Seeburg USC1 still having problems

Hi,
I wrote about ten days ago regarding a (actually two separate)
Seeburg(s) USC1 jukeboxes not scanning when the third digit was hit. I
was told to check the "selection pass" switch, which I did. On each
jukebox, the switchas in the "yes" position. Since then, I've switched
each juke box to the "off" position. I thought (in vain) this would
solve my problems;
it did not.
Today I continued to work on each juke. When I press the first number
a(a 1 or a 2), the green light that says "first digit" lights up as it
should. Likewise for the second digit (zero to nine).
The problem was, and continues to be, when the third digit is pressed,
NOTHING happens! I have used different black boxes, different gray
boxes, different key pads (selector units), and different control
centers. What is going on!
I know about the battery trick, and read-in, read-out, and trip ad
nauseum. The problem as I see it, in EACH USC1 juke, is when the third
digit/number is pressed, nothing happens. I've even tried different
scan boards to see if it could be bad.
My question is, explicitly, WHAT is supposed to happen (that is not
happening) when the third digit is pressed? It is not lighting up
"reset/re-select). It is not the making the familiar noise I've heard
time and again (selection counter?) on my Seeburgs that are working
properly. It does not pick up the selected record when I manually throw
it into scan (this rules out a faulty scan switch/button, correct?).
I could go ahead and re-clean detent points, tormat memory units,
contact blocks, etc....but I don't believe that is the problem. What am
I not getting here (besides a scanning mechanism and subsequent
selections.)?
One last thing....when I did attempt a different control center on one
of the jukes, it did scan and "pick-up" a record (which I did not at
that time select). Any further selections resulted in the same
symptom......no mech scanning after the third digit. Please help, if
you have any thoughts that seem applicable to this situation. Thanks a
million, Rob

On 19 Sep 2005 12:32:54 -0700, wrote:

Hi,
I wrote about ten days ago regarding a (actually two separate)
Seeburg(s) USC1 jukeboxes not scanning when the third digit was hit. I
was told to check the "selection pass" switch, which I did. On each
jukebox, the switchas in the "yes" position. Since then, I've switched
each juke box to the "off" position. I thought (in vain) this would
solve my problems;
it did not.
Today I continued to work on each juke. When I press the first number
a(a 1 or a 2), the green light that says "first digit" lights up as it
should. Likewise for the second digit (zero to nine).
The problem was, and continues to be, when the third digit is pressed,
NOTHING happens! I have used different black boxes, different gray
boxes, different key pads (selector units), and different control
centers. What is going on!
I know about the battery trick, and read-in, read-out, and trip ad
nauseum. The problem as I see it, in EACH USC1 juke, is when the third
digit/number is pressed, nothing happens. I've even tried different
scan boards to see if it could be bad.
My question is, explicitly, WHAT is supposed to happen (that is not
happening) when the third digit is pressed? It is not lighting up
"reset/re-select). It is not the making the familiar noise I've heard
time and again (selection counter?) on my Seeburgs that are working
properly. It does not pick up the selected record when I manually throw
it into scan (this rules out a faulty scan switch/button, correct?).
I could go ahead and re-clean detent points, tormat memory units,
contact blocks, etc....but I don't believe that is the problem. What am
I not getting here (besides a scanning mechanism and subsequent
selections.)?
One last thing....when I did attempt a different control center on one
of the jukes, it did scan and "pick-up" a record (which I did not at
that time select). Any further selections resulted in the same
symptom......no mech scanning after the third digit. Please help, if
you have any thoughts that seem applicable to this situation. Thanks a
million, Rob

Rob;

Since you've replaced everything and nothing works, and since from
what you say above the black box is working, my guess would be that
the connections between the black box and the DCC, or the connections
between the DCC and the grey box are broken. If you have an
oscilloscope, observe the waveform at pin 7 (square) or pin 12 (DIP)
of the gray box custom chip. As each third digit is pressed, you
should see a negative pulse going from 0 to about -13 V for about 400
usec, start to go back to 0 for about 200 usec, back to -13 for ~400
usec, start back to 0 for ~200 usec, back to -13 for ~400 usec, and
finally back to 0 for about 1 msec. If this occurs, that means that
both the black and grey box work, and the problem is in the wiring
between the grey box and DCC, or a problem in the DCC Scan Start (the
small board, labeled 311143.

