CAM Automatics

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badpenny
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by badpenny »

"... (Badpenny to insert inuendo here)"

Thems is brave words from a man who's still waiting for the arrival of his owner's manual regarding his Imperator, yessiree brave words partner, yes indeedee! !COOOL!
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slotalot
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by slotalot »

Hi Jeremy :D , or should that be howdy partner! Yes the Imperator manual… I had forgotten that you were going to post it !SMILER! , but now that you have remembered that you had forgotten to remember to post it you had better post it now before you forget, as I might not remember to remind you… anyway that’s a lot clearer now we have sorted that out…or I think it is, to be quite honest I can’t remember :mad: …. Look after yourself, Stuart.
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by slotalot »

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CAM AUTOMATICS
I have been doing some research into the history of the Cam Automatics slot machine company of Seaham Harbour, and I have managed to find and email Mr Craig Murray the son of the late owner of Cam Automatics, details are as you might expect after 50+ years a little hazy but this is what Craig told me;

Yes, it was indeed run by my father. Unfortunately I was born in 1958 myself, so I am afraid my personal knowledge is very limited as I believe my father's ownership of Cam ended about 1965. I know the entire industry was only just legalised, and was in danger of being taken over by organised crime in those early days. I also know my father managed to make and to lose a substantial fortune in very short time. I have spoken to my mother who didn't ever visit the premises in Seaham, but like me did not recall that they made their own machines at least I don't think they engineered the gaming mechanisms. I am pretty sure the machines were all Bell Fruit. My guess is that only the artwork was specific to Cam, and may have been ordered customised from the manufacturer. I have no memories of these machines without reels at all.
My father who’s middle name was Cameron hence the name Cam Automatics had been civilian entertainments officer at RAF Lakenheath, a then enormous USAF base where US law applied - and still does today. Gaming had been legal in the US while still illegal in the UK, so he had managed many slot machines on the base and when gaming was legalised in the UK; he was one of very few British people with experience of the industry. So I am pretty sure Cam started by modifying American made machines. That there was also a link to Bell Fruit I am sure.


I asked Mr. Murray if he would like to add a photo to this article, as of yet he has not replied.
I have also contacted Bell Fruit but unfortunately the company records do not go back that far so they could not tell me if they made the machines or not.
Maybe we will never know the truth of who made this range of small machines but it looks as if Cam Automatics was not the manufacturer after all, and the Cam Girl Machine may be the only one accredited to them.
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by wb »

slotalot wrote:
Operator Bell wrote:Now that gives me an idea. These Cam Girl types are nice, simple machines, and any reasonably competent handyman could build a replica,
Hi Opp Bell :D , I am ahead on you with this one ;-) , I started to make my own version called Wild West a few weeks ago, I did my own graphics with the aid of your clasic fruit symbols,this has now been put on hold till I get my crane machine sorted out, This is as far as I got :oops: , check out the photos, dont ask me for a wiring diagram :!?!:.... cos I made it out of my head!!!!! (Badpenny to insert inuendo here) :tarah:
Hey, I like the graphics you did for your machine, how did you print them? are they professionally screen printed or done with a printer??
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

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WB wrote:
Hey, I like the graphics you did for your machine, how did you print them? are they professionally screen printed or done with a printer??
Hi WB :D , I had forgotten all about this machine, never got it finished, I used the parts for another project !PUZZLED!
As for the graphics? I did the design in word on my computer !!JUNK!! You could use a fancy program like Photoshop if you wanted to :!?!: I used a mix of clipart and some fruit symbols that can be found in the forum Resources. These symbols were done by our very own "Operator Bell" !THUMBS!

Once I got the design ready, I decided on the finished size and converted it to PDF. I took the PDF to our local print shop and had it laser printed onto white crack-back plastic (sticky back plastic). I stuck this print to a sheet of 3mm glass, I then put a second sheet of 3mm glass over the print, sealed the edges of the 2 sheets of glass with a very small amount of clear silicone sealant and let it dry. Once dry, the rear of the glass should be blacked out in the areas where you don't want any light to shine through :~: You could use paint or thick card to do this :tarah:
P.S. don't forget to post your results on here for all to see once you have had a go :oops:
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by wb »

It looks fantastic, very neat job there. It's a shame you didn't finish it.

I came across this post as I've just bought a Treasure Island and was hunting for circuit diagrams for it as it's been butchered for arcade use and been dramatically rewired so it only pays out about once every hundred goes!
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by slotalot »

WB wrote: and been dramatically rewired so it only pays out about once every hundred goes!
You will find that most of these type of machines only have a very low payout ratio anyway. I was looking at a machine for a friend only last week !PUZZLED! , it had a uniselector inside that gave the machine 50 light change combinations on the glass each time the uniselector did 1 revolution. Out of that 50 possible stops only 3 were payouts !!GRUMP!! so it almost never landed on a win :oops:
But then they were made to give you hope :D and at the same time take all your money :-(
Do you have any photos of your machine that you can post on here? !!CHEERS!!
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by wb »

Yeah, I've just taken some. It doesn't work yet, will have a look at this machine next. It doesn't have GPO Strowger Uniselectors in it, just motorised cams and the wiring is horrendous for what it does!

