How to power LEDs in a Touchtunes Allegro jukebox?

[billgates2]

I am going to use a PC build inside of a Touchtunes Allegro jukebox. I am trying to figure out how to power the LEDs that are already built into the jukebox. It looks like the LED wiring harness plugs into the I/O board, but I am not sure how to power it as the jukebox had the factory computer removed (but the I/O board is still there).

I've attached a picture of the I/O board. I see on the right side there is a spot for 12vdc in, but I'm not sure what power rating the plug should be and don't want to fry the I/O board by using the wrong power supply.

I also see the "power from pc" spot below that, and thought maybe I could buy a PC and use it to power the I/O board? I'm just not sure what direction to go.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[lilshawn]

they are a form of individually addressable LED's they receive data from the IO board. i'm unsure of the protocol used.

what i did with the last allegro i converted for home use was just put some RGB led tape inside them and then daisy chain the sections together. the kit i bought even has a remote and music pulsing. worked out pretty good.

[billgates2]

That is what I thought I might have to do. The lazy side of me wants to be able to power the LEDs that are already there, but worst case scenario I can go that route. Do you have a link to the kit you used? If that's not allowed, disregard. Meanwhile, I already ordered a TouchTunes PC from eBay so now I'll have to return it if it doesn't power up the I/O board and make the factory light show work.

Do you have a pic/video of your aftermarket LEDs in action!?

[lilshawn]

i just picked up a random kit from amazon. it was like 20 bucks. just searched up "RGB LED kit" and bought the cheapest one that had about the right amount of tape to cover the jukebox sides and top.

it came with the controller, remote, 15 feet of led strips, and a power supply all in a kit. i just set it to smooth cycle through all the colors, when it hears sound, it picks a random color to change to.

i suspect the protocol used by the oem leds is similar to DMX protocol... but i can't be sure. TT had the led modules built by some 3rd party called Color Kinetics and there is no info available for them. (i attempted to contact the maker to see if i could get a part number for the LED's to replace some in machines that where acting sketchy... who said there was no schematics or anything available due to copyright) i'm not really interested in reverse engineering the system, as it would really do nothing for me, and if it is indeed DMX, i'd need to buy an interface that would likely be more than the 20 buck amazon kit anyway.

I can say for certain, the factory lightshow does not operate until the touchtunes software boots into the user interface and it loads the settings (configurable in the operator panel) for how the light show will act from a configuration. none of which will happen if you are not an operator, the machine is in good standing with TT (IE not disabled or blacklisted), and the machine is not locked out due to it not communicating over the internet with TT in the last 30 days. in a nutshell the machine will not boot if you aren't a juke operator with touchtunes.

[billgates2]

That makes total sense. Seems like your route is the much easier option. I think I'll be returning the TouchTunes computer then lol. Thank you for all that information! Saved me a ton of headache!

[lilshawn]

our company just started swapping old allegros off route to upgrade and have been bringing them in the shop to mod them and sell them off as home jukeboxes.

just FYI, for your sound system in the allegro, depending on when it was manufactured, and what you received with your juke, you may have to install some resistors on the amp output for the internal speakers to work stand alone without external speakers attached.

see, when these came out, they came with 2 additional bose 301 speakers you mounted externally to the juke. the amp is designed to work with these speakers connected, as the amp can only go down to a 4 ohm load. the bose 301 speakers are 2 ohms each. so the outputs for the internal speakers and the external speaker connections are wired in series so that 2+2 ohm speakers gets the amp it's 4 ohms minimum it requires.

if you have an early machine with a "euro block" connection for the external speakers and a JST connector for the internal speakers, you will need either two 5.6 ohm 5 watt resistors to wire onto the external speaker output to properly load the amp, or 2 external speakers (4 to 8 ohm is fine) to wire onto the output. otherwise, if the external connection is left empty, only the subwoofer in the allegro will operate. if you have the newer style with 2 sets of euroblocks, you can put one set on the left internal connector and move the right channel onto left set of the external. your sound will be in mono, but it's much easier to setup if you don't have or want external speakers.

note:

since you are swapping out the computer, you will also require a Touchtunes "red" DI box and a manner of powering it (plug mod or the official adapter), or you will need to make a cable and amp to change the balanced input of the juke amp to an unbalanced that the computer outputs. the signal level the amp is expecting is quite high and you may need to boost the signal to get an acceptable volume out of the juke.

let me know if you run into any issues setting this part up. i have a few different options that can work .

