Since I worked for Stern/URL/Seeburg starting in 1980 (about a year
after Stern started building electronic pins), I feel I should set the
record straight.  I started working there after Pinball! and just as
the development of Meteor (Steve Kirk) got going.

>> Baeyens Bart wrote:
>> 
>> We're talking about *the* Harry Williams , as in the chief of the
>> Williams pinball plant :)). A friend of mine asked this one , he
>> showed me a Galaxy Playfield by Stern , and it had Harry Williams
>> written on it !!
>> As I understood Stern was created by a designer or engineer that left
>> Bally or Williams , and took his creations (boards) with him , so I
>> guess there's little chance that this is the same Harry Williams , or
>> is there an interesting story related ??

> Harry Williams, founder of Williams Electronics, did design several
> machines for Stern Electronics.  One that I have owned is Flight 2000. 
> It had Harry's signature in the lower left outlane.

Harry did indeed design several games for Stern, I just can't recall
the names of all of them.  He was a great guy, and passed away in the
late '80s as I recall.  He was the founder of Williams Electronics,
Inc., and was also (among other accomplishements) the inventer of
Tilt.

> Gary Stern founded Stern Electronics in the late 1970's, which
> esentially took over Chicago Coin.  Stern finished production of two of
>Chicago Coin's electromechanical pinballs that were on the assembly line
>at the time, then started up with their own electronic pins after that.

The above is indeed true.  The below is not:

> Prior to that, Gary Stern worked as a designer/engineer for Bally.  I
> have heard that Gary designed the electronic system used in Bally pins
> in the late 70's and early 80's, and carried his designs over to Stern
> Electronics and used them in their machines as well.  Hence the
>similarity and interchangeability of the Bally and Stern boards in most
> of the machines of that era.

Gary was a lawyer.  With the backing of his father, Sam Stern (a
previous president of Williams Electronics, when it was a subsidiary
of the Seeburg Corporation {yes, the jukebox Seeburg}) put some money
together to buy out Chicago Coin, and also a small PC board assembly
firm called Universal Research Laboratories (URL).  URL was started by
a couple of ex-Seeburg engineers to assemble PC boards, later built a
couple of video games (B17 most notably) and then got into financial
difficulties whereupon Gary bought them out.  BTW Gary is still 'in
the business', running the pinball division of Data East.

The reason why the boards were interchangeable between Bally and Stern
machines was that URL 'reverse engineered' (read copied) the Bally
system.  Litigation ensued, resulting in Stern payng a royalty to
Bally for each system sold. When I came on board, we made some slight
changes to the MPU board (to increase the amount of RAM and ROM) and
also introduced a new sound board (Pinball! used chimes like the old
EM machines).  We had a new pinball control system in design when I
left in 1982, but I don't think it ever hit production.

> To find out all of the machines Harry Williams designed for Stern (and
> Williams), you can do a search in the Internet Pinball Database with
> Harry's name entered as the designer.  Should bring up quite a long
> list.

Harry was one of the pioneers of pinball, and I feel honored to have
known him and am sorrowed at his passing.  I think there is only one
of the old-timers left, Steve Kordek of Williams.  I feel honored to
know him, too.


Tony Miller