91. Electronic Parts List
This section lists all of the electronics needed for each Pinscape
Controller subsystem.
The ID column lists the "reference designator" for each component as
it appears in the schematics. That's just an arbitrary ID assigned
for cross-referencing between the schematic and the parts list. Each
ID is unique within its board, but has no meaning outside of that.
These same IDs are also printed on the circuit boards next to the
parts, so that you can match up the physical components on the boards
to schematics and the parts list.
Note that the parts lists don't include any of the custom PCBs (printed circuit
boards), such as the expansion boards. These have to be custom
fabricated, which is of course a different process than ordering off-the-shelf
parts. We explain how to do get these made in
Fabricating the Expansion Boards.
Optional elements
The parts lists below reflect the "default" configurations for the
expansion boards. There are some variations possible in how you build
the boards, though, including some things you can just leave out if
you don't need them. The list itself has a lot of footnotes that
describe alternate parts or mention when something is optional, so you
pay attention to the notes while building out your shopping cart.
In addition, you might want to read through "Optional elements" in
Building the Expansion Boards. That section
explains how you can omit some of the features entirely, which for the
most part is a simple matter of not installing the parts involved in
the feature. That can save you a little time and effort for functions
you don't need, and you can save on the parts cost by omitting the
unnecessary items from your shopping cart.
Warning on TLC5940NT
The TLC5940NT chip, which is central to the design of the Main Board
and Power Board, is no longer in production. That means that you can't
buy it from mainstream electronics suppliers like Mouser and
DigiKey. However, the chip is still available from sellers on
eBay and Aliexpress. There seems to be an ongoing bottomless supply
of the chip on those venues, which is both good news and bad news.
The good news is that it means we can still build these boards, and
apparently will be able to do so for the foreseeable future. The bad
news is that the only way these chips can still be coming to market
after being discontinued for so long is that someone is making
unauthorized gray-market knockoffs. Chip counterfeiters aren't known for
holding themselves to the highest quality standards. Indeed, reports on the
forums suggest that the Dead-On-Arrival rate for these chips is quite
high lately. There's not much you can do about it other than take
your chances and hope you get a good batch. The only consolation is
that the chips are pretty cheap, so the financial loss isn't huge if
you do get a bad batch. But the cost in your time for the soldering
and desoldering could be huge if you don't use sockets - please do use
sockets for these chips so that it's easy to swap them out if
necessary.
If you use the Shopping List tool below to generate an order list to
upload to Mouser, the tool will show a warning that the list doesn't
include the TLC5940NT, to remind you that you'll have to order
those separately.
I would have redesigned the boards around an in-production substitute
chip a long time ago if such a thing existed, but alas, there simply
are no similar chips available. Every similar chip that's currently
in production is in what's known as SMD (surface-mount device)
packaging, which is designed for robotic assembly and is difficult to
solder by hand. I deliberately designed entirely around parts that
can be soldered by hand, since one of the main goals of these boards
is that you can build them yourself. So we're stuck with the
gray-market TLC5940NT.
Substitutions
The lists below provide specific manufacturer part numbers for
all components, with
Mouser.com
links to the parts.
These are reference parts only, not requirements. It's
perfectly fine to buy the exact parts listed, but it's also perfectly
fine to substitute equivalent parts wherever you wish. The main
reason we list specific parts is to save you time shopping. There are
so many options available for some of the parts that it can take quite
a while to narrow the selection based on the specs alone.
If you have any trouble finding the specific part numbers listed,
or they're out of stock at your preferred vendor, you should be able
to find substitutes for most of the parts. And if you're in a shopping
mood, you might be able to find cheaper alternatives. We've tried
to select the cheapest suitable option in each case, but prices of
course vary over time and at different vendors.
Here are some guidelines for selecting substitutions:
- In all cases, make sure that the physical package is compatible.
Make sure the pin or lead wire layout matches, and check the size to
make sure the replacement isn't too big to fit the space on the board.
Physically smaller parts are usually okay; bigger parts might not fit.
- Resistors with the same resistance (Ohms) value are usually
interchangeable. However, if there's also a wattage rating listed,
you must use a part with the specified wattage rating or higher. If
no wattage is listed in the table, you can assume a default of
1/4W. (Most through-hole resistors are 1/4W or higher anyway,
which is why we don't bother mentioning the wattage in those cases.)
- Capacitors with the same capacitance (µF or nF) value
and the same type ("electrolytic" or "ceramic") are usually
interchangeable. "Ceramic" and "disc" capacitors are the same type.
Tantalum capacitors are not interchangeable with ceramic/disk,
even if they have the same capacitance value.
- The NPN and PNP transistors we use can be replaced with most other
"small signal switching" transistors. The polarity (NPN or PNP) must
always match. Pay attention to the ordering of the "legs", since
that can be different even if the physical package looks identical.