[billgates2]

our company just started swapping old allegros off route to upgrade and have been bringing them in the shop to mod them and sell them off as home jukeboxes.

just FYI, for your sound system in the allegro, depending on when it was manufactured, and what you received with your juke, you may have to install some resistors on the amp output for the internal speakers to work stand alone without external speakers attached.

see, when these came out, they came with 2 additional bose 301 speakers you mounted externally to the juke. the amp is designed to work with these speakers connected, as the amp can only go down to a 4 ohm load. the bose 301 speakers are 2 ohms each. so the outputs for the internal speakers and the external speaker connections are wired in series so that 2+2 ohm speakers gets the amp it's 4 ohms minimum it requires.

if you have an early machine with a "euro block" connection for the external speakers and a JST connector for the internal speakers, you will need either two 5.6 ohm 5 watt resistors to wire onto the external speaker output to properly load the amp, or 2 external speakers (4 to 8 ohm is fine) to wire onto the output. otherwise, if the external connection is left empty, only the subwoofer in the allegro will operate. if you have the newer style with 2 sets of euroblocks, you can put one set on the left internal connector and move the right channel onto left set of the external. your sound will be in mono, but it's much easier to setup if you don't have or want external speakers.

note:

since you are swapping out the computer, you will also require a Touchtunes "red" DI box and a manner of powering it (plug mod or the official adapter), or you will need to make a cable and amp to change the balanced input of the juke amp to an unbalanced that the computer outputs. the signal level the amp is expecting is quite high and you may need to boost the signal to get an acceptable volume out of the juke.

let me know if you run into any issues setting this part up. i have a few different options that can work .

Well the person who gave it to me was an operator and he ended up removing the speakers, screen, and bill acceptor so I figured I'd just throw in a decent quality (but nothing too fancy) PC speaker/sub setup. This jukebox is going into an Airbnb and I don't want them to be able to blast it anyway, so it will still work (not Bose-quality of course) but primarily serve as a decor piece in the arcade room. I did end up paying him $100 for the touchscreen so I wouldn't have to source that on my own as they seem pretty expensive. It has a slight screen-burn but nothing too visible. If the screen fails, I'm afraid of how much it would cost to replace - it seems like the same model touchscreens sell for in the range of ~$500!

[lilshawn]

if it's one of TT's screens, you can fortunately disassemble the screen fairly easily and swap the panel out with another 19" panel. most of them out there are all the same. i scoop up 4:3 monitors when i come across them for just such an instance.

if it is indeed a TT screen, it'll be either "ELO" or a "general touch" brand. for a hundred bucks, i suspect it's General touch you got. the ELO's are pretty pricey. both are fixable if issues arise in any case.

you aren't worried about the volume, you can tap the computer right into the amp. you get about 1/2 the jukes capable volume at full beans on the computer volume. you need a pre-amp for full power...but like you said if you aren't going to be blasting it... it's honestly fine straight in. i can show you how to make a cable to patch right in when the time comes.

i remove the acceptors and whatnot and just cover the opening with a piece of vinyl covered plastic... put the computer power button and volume control right there.

[billgates2]

if it's one of TT's screens, you can fortunately disassemble the screen fairly easily and swap the panel out with another 19" panel. most of them out there are all the same. i scoop up 4:3 monitors when i come across them for just such an instance.

if it is indeed a TT screen, it'll be either "ELO" or a "general touch" brand. for a hundred bucks, i suspect it's General touch you got. the ELO's are pretty pricey. both are fixable if issues arise in any case.

you aren't worried about the volume, you can tap the computer right into the amp. you get about 1/2 the jukes capable volume at full beans on the computer volume. you need a pre-amp for full power...but like you said if you aren't going to be blasting it... it's honestly fine straight in. i can show you how to make a cable to patch right in when the time comes.

i remove the acceptors and whatnot and just cover the opening with a piece of vinyl covered plastic... put the computer power button and volume control right there.

That's good to know that they can be swapped out with other 4:3's. I guess I got lucky, since mine is an ELO screen. Good idea also about the volume and power buttons. I'll be sure to post a pic of my project once it's completed!

