functions andspecifications. BT8 Under-

stands analog and digital cir-cuits sufficient to design cir-cuits used for test fixtures.BT9 Designs test fixtures.BT9.1 Designs simple test fix-tures made of lights andswitches with discrete com-ponent support. BT9.2 De-signs more complex test fix-tures using integrated circuits(LSI, MSI and LSI). BT9.3Designs smart test fixtures(microprocessor based). BT10Understands microproces-sors sufficiently to write pro-grams in Assembly language,BASIC, C++, etc. BT11 Un-derstands personal comput-ers comparable to the “A+Certification” level. BT12Understands schematic gen-eration software sufficient tomodify or create new sche-matic symbols that wouldfunction properly under emu-lation modeling. BT13 Writestest procedures and designstest fixtures based on knowl-edge of component level func-tioning. BT14 De-Engineersboards and assemblies whendocumentation for these as-semblies is not available.

Summary

The objective here is to setgoals for various job descrip-tions for where we want to beat some time in the near (2 to6 year) future. We want toestablish a training programthat trains our people to meetthose goals and establishtests that evaluate the train-ing level. We want to bringthe level of our people up tothe same (or higher) level asthat found in Las Vegas orAtlantic City.

- Herschel [email protected]


DROP’N MASTER MODEL: AS-3 and AS-RC1 - CoinValidator and Remote Control Box

Asahi Seiko USA, Inc. introduces DROP’N MASTERmodel: AS-3 and AS-RC1 remote control box.

FIELD PROGRAMMABLEDROP’N MASTER model: AS-3 is a field program-mable coin validator. With the aid of the AS-RC1remote control box, converting from one coin ortoken is made easy. Already preset US coins are(1, 5, 10, 25, 50 cents and $1). All you have to do isconnect the remote control box, flip the switch, andpress the button. Another feature is a program-mable channel for an additional coin or casino to-ken.

SECURITY FOR PROGRAMMINGThe setting of AS-3 can be changed only with theaid of AS-RC1 remote controller. In other words,you have to have access to this remote controllerto change the setting.

USER FRIENDLY INTERFACEThere is no menu or command to memorize. Pickthe denomination and flip the switch.

WIDE RANGEAcceptable coin size (diameter) is 17.9mm~38.0mm.US 10 cents ~$1 gaming token can be used withoutany parts change.

STRAIGHT DROPThe AS-3 has the straight drop design. Thereby al-lowing high-speed acceptance response with mini-mum rejection. This includes fast feed.

ANTI-STRINGINGThe AS-3 has unique patented coin detection sys-tem allowing it to detect the reverse motion of coinsnear the entrance of the unit.

REDUCE INVENTORYThe benefit of using AS-3 is to reduce your inven-tory. You don’t need coin specific units and partsany more. This will improve your inventory situa-tion dramatically.

For more details please contact:Asahi Seiko USA, Inc. Sales Department6644 Paradise roadLas Vegas, NV 89119-3719 U.S.A.Phone: 702-260-6666FAX: 702-260-6493E-mail: [email protected]: www.asahiseikousa.com

Slot Tech New Products From Asahi Seiko

DROP’N MASTERMODEL: AS-3

AS-RC1


MULTI DENOMINATION HOPPERWhat makes COINFLEX a new generation hopper? You canchange the coin size with just a simple flip of the lever. His-torically, coin hoppers have been coin specific. It took manyreplacement parts to convert from one denomination to an-other. Asahi Seiko’s technology has revolutionized this en-tirely. You can convert a nickel hopper to a quarter hopperwith the flip of a lever. No replacement parts are needed.

REDUCE INVENTORYThe economical benefit from using this hopper is significant.You do not have to carry coin specific hoppers and support-ing parts any more. This will reduce your inventory dramati-cally.

