[sdiy] RE: how it all started

[Colin Hinz]

Ah, time to chime in on an old thread.....

I got started in electronics with one of those Radio Shack "75 projects
in 1" sets with the spring terminals and lotsa wires. I had a decent
amount of fun with it, and moved on to the soldered-together kits
that Rat Shack sold then.

Unfortunately, it was a while before I could solder well. And it wasn't
until I was wonderfully lucky to work for Northern Telecom for a summer
when I was an EE student -- I was working the board-mod/re-work line,
and believe me, NorTel made sure I knew how to solder.

My analog design skills may still be a bit shaky, but boy, I can solder!

As for synths.....

The first instrument I bought of any type was a very well-used
Roland SH-1000 which I bought in 1988 for CDN$75. It had keys,
it had knobs, and best of all, it was cheap enough to afford, as
I had little cash in those days.

It's been languishing unused for the past few years, but yesterday I
pulled it out for a jam, and realised I was having a great time with
it, getting all kinds of sounds from it that I liked.

So!! Time to give it the TLC it has deserved all this time -- first
off, is there a source for the "paddle" switches, as a few paddles
are broken on my unit. Secondly, what are the specs for the CV input,
and as well as the output? I've only been plugging this beast into
an amp, but if I'm lashing it into a more complex set-up I need to
take care not to fry anything. And lastly, is there a source for
manuals (user and service) for it?

thanks for the help, everyone.

- Colin Hinz
  Toronto, Canada