Next Class: ALBQ July 11-14, 2017

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3 Editorial Page 3-Editorial Page 4-Component Identificatiob and Testing Updated Page 10-Slot Tech Training at Ho-Chunk Page 11- TechFest 33 Review Page 14-Subscriptions & Back Issues Dear Friends of, Please forgive the extended coverage of a couple of recent training events but if you had attended, you d want to see yourself in the magazine too! The first event was TechFest 33. As usual, TechFest was held at Mystic Lake Casino, near Minneapolis, Minnesota. A couple of dozen slot techs attended the event, one from as far away as Aruba! My friend Martin Dijkhoff attended TechFest. He works at the Hyatt Regency Aruba. We managed to pull off a nifty piece of technology with the Transact Technologies presentation on the Epic 950 printer. With their head technical guru, Russ Wige, in Macau for the gaming show, we connected for a special Early Bird event via Go to Meeting (It was late night in Macau). It worked perfectly with excellent, two-way communication and perfectly synchronized powerpoint presentations. Russ was able to field questions from the TechFest audience as well. Thanks, Russ. That was awesome. From TechFest, I drove to nearby Black River Falls, Wisconsin for a week of training at the Ho-Chunk Casino. They have a really good crew there. Everyone in the slot department gets along well and everyone has a good sense of humor. I enjoyed my time there a great deal. It s beautiful country. Lots of road kill though. This month, I have presented an updated version of a previously published article about component identification and testing. The capacitor tester mentioned previously is no longer being manufactured. Instead, there is a nifty and VERY cheap component tester (active tests for semiconductors, capacitors, resistors) that you ll want to add to your toolbox. And finally, I have a class coming up in Albuquerque, NM, July 11-14, 2017 at Isleta Casino. Please join me. There are a dozen spots open in the class. Randy Fromm Next Class: ALBQ July 11-14, 2017 Randy Fromm's Editor Randy Fromm Technical Writers James Borg, Todd Brooks, Wilder Contreras, Nathan Galloway, Chuck Lentine, Jerome Mayard, Pat Porath is published monthly by 401 W. Lexington #777 El Cajon, CA tel fax editor@slot-techs.com Visit the website at slot-techs.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Domestic (North America) 1 year - $ years - $ International 1 year - $ years - $ Subscribe online at slot-techs.com Publisher- Copyright 2017 under the Universal Copyright Convention. All rights reserved.

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8 If you re looking for a really cheap, accurate component tester, check out this unit, available from a Chinese website called (don t laugh) Bang Good (banggood.com). search for GM328A. This unit will measure the ESR of a capacitor. It will also test all manner of discrete components. We build a version of this unit during our hands-on soldering lab at my tech schools.-stm GM328A Transistor Tester Graphic Wave Signal RLCESR Meter Inductance Specification: Size: 75 x 7 2 x 20 mm(l x W x H) Type: GM328A Power Requirements: 9V, stable working current of about 20mA. Features: 1. Using 2015 V1.12 version of the software. 2. Power supply using 9V battery. 3. The download interface is standard 6 wire program. 4. The dot matrix LCD screen, display more abundant in content, with pictures. 5. Accuracy of the relevant resistance using 1/1000 thin film resistors Basic function: 1. Can automatically detect PNP, NPN bipolar transistor 2. Automatic identification of individual pins 3. Capacitance can be measured 4. Can detect bipolar transistor and MOSFET s protection diode. 5. Can be shown with a decimal value of two, resolution of 0.01 ohm. Page 8 6. Reverse breakdown voltage below 4.5V regulator can be identified. 7. Gate threshold voltage and gate capacitance of the MOS field effect transistor. 8. Can simultaneously measure two resistance and the resistance symbol display. 9. The resolution of resistance measurement is 0.1 ohm, which can be measured to 50M ohm uF above the capacitor can simultaneously measure the equivalent series resistance ESR value. 11. Two diodes can be displayed in the right order and the diode symbol, while the forward voltage of the diode is given. Extended functionality (via menu selection): 1. Can produce 1Hz-2MHz square wave signal. 2. Can produce a fixed frequency, but the pulse width of the pulse wave, a short press key width of 1% increments, a long press the button to increase the width of 10%. 3. Separate capacitor and ESR function can be started by menu.