If you do not get this waveform, the problem could be with either box,
the DCC buffer board, or the interconnect between them.

Cheers,

Tony Miller

Tony, thanks for your reply. I went to a friend of mine's last night,
as he was having a similar problem with a DCC3 control center in his
Regency (FC1). This was before I was able to read your post about the
oscilloscope (which I believe he does have....we'll use that next time
we get together for some jukin').
We did discover his DCC3 was getting neither the -13 volts nor the -27
volts in his DCC3. I had taken 5 or 6 black boxes with me, as well as 3
gray boxes to try if we needed. We discovered his 6/10 fuses were blown
(the manual lists them as 8/10 amp, while it is marked 6/10 on his
buffer board.). While replacing a fuse with a new one, it too blew. He
suspected a bad transistor on the buffer board.
We took the power supply board out of my DCC1, and put it into his
DCC3. It worked perfectly. When we put the buffer board back into my
DCC1 where it belonged, again no response to the third digit being
pressed. We changed scan boards and it too worked perfectly. We will
try my second DCC1 with a different scan control board (as the one IS
bad), and will see if thast gives me two good working DCC1s.
We then tried all six of my black boxes, and found one to be bad; the
other 5 were good.
So Tony, you were correct in the power supply (buffer) board as being a
possible culprit. I also believe there could possibly be an issue with
the connectors and/or plugs from the cable/connectors of one of my
USC1s as you also described in your reply to my post. I will work on
this in the next several hours.
I do have one additional question for you Tony. After I returned home
from my friend's last evening, I did find a Troubleshooting Guide for
the digital credit and selection system hiding on top of one of my
jukes out in my workshop. In it it mentions a "digital tester probe"
and an alligator clip. What is a digital tester probe? Can I make one?
Are they offered for sale by anyone. Are they useful in using your book
on the black and gray boxes? Thanks again Tony. Chewers to you, Rob






On 19 Sep 2005 12:32:54 -0700, wrote:

Hi,
I wrote about ten days ago regarding a (actually two separate)
Seeburg(s) USC1 jukeboxes not scanning when the third digit was hit. I
was told to check the "selection pass" switch, which I did. On each
jukebox, the switchas in the "yes" position. Since then, I've switched
each juke box to the "off" position. I thought (in vain) this would
solve my problems;
it did not.
Today I continued to work on each juke. When I press the first number
a(a 1 or a 2), the green light that says "first digit" lights up as it
should. Likewise for the second digit (zero to nine).
The problem was, and continues to be, when the third digit is pressed,
NOTHING happens! I have used different black boxes, different gray
boxes, different key pads (selector units), and different control
centers. What is going on!
I know about the battery trick, and read-in, read-out, and trip ad
nauseum. The problem as I see it, in EACH USC1 juke, is when the third
digit/number is pressed, nothing happens. I've even tried different
scan boards to see if it could be bad.
My question is, explicitly, WHAT is supposed to happen (that is not
happening) when the third digit is pressed? It is not lighting up
"reset/re-select). It is not the making the familiar noise I've heard
time and again (selection counter?) on my Seeburgs that are working
properly. It does not pick up the selected record when I manually throw
it into scan (this rules out a faulty scan switch/button, correct?).
I could go ahead and re-clean detent points, tormat memory units,
contact blocks, etc....but I don't believe that is the problem. What am
I not getting here (besides a scanning mechanism and subsequent
selections.)?
One last thing....when I did attempt a different control center on one
of the jukes, it did scan and "pick-up" a record (which I did not at
that time select). Any further selections resulted in the same
symptom......no mech scanning after the third digit. Please help, if
you have any thoughts that seem applicable to this situation. Thanks a
million, Rob

Rob;

Since you've replaced everything and nothing works, and since from
what you say above the black box is working, my guess would be that
the connections between the black box and the DCC, or the connections
between the DCC and the grey box are broken. If you have an
oscilloscope, observe the waveform at pin 7 (square) or pin 12 (DIP)
of the gray box custom chip. As each third digit is pressed, you
should see a negative pulse going from 0 to about -13 V for about 400
usec, start to go back to 0 for about 200 usec, back to -13 for ~400
usec, start back to 0 for ~200 usec, back to -13 for ~400 usec, and
finally back to 0 for about 1 msec. If this occurs, that means that
both the black and grey box work, and the problem is in the wiring
between the grey box and DCC, or a problem in the DCC Scan Start (the
small board, labeled 311143.

