Can't locate correct player tracker hardware

[nateccnn]

I have 3 ea 13 inch Game King with 3802 boards and 4.3 software, 2 working and one donor for parts.  I'm trying to bring up my donor machine and am almost there.  WBA 13 ss on order and a button set should be delivered today.  One part that plagues me is the player tracking card reader board and reader.  On this machine the card reader mounts to the glass to the right of the screen, right in the middle.  I am not using player tracking so it's not completely necessary but without the reader and the LED display it leaves a gaping hole in that glass that doesn't look very nice.

I've spent the entire day searching the internet for either a new piece of glass or for the hardware to replace the reader and LED board.  Anyone point me to a source?

Or is there another way to deal with this problem I'm not thinking of?

Nate

[nateccnn]

First pic is the donor machine I am brining up.  Arrows show the holes in the glass.
Second pic is where the reader is mounted on the inside door of one of the two working machines.

Nate

[rokgpsman]

Hopefully someone will have that missing piece, maybe from a parts machine or otherwise. You might contact Jeremy at GameKingSlots and see if he can help you out:

http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?action=profile;u=148

Most cities have a business place that will cut glass to any size and they might have glass in different colors. You could check with them, see if they can come up with something.

If you are unable to locate the correct piece right away, in the meantime maybe something else would work. It doesn't have to be glass, you could probably make a cover out of plexiglass and paint it black or cover it with black vinyl. Or you could cut a piece of stiff black plastic and attach it.

[nateccnn]

Thanks for the input.  I bad not thought of cutting my own glass.  I fdid see a sticker with the yellow arrow pointing to the bill acceptor.  Some red paint and a sticker just might do the trick.

Also wondering if I could use that space to put a printer in to upgrade to TITO...but not feeling good about that plan yet.  Found a tech sheet from IGT from 2002 that talks about upgrading to thermal printers for the 4.3 software.  They talk about adjustments for field techs on the slant top machines and show a picture of a bracket that must be modified.  I might just have to run over to IGT (about two miles from my home) and scrounge through their junk yard.

Nate

[rokgpsman]

.....I might just have to run over to IGT (about two miles from my home) and scrounge through their junk yard.....

Nate

If you find one of these back there let me know, finders-fee for ya, wife loved playing it.   

[nateccnn]

Yeah...that was a tongue in check comment.  I do know a guy who used to work for IGT in the bone yard.  His job was to destroy every piece before loading it into trash compactor.  I begged him to let me in but his response was if he did he'd have to shoot me.  Some sort of agreement he signed when they hired him.

Nate

[rokgpsman]

I've heard stories about IGT destroying machines their casino clients didn't want anymore and IGT didn't want them ending up in the aftermarket, could hurt new machine sales. Imagine working at the recycle crusher, destroying machine after machine. Kinda sad, but I guess it's the job.

[nateccnn]

I believe I found the card reader.  Model: ZU-M2121-S352 Panasonic.  World Wide Gaming.

Now just need to find the led display board that mounts above it.

Nate

[rokgpsman]

Is your plan to buy the items just to plug the hole, or try to connect them to be operational?

[nateccnn]

I'm researching that now.  If I connect them how do I make them work?  Do I buy blank cards and issue them to friends when they visit?  Do I add credits when they play so many hands?  Is there any reason to make them work for an in-home setup?

Ultimately what I plan to do is have two machines in my living room in the house and a third machine in the game room/garage.  Do the machines need to be networked to make this work?

I chanced across this part while searching for software options for the new 3902 boards I purchased.  It made me wonder if it's worth it.

Nate

[rokgpsman]

Not needed for a home machine and no reason to set it up unless you just want a project, not even sure it can be done without a ton of effort. Plus you don't want to make it look too much like a gambling device, even in states where private ownership of slot machines are permitted private gambling is not.

There may be someone here that has connected the player tracking panels and got them to function like a real casino but I don't think most people mess with it. In a casino the player tracking equipment in the slot machine is connected to the remote casino server, you'd have to emulate that with a small computer or dedicated box. Not impossible but probably more trouble than it is worth. The card reader unit will plug the empty hole, and the player tracking display can be made to light up, maybe even display a scrolling message like "Howdy Dave, glad to see you", but I'm not familiar with how to do that. 

[nateccnn]

Yeah...I've kind of come to the same conclusion.  The reader is 75 bucks.  Can't find the display board...yet.  Add a wiring harness to the mix and it could cost me upwards of 100 or more to plug the hole.  A piece of glass, some spray paint and a sticker...total costs around 20 bucks?  <Scratches head>

[rokgpsman]

Some people do connect several machines together in their game room as part of a progressive jackpot setup. Kinda like a bank of machines in a casino with one common progressive jackpot, usually a big sign overhead showing the jackpot amount or each machine has an individual progressive jackpot display. Not suggesting that you do it, but can be done if you wanted. There are progressive controllers and displays for sale for not a huge cost, search the NLG threads on progressive controllers like the Mikohn Cham II and the Spectrum equip to find out more about that.

http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?action=forum#c13

Here's an example of a home gameroom where the machines are connected for a common progressive jackpot:
http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=5859.msg31471#msg31471

.

[Yoeddy1]

I've set up player tracking on my Game King, S2000, and WMS machine.

See here:

http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=6813.msg37176#msg37176

<a href="http://youtu.be/DtTu-RTuEHo" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://youtu.be/DtTu-RTuEHo</a>

Thanks,
Jason

[rokgpsman]

Jason, that was a cool project you setup. Does it let you insert a players card and it reads the card, puts your name on the tracking panel display with some type of welcome message? Or is the card reader inactive and the Mastercom unit takes care of the display message?

[Yoeddy1]

The large in the Bally Mastercom 250 needs to be modified.  You need to a hexadecimal reader/editor in order to do that.  There are guys out here can do it.  When I slip a card in, it won't go to a green state, on the leds.  It flashes red, and then goes back to an orange status, but it will will say Good Luck! When the card is inserted. 

Jason

[rokgpsman]

For some reason I thought maybe when you inserted your card it would say

"Nice to see you again Mr. Papagiorgio, the ladies are waiting out by the pool".