9 For schematic diagrams, software, service manuals and more, visit the Slot Technical Department at slot-tech.com Next Slot Tech Training in Albuquerque, NM at Isleta Casino July 11-14, 2017 Open to all slot techs. No password required Figure 11 Page 9

10 Slot Tech Event Slot Tech Training at Ho-Chunk Casino I personally had a great time at the Ho- Chunk Casino in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. We held the class in their nice, new shop. The rest of the new casino will open next month some time so we were able to sneak this training in under the wire. I expect they ll be pretty busy in the upcoming weeks and months.-rf Page 10

11 Slot Tech Event TechFest 33 Review It was more like a FoodFest with all we had to eat during TechFest 33. As usual, Mystic Lake Casino s catering was topnotch. able to test touch screens in the shop. I followed close on his heals with a look at component identification and testing. The afternoon belonged to JCM s Dan Petersen, a TechFest favorite, with his presentations on Gen2 printers and, of course, JCM bill validators. Following an early breakfast, 3M Touch Systems Paul Hatin gave us a presentation on their touch screens, with a demonstration of all the free tools that are avail- Day two turned out to be a record-breaking 11-hour day. We started the day with another Early Bird session. This time, it was a live webcast by Russ Wige of Transact Technologies who was in Macau at the time, representing Transact at a trade show. It went flawlessly, with Russ controlling the powerpoint presentation and fielding questions from the attendees. He even popped on the webcam to say hello. FYI, we used Go To Meeting and it worked perfectly. I was even able to log on with my phone at the same time and interact with the presentation. Page 11

12 We saw a fabulous presentation on MLD (Multi-Level Display) conversion to LED backlighting from Greg Agostini and ended the day with each attendee building a component tester with two-dozen soldering irons going at the same time! Page 12

13 Day three dawns with the Super Ceronix Monitor Lab, presented by Ceronix technician, Alex Luebkeman (r). This is a great hands-on lab, including disassembly, diagnostics, repair and reassembly practice. The anchor position belonged to Todd Aase of CPI, representing the venerable MEI SC66 bill validator. Attending TechFest 33 were: Daniel Buffalu, Danise Hanson, Kathy Channel, Dakota Connection Casino, Jason Loeffelholz, Nicole Kocian, Diamond Jo Casino, Matt Urban, Travis Willier, Diamond Jo Casino Worth, Dustin Logan, Joe Nuckolls, Grand Lake Casino, Martin Dijkhoff, Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino, James A. Harvey, Justin Defoe, Legendary Waters Resort & Casino, Amiee Ziegler, Chris Pomani, Lode Star Casino, David Oaks, Motorcity Casino, Casey Valley, Doug Lyseng, Paul Lachapelle, Wayne Otto, Mystic Lake Casino, Dustin Hernandez, Sara Bergh, Prairie's Edge Casino Resort, Tim Schulman, Kirby Perkins, Shooting Star Casino Page 13