If you do not get this waveform, the problem could be with either box,
the DCC buffer board, or the interconnect between them.

Cheers,

Tony Miller

Tony, thanks for your reply. I went to a friend of mine's last night,
as he was having a similar problem with a DCC3 control center in his
Regency (FC1). This was before I was able to read your post about the
oscilloscope (which I believe he does have....we'll use that next time
we get together for some jukin').
We did discover his DCC3 was getting neither the -13 volts nor the -27
volts in his DCC3. I had taken 5 or 6 black boxes with me, as well as 3
gray boxes to try if we needed. We discovered his 6/10 fuses were blown
(the manual lists them as 8/10 amp, while it is marked 6/10 on his
buffer board.). While replacing a fuse with a new one, it too blew. He
suspected a bad transistor on the buffer board.
We took the power supply board out of my DCC1, and put it into his
DCC3. It worked perfectly. When we put the buffer board back into my
DCC1 where it belonged, again no response to the third digit being
pressed. We changed scan boards and it too worked perfectly. We will
try my second DCC1 with a different scan control board (as the one IS
bad), and will see if thast gives me two good working DCC1s.
We then tried all six of my black boxes, and found one to be bad; the
other 5 were good.
So Tony, you were correct in the power supply (buffer) board as being a
possible culprit. I also believe there could possibly be an issue with
the connectors and/or plugs from the cable/connectors of one of my
USC1s as you also described in your reply to my post. I will work on
this in the next several hours.
I do have one additional question for you Tony. After I returned home
from my friend's last evening, I did find a Troubleshooting Guide for
the digital credit and selection system hiding on top of one of my
jukes out in my workshop. In it it mentions a "digital tester probe"
and an alligator clip. What is a digital tester probe? Can I make one?
Are they offered for sale by anyone. Are they useful in using your book
on the black and gray boxes? Thanks again Tony. Cheers to you, Rob






On 19 Sep 2005 12:32:54 -0700, wrote:

Hi,
I wrote about ten days ago regarding a (actually two separate)
Seeburg(s) USC1 jukeboxes not scanning when the third digit was hit. I
was told to check the "selection pass" switch, which I did. On each
jukebox, the switchas in the "yes" position. Since then, I've switched
each juke box to the "off" position. I thought (in vain) this would
solve my problems;
it did not.
Today I continued to work on each juke. When I press the first number
a(a 1 or a 2), the green light that says "first digit" lights up as it
should. Likewise for the second digit (zero to nine).
The problem was, and continues to be, when the third digit is pressed,
NOTHING happens! I have used different black boxes, different gray
boxes, different key pads (selector units), and different control
centers. What is going on!
I know about the battery trick, and read-in, read-out, and trip ad
nauseum. The problem as I see it, in EACH USC1 juke, is when the third
digit/number is pressed, nothing happens. I've even tried different
scan boards to see if it could be bad.
My question is, explicitly, WHAT is supposed to happen (that is not
happening) when the third digit is pressed? It is not lighting up
"reset/re-select). It is not the making the familiar noise I've heard
time and again (selection counter?) on my Seeburgs that are working
properly. It does not pick up the selected record when I manually throw
it into scan (this rules out a faulty scan switch/button, correct?).
I could go ahead and re-clean detent points, tormat memory units,
contact blocks, etc....but I don't believe that is the problem. What am
I not getting here (besides a scanning mechanism and subsequent
selections.)?
One last thing....when I did attempt a different control center on one
of the jukes, it did scan and "pick-up" a record (which I did not at
that time select). Any further selections resulted in the same
symptom......no mech scanning after the third digit. Please help, if
you have any thoughts that seem applicable to this situation. Thanks a
million, Rob

Rob;