Slot Tech New Products From Asahi Seiko

DIRECT REPLACEMENT OF DH-750Also, COINFLEX is direct replacement for Asahi Seiko’s DH-750. All the hopper bowls are compatible with COINFLEX.

COINFLEX: MODEL EH-750There are three different size ranges (coin diameter) to choosefrom:20~26mm, 26~32mm, 32~38mm

If you want to convert between the size ranges, all you needis 4~5 parts and #2 Phillips screwdriver.

Easy to service!

For more details, please contact Asahi Seiko USA, Inc.

Asahi Seiko USA, Inc. Sales Department6644 Paradise roadLas Vegas, NV 89119-3719Phone: 702-260-6666FAX: 702-260-6493E-mail: [email protected]: www.asahiseikousa.com

COINFLEX:MODEL EH-750

Multi-DenomCoin Hopper


FutureLogic’s GEN 2 VST™ printer wasrecently awarded one of nine Gaming and

Technology Awards presented by GlobalGaming Business (GGB) magazine. Theawards, which recognize excellence ininnovation and practical application, will bepresented at the 6th Annual Gaming andTechnology Conference to be held at theAtlantic City Convention Center on November9. Nominees for the GGB award programwere evaluated during the Global GamingExpo 2004 in early October.

The GEN2 VST printer was awarded thirdplace in the Best Productivity-EnhancementTechnology category, and was the onlyhardware component to be recognized in theawards program. Other winners includedIGT, Bally Gaming, Konami Gaming, andCyberview Technology. Judges for thecompetition included George Mancuso, vicepresident, slot operations for the Tropicanain Atlantic City; Claudia Winkler, presidentof GHI Solutions Inc. in Las Vegas; and JudyCornelius, associate director of the Institute

for the Study of Gambling and CommercialGaming at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Building on the technology leadership thatresulted in an award from Casino Journal’sTop 20 Most Innovative New GamingProducts for 2003 for the FutureLogic GEN2printer, the ultra-compact vertical formatGEN 2 VST printer is specifically designedfor slim-top gaming machines. The thermalprinter offers several productivity-enhancement features, including ITH™(Intelligent Ticket Handling), which makesthe ticket available only after it is fully printedinternally and automatically burst,ProMatrix™ (an advanced PromotionalMatrix Couponing System), PromoPort™ (adedicated promotional print port), colorprinting capability, and the option to storeup to 1000 coupon templates in an 8MB chip.Other enhancements include TRT™ (TamperResistant Ticketing), a USB communicationport (future GSA compliant), and an easy-to-use download tool for a convenientfirmware upgrades.

“FutureLogic is honored to be recognized byGGB and the best-of-field judges whoselected the GEN2 VST printer for itsproductivity-enhancement and innovativetechnology attributes,” said Nick Micalizzi,Director of Gaming at FutureLogic. “Asevidenced by this award, our commitmentto providing our customers with new andimproved thermal printer solutions is helpingus consolidate our pace-setter position in thecashless gaming arena.”

For further information, contact:FutureLogic, Inc.425 E. Colorado Street, Suite 100Glendale, CA 91205Tel: 818-244-4700 ext. 236Fax: 818-244-4764Email: [email protected]

Slot Tech Award-Winning Hardware

FutureLogic’s GEN2 VST™ ThermalPrinter Wins Gaming and TechnologyAward for Excellence in Innovationand Practical Application


Slot Tech Electronics 101

What A Rush!Inrush Current Limiting

I enjoy helping people withtheir technical problems.Depending on the skill and

experience of the person I’mtrying to help, I can oftenaccomplish this on the tele-phone or through e-mail.Naturally, the first thing I askis “What is the symptom?” Ialways get a kick out of thefollowing description (which Ireceive about once a month):

“The (insert item here: moni-tor, power supply, slot ma-chine, television, VCR) wasworking perfectly when Iturned it off,” the caller willsay. “When I turned it onagain, it was dead. Weird,huh?”

