Parallel Port Relays & Lockout Coils

[JoyMonkey]

I'm going to use a relay or two in a cabinet, to turn on the arcade monitor once the computer starts outputing 'safe' frequencies and perhaps to make my coin-door light flash etc.
Rather than use a half-assed homemade relay, I think I might buy one of these pre-assembled kits. It's eight relays on one pcb, all controlled by a simple DOS command. Seems perfect for what I want it to do.

Has anyone bought from these people before, or what are most people using for relays these days?

Edit: Damn thos 'replay' typos!

[Hoagie_one]

link?

[JoyMonkey]

link?

Sorry, I have a habit of hiding links in my posts text. Here it is:
http://www.electronickits.com/kit/complete/elec/ck1601.htm

[Hoagie_one]

thats fine.  the monitor at work here doesnt tellt he colors apart too well

[Hoagie_one]

its really neato, but building your own is pretty easy and alot cheaper.

[nostrebor]

Hoagie,

do you have some linkage for a cheaper build or some layman level info? Thanks!

[Hoagie_one]

I built this

http://home.bendcable.com/werstlein/

[sWampy]

$35 for something that controls 8 relays sounds cheap to me, great find.  At Radio Shack the relays are about $5 each.

[whammoed]

good luck acquiring those parts individually for less than $30
Its worth it for the pcb alone

[Hoagie_one]

im not arguing the value on what you found,just the nessesity for it.

DO you really need to control 8 separate on\off interfaces when you boot your cab?

[JoyMonkey]

$35 for something that controls 8 relays sounds cheap to me, great find.  At Radio Shack the relays are about $5 each.

Yeah, I think I'll buy it. Of course, since I only really need 3 relays (one for the monitor, one for each coindoor light), I'm going to have to find a few more things to throw in there that could be controled by a relay. I'll add a few more lights I think, I'll have them turn on behind the CP before Mame launches a game.

Is there some way I could use a relay to 'disable' my coin mechs when the frontend is running, then 'enable' them for games. I guess what I'm asking is, is there some way a coin mech can be forced to reject tokens?

[Hoagie_one]

one relay can control all of those, assuming they all need to come on teh same time

[nostrebor]

The big advantage to JoyMonkey's board is the ability to recieve code from the parallel port to define WHEN to turn the relay on. Hoagie's relay works just great for the 1 switch solution, but it won't hold an arcade monitor in the OFF position until AdvanceOS has loaded. I am looking for a solution like JoyMonkeys, so I can use these arcade monitors I have with AdvanceOS/AdvanceMAME.

Does anyone have a homebrew for this? I really do not need the 8 relays, and I like to build stuff from scratch.

BTW, nice find Joymonkey! Especially when you consider the only other completely safe way to use an arcade monitor is with ArcadeVGA at $100+.

[Hoagie_one]

thats a great use for it.

[JoyMonkey]

The big advantage to JoyMonkey's board is the ability to recieve code from the parallel port to define WHEN to turn the relay on. Hoagie's relay works just great for the 1 switch solution, but it won't hold an arcade monitor in the OFF position until AdvanceOS has loaded. I am looking for a solution like JoyMonkeys, so I can use these arcade monitors I have with AdvanceOS/AdvanceMAME.

Does anyone have a homebrew for this? I really do not need the 8 relays, and I like to build stuff from scratch.

BTW, nice find Joymonkey! Especially when you consider the only other completely safe way to use an arcade monitor is with ArcadeVGA at $100+.

You could take a look at the old PC2Jamma parallel port relays, they do much the same thing and were designed to work with ArcadeOS (ie, the monitor doesn't get powered on until ArcadeOS starts up at a safe resolution).

Or, there's a full PDF schematic for the above 8-in-one relay circuit on the suppliers website.

Here's the vintage link http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/phard.html
Reminds me of the 'good old days'.