[lilshawn]

pics for example... current juke in the works...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zXsjfx48XbV9mEe26

[billgates2]

pics for example... current juke in the works...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zXsjfx48XbV9mEe26

Nice!

Just out of curiosity, before I get rid of the TT PC I received from ebay, I was able to get it to boot up into the jukebox. Are these PCs worth anything if able to successfully log in? Oddly enough I still can't get the LEDs to work even using an ethernet cable from the "DMX out" slot on the PC to the "DMX in" slot on the IO board. It's been fun tinkering with it though.

[billgates2]

I can say for certain, the factory lightshow does not operate until the touchtunes software boots into the user interface and it loads the settings (configurable in the operator panel) for how the light show will act from a configuration. none of which will happen if you are not an operator, the machine is in good standing with TT (IE not disabled or blacklisted), and the machine is not locked out due to it not communicating over the internet with TT in the last 30 days. in a nutshell the machine will not boot if you aren't a juke operator with touchtunes.

It does say the lightshow is set to On in operator settings, but I'm wondering if the reason it isn't working is because the IO board doesn't have power to the 12vdc? It has power from the "power from pc" cable, but it didn't come with a 12vdc cord and I wasn't sure what power rating it was and didn't want to fry it by using the wrong power rated cord.

[lilshawn]

Just out of curiosity, before I get rid of the TT PC I received from ebay, I was able to get it to boot up into the jukebox. Are these PCs worth anything if able to successfully log in? Oddly enough I still can't get the LEDs to work even using an ethernet cable from the "DMX out" slot on the PC to the "DMX in" slot on the IO board. It's been fun tinkering with it though.

the battery in the computer has likely died, so it's just running on default right now with the time and date set to whatever the last time/date the juke had when it last run. depending on when that was and the last time it checked in, it will be somewhere inside the 720 hour countdown has already started. if you look in the operator screen logs, you'll see that it has XXX hours left until deactivation. it must connect to touchtunes before this runs out. when it does, it will be updated to the correct time/date and will be immediately disabled.

and while the MJS computer is worth something to somebody... i literally just threw away 10 of them (kept all the aluminum for scrap value.) and the gen3 software is super outdated compared to gen3+ (running on JCB computers) and openstage2 (on everything virtuo and up)

It does say the lightshow is set to On in operator settings, but I'm wondering if the reason it isn't working is because the IO board doesn't have power to the 12vdc? It has power from the "power from pc" cable, but it didn't come with a 12vdc cord and I wasn't sure what power rating it was and didn't want to fry it by using the wrong power rated cord.

yeah the light show boards operate on 12v it is powered by a separate 12v power supply shared with the monitor (which is supposed to be plugged into the IO board on the other side so it can be powered off and on by the power button.

uses the barrel jack input... any center positive supply of about 2 amps should work to power the lights (i believe the original supply is 5ish amps to power the monitor and the lights (and the coin acceptor if so equipped)

[billgates2]

yeah the light show boards operate on 12v it is powered by a separate 12v power supply shared with the monitor (which is supposed to be plugged into the IO board on the other side so it can be powered off and on by the power button.

uses the barrel jack input... any center positive supply of about 2 amps should work to power the lights (i believe the original supply is 5ish amps to power the monitor and the lights (and the coin acceptor if so equipped)

Doh! Thank you - simple fix and now I feel stupid lol. I had the IO power plugged directly into the monitor. Now that it's working, I can feel accomplished and finally ditch the old PC and mod it with my own. I'm waiting on parts to come in but will post pics of finished product!

[lilshawn]

no worries! it's kind of a dumb setup... but i can see why they did it. makes it a little easier to service and allowed control of the power to switch it off and on.

i suspect that you could power the lights directly (red and black) with 12v and run a data signal over the blue wire. (likey DMX512 or something like that.)

[lilshawn]

just finished buttoning up our juke today.

also, bonus pic of aluminum mjs computer cases that will go to recycling for cash.

 

[mahkeymike]

Are my eye's playing tricks on me or is that Allegro Widescreen? I thought they were all 4:3

[lilshawn]

lol

that's what happens when you take a picture in the vertical orientation and your device (or the service you upload it to) does not store, utilize, or non-standard orientation info so it figures it's supposed to be wider than it is tall...and stretches the pics.

