[sdiy] Elektor Formant Re: Test / Sequencer / Arduino

[Rick Jansen]

On 25/03/2015 11:37, Rick Jansen wrote:
> Now I need to bring back to life the Formant, which has been sitting there, unused for
> about 10 years. Hope the elco's are all still keeping their liquids!

Well, cabinet 1 is still operational. Before switching it on I unplugged all boards from 
their connectors, so the power supply would be stand-alone, and not kill anything in case 
it was broken.

The original building instrictions tell you to solder each module's power to a big pad on 
the power supply board, but I did not do that. I drilled little holes in the pad, and 
soldered pins to the pad, so I could plug and unplug the power per module. But I did not 
feel like unplugging 3x17 connections there, so I simply pushed the prints from their 
connectors. (I don't have the PCBs screwed to the front panels, they are separate.)

But, it's fine: 14.97V and -15.02V, and 4.99V, not touching that.

Resocketed all boards, switched it on, and: *Blinkenlichts!*

Then, it appeared I had completely forgotten about the standard internal signal paths. A 
few minutes later I did remember that the VCO's are internally connected to the VCF's, but 
I had completely forgotten about the standard wiring of the VCF->VCA->COM output module.

Odd, those nice shiny chrome screws and switches have all turned a bit dull, while the 
ones in the storage cabinet are still shiny.