[TheGatesofBill]

If memory serves, there is an electromagnet or something on the mechs or coindoor that will make it always reject the coin/token. I don't feel like going to my garage to look though.

[JoyMonkey]

If memory serves, there is an electromagnet or something on the mechs or coindoor that will make it always reject the coin/token. I don't feel like going to my garage to look though.

You tease!

Edit: After a little searching, I found out that this thing is called a 'lockout coil' and seems to be mostly used on old EM pinball machines. Is this something I can throw together myself?
I should probably start a lockout coil thread, huh?

[TheGatesofBill]

Went on google and found this:

"Coin Lockout 9/K are outputs. This delivers power to a plunger activated by a solenoid which, when engaged into the coin path of the coin mech, will prevent a valid coin from tripping the coin switch and send it to the coin return slot. When power is fed to the coin door, an electromagnet retracts the plunger so that the coin path becomes open."

http://www.technick.net/public/code/cp_dpage.php?aiocp_dp=pinconbus_jamma

[Rocky]

Many of the older video games had lockout coils as standard. My Moon Patrol cabinet has them.

[sWampy]

If memory serves, there is an electromagnet or something on the mechs or coindoor that will make it always reject the coin/token. I don't feel like going to my garage to look though.

You tease!

Edit: After a little searching, I found out that this thing is called a 'lockout coil' and seems to be mostly used on old EM pinball machines. Is this something I can throw together myself?
I should probably start a lockout coil thread, huh?

My old defender cabinet has these, and I spend about $15 making a relay cotrolled through the parallel port to just swap them on and off, never thought about the lights also.  Duh.   Wish I had seen this board, cause it would have been really neet to have had an extra relay to cut off the speakers, and another one to cut off the marquee, where when the screensaver kicked in, the marquee and speakers could go off.

[nostrebor]

Well, OK. Now we are up to at least 4 relays that I would find useful. Using lockout coils to prevent attempted credits during  times when the frontend is present is pure genius! I mat have to get one of those PCBs after all.

[JoyMonkey]

I've had a look at my coin door and I don't see any lockout coils. I'm not surprised since it's pretty new, but I want to make sure I understand how these things work correctly.
Here's a photo of both sides of my mechs (this is a CoinControls door/mech from 1997), then a close-up of a little brass thingy. When the brass thingy is in the 'up' position, coins stay in the upper part of the mech until someone pushes reject in. The small silvery part seems to be magnetic steel, so I would imagine that an electromagnet (i.e. lockout coil) would be able to hold this in the 'up' position and thus render the mechs 'disabled'.

Is this right?

[Rocky]

Lockout coils don't manipulate any of the coin mech parts, but you have the right idea.

[JoyMonkey]

You could make a custom coil that moves the brass piece to accomplish the same thing.

Here's what I'm thinking of doing. A magnet will hold the 'brassy thing' in the reject position, just before Mame runs the electro-magnet will power up and pull the 'brassy thing' down to the accept position.

Can I buy small electro-magnets like this anywhere?

Edit: Yep, I'm on crack if I think this is going to work.

[Lilwolf]

btw, Hoagie... Your talking about a different product for a different purpose.

You want everything to turn on with one switch.

They want something to turn on the monitor AFTER they change the outgoing frequency to 15hz.  IE after boot and after the initial config... and at the point of launching probably advancedmame / advancemenu ect.

I would love to see this hooked up to a control panel release solenoid.  I looked into doing that at one point and realised I didn't know what to look at in solenoids to find one that would work...  Let alone how to handle the computer -> electronics.  I ended up scrapping the idea (especially since I had enought crap to work out...)... but one day I might look into it again.

[JoyMonkey]

FYI - the parallel port controlled relay board arrived yesterday (I ordered it the afternoon before and used standard shipping) and it works like a charm!
I still have to figure out all the codes fully, but it seems pretty simple. Relay 80 will close the connection on relay 8. Relay 08 will open the connection.