No. Not weird. Not weird atall. In fact, if something isgoing to fail, it’s much morelikely to fail after it has beenturned off for a while andsubsequently turned back on.There are a couple of reasons

why this occurs. One of themis due to a potentially de-structive phenomenon knownas “inrush current.” Here’sthe deal:

When a piece of equipment isoff, naturally all of the volt-ages are at zero. Everythingis dead. All of the capacitorsare completely dischargedand all is quiet, peaceful andcalm.

However, when you first turnsomething on, an enormousamount of electric currentrushes in to the circuitry inorder to get things started.This inrush current can be10, 50 or even 100 timeshigher than the normal oper-ating current of the circuit. Ina monitor, for example, thenormal operating currentmight under one amp but forthe first split-second of op-eration, as many as 50 ampsof current might be flowing.

Inrush current can be de-structive.

Thought Experiment:

Have you ever been in a roomwith incandescent lightingand had a light bulb burn outwhile it was on? It’s not toocommon. When does the lightbulb blow? When you firstturn the bulb on! With abright blue flash, that’s in-rush current doing its dirtybusiness of blowing stuff up.

Specifically, it’s the electro-lytic capacitor in the primaryof the power supply that isthe cause of this phenom-enon. When an electrolyticcapacitor is fully discharged,it has a very low resistance.It’s supposed to. In fact, that’sone of the qualities of a goodelectrolytic capacitor. We evenpay extra for it when we pur-chase “low ESR” (equivalentseries resistance) for some

Figure 1. In this typicalSMPS, input current limitingis accomplished by resistorR101, a .5 ohm, 5-watt, ce-ramic, wirewound resistor.


specific applications such asoutput filter capacitors inpower supplies.

At the moment power is firstapplied (during the first half-cycle of the AC power) currentflows from the hot side (alsoknown as “line”) through thefuse, through one of the di-odes in the bridge rectifier,through the primary filter ca-pacitor (which, at the momentof power application is zeroohms) through another diodein the bridge and back to theneutral side of the AC power.During this first half-cycle,the only thing limiting thecurrent is the forward junc-tion drop of a pair of rectifiersand impedance of the ACsource itself. That’s somepretty scary stuff when youare a 2-amp diode and you’relooking at a spike of 50 amps.Granted, it’s only for a halfcycle (1/120 second in NorthAmerica and the Caribbean,1/100 second elsewhere inthe world) but it would bebetter (much better) if it didn’thappen at all.

Current Limiting Resistor

Enter the series current limit-ing resistor to the rescue. In-stead of allowing the inrushcurrent to crash our party, wecan post a doorman of sorts inthe form of a current limitingresistor. The resistor is in se-ries with the AC input asshown in figure 1. It’s R101. Atypical value for this ceramic,wirewound resistor is .47 to2.7 ohms. Typically, it’s a 5-watt or 7-watt resistor.

When current first begins toflow, it must now pass throughthe current limiting resistoras it makes its way to the filtercapacitor. At first, there is atremendous IR drop (the volt-age that is dropped across aresistor - R - when current - I- passes through it) acrossthe resistor as the discharged

filter capacitor first begins tocharge. This causes to filtercapacitor to charge moreslowly, limiting the inrushcurrent. Consequently, thestrain is taken off the diodesin the bridge rectifier, all buteliminating what would oth-erwise be a common failure,a shorted bridge rectifier.

