Williams System 11
2x7 alphanumeric + 2x7 numeric


This display board replaces the gas tube displays "Williams D-11610" that are used in the following Williams pinball machines: Big Guns, F-14 Tomcat, Fire!, Space Station, Cyclone, Sword of Fury. According to our information it also fits into some Data East machines like Time Machine, Torpedo Alley and Secret Service.

Main features are the very long lifetime (unlike the gas discharge stuff LEDs almost never fail) and a beautiful red shine being bright enough to be clearly visible also in daylight. Alas, most of the digicams seem to have problems with the color of the LEDs as they do not appear right on the shots below. But you can easily imagine the color, when you think of a normal red LED display. Of course it depends on your personal taste and the machine you own, but if you have one with a bit of red in the backglas (like an F-14) the LED displays look absolutely great (a bit agressive maybe) and you will never want the old gloomy stuff back.



That's how the machine looks with the board assembled; strange enough that the color of the reflection in the playfield glas looks much more like in reality than the display itself. And it shows how bright they are ...


 
Like the original one our board is equipped with 7 alphanumeric characters for player 1 and 2 and numeric ones for player 3 and 4. To mark the thousands and million points they use dots (The original ones use commas).

As we were fed up with etching by ourself, the LED board is professionally manufactured:


D-11610 replacement: frontside


D-11610 replacement: backside

Assembling the board is quite easy and except of a screwdriver there are no tools needed. First remove the backglas (the coloured glas in the rear box).
Step 1: Unplug all cables and remove the dislay / loudspeaker unit
 Step 2: Remove the old display board and the metal brackets, loosen the screws holding the loudspeaker or remove it completely like it is shown here


Step 3: Insert the LED board (WITHOUT) the metal brackets
 Step 4: Screw the board and the loudspeaker


Step 5: Check the front of the loudspeaker / display unit
 Step 6: Connect the cables (like on the original board, all plugs are key-coded or marked), re-install the loudspeaker / display unit and you're done That was it about the description of the display boards

That was it about the description of the display boards.

Some words about us: This 'LED-Display' project was started, because we (two electronical engineers and pinball enthusiasts) had to repair our Big Guns pinball machine which had faulty displays. This project has lead to a quite professional board and we have ordered a small amount of professionally manufactured boards for our own use and for some friends from the pinball community.
In the meantime, all those boards are happily installed in some pinball machines, hopefully enjoying a very long lifetime and much pinball fun!

For anybody who wants to start an own attempt, here are our plans:
schematics
Layout top
Layout bottom
BOM
Components

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