Since you've replaced everything and nothing works, and since from
what you say above the black box is working, my guess would be that
the connections between the black box and the DCC, or the connections
between the DCC and the grey box are broken. If you have an
oscilloscope, observe the waveform at pin 7 (square) or pin 12 (DIP)
of the gray box custom chip. As each third digit is pressed, you
should see a negative pulse going from 0 to about -13 V for about 400
usec, start to go back to 0 for about 200 usec, back to -13 for ~400
usec, start back to 0 for ~200 usec, back to -13 for ~400 usec, and
finally back to 0 for about 1 msec. If this occurs, that means that
both the black and grey box work, and the problem is in the wiring
between the grey box and DCC, or a problem in the DCC Scan Start (the
small board, labeled 311143.

If you do not get this waveform, the problem could be with either box,
the DCC buffer board, or the interconnect between them.

Cheers,

Tony Miller

On 20 Sep 2005 14:20:42 -0700, wrote:

Tony, thanks for your reply. I went to a friend of mine's last night,
as he was having a similar problem with a DCC3 control center in his
Regency (FC1). This was before I was able to read your post about the
oscilloscope (which I believe he does have....we'll use that next time
we get together for some jukin').
We did discover his DCC3 was getting neither the -13 volts nor the -27
volts in his DCC3. I had taken 5 or 6 black boxes with me, as well as 3
gray boxes to try if we needed. We discovered his 6/10 fuses were blown
(the manual lists them as 8/10 amp, while it is marked 6/10 on his
buffer board.). While replacing a fuse with a new one, it too blew. He
suspected a bad transistor on the buffer board.
We took the power supply board out of my DCC1, and put it into his
DCC3. It worked perfectly. When we put the buffer board back into my
DCC1 where it belonged, again no response to the third digit being
pressed. We changed scan boards and it too worked perfectly. We will
try my second DCC1 with a different scan control board (as the one IS
bad), and will see if thast gives me two good working DCC1s.
We then tried all six of my black boxes, and found one to be bad; the
other 5 were good.
So Tony, you were correct in the power supply (buffer) board as being a
possible culprit. I also believe there could possibly be an issue with
the connectors and/or plugs from the cable/connectors of one of my
USC1s as you also described in your reply to my post. I will work on
this in the next several hours.
I do have one additional question for you Tony. After I returned home
from my friend's last evening, I did find a Troubleshooting Guide for
the digital credit and selection system hiding on top of one of my
jukes out in my workshop. In it it mentions a "digital tester probe"
and an alligator clip. What is a digital tester probe? Can I make one?
Are they offered for sale by anyone. Are they useful in using your book
on the black and gray boxes? Thanks again Tony. Cheers to you, Rob



This is just a pulse generator that lets you insert pulses downstream
of the Black box and upstream of the Gray box to verify that the
connections are correct for the four data lines. If you hit the A
line, you'll get 233, B gives you 222, C gives you 111, and D gives
you 100. The scope is a much better way, but you should have the
schematics handy if it turns out to be a black or gray box problem.
The DCC schematics are in the manual, bt the box schematics are not.

Cheers,

Tony Miller



On 19 Sep 2005 12:32:54 -0700, wrote:

Hi,
I wrote about ten days ago regarding a (actually two separate)
Seeburg(s) USC1 jukeboxes not scanning when the third digit was hit. I
was told to check the "selection pass" switch, which I did. On each
jukebox, the switchas in the "yes" position. Since then, I've switched
each juke box to the "off" position. I thought (in vain) this would
solve my problems;
it did not.
Today I continued to work on each juke. When I press the first number
a(a 1 or a 2), the green light that says "first digit" lights up as it
should. Likewise for the second digit (zero to nine).
The problem was, and continues to be, when the third digit is pressed,
NOTHING happens! I have used different black boxes, different gray
boxes, different key pads (selector units), and different control
centers. What is going on!
I know about the battery trick, and read-in, read-out, and trip ad
nauseum. The problem as I see it, in EACH USC1 juke, is when the third
digit/number is pressed, nothing happens. I've even tried different
scan boards to see if it could be bad.
My question is, explicitly, WHAT is supposed to happen (that is not
happening) when the third digit is pressed? It is not lighting up
"reset/re-select). It is not the making the familiar noise I've heard
time and again (selection counter?) on my Seeburgs that are working
properly. It does not pick up the selected record when I manually throw
it into scan (this rules out a faulty scan switch/button, correct?).
I could go ahead and re-clean detent points, tormat memory units,
contact blocks, etc....but I don't believe that is the problem. What am
I not getting here (besides a scanning mechanism and subsequent
selections.)?
One last thing....when I did attempt a different control center on one
of the jukes, it did scan and "pick-up" a record (which I did not at
that time select). Any further selections resulted in the same
symptom......no mech scanning after the third digit. Please help, if
you have any thoughts that seem applicable to this situation. Thanks a
million, Rob

