The artwork has been completed for the trough opto board to suit widebody WMS machines as follows:
Demolition Man, Indiana Jones, Judge Dredd, Popeye, Star Trek the Next Generation
We have already done a lot of bench testing on the TX board (which we will design up next week) and have eliminated the large resistors that cause so much trouble on these boards.
With the RX board we have made a lot of improvements, even over other aftermarket boards. For a start our PCB tracks are ALWAYS at least double the width of every other board maker ensuring maximum reliability.
The tracks coming away fom the connector are made MUCH wider to prevent track fracture at this often abused point on the board. The pads for the opto receiver transistors have been made as large as possible to allow desoldering and replacing of the transistors many times without pad lifting and the holes for the legs of these transistors is double the size so the old one will virtually drop out if you heat up both pads at the same time - this ensures the PCB is preserved as much as possible if repairs are ever need.
We have included visable LEDs along the bottom edge of the board to quickly check if the optos are working. These can be observed through the front door of the machine so the playfield doesn't even need to be raised. Naturally, the two LM339 IC's will be in turned pin sockets for easy servicing.
They will probably both be ready in a couple of weeks to send off to the board house for manufacture and be assembled and ready for sale in about a month or so - probably around $60 a pair (to be confirmed).
Finished RX board artwork:
Indicator LEDs along the bottom:
Thicker tracks coming away from the connector:
Bigger pads and holes for the receiver transistors:
