10/19/2015

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YOU'REINFRATREAT!
HANDHELDINFRAREDBEAMTESTERS
PURPOSE
Iwrotethisarticlebecausetheneedfor,oratleastthequestionabout,testing
Infrared(Ir)diodesandtransistorsinpinballmachineshasbeenreoccurringonRGP
foryears.Seethisexamplefrom1994andthisexamplefrom2005.Irdiodesand
transistorshavebeenusedasswitchesinpinballmachinessince1987.
ToverifyproperlyoperatingIropticalswitchesandtotroubleshoottheinvisible
infraredbeamusedbuythoseswitches,Ihavepersonallybeenusingavariationof
thewisesolutionthattheEditorofPinballNews(Martin)haspreviouslysuggested,
foratleastfiveyearsbeforehepostedhissuggestion.So,IknowmyPinball
Renaissanceversionworks.
Imademyselfasetofbatterypoweredhandheldtesters(IrSenderand
Receiver)fortroubleshootingintermittentorbadIrdiodeand/ortransistorcircuitry
andcomponents.Mytestersareeasytouse.Theyareespeciallygreatfor
troubleshootingintermittentIrproblemsandforaligninglongshotoptoslikethe
oneusedonDracula.
Iputmysenderandreceivereachinasmallplastichousingwitha9Voltbattery
panel.IusedvisibleredLEDsasindicatorsoftheinvisibleIrbeam.

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TheIrReceiverontheleftislookingatthebeamfromtheIrSenderontheright.
OTHERIrTESTERS
Thoughotherthings,suchasdigitalcamerasandIrsensorcards,canbeusedto
lookattheInfraredbeamthatisinvisibletothenakedeye,becauseyoucanmake
yourownversionoftheIRsenderandreceiverthatImadeformyself,oncemade
theyareconstantlyavailableandreadytouse.ThisisnottruewiththeIrsensor
cards.TheIrtestersthatIusearesmallerandalotlessexpensivethanavideo
camera.Andtheyareeasiertousethanadigitalcamera.TheIrcardsandIr
sensitivecamerascanonlydetectanIrbeam.TheycannotsendabeamliketheIr
sender.

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USES
Ihavebeenrepairingpinballmachinesforovertenyears.Duringthoseyears,there
havebeenseveral,ifnotmany,occasionswhenmylittleIrsenderandreceiverhave
beenveryuseful.Oneexample,previouslymentioned,isduringthealignmentofthe
longshotoptoforMistMultiBall(KevinMartin)onDracula.TheReceivermay
alsobeusedtotestforworkingIrremotecontrolsofalltypesanduses.TheIr
sendercanbeusedtochecksomeIrcontrolledtoys.Useofthesetesterscansave
thetimeandhasteofopeningthebatterycompartmentsonthedevicesundertest.
ALIGNMENT
DuringMistMultiBall,themovingtargetballismeanttofollowthesamepathas
theinvisiblebeamfromthelongshotsender.Ifbothpartsofthisoptosystemarenot
almostcompletelyparallel,themachinemaymalfunctionorgivearandomMultiBall
mode.

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TheIrReceivercanbeusedtotrackandcollimatetheinvisiblebeamfromthelong
shotsenderallthewaytoitsreceiveracrosstheentirewidthoftheplayfield.

TROUBLESHOOTING
TheIrtesterscanbeusedtotroubleshootintermittentIrSendersandReceiversof
WMSballtroughs.

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TheIrreceiver(transistor)boardisontheleftandtheIrsender(diode)boardison
theright.
HeatandvibrationfromnormalgameplaycanloosenthedroppingresistorsandIr
LEDs.Whenthesecomponentsgetloosethegamemaygiveaball(s)missing
messageatstartuporrandomMultiBallduringplay.

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Ontheleft,thevisibleredLEDislit,indicatingpresenceoftheIrbeamfromthe
bottomrightIrLED.Ontheright,thevisibleredLEDisdark,indicatingabsenceof
theIrbeamfromthebottomrightIrLEDafterIwiggledthelensofthatLED.
CIRCUITS
Fromthefollowingenhancedpicture,youcangetsomeideaofhowtinytheIr
circuitsare.Considerthatthepictureshowsbothoftheslightlymorepartsintensive
improvedIrcircuits.

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Ontheleftside,isthecircuitfortheIrsender.HerethelitgreenLEDshowsthatthe
Irbeamisbeingproduced.Ontherightside,isthecircuitfortheIrreceiver.And
again,agreenglowingLEDshowspresenceoftheIrbeam.
IdesignedtwoversionsofboththeIrsenderandtheIrreceiver.Boththesender
andreceiverhavebasicandimprovedversions.Theimprovedversionsaretheones
thatIbuilttotroubleshoottrickyIrswitchproblems.
Boththesenderandreceivercircuitsdrawonlyabout5.0mA.So,unlessyourkids
playwiththetesters,youshouldonlyneedtoreplacethebatteriesasyoushould
replacethebatteriesinyourpinballmachinesonceayear.Evenwiththetiny
amountofcurrentusedtoruneitherofthecircuits,eithercanbeusedfroma
distanceuptoabout2.5feet(about75cm).
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Becausetheselittlecircuitsaresimpletobuild,Idecidednottoprovidepartslists.
Withtheexceptionoftheoptoparts,themajorityofthecomponentsarestandard
valuepartsthatshouldbefairlyeasytopurchase.Allofthepartscanbeeasily
viewedinthefollowingschematics.Eachversionofthetwocircuitshasitsown
schematic.
ThoughIdidnotprovidepartslists,Ididprovidepartssubstitutionlistsandparts
suppliers.IpersonallyrecommendEdofGreatPlainsElectronicsGPE.Shouldyou
decidetomakeyourownIrtesters,GPEshouldhavethemajorityoftheparts.
PARTSSUBSTITUTIONS
2N3904Transistor(GeneralPurposeNPN)Substitutions
2N4401
2N5551
MPSA06
NTE123AP
2N3906Transistor(GeneralPurposePNP)Substitutions
2N4403
2N5401
MPSA56
NTE159
9VoltBatteryByOtherNames
PP3
1604
6LR61
9VoltCellBattery
9VoltTransistorBattery
CapacitorSubstitutions
Theonlycapacitor(C1intheschematicofanimprovedIrsender)canbesubstituted
foranynearvaluecapthatisratedforatleast10.0VoltsDC.Thoughthiscapcan
besubstituted,changingthiscap'svaluewillchangeboththefrequencyandduty
cycleofthepulsedIroutput.
NOTE:Youmustremembertoobservepolarity,thedirectionthecapgetsplaced
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intothecircuit,ifyouuseelectrolyticortantalumcapacitors.
IrLED(Sender)
IndustryPN:QED123
RadioShackPN:276143or276143C
WMSPN:A14231
WMSPN:A16908(assemblywithbracket)
Sidelookingphotodiodeforgettingintosmallerspaceslikethesmallslotin
betweenoptointerruptersasusedondroptargetsandflipperoptos.
IrTransistor(Receiver)
IndustryPN:QSD124
RadioShackPN:276145or276145A
WMSPN:A14232
WMSPN:A16909(assemblywithbracket)
SidelookingNPNphototransistorforgettingintosmallerspaceslikethesmallslot
inbetweenoptointerruptersasusedondroptargetsandflipperoptos.
ResistorSubstitutions
Anyoftheresistorsmaybe10oreven20%tolerance.Anyoftheresistorsmaybe
ratedfor1/4or1/2Watt.NOTE:ItisbesttokeepR1/R2(330Ohm)andR3(330
Ohm)1/2Wattresistors.But,asthesetesterswillnormallybepulsedforashort
duration,1/4Wattresistorswillworkforthisapplication.
PARTSSOURCES
PinballPartsSuppliersUS
GreatPlainsElectronics
PinballLife
PinballPartsSuppliersOUS
PinballHeaven
ElectronicPartsSuppliersInternational
ElectronicGoldmine
RadioShack

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SCHEMATICS

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SchematicofanIrreceiver

SchematicofanimprovedIrreceiver
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SchematicofanIrsender

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SchematicofanimprovedIrsender
OPERATION
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TheIrReceiver
ThevisibleLEDwillglowdimlyinambientroomlight.And,itwilllightmorebrightly
whenitdetectsanIrbeam.Thereceiverissensitiveenoughandhasaquick
enoughresponsetimetopulsewithmodulatedIrsignalssuchasthesignalfromthe
ImprovedIrsenderorremotecontrolsfortelevisionsets.
TheImprovedIrReceiver
LikethemorebasicIrreceiver,thevisibleLEDonthisimprovedreceiverwillglow
dimlyinambientroomlight.And,itwilllightmorebrightlywhenitdetectsanIrbeam.
Butduetotheadditionalstageonthisreceiver,itisevenmoresensitivetoIrlight.
So,itcanmoreeasilydetectIrlightfromagreaterdistancethanitsmorebasic
counterpart.EitherreceivershouldbeusefulasatroubleshootingtoolfortestingIr
LEDsusedinpinballmachines.Thisreceiverisalsosensitiveenoughandquick
enoughtoseethepulsesofmodulatedIrsignals.
TheIrSender
TheIrsendersimplysendsaconstantandnarrowbeamofIrlightwithawavelength
ofabout880nm.
TheImprovedIrSender
TheImprovedversionoftheIrsendergivesamodulatedsquarewavepulseof
about3.0Hzwitha25%dutycycle.Thisflashingpulseisunlikeanysignalor
diagnosticLEDpulseusedinanypinballmachine.
NOTEAllpicturesinthisarticlearecourtesyofLloydatSSBilliards.

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