You may find the inrush cur-rent limiting resistor in otherlocations as well (figure 2).As long as the resistor is inseries with the filter capaci-tor, the goal is accomplished.Alternate locations for the in-rush current limiting resis-tor are:A - In series with the hot sideof the AC inputB - In series with the neutralside of the AC input (the re-turn path)C - Between the output of thebridge rectifier and the pri-mary filter capacitorD - In the return path of thefilter capacitor

The point of this discussionis not so much to praise thecurrent limiting resistor forwhat it does but to point outthat the resistor itself nowbecomes a point of failure. Ifsomething fails such that toomuch current is drawn con-tinuously across the currentlimiting resistor, the resistorwill open-circuit. If, for ex-ample, the bridge rectifierfails despite the heroic effortof the resistor to protect it, itwill short-circuit. This may

simply blow the fuse or, if theresistor is in location A or B,it may open the resistor in-stead. It may even do bothsimultaneously. This can bea bit confusing for a novicetech as he/she has found theblown fuse and the shortedrectifiers, and has replacedthem but still finds a com-pletely dead unit, as the re-sistor is open as well. Likejust about everything else inelectronics, it’s actuallysimple once you know whatto look for. Any time you seea low-ohm, high wattage re-sistor in series with a powersource, it should raise a bigred flag for you as a techni-cian as a potential point offailure. When resistors fail,they always open-circuit orincrease in resistance.

It’s also pretty typical to see alow ohm, one or two-watt re-sistor in series with low-volt-age power supplies and eventhe B+. This resistor not onlyserves to limit inrush currentbut also act as a sort of pro-tection device in case some-thing on the line shorts toground (a good example ofthis is when the vertical out-put IC fails and loads the +24VDC power supply). Insteadof dragging the power supplyall the way to ground andcausing the SMPS’s Over-Current Protection (OCP) tokick in (as it does when theHOT shorts) or cause someother type of loading prob-lem, the series resistor will

Figure 2

Slot Tech MagazineSlot Tech Magazine December 2004

either dissipate the energy asheat or will simply open cir-cuit. FYI, this will almost al-ways be a non-flammable,metal-oxide resistor.

Enter the Thermistor

An improvement over the useof a ceramic, wirewound re-sistor for current limiting isthe thermistor. The namecomes from the Greek word“thermos” meaning heat. Athermistor is a heat-depen-dant resistor. That is to say,it’s a resistor that changes itsvalue depending on its tem-perature.

The type of thermistor usedhere is called an NTC ther-mistor. The negative tempera-ture coefficient thermistor be-

gins at roomtemperaturewith somes m a l lamount of

resistance.This will vary

between typesbut a few ohms(maybe even ahalf-dozen) istypical. Whenthe unit is first

energized, the current passesthrough this resistance on itsway (eventually) to charge thefilter capacitor.

However, as all good techni-cians know, when currentpasses through resistance, itgenerates heat. The ther-mistor self-heats due to thecurrent flowing through it.As it does, its resistancedrops. That’s why it’s called aNEGATIVE temperature co-efficient thermistor. As itstemperature rises, the resis-tance falls. Eventually, its re-sistance falls to zero ohmsand it is out of the circuit,electrically-speaking. Thisscheme is referred to as “soft-start.”

The thermistor is much morereliable than a ceramic,wirewound resistor in thesame application. To date, Ihave never encountered a badNTC thermistor in this appli-cation.

Before the use of NTC ther-mistors, monitors often usedslow blow (slo-blo) fuses inorder to handle the high in-rush current without blow-ing the fuse. The fuse would

remain intact during the briefduration of the peak inrushcurrent but would still pro-vide protection when the fuserating was exceeded continu-ously (hopefully before muchstuff catches fire or vaporizescompletely). Including a ther-mistor in the design allowsthe use of a faster-acting (andless expensive) fast-blow ornormal fuse.

There is a sort of “negativebenefit” to this design. If youunplug something, wait about15 seconds for the filter ca-pacitor to discharge, and plugit back in again before theNTC thermistor has a chanceto fully cool, you will hit theinput rectifiers with the fullinrush current. It’s possiblethat this will damage the rec-tifiers. It’s also possible thatthis will simply blow the fuseas the still-hot NTC thermistorhas eliminated the “soft-start.” The typical cool-downtime is approximately oneminute. In reality, this doesn’tseem to be an issue; it’s justsort of interesting from anengineering perspective.

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