.... Just rebuilding a Jubilee International at the moment. It used to be a Pot Black machine, but converting it to a Rainbow Falls.
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by gameswat »

Hey Slotalot, did you end up adding any more winning combos to your friend's flasher? Was it possible to do this easily enough or not? Often I've either made a game harder or easier depending on what it was like when it arrived here so that the players actually get some decent fun and thrill.
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by wb »

If a machine is too tight, people don't play it, and if it pays out too much, then it's boring. The happy medium is a tricky one.
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by slotalot »

gameswat wrote:Hey Slotalot, did you end up adding any more winning combos to your friends flasher? Was it possible to do this easily enough or not? Often I've either made a game harder or easier depending on what it was like when it arrived here so that the players actually get some decent fun and thrill.
Hi gameswat, :D
I think it would have been quite easy to add more winning stops, but I think he was just happy to have it working again. !!YIPPEE!!
Mind you, I did get an email from him a day or so after I had fixed it, saying that he had managed to win his penny back quite a few times !THUMBS! so I think he must be blessed with more good luck than me !PUZZLED! as I never got it to stop on a win, no matter how many times I tried :!?!:
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by wb »

lol - so he won all your money!!!!!!! !!THUMBSX2!!
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by treefrog »

slotalot wrote:Once I got the design ready, I desided on the finished size and converted it to PDF, I took the PDF to our local print shop and had it laser printed onto white crack-back plastic, (sticky back plastic), I stuck this print to a sheet of 3mm glass, I then put a second sheet of 3mm glass over the print,I sealed the edges of the 2 sheets of glass with a very small amout of clear silicone sealant and let it dry, once dry the rear of the glass should be blacked out in the areas were you dont want any light to shine through :~: you could use paint or thick card to do this
I had thought of making graphics for machines using some kind of sticky back plastic that will work in an inkjet or colour laser... anyone know a source? !PUZZLED! ...Slotalot this looks good and certainly a lot cheaper than silk screening. I guess the question is, how good it is when a light shines through. Does it look "wishy washy"?
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operator bell
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by operator bell »

Here in Las Vegas is a company called Suburban Graphics that specializes in one-off slot glass - curiously for a graphic arts company, they don't have a web site. They print on a thin sticky plastic film that laminates on the back of a sheet of glass. I'm sure there must be other companies offering the same service, since Suburban buys its printing machines somewhere and there must be other customers. This would be a fairly expensive way to fix up a single machine, but the results are very professional.
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by slotalot »

tree-frog wrote: I guess the question is, how good it is when a light shines through. Does it look "wishy washy"?
Hi tree-frog :D
All I can tell you about the sticky back plastic is it's called "crack back" and the print shop I used got it for me. As for what it looks like when it is lit up !SUN! , I can't show you the Wild West glass, but I have put a link to my website that shows another machine that I restored. I even managed to get the mirror effect as well. Best thing to do is give it a try and see how you get on !!THUMBSX2!!

http://www.slotmachines.bravehost.com/page5.html
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by wb »

I thought it was just my machine, but the wiring in these is appalling. It is like a birds nest.... I am tempted to gut it and build a microprocessor to control the game with a universal hopper payout. Then you could run it on any denomination. Something nice like a PIC 16F874 would look nice driving this and you could also save on those expensive 12v bulbs by using white LEDs like I used on my Final Tooty Fruity project.
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Re: CAM Automatics

Post by pennymachines »

Gleaned from the comments in the Vince Landa piece at http://www.coin-opcommunity.co.uk/
Frank Hoy (who) started Cam Automatics together with Bob Murray.
I'll put a link to the site in the Archive. We could do with some input here from these old-timers - they know all this stuff that we can only guess at.
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Re: CAM AUTOMATICS?

Post by dobo »

Hi,
I worked for CAM Autos from 1963 to 1967. I started when aged 15. There were just five of us then back in '63-ish. Just to correct a few things: They were known as MAC Automatics up until '63-ish when Frank Hoy and Bob Murray bought the company and reversed the name. Frank and Bob employed a few mechanics, namely Johnny Peach, Tony Clark, Tommy Murray (Bob's Brother), David Stevens, John Dobson, Charlie Stewart and myself. Later employed was a salesman called Brian Lane, and Bill Todd.

Frank teated me like a son, Bob was the same. Actually Bob's brother Tommy took me up to their home in Scotland, and Frank brought his brother and father to Seaham in later years.
These were the greatest days of my life and I only wish I could see any of those people again.

Things went downward after articles in the People newspaper and the murder of Angus Sibbet, a collector from rival company Social Club Services in Sunderland (which is now next door to the Lambton Worm pub). Frank bought Bob out and in came another person from Frank's home town of Sherringham in Norfolk called Ray Young. Any more info, I will be happy to help.
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Re: CAM Automatics

Post by treefrog »

Welcome to the site, I suspect there will be many who would love to find out more about the company. In fact there was enough interest in another British manufacturer by previous employees at Brenco to create a site based on the history and machines.

Also interesting is the story of the killing you refer to from the late Sixties, known as the "One Armed Bandit Murder" and from the articles on google, including Wikipedia, this was a big thing at the time, having a lot of impact locally and being one of the first underworld killings in the North East. Reading the stories and potential miscarriage of justice that may have happened, it is almost reminiscent of the Michael Caine film Get Carter... Especially as the Krays were involved.

I guess the other side of our hobby is that a lot of the gaming machines were operated by the gangs/underworld at the time. I had mentioned in a previous post, discussing the same with a retired engineer I bought a bandit from earlier in the year, who had worked for a group that ran clubs in London where he would maintain machines (obviously illegally) in the '60s and often helped shift them when likely busts would occur. All part of the history I guess.
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Re: CAM Automatics

Post by slotalot »

Hi Dobo, welcome to the forum :D
Very interesting and nice to find someone who actually worked for them. Maybe you could settle a little puzzle that I have about Cam Automatics; did they actually make any machines of their own? Or were they just agents for other slot machine manufacturers? If so, can you remember who they were?
I am sure we are all keen to know more :byee:
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