Mikohn Controller Programming

[L8ndeb]

Hello All,

     This question has probably been answered, but I cannot find it in a search. I've got PE bar top video poker. One Mikohn controller w/PSP programming software. It shows ver 1.00 in the log in screen, and ver 2.00 in the P.S.P. send1 screen. The controller is a CON1E ver 8.0 Checksum EAA6. The machine are wired for one way communication (machine to controller).
     In the past, we had one progressive jackpot. When it was hit, the sign would flash alternating between #X (X being the machine that hit) won $X,XXX.XX, and the base amount with what was being added with play since the jackpot was hit. We would turn the jackpot key, play a hand, and the screen would drop the alternating and show the current jackpot figure. Now when a jackpot is hit, the screen shows only the amount won, and keeps adding to it as hands are played. When the jackpot key is turned, nothing happens. We had a guy who would be called out to reprogram the unit in the event of a power loss or problem. He has since moved on, and I'm trying to do it with a laptop and the PSP software.
     I have communication, for I can set the amount, but I am obviously missing something in the settings. Currently, I have it set to in the Jackpot programming screen:

1,000.00 base
What ever the current is
1,000.00 Hidden JP
10,000.00 JP limit
00.002 000 00 increment 1
F3 is set to HID2
F4 is M-00
F5 is 3 sec
F6 JP1 is 1,000.00
F6 J2 is 1,000.00

Any help you guys can give me would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks,

Leyton

[jay]

I think the F4 needs to be m-08 for IGT.
This is in the CON1 manual.

We have the Submit a new file area. You will find both a PSP programming manual and the CON1.zip file - the latter contains the manual.

The issue you are having is timing.

[L8ndeb]

Hi Jay,
     Thanks for the reply. First, I've got the manual, but for what ever reason, some of this stuff is not registering. ) The manual states "Older machines (Fortune 1, Fortune II, some S-Slot and Players Edge software) were only capable of one progressive JP, so they used the short coin, long JP method. Recommended machine type is M-00 or M-05. I have it set to M-00.
     After re-reading this section, I think I need to set F3 in the JP programming screen to "SNGL". Would this give the results I'm looking for?

Thanks,

Leyton

[L8ndeb]

One other thing I should mention........in the Controller Test Mode, I have F3 set to the default (No Test Mode). If we have reset in the past reset JP's with a key, then a coin in, shouldn't that be set to RESW (Keyswitch Jackpot Reset)?

Thanks again.

[jay]

You for sure want SNGL, the manual is wrong about the single progressive. You can set 4 levels of progressives on most of the PE poker games.... although I have never tried   using more than one.

I have 4 machines hooked up, 3 x S+ and 1 PE+  When I hit a royal flush which is much more common than hitting a top award on a S+ I need to use the reset key to address the hand pay condition of the machine.
My overhead display LED4 (Cham44) bounces between Winner #3 (as it is my 3rd machine) and the progressive amount. Then it shows the reset amount and that starts incrementing due to play on the other slots.
When I drop a couple of coins (or credits) on the PE+ it appears that just the regular coin signaling seems to reset the display back to the base + whatever play the other machines had generated.

Incidently I use a gatway so I can get the progressive value on the screen of the PE+ vs the word Jackpot.

I have never used the RESW setting. I think this might be for a second key switch. This prevents the machine from being played and resetting the jackpot ultil the casino is ready to reset it. I am not quite sure where I would wire in a second keyswitch to.

[L8ndeb]

Hi Jay,

     Again, thanks for the reply. I have changed the F3 setting to SNGL. May I assume that setting will (as you wrote) " bounces between Winner #3 (as it is my 3rd machine) and the progressive amount." ?
     After further digging, I found the RESW setting (as you stated) is for machines wired in a second key switch. Mine are not, as nothing is connected to J2 in the controller. So, I am using the F3 default in the Controller Test Mode.
     I might be interested in the gateway idea, as ours do show "Jackpot". What is a gateway (duh), and what would be involved in setting one up?
     Bottom line. this is supposedly a very basic setup. Two wires connected to the motherboard, Red and Black. Blacks go to J1 in the controller (I assume to identify each machine), and most of the reds are tied together (I assume a common).
     Any other comments/suggestions appreciated. Especially regarding proper program settings.