14 Subscriptions & Back Issues Why back issues of are important to own... is strictly technical. As such, the magazine's contents are not time critical. The repair information and technical data contained in past issues is just as valid today as it was the day it was published. Additionally, current and future articles more-or-less assume that readers are already familiar with what has been covered in past issues. This editorial policy assures that Slot Tech Magazine's contributing writers are not limited to "writing down" to the level of a novice technician but are free to continue to produce the most comprehensive technical articles in the gaming industry. Randy Fromm's is published monthly by: 401 W. Lexington Ave. #777 El Cajon, CA editor@slot-techs.com Subscription rates: Domestic (USA & Canada) 1 year - $ years - $ International 1 year - $ years - $ Back Issues Printed back issues are available for onlysix months from the date of publication. All single issues of Slot Tech Magazine are $10.00/ea. For further details on the contents of each issue, please refer to the website at slot-techs.com. To order, fax a PO or a note listing the issues you need. Complete archive (2001 to present) available online. Visit slot-techs.com for details. Invoice me! PO Number Company Name Contact Address Address City State/Prov. Country Zip/Postal Code Telephone Type of card: [ ] American Express [ ] Discover [ ] MasterCard [ ] 1 year subscription, domestic [ ] Visa [ ] 1 year subscription, international Account Number: [ ] 2 year subscription, domestic [ ] 2 year subscription, international Expiration Date:

15 Regional Slot Tech Training Attend or Sponsor a Class Near You! Albuquerque, NM-July 11-14, 2017 at Isleta Casino Las Vegas, NV-September 26-29, 2017 Chicago, IL-November 6-9, Class Schedule New Orleans, LA-December 6-8, 2017 Locations TBA and subject to change If you are interested in sponsoring one of these regional classes at your property, please contact Randy Fromm This is a fast-track class for slot techs who want to learn the quick and easy way to fix monitors and power supplies without having to learn a lot of electronic theory or mathematics. If you are interested in sponsoring a regional class at your property, please contact Randy Fromm for details. There is no actual cost involved. Since 2001, has been holding slot tech training classes at casinos across the USA. These classes have mostly been held at larger properties with a dozen or more slot techs from their own slot department attending the class. In order to serve our smaller cainos (with, perhaps, just a few techs) we are now holding regional classes that are open to all slot techs that wish to attend. This is the full, four-day class that covers power supply repair and LCD monitor repair, down to the component level. To Enroll: Download the enrollment form at slot-techs.com Day 1-Beginning Electronics for Slot Machine Technicians This segment assumes that you have no previous electronics training and takes you through a simple, NO MATH look at electronic components, electronic circuits, schematic diagrams and more! Using a Digital Multimeter The DMM is the single most important piece of test equipment you can use. Electronic Components All of the individual components used in gaming machines are introduced. Students learn how to test them for proper operation. Day 2-Diodes, Transistors & Other Semiconductors Hands-on Transistor Testing Lab This part of the school takes a look at all of the different types of semiconductors commonly seen in gaming machines. We'll take a look at the operation of each component, along with testing procedures to determine if the part is good or bad. NO PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE OF ELECTRONICS IS REQUIRED Class Schedule 9:00am-4pm Daily Day 3-Soldering Good soldering technique takes practice but there are some tricks that can really help speed things along. During this segment, each student will be provided with their own soldering supplies and some fun project kits they will assemble. Current kits include a versitile component tester that can be used alongside the DMM to test electrolytiuc capacitors, semiconductors, resistors and other components. This equipment will be theirs to keep. This is a VALUABLE shop tool. Day 4-Morning Session-Power Supplies This module covers all types of power supplies, including linear power supplies and the Switched-Mode Power Supply (SMPS) found in virtually everything in a modern casino. Day 4-Afternoon Session-LCD Monitor Repair LCD Monitor repair is generally pretty easy thanks to their modular design. This segment covers the theory of operation of LCD monitors. There will be a presentation on componentlevel repair techniques, CCFL testing and replacement and using LED strips as backlights. Includes free component tester! Cost of the Program Tuition is $795/person Includes: Digital Multimeter Soldering iron, tools and soldering supplies Sample components Soldering Instruction Kit Component Tester Kit Textbook Students are responsible for their own meals and lodging. If you re interested, please contact Randy Fromm right away. It s first-come, firstserved and there is a limited number of places available in each class. Randy Fromm 401 W. Lexington Ave. #777 El Cajon, CA You can fax a PO to and we ll invoice you. Be sure to include the student s name.

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