Rob;

Since you've replaced everything and nothing works, and since from
what you say above the black box is working, my guess would be that
the connections between the black box and the DCC, or the connections
between the DCC and the grey box are broken. If you have an
oscilloscope, observe the waveform at pin 7 (square) or pin 12 (DIP)
of the gray box custom chip. As each third digit is pressed, you
should see a negative pulse going from 0 to about -13 V for about 400
usec, start to go back to 0 for about 200 usec, back to -13 for ~400
usec, start back to 0 for ~200 usec, back to -13 for ~400 usec, and
finally back to 0 for about 1 msec. If this occurs, that means that
both the black and grey box work, and the problem is in the wiring
between the grey box and DCC, or a problem in the DCC Scan Start (the
small board, labeled 311143.

If you do not get this waveform, the problem could be with either box,
the DCC buffer board, or the interconnect between them.

Cheers,

Tony Miller

Hi Tony,
A follow up to my problems with a USC1 (actually two of them)...I did
not have any more success with either of the USC1s; BUT...I did try the
same components in a USC2, and it selected each and every time!
However, at the end of record play, the record did not reject. I DO
know it is not the reject relay in the amp, because the amp is not even
hooked up (yet)!
I will try to narrow down the "not rejecting problem" on this USC2
before I ask for additional help ((((if needed). Thanks....I LOVE this
group! Rob




@localnet.com wrote:

Tony, thanks for your reply. I went to a friend of mine's last night,
as he was having a similar problem with a DCC3 control center in his
Regency (FC1). This was before I was able to read your post about the
oscilloscope (which I believe he does have....we'll use that next time
we get together for some jukin').
We did discover his DCC3 was getting neither the -13 volts nor the -27
volts in his DCC3. I had taken 5 or 6 black boxes with me, as well as 3
gray boxes to try if we needed. We discovered his 6/10 fuses were blown
(the manual lists them as 8/10 amp, while it is marked 6/10 on his
buffer board.). While replacing a fuse with a new one, it too blew. He
suspected a bad transistor on the buffer board.
We took the power supply board out of my DCC1, and put it into his
DCC3. It worked perfectly. When we put the buffer board back into my
DCC1 where it belonged, again no response to the third digit being
pressed. We changed scan boards and it too worked perfectly. We will
try my second DCC1 with a different scan control board (as the one IS
bad), and will see if thast gives me two good working DCC1s.
We then tried all six of my black boxes, and found one to be bad; the
other 5 were good.
So Tony, you were correct in the power supply (buffer) board as being a
possible culprit. I also believe there could possibly be an issue with
the connectors and/or plugs from the cable/connectors of one of my
USC1s as you also described in your reply to my post. I will work on
this in the next several hours.
I do have one additional question for you Tony. After I returned home
from my friend's last evening, I did find a Troubleshooting Guide for
the digital credit and selection system hiding on top of one of my
jukes out in my workshop. In it it mentions a "digital tester probe"
and an alligator clip. What is a digital tester probe? Can I make one?
Are they offered for sale by anyone. Are they useful in using your book
on the black and gray boxes? Thanks again Tony. Cheers to you, Rob



This is just a pulse generator that lets you insert pulses downstream
of the Black box and upstream of the Gray box to verify that the
connections are correct for the four data lines. If you hit the A
line, you'll get 233, B gives you 222, C gives you 111, and D gives
you 100. The scope is a much better way, but you should have the
schematics handy if it turns out to be a black or gray box problem.
The DCC schematics are in the manual, bt the box schematics are not.

