For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast

When your bingo doesn't count replays approporiately, what do you do? Manual, schematics and observation are a help, but knowing the units involved will set you on the right path faster.

How to break down and transport a game, then how to reassemble and start cleaning!

How to disassemble and clean a drop target bank, and how drop targets are typically constructed. Not mentioned: how much I dislike solid state Williams drop targets.

What are the main things to consider when looking at your first bingo? Condition is king, but if you are like I was at first, you'd never seen one of these before.

Talk about how EMs are able to determine the game state. Tech: How to properly adjust a relay, and when to hit it with a hammer (really)!

How were Bingos persecuted in the United States? Why did Bingo production cease in the 80's? These and other questions answered in this episode.

I talk about a toy invented in the woodrail era that is still in use today - the Pop Bumper. Tech: Changing pop bumpers, and how to increase pop safely (by cleaning).

Woodrails gave us some of the toys and mechanical devices that we still use today. Tech talk: flippers - how to disassemble and rebuild. These same basic instructions apply to anything with an EOS switch (basically machines up to 1990ish).

I talk with Ava about Pop-A-Card, the first game I purchased, and the machine that brought me my love of repairing and playing Gottlieb machines (all eras) and EMs and Bingos!

I talk to Steve Smith and give him wide berth to tell his view of how we met and how I fell in love with bingos. He discusses various topics, including differences between flipper vs. bingo pinball, playing on location as a kid, and how he got his first pinball. Forgive sound quality - I was sitting too far from the mic and didn't notice.

Describing how to use the schematic for Pop-A-Card to troubleshoot both a scoring and a lamp problem.

Describing pictures is difficult. Beginning talk about what the symbols represent and what those devices do. I don't describe a switch in great detail, but will be doing so next time.

Double-Up is working now, but I re-learned the same lesson I've learned 1 million times already. The simplest answer is often correct.

Jones Plug care and feeding and I work on Double-Up - fixing a couple of problems, and creating more! All this and lots of repeating myself.

The devil is in the details, and carry-over switches are one detail that you can't ignore. Proper cleaning and adjustment allow for operation of the next higher score reel.

Discussion of hugely popular baseball-themed games from the 50s and 60s. I'll leave discussion of 1930's and 40's games for another episode.

Big thanks to the support of two of my favorite pinball podcasts - The Pinball Podcast with Don and Jeff and The Spooky Pinball Podcast, specifically the EM Dungeon segment. Thanks fellas! One ball horse racing games were made by Bally and were around for over a decade before the first bingo.

The exciting world of switch tab problems!

In this episode, Double-Up breaks. I give a quick lesson in reading schematics, adjusting switches, and consulting the manual. I talk about the proper switch adjustment tool and how I'm a big scaredy cat when it comes to adjusting switches with the power on. I also talk about the method to replace a switch.

What's the best part of games from the 60's? Challenge, fun, artwork, gameplay? To me it's the variety. What to look for in an EM Tech: I talk about safety, steppers, coil sleeves, cabinet paint, and playfield lockdowns. I'm still experimenting with my audio software, I typically strip the silence and umms from the recordings, but I think it sounds like I don't breathe. I've adjusted a bit and all...

What are the star zones on a Mystic Line bingo for, anyway? How do you earn a red letter game? How do you even open a bingo? There's so many locks!

Opening the discussion on Mystic Line 20 hole bingo games. Tech segment discusses the difference in the cab between 20 hole bingos and magic screen and earlier bingos.

I talk to myself about the purple section - only present on Silver Sails and Golden Gate. Putting three balls in this section would start a Golden Game, which moves the screen all the way to the left, and exposes several different gold sections. If you put two or three balls (depending on what is highlighted on the backglass) in the golden sections, you win the golden replays (single odds shown in...

A special guest spot with one of my all-time favorite people. And our first correction!

Discussion of the Futurity game available on Bikini and Lido, as well as talk about teh various motors in a typical bingo, and the payout hoppers that can be installed.