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Page Created 06-05-2025
_ GAA Continentals _ OK, after all these years I am more than a
bit confused` As to which manuals, keypads, and
controllers can be used for these Bingos Case-in-point`…Here is a New
Continental Golden with Bally manual and KDU keypad`
Just how far did Bally’s original
design transfer up`…carry forward`` Are some of the TSCC/GAA Bingos basically
predicated on this design`…it kind of looks like it` Now consider Vic’s New Continental Golden
and the manual that he received with his Bingo
The first page shows a picture of much
newer Continental One Ball from TCSS The Slot Construction Company logo
prominent on the backglass` And near the bottom of the page is the logo
and contact information for GAA Suggesting that the manual is from TSCC and
that GAA was a distributer` Really nothing on the front page ties the
manual to Vic’s New Continental Golden The second page states “New
Continental” and that gets us closer to Vic’s game` Now looking at Phil’s webpages here in June 2025`…there is a bit more to
the mystery` Under his GAA Section he doesn’t list
a manual for New Continental Golden, but he does for New Continental For New Cont he has a second/different copy
of Vic’s manual` You
can tell it is a different copy by all of the hand-written notations, incluing on that front cover`
Another indication is the quality of the
scans`…a better resolution, clearly from another source` https://bingo.cdyn.com/machines/gaa/new_continental/ Here is the “flyer” he also has
listed with with his New Conntinental
Ok, Phil doesn’t make too many
mistakes`…Most of all of his references are from Machine Owners So, someone has a New Continental that was
tied to this manual and that doesn’t surprise me` _ The second page is clearly labeled New
Continental _ So, the obvious questions right…? Are all these games based upon the same
design: Bally Continental, GAA New Continental, GAA New Continental Golden, and TSCC
Continental One Ball – I’d say yes` …except for One Ball Next, just how far forward does
Bally’s manual and KDU keypad reach: Can they be used on all of these Bingos`…Well the answer
lies in the Coin Doors`…can the KDU Be plugged in` Next, just how far backward-and-forward
does Vic’s manual reach`…and how close is it to Bally’s Trivia: Vic’s manual calls the keypad
it references a “KDU” – a seldom used in Belgium Another indicator that there is a lot of
cross-over here between machine design and manuals` OK`…Cool _ Now let’s look at some pictures and
a bit of detail on the Chip Sets _ Here are Bally Continental pictures from
Phil’s website`
The motherboard used in New Continental is
almost one-to-one to this Bally design` Now, here are two images from Dave
Gower’s New Continental
There are a few component differences
toward the center`…but clearly New Continental was based directly upon Bally’s CPU
layout and circuitry` The most notable difference is the number
of eeproms used` Bally used (4) ROMs for their game and New
Continental only needed (2)
So, here is the newest of these machines
and the “odd man out” as to Chip Sets Vic’s machine`...game-face and
motherboard`
A completely different motherboard, using a
Z80 CPU and has (4) EPROM slots _ OK, now the (2) manuals` Pg 21 of Phil’s manual has this
motherboard parts layout drawing that matches New Continental Golden
So does Vic’s copy, and both start a
special section for “New Continental Golden” on Pg 39 So both manuals are the same and ignoring
the odd cover, it suggests that this manual is applicable to these older
Continental machines` And now we know that the “similar
age” Super Six Card games are involved` G.A.A. Super Six Card Chip Set
_ OK, so what about the keypads (KDUs)
which ones match which Bingos _ All of these CPUs are basically based on
the early Intel 8085 Does that mean that these games are super
close in design`…that the keypad interfaces are super close in design`…I do not
know, but the commonality here may mean so` _
Bally _
Ok, with that single-row multi-pin
connector, the interface is unique to Bally We’ll have to look closer at the
key/button set to further evaluate` _ GAA New Continental Golden _
With that ribbon cable and number of total
keys, this is clearly a different animal` On this
webpage you can see where Vic’s ribbon cable plugs in` G.A.A. New Continental
Golden Keypad _ New Continental & Green Banner Bingos
_ I don’t see any images of a
controller in any of my webpages or archives –
Odd` Now these keypads generally plug into an
access connector on a board just inside the Coin Door The best look we have in any of the
machines are the photos from David Gower He shows us left , right, looking down ,
and straight-on inside the door’ But there are no obvious connect points or
clues` _
OK, so what additional detail is in the manuals that can help us? _ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That
is the exact same block diagram of the circuitry, including reference to the
KDU On
Pg 11 of Bally’s manual they start going into detail on the
KDU`…and so does Vic’s manual` But
there is no picture of the device and there is a ton of different detail and
instruction` So,
bottom line: Like all of these electronic games, New Continental has a keypad
controller` And
just as revealing`…New Continental’s design is predicated on Ballys The
manual gets a little confusing as to reference and instruction for the
keypad` The
first detail starting on Pg 11, as stated above, doesn’t match
Vic’s 12-button keypad` But
as you get to the last section of the manual`…it directly references
the 12-button device` And
the key/button set names/callouts match Vic’s device precisely` I
assume they left the “first set” of keypad references in Vic’s
manual in place because they apply
to New Continental and a different keypad` Interestingly,
at first glance, they appear to be pretty close to Bally’s key/button
set` _
Summary / To Do’s _ I
think it is fair to say that the CPU schematics in this manual reflect the
Z80 microprocessor
in New Continental Golden as to the other schematics, we would need a complete
set of boards numbers in the New Continentals to confirm` I
think it is also fair to say that the first part of the manual applies to the
New Continentals So,
I think once we identify that keypad we can verify programming - etc I
think there are huge similarities to the other Green Banners games like Super
Six Cards Six
Cards Royal, and New Continental De Luxe and that
the early sections in this manual also apllies` It
is my guess, that they would also use the same keypad and instructions` The
‘to do” here is for me to print out a bunch of detail from the
early keypad instructions and
identify/record all of the buttons listed out`…maybe with that detail
we can identify the proper keypad` I
should also figure out how many wires come off the Bally KDU Even
with all that, I still am not done with the story`…I still
haven’t figured everything out yet` Here
is a schematic set I have yet to properly identify – The center link below`
_
LINK_ _ Solid-State
Theory-of-Operation _ _
hmmm _ Also,
I am not at all sure why the GAA cover sheet shows a TSCC Continental One
Ball
This
is an entirely different beast` …a
much later generation and feature set` This is one of the Magic Games and has
Playfield Scoring - etc` It is my guess that the electronics here
are much more advanced` ~ |
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