Cheers,

Tony Miller



On 19 Sep 2005 12:32:54 -0700, wrote:

Hi,
I wrote about ten days ago regarding a (actually two separate)
Seeburg(s) USC1 jukeboxes not scanning when the third digit was hit. I
was told to check the "selection pass" switch, which I did. On each
jukebox, the switchas in the "yes" position. Since then, I've switched
each juke box to the "off" position. I thought (in vain) this would
solve my problems;
it did not.
Today I continued to work on each juke. When I press the first number
a(a 1 or a 2), the green light that says "first digit" lights up as it
should. Likewise for the second digit (zero to nine).
The problem was, and continues to be, when the third digit is pressed,
NOTHING happens! I have used different black boxes, different gray
boxes, different key pads (selector units), and different control
centers. What is going on!
I know about the battery trick, and read-in, read-out, and trip ad
nauseum. The problem as I see it, in EACH USC1 juke, is when the third
digit/number is pressed, nothing happens. I've even tried different
scan boards to see if it could be bad.
My question is, explicitly, WHAT is supposed to happen (that is not
happening) when the third digit is pressed? It is not lighting up
"reset/re-select). It is not the making the familiar noise I've heard
time and again (selection counter?) on my Seeburgs that are working
properly. It does not pick up the selected record when I manually throw
it into scan (this rules out a faulty scan switch/button, correct?).
I could go ahead and re-clean detent points, tormat memory units,
contact blocks, etc....but I don't believe that is the problem. What am
I not getting here (besides a scanning mechanism and subsequent
selections.)?
One last thing....when I did attempt a different control center on one
of the jukes, it did scan and "pick-up" a record (which I did not at
that time select). Any further selections resulted in the same
symptom......no mech scanning after the third digit. Please help, if
you have any thoughts that seem applicable to this situation. Thanks a
million, Rob

Rob;

Since you've replaced everything and nothing works, and since from
what you say above the black box is working, my guess would be that
the connections between the black box and the DCC, or the connections
between the DCC and the grey box are broken. If you have an
oscilloscope, observe the waveform at pin 7 (square) or pin 12 (DIP)
of the gray box custom chip. As each third digit is pressed, you
should see a negative pulse going from 0 to about -13 V for about 400
usec, start to go back to 0 for about 200 usec, back to -13 for ~400
usec, start back to 0 for ~200 usec, back to -13 for ~400 usec, and
finally back to 0 for about 1 msec. If this occurs, that means that
both the black and grey box work, and the problem is in the wiring
between the grey box and DCC, or a problem in the DCC Scan Start (the
small board, labeled 311143.

If you do not get this waveform, the problem could be with either box,
the DCC buffer board, or the interconnect between them.

Cheers,

Tony Miller

On 22 Sep 2005 12:45:02 -0700, wrote:

Hi Tony,
A follow up to my problems with a USC1 (actually two of them)...I did
not have any more success with either of the USC1s; BUT...I did try the
same components in a USC2, and it selected each and every time!
However, at the end of record play, the record did not reject. I DO
know it is not the reject relay in the amp, because the amp is not even
hooked up (yet)!
I will try to narrow down the "not rejecting problem" on this USC2
before I ask for additional help ((((if needed). Thanks....I LOVE this
group! Rob


This is WHY it doesn't reject! The relay actually performs the
reject.

Tony Miller



wrote:

Tony, thanks for your reply. I went to a friend of mine's last night,
as he was having a similar problem with a DCC3 control center in his
Regency (FC1). This was before I was able to read your post about the
oscilloscope (which I believe he does have....we'll use that next time
we get together for some jukin').
We did discover his DCC3 was getting neither the -13 volts nor the -27
volts in his DCC3. I had taken 5 or 6 black boxes with me, as well as 3
gray boxes to try if we needed. We discovered his 6/10 fuses were blown
(the manual lists them as 8/10 amp, while it is marked 6/10 on his
buffer board.). While replacing a fuse with a new one, it too blew. He
suspected a bad transistor on the buffer board.
We took the power supply board out of my DCC1, and put it into his
DCC3. It worked perfectly. When we put the buffer board back into my
DCC1 where it belonged, again no response to the third digit being
pressed. We changed scan boards and it too worked perfectly. We will
try my second DCC1 with a different scan control board (as the one IS
bad), and will see if thast gives me two good working DCC1s.
We then tried all six of my black boxes, and found one to be bad; the
other 5 were good.
So Tony, you were correct in the power supply (buffer) board as being a
possible culprit. I also believe there could possibly be an issue with
the connectors and/or plugs from the cable/connectors of one of my
USC1s as you also described in your reply to my post. I will work on
this in the next several hours.
I do have one additional question for you Tony. After I returned home
from my friend's last evening, I did find a Troubleshooting Guide for
the digital credit and selection system hiding on top of one of my
jukes out in my workshop. In it it mentions a "digital tester probe"
and an alligator clip. What is a digital tester probe? Can I make one?
Are they offered for sale by anyone. Are they useful in using your book
on the black and gray boxes? Thanks again Tony. Cheers to you, Rob



This is just a pulse generator that lets you insert pulses downstream
of the Black box and upstream of the Gray box to verify that the
connections are correct for the four data lines. If you hit the A
line, you'll get 233, B gives you 222, C gives you 111, and D gives
you 100. The scope is a much better way, but you should have the
schematics handy if it turns out to be a black or gray box problem.
The DCC schematics are in the manual, bt the box schematics are not.

Cheers,

Tony Miller



On 19 Sep 2005 12:32:54 -0700, wrote:

Hi,
I wrote about ten days ago regarding a (actually two separate)
Seeburg(s) USC1 jukeboxes not scanning when the third digit was hit. I
was told to check the "selection pass" switch, which I did. On each
jukebox, the switchas in the "yes" position. Since then, I've switched
each juke box to the "off" position. I thought (in vain) this would
solve my problems;
it did not.
Today I continued to work on each juke. When I press the first number
a(a 1 or a 2), the green light that says "first digit" lights up as it
should. Likewise for the second digit (zero to nine).
The problem was, and continues to be, when the third digit is pressed,
NOTHING happens! I have used different black boxes, different gray
boxes, different key pads (selector units), and different control
centers. What is going on!
I know about the battery trick, and read-in, read-out, and trip ad
nauseum. The problem as I see it, in EACH USC1 juke, is when the third
digit/number is pressed, nothing happens. I've even tried different
scan boards to see if it could be bad.
My question is, explicitly, WHAT is supposed to happen (that is not
happening) when the third digit is pressed? It is not lighting up
"reset/re-select). It is not the making the familiar noise I've heard
time and again (selection counter?) on my Seeburgs that are working
properly. It does not pick up the selected record when I manually throw
it into scan (this rules out a faulty scan switch/button, correct?).
I could go ahead and re-clean detent points, tormat memory units,
contact blocks, etc....but I don't believe that is the problem. What am
I not getting here (besides a scanning mechanism and subsequent
selections.)?
One last thing....when I did attempt a different control center on one
of the jukes, it did scan and "pick-up" a record (which I did not at
that time select). Any further selections resulted in the same
symptom......no mech scanning after the third digit. Please help, if
you have any thoughts that seem applicable to this situation. Thanks a
million, Rob

Rob;

Since you've replaced everything and nothing works, and since from
what you say above the black box is working, my guess would be that
the connections between the black box and the DCC, or the connections
between the DCC and the grey box are broken. If you have an
oscilloscope, observe the waveform at pin 7 (square) or pin 12 (DIP)
of the gray box custom chip. As each third digit is pressed, you
should see a negative pulse going from 0 to about -13 V for about 400
usec, start to go back to 0 for about 200 usec, back to -13 for ~400
usec, start back to 0 for ~200 usec, back to -13 for ~400 usec, and
finally back to 0 for about 1 msec. If this occurs, that means that
both the black and grey box work, and the problem is in the wiring
between the grey box and DCC, or a problem in the DCC Scan Start (the
small board, labeled 311143.

If you do not get this waveform, the problem could be with either box,
the DCC buffer board, or the interconnect between them.

Cheers,

Tony Miller