Do the Flynn Thing

This was done with Alexa Routines but there are similar features on Google Home (Routines) and HomeKit (Shortcuts).

A large prerequisite to this is the presence of SmartPlugs to handle the power on for your machines.

I’ve got an older post on smart plug, you can check it out, here:
http://arcadeshenanigans.com/blog/2018/2/13/smart-plugs-a-year-later

The obvious downside to the smart plug approach used here is expensive and network population, having 36 Wemo plugs means 36 IP addresses to allocate, 36 Netbios names to configure, if Siri integration is wanted, 36 HomeKit setups to complete. Wemo plugs can have setup and support frustrations, as do their competitors.

One incidental upshot to this approach is that it is a solve for the breaker instant-load issue you might get from flipping a physical master switch. If you flip a giant red ghostbusters containment unit looking power handle, electricity is flowing out at nearly the speed of light, in an instant. That could be a lot of load to introduce on a breaker panel all at once.

By comparison, each cloud-connected smart switch is going to take at least 120ms of roundtrip network traffic before it closes the circuit and passes power. Everything isn’t turning on at once. It seems like it is but the delay is enough to provide a curve to the load application.

Anyway… Been spending some time in the evening during the quarantine getting the games squared away and making tweaks to the automation. The Alexa routines provided a nice way to move management of the plugs away from the Wemo Rules engine and into the Alexa voice services where we are already pretty well invested as a household.

Stay safe, be smart, don’t trust everything you read.. oh and um… thanks for reading. :)

Monster Bash (again)

This pattern of re-buying games I once had continues…

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I never really find the excellent deals but I’ve been pretty fortunate to have found some good ones here and there. Back in February 2020 I was following a couple posts on Facebook and a Discord chat about one of those dream-warehouses that you sometimes hear about in this hobby. It had all of the usual elements, “Operator trove on private property, mostly unmolested. The property owner is one of those guys that only opens it up every now and then to let a small number of people in with a limit on what they can carry out. He only does it when he needs cash for something.”

..or so the legend goes, anyway.

In the course of my research I didn’t find the National Treasure like-map to get me into this fabled lost city of abandoned amusements.

But I did find a pretty darned fair deal on a Monster Bash along Florida’s Sun Coast.

The seller was reasonable and easy to work with and no complaints whatsoever on his description of the game. The logistics of getting the game to me, was somewhat of an adventure thanks to COVID shutdowns but everyone involved did everything in their power to make it work out.

On May 3rd, the game landed safely in Spanish Fort by way of Bob C’s capable hands.

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So begins another pin restoration..

The initial condition is honestly better than I had expected. Considering my last Monster Bash cost nearly twice what this one did, my expectations were tuned in the “rough player’s” range. Really, though there was nothing major wrong with the game.

A couple minor playfield flaws that will be relatively easy to fix:

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A small ding in the playfield, through the clear and into the wood. Maybe a dropped screwdriver or corner of something sharp

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Ball eject dings from the scoop kickout.

It looks as though someone repaired the cabinet at some point but they did an excellent job. The only reason it stands out is that the back of the cabinet is too clean by comparison to the rest.

I added an LED ColorDMD, new balls and Titan rubbers. Always a good practice because you will discover broken or missing plastics along the way. One pop bumper body needs to be replaced and a couple minor, easy to acquire plastic workarounds were in place.

The first thing I ever 3D printed for myself..

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Favoring BallBaron.com Ninja Chrome lately

During initial play testing, the right orbit was particularly frustrating to make. I kept getting bounces and thought at first that it might be the right orbit switch gate interfering with travel. Recording a slow motion flip from the left flipper, revealed something unexpected, though.

It looks like there is a lip at the drac track where the play field has a light sag or warp.

I ran across this pinside post, it looks like some early Monster Bash games didn’t include a bracket. I don’t know if they increased the ply of the play field or just bracketed later releases, I’m guessing they probably just included the bracket on later runs.

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The bracket needed to fix this is here:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/01-15202

Thing is, I really didn’t want to wait four or five days and not be able to play so I drew a temporary bracket up in Shapr3D and 3D printed a prototype. I also didn’t want to be wandering around Lowes aimlessly during the COVID stuff looking for a comparable generic Hillman bracket.

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I drew a measurement across the existing play field posts to use as the mounting hole and used them to reconstruct a rough approximation of the bracket. My angle was a little sloppier with regard to not being parallel with the play field edge but for a 15 minute design and 1 hr print, it turned out workable.

The result was better but not perfect, at least the game was playable until the real bracket came in. If you have the need, you can get the print and design files for this, here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zpv9piturosdl3c/AACfUkVbhDMFmnN2Pmg_ReaSa?dl=0

The real thing is of course considerably better, being made of steel and much more rigid. I went back and slightly modified my original design to make it a bit more stiff when printed on PLA or TPLA.

I’m definitely not condoning the printed version as an alternative to the awesome metal bracket, I just personally was too impatient to wait and had 3D filament burning a hole in my pocket.

Next up, lit flipper buttons and mirror blades..

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