TIA,

Leyton

[jay]

The CON1 is limited to 32 machines. However you can slave additional CON1s to expand from 32.  The setting SNGL is to identify that this is the ONLY controller.

I would suspect that your machine not staying in jackpot mode is related to M00 vs M05.

The gateway is a square box that has a metal cover like the con1.
It has a series of inputs and a series of outputs that cover off Bally, Aristocrat, IGT, etc.
We are only concerned with the IGT ones.
There is no programming required.
What the box does is create the Data-Return line (Pin 3) on the PE+

Keeping everything the way you have it now.....

You would take a feed off of the CON1 display output and this would go to the Gateway IN pins.
From the Gateway out pins you would take the + (output) and connect it to Pin 3 (data Return) on the PE+
The GND line that goes to Pin 2 gets twinned and goes to both the gateway (output -) and to the PE+

This Output can be shared across as many machines as you want for your bank of progressives.

[L8ndeb]

Hi Jay,
     Apparently, I would need 3 wires per machine, (coin pulse, ground, and + output to PE) correct? If so, might be more trouble than it is worth as I only have a two wire cable from each machine to controller.
     As far as M00 vs M05, are you suggesting that I set it to M05?
     Lastly, with it in SNGL mode, does this setting cause it to bounce between the won amount and the new progressive amount?

Thanks,

Leyton

[jay]

No SINGL just means that this is a single controler rather than master or slave.
Ie a single CON1 could be the master and have 32 slaves.. connecting 1024 slots or pokers....

The CON1 does the flip between the two amounts automatically when it senses a win.
If you want to simulate this just short the 2 wires for 3 seconds ......
You probably want to make sure that the LED4 is set for an overhead display and not specifically tied to a number.

My LED5s (smaller machine specific displays) have been assigned machine addressing and they just lock on to the progressive amount and don't flip.

For wirig I ran a CAT5 cable between each of the slots so I could have 3wires to the slot, and 2 for the in machine display.

[L8ndeb]

Hi Jay,

Last question (hopefully), in your opinion, should the F4 setting in the Jackpot Programming screen be set to M-05 instead of M-00? What is the difference?

Thanks.

[stayouttadabunker]

I wonder if this would help you?
I don't know what kind of machine you're setting up this for?
It's a poor copy and paste but you
can click on it to enlarge it!>>>

[L8ndeb]

Thanks Bunker. I've got the manual, and have them set to M-00 now. However, I was wondering what the difference was between M-00 and M-05. The manual doesn't designate between the two.

[jay]

I think mine is M05 .... Its been a long time since I was playing with these settings. I think the M00 worked fine for the S+ but on the PE+ it would not trigger with the setting at M00.
I have both S+'s and the PE+ connected to the same progressive.... which according to statute B17 is ok in a home basement but not in a live Casino (ok I am making that statute part up but it sounded good at the time).
I am not sure if it was because I had both types hooked up as the setting for 3s is supposed to control the jackpot triggering and the M00 or M05 is for the coin in pulse timing. So I am not sure why that this woud have any bearing.

All I can do is suggest you try it. Short the wires to force a jackpot then connect them back up to the PE+, and put a few coins in and see if it clears the way you want.

Did you adjust your Cham44 dials to ensure it was on overhead display ?

For testing I had soldered a momentary button to the end of a long lead. I would either connect this as slot #5 directlly to the con1 or use it in parallel (running out through the belly door) to one of he slots.

I hope you post more as this has been an interesting discussion.

[L8ndeb]

HI Jay,
I haven't changed anything since yesterday. Again, a duh question, but what are the Cham44 dials? Would I need to do that since I'm only connected to an overhead display?  BTW, I downloaded the Con1.zip file and think I have identified the controller board. It looks like a CON1I.

[jay]

The I is what I have.
The E is the one with the extension outputs on it, usually fiber.
Doesn't make much difference

There are two dials on the Cham44 - I am at work so I don't have all of the info with me but most can be found in the CON1 manual.