EDIT:

Actually, i'd be chuffed if the allegro had space to put a widescreen.... then we wouldn't have to get rid of them. they are still a great sounding jukebox... just the operating system is super dated and everything has moved on.

I'd considered gutting a Playdium wall box juke (because we can get tons of them for super cheap) and putting the core into an allegro to basically update them to OS2, but the screen is TOO wide to fit. and i hate the retrofit kits they sell which display the OS2 software on the original 4:3 screen in a letterboxed format... which ends up being like 8 inches of viewable area... like trying to poke at a postage stamp.

[mahkeymike]

lol

that's what happens when you take a picture in the vertical orientation and your device (or the service you upload it to) does not store, utilize, or non-standard orientation info so it figures it's supposed to be wider than it is tall...and stretches the pics.

EDIT:

Actually, i'd be chuffed if the allegro had space to put a widescreen.... then we wouldn't have to get rid of them. they are still a great sounding jukebox... just the operating system is super dated and everything has moved on.

I'd considered gutting a Playdium wall box juke (because we can get tons of them for super cheap) and putting the core into an allegro to basically update them to OS2, but the screen is TOO wide to fit. and i hate the retrofit kits they sell which display the OS2 software on the original 4:3 screen in a letterboxed format... which ends up being like 8 inches of viewable area... like trying to poke at a postage stamp.

Thought so. Any chance you can give me clearance dimensions without the bezel? Thinking it might be possible to use a thinner bezel 19" widescreen, maybe even a 21.5 widescreen. ( I have a few elo's )

[lilshawn]

Thought so. Any chance you can give me clearance dimensions without the bezel? Thinking it might be possible to use a thinner bezel 19" widescreen, maybe even a 21.5 widescreen. ( I have a few elo's )

yep, i can do that tomorrow morning when I go to the shop.

[lilshawn]

from light pillar to light pillar on the inside, is 20 1/2" inches.

[billgates2]

just finished buttoning up our juke today.

also, bonus pic of aluminum mjs computer cases that will go to recycling for cash.

 

Nice! I'm still waiting on a bill acceptor bezel to arrive and white LEDs to put behind the bottom poster. I did find though that my Elo monitor has a pretty noticeable vertical screen burn on the left side of the screen. If you look at my video (link below) around the 17 second mark when the screensaver kicks on, you can kind of see it when there is a dark image being displayed (it's more noticeable in person than what the camera picked up).



You said replacing the monitor with a non-touch 4:3 monitor is pretty easy? I've only replaced a smart phone screen once before, years ago. Is it similar to that process, in keeping the digitizer for the touch function and slapping a same-sized 4:3 monitor behind the digitizer? I'm a total noob with that stuff.

[lilshawn]

no, no... i meant that I buy up 4:3 19 inch monitors when i come across them and pull the LCD panels out and use them to swap dead/dying/damaged panels in these things. about 90% of the panels are all cross compatible with each other. and can be easily swapped.

most panels will just screw right in, and hook right up to the ELO's electronics and backlilgt inverter with zero modifications.

the other 10% end up being weird extra thick panels that won't physically fit in the ELO case... which are no good

or will be a panel that has 2 CCFL's or LED backlit panel backlighting and arent compatible with the 4 lamp inverter out the box without swapping the invertor with a 2 lamp style or a compatible LED driver.

but like i says, 90% of the time they just drop in.

this works becasue the front bezel contains the touch overlay as a separate unit. and is not bonded or otherwise attached to the LCD panel itself.

[lilshawn]

those neopixel/IARGB strips actually look really great in there. I think I'll grab some of those next time instead of the all same RGB color shifting ones.

what software are you running on there? is that just YouTube music?

[billgates2]

those neopixel/IARGB strips actually look really great in there. I think I'll grab some of those next time instead of the all same RGB color shifting ones.

what software are you running on there? is that just YouTube music?

Thanks! I thought the current color scheme is a little busy but the lights come with an app that I can use to calm it down a bit. Yeah, it's just YouTube Music in kiosk mode. I thought about a few different options but this thing will likely end up going in an Airbnb so I figured it would get more use if people can just play whatever. Also adding a few touch screen games like Fruit Ninja, Candy Crush, some casino slots, etc. Why not lol