ccTalk, CCNET and pulse: choosing the interface
Not every machine speaks MDB. Coin and bill acceptors are also built around ccTalk, CCNET and simple pulse outputs — and which one you have decides how a controller has to be wired and configured.
Why there is more than one
MDB came out of the vending machine world, where one controller manages a whole set of peripherals. Coin and bill acceptors, though, are also sold into amusement machines, kiosks, car washes and laundries — equipment that often has no VMC at all. Those markets produced simpler interfaces, and a controller aimed at self-service has to handle all of them.
The three you will meet
| Interface | Typical use | What it carries |
|---|---|---|
| ccTalk | Coin acceptors, hoppers, bill validators | Addressed serial messages: coin type, device status, dispense commands |
| CCNET | Bill validators, notably CashCode | Note denomination, escrow hold, stack and return commands |
| Pulse | Legacy and low-cost acceptors | Nothing but a count of pulses — value is set on the acceptor itself |
What this means in practice
The gap between the first two and pulse is the one that matters commercially. ccTalk and CCNET are conversations: the controller knows which note was taken, whether it is held in escrow, and whether the device is jammed. Pulse is a wire that twitches. With pulse there is no escrow, no device status and no way to distinguish a genuine coin signal from electrical noise on a long cable run.
If a site is being fiscalized, that difference stops being academic: a fiscal receipt has to state what was actually paid, and a pulse line cannot prove it.
Which of our boards speaks what
FisLight carries two independent UART channels and an inhibit line for serial periphery. M-Gate Standart has a UART-TTL header next to its four inputs and two relays. ESP-Matrix and ESP-RGB-4-WS are the Wi-Fi boards, for I/O expansion and LED loads respectively.
Pinouts, terminal assignments and firmware notes are tied to a specific board revision, so we send them directly rather than publish a page that can go stale. Tell us the machine and we will send the matching set.