One of the dials adjusts the Cham44 to display:
-  just the jackpot amount - progessive 0
-  Just the jackpot amount - progressive 1
-  Just the jackpot amount - progressive 2
-  Just the jackpot amount - progressive 3
 - Messages with progressive
- Test message (I belive this is A - Z plus numbers and symbols)
- Test message Graphic blocks
- All Red
- All Green
- All Yellow
- Etc

The other dial I think is for machine addressing. I would have to check the manual
but its like
- Overhead display
- Machine 1
- Machine 2
- Machine 3
etc

[jay]

Your complaint was that it was not bouncing between Progressive amount won and the reset amount.
The only reasons it would not bounce between the two is that:
A. The jackpot was won but not triggered
B. The display is not on the overhead setting, in which case it will just show the amount won and sit on that screen until the machine is played again.

[L8ndeb]

Well, to the best of my knowledge, I'm the only one that would get into the Cham settings, and they haven't been changed since the system was installed 19 years ago. So, I assume the problem is in the jackpot not being triggered. We are back to the M-00 / M-05 settings?

[stayouttadabunker]

The name of the board should be printed right
onto the board itself telling you exactly what board it is.
Don't always go by labeling...they could be wrong.
The guy that used to reset everything...
did he not leave programming notes behind?
I think that would be required by a casino to store a copy of those notes?
Anyways,I'd go with Jay's suggesting of playing with the M-00/M-05,
put in a few coins and shorting out a data line to get a  jackpot signal.
If it doesn't work when set to MM-01, then I'd try the next setting of MM-02,etc... until something works?

[L8ndeb]

Well guys,
I shorted out the two wires and forced a jackpot. It worked as it should. Jay, at this point, I agree with you that the problem is in the jackpot signal. In the Jackpot Programming window, I have changed the F4 setting to M-05. The F5 setting is 3 seconds. Is that default or standard for an IGT PE? BTW, bunker, the guy that previously did our settings did not work for us. We bought the machines from him 2nd hand, and he did it as a "favor" until he got tired of helping.

Thanks.

[stayouttadabunker]

I'd also get rid of the "Hidden Jackpot" and
zero out those values...
unless you have it there for a reason.

[jay]

It was my understanding that the M00 and the M05 is used for the jackpot incrementing and the 3sec was the jackpot trigger.

Just a stupid question - you have pressed the F1 (SEND) button to force these values to the controller ? haven't you.
It could be that the CON1 is messed up and changing the PSP settings all day long is not going to change the behavior of the CON1 unless you press SEND.

Do you have anyway to force your PE+ into tripping the top award so we could see if the game triggers correctly ??? if so I want a copy.....

If we were to scale back the 3sec to 1sec - I am not sure this will do you any harm and it might fix the problem - what you do not want is for the PE+ to accidently trigger a jackpot during normal play.
Ie you hit the max bet button with 10coin play and have it go into Jackpot mode because it sees the 10 pulses as one long pulse.

[L8ndeb]

Bunker, got rid of hid JP's and zeroed out the fields.
Jay, I have "sent" successfully. When you say force the PE into tripping the top award, are you referring to the progressive amount as the top award? If so, I have done that with shorting the red and black at J15 (bottom two pins) for 3 sec. The progressive sign flashed winner #X with the progressive amount, and then starting doing the winner sign and the current progressive amount sign.......as it should. I cannot force a royal flush (top award) on any of my machines. Don't have the knowledge or tools.

[jay]

Thats what I meant..... was hoping you had a test chip or something that would hit a Royal Flush.......everytime.

[L8ndeb]

OK guys,

Tried wiring up one closest to the controller with an extra wire to pin 3 J3 in the controller, to pin 3 (from the bottom) J15 on the motherboard in the PE. Ran another wire from pin 4 J3 in the controller to the common (grounds) bundle from each machine in the controller. I was expecting to see the progressive amount on the PE screen w/5 bet, but still says Jackpot1. Is there a setting I must change in the controller or the PE (or both) to get the progressive amount on the screen?

Sorry Jay, no chip.

[L8ndeb]

Here's a stupid question. In the Con1.zip pdf file, page 102, it shows the board I have. It states on item 7 "Includes Gateway Box". Does this mean the gateway circuit is already on the board, or does it mean it is shipped with a gateway box?