Amusements

I think you should buy an Arduino kit and play with some code on chat GPT. Get one of them Arduinos with built in wifi and you should be able to press a button on your phone for a coin out.

Yes....These are cheap from China, and 12/24v hoppers are not readily available here unless you pay a fortune in postage. As an example. Here is a 24v (The only one I can find online here) and it is 82 Squid. https://shopee.co.th/Coin-Hopper-for-Coin-Exchnage-Machine-i.230857249.22046526098 A 220v like the big black one I have, is easy to find, and only cost around 20 Squid, and can hold 1000 tokens.

The black one is 220v and the blue one is 110v

If you change the relay that says PACDRIVE to a switch or button it will spin the hopper until a coin spit out. //pins const int pulse = 2; const int opto = 4; const int motor = 12; int relaya = 0; // off int relayb = 0; // off void setup() { // output: pinMode(motor, OUTPUT); // input: pinMode(pulse, INPUT); pinMode(opto, INPUT); } void loop() { relaya = digitalRead(pulse); if (relaya == HIGH) { digitalWrite(motor, HIGH); } relayb = digitalRead(opto); if (relayb == HIGH) { digitalWrite(motor, LOW); } }

I have done a few things regarding payouts without using a layout. A key switch that you turn to rotate the hopper (It simply connects the 220v to the hopper motor) An old kids money box that sets off a couple of timers that spit out x amount of coins, when you insert a note or piece of paper. A JY-142 board from Aliexpress that converts pulses in - to credits/coins out. An Arduino Uno that converts a button press to a coin out. (Based on the simple "press a button to light an led" free example) Another Arduino Uno that converts notes in to key presses using my note acceptor. I have some old threads in the cab section. I think it might be possible to make some sort of change machine based on MFME, using some of these new AI tools to program and assemble some code?

There are these: MFME Shortcuts.zip

Ouch!!! I know how much work it takes to set up layouts on a cab... Mine is set up for over 2000 layouts, and that has taken me a couple of years to do. The only thing that helped me was to make a Pacdrive template. Once I set the buttons in a layout, I load the Pacdrive template and click Config in Pacdrive settings to fill in the lamp fields. Other than that, it's a lot of time-consuming work. If he can find someone else with a similar set up and copy their layout folder that would help. For setting up the coin inputs, this is what I use now to set things up. CREDIT BUTTONS TEST.zip Run this in a separate MFME window and put in to Edit mode, and you can copy and paste the buttons into your layout to test different settings.

In simple terms, The Pacdrive spins up the hopper motor, and the Ipac tells the hopper to stop spinning after a coin passes the optical sensor. Here is 1 example. When you get a 1 coin hopper payout, the Pacdrive sends out 5v to a pin out IE: 16. (Or up to 48v with external power.) This 5v output is what you connect to a relay that completes the circuit to power the hopper motor. (I use 220v hoppers). The hopper spins round until a coin passes through the optical sensor. This is where the Ipac comes in. The Ipac is waiting for a connection to be made between ground and a pin on the board you set for the "[" or "]" input. This is done with another relay. I use a 12v one as it is the same voltage as my opto board. When the opto board senses the coin pass, it sends a signal to my relay and that makes the right connection on the Ipac telling the hopper motor to stop spinning.

Ultimarc is the main supplier. Output :: LED and Output Controllers :: PAC Drive (ultimarc.com)

In a nutshell, the PacDrive fires 5v to the hopper relay, which gets the hopper spinning. However, it stays on until the opto senses the coin output, and in turn fires a relay, which connects 2 pins on your Ipac, which makes the "[" or "]" key press on your PC. For triac payouts, you can do away with the Ipac as it does exactly as you say. I use an aduino R3 and route the opto back in to the arduino to stop the hopper spinning.

I use a 3-way key switch to cross over the opto connections (coin output sensors), and a separate 3-way switch to cross over the hopper connections from the Pacdrive. There is a setting in MFME Config to swop the optos over for AstraSYSA1, but not for scorpion 4/5 or impact. IE: Monopoly Deluxe, Very Rich Geezer, Wild Jackpots (scorpion 4) Baking Bad (Scorpion 5) Club Frame & Fortune, Club Big Top, Club Red Hot 6 (impact) The following need the Opto and the hopper switching over:

Output :: LED and Output Controllers :: PAC Drive (ultimarc.com)

I prefer 16:9 in portrait mode, because you can always add blank space to the top of layouts to make them fit snuggly to the bottom of a cab. 16:9 is also better for the taller layouts with belly glasses and top features.