The pinball video is done!

I wonder how the designers of these electro-mechanical marvels envisaged and created all that analog logic. I guess there were precedents in the encoding and code breaking machines from WW2, and further back. Did they design using electrical drawings or did they visualise the chain of relays and solenoids and then create those drawings?

S R

This video is what made me jump to becoming a patreon member. I am not super savvy when it comes to electronics and have been learning via friends and some online courses so I can fully understand how my Wizard! Machine works that my dad and his cousin and I restored. While I've learned a lot, this video was so thorough that I am probably going to watch it many more times because of how informative it is. Thank you for creating this video, and damn you for having such a meticulously kept machine because it's absolutely gorgeous. (Mine was rescued from my dad's garage and miraculously no mice chewed the wires while they lived there.) Absolutely love your channel. 💜

Awesome video! A really engaging presentation of an excellent example of what pioneered PLCs.

Grant Somerville

What an amazing video. You have done an excellent job of explaining a complex and fascinating topic. Thanks for answering a mystery that has bugged me since being a kid.

Neil Iosson

wonderful video! all that footage of bare lightbulbs across the playfield must have been interesting to set up for... you mentioned how electromagnets will naturally get hot while in use, particularly for the flippers (necessitating a "hold coil"), and i wanted to bring up another side effect of this: "flipper fade." the warmer solenoids are, the weaker their pull force becomes. this can dramatically affect how the flipper will be able to push the (very heavy solid steel!!!) ball up the table, and because of that, a "cold" game can behave a lot differently from a "warm" game. there's even after-market *flipper solenoid cooling fans* for folks who really want to avert that issue - typically, the same kind of folks who can play a single game of pinball long enough to actually notice that change while they played. yknow, nerds.

ndcoten

Crazy-interesting video, really enjoyed it. I'm very interested in the modern pinball machines too, so I'm sure I'll enjoy the next ones too

clickallnight

This video was excellent! The incredibly complex electromechanical systems of pinball are really difficult to explain and you did the best job possible. Really looking forward to part 2!

Chris Jeter

ctrl-f didn't show anything for "shirt", but what's implied (given the jacket covering some of it) on the shirt looks very cool. If you're selling it or even just linking to it, I suspect my interest in it (the shirt graphic design) is not too atypical, even if my parlance is. Maybe I'd better restate it, is it possible to buy shirts with the pop-up/jet bumper graphics?

Jeremy

So, I guess we should rename it RelayBall

David Vicari

God help me I've been considering buying a vintage pinball machine and now you post this. Alec you're going to bankrupt me.

Baulderan

I'd be curious as to what happens if you hit a second target that uses the scoring motor while it's already in motion. Or maybe it's just fast enough that that realistically would never happen?

Francis