- IC chips usually need to be the exact parts listed. In some cases,
though, several manufacturers make compatible equivalents. These will
generally have the same number with a different letter prefix. For
example, there are equivalent xx847 optocoupler chips from several
manufacturers, with names like PC847, K847, LTV-847.
More detailed advice on selecting substitute parts can be found in the
chapters on the individual component types in our electronics overview
section,
A Crash Course in Electronics. Start at
Field Guide to Components and
follow the links to the chapters on the various components.
Ribbon cables
Some of the connections to and between the expansion boards are most
easily handled with "ribbon cables". These are the type of flat,
multi-conductor cables that you see inside PCs to connect some of the
internal components together.
The places I recommend ribbon cables are:
- The connection between the main board and power board (main board
"PWM OUT" to power board "PWM IN")
- The connection between the main board and the chime board ("Chime Out"
to "Chime In")
- The connection between the main board and the plunger sensor
- The connection from the main board to your flasher LEDs
Ribbon cabling isn't an absolute requirement for any of these, but I'd
recommended it over other options (especially crimp housings), because
it's cheaper and easier, and it makes cleaner data connections.
You can buy pre-assembled ribbon cables, but it's hard to find them
for anything other than the most common sizes used in PCs.
Fortunately, it's fairly easy to build your own. That's cheaper than
buying pre-made cables, and it lets you build the exact length you need
and with the number of conductors you need.
The parts list assumes that you're going to be building your own
custom ribbon cables where needed. As such, it lists the
connectors needed at the end of each required ribbon cable.
However, it doesn't list the wire. The wire is a generic
part that you can find anywhere, and you'll want to figure out what
length you need, so we leave it up to you to select the wire.
See
Ribbon Cables for details on buying the wire and
attaching the connectors to the cables.
Shopping list builder
The list below is formatted for printing. Click the button for
a more interactive view that will let you select parts, fill
in quantities, and create an ordering list that you can upload
to different vendor sites to fill in your shopping cart without
having to find everything manually.
Create a shopping list
To save you some time, this page can partially automate the
process of ordering components from some of the popular vendors.
Step 1. Start by selecting the subsystems you want to
include in your order. Check the box next to each subsystem
you want to include, and adjust the quantities as necessary.
You can adjust individual line item quantities as well if desired.
Please take note of items marked as "Alternate" in the Notes column.
These components have multiple options, so you'll want to review these
and choose the option(s) you want. There are notes for each of these
explaining the options and how to choose.
After you've selected parts and quantities, click a button below for
instructions on ordering from your preferred vendor.
Step 2. We're now going to create a BOM (Bill of Materials) at
Mouser based on the parts you've selected. A BOM is basically a saved
shopping cart, and the nice part is that we can create it by uploading
the data in the text box below rather than finding each part by hand.
- Go to mouser.com/bomtool
- Click Import a new BOM
- Log in. If you don't already have a Mouser account, create one now.
- You should now be on the BOM import page. Look for the "Copy/Paste Import" option.
Click the "click here" button in that section. That should display a big text entry box.
- Copy all of the text in the box below and paste it into text box on the Mouser page.
- Click the Import BOM button on the Mouser page
- Mouser will now lead you through several steps. You can use the defaults on each
step - just keep clicking Continue. The last step takes a couple of
minutes because this is where the server looks up all of the parts in its database.
After you get through all of the steps, Mouser should show you the complete BOM as
a list of parts with descriptions, quantities, and prices. You can now place your
order by clicking the Order All button at the bottom. This will copy
everything in the BOM to the regular shopping cart. Go through the checkout
process to complete the purchase.
Step 2. The list below shows the parts you'll need. You can use
equivalent parts from other manufacturers if you prefer; the manufacturer
part numbers are just shown for reference purposes, to make it easier to look
up the specs on each part.
Step 3. The following parts aren't available from Mouser
or the other major vendors. You'll have to order them separately.
KL25Z Microcontroller (Standalone)
Main Board (KL25Z Interface)
Plunger Sensor (TSL1410R linear photo sensor array)
Note: The TSL1410/12 sensors were discontinued by the manufacturer
in 2016 and are no longer available anywhere that I'm aware of. This
section is therefore of historical interest only. I'm keeping it in the
guide for the sake of completeness, and on the off chance that someone
discovers a dusty old carton full of unsold TSL1410's buried at the back
of a shelf in a warehouse somewhere, and puts them up for sale on eBay,
or the even more remote chance that the manufacturer does another run
at some point. But for now, I'm sorry to say that these devices can't
be bought at any price, so new cabinet builders will have to look to
the other plunger sensor options instead.
Plunger Sensor (Potentiometer)
Plunger Sensor (AEDR-8300 optical encoder)
Plunger Sensor (TCD1103 linear image sensor)
Plunger Calibration Button (Standalone)
Plunger Calibration Button (Expansion Boards)
Williams Coin Door 13-pin Connector Board - version 2
Williams Coin Door 13-pin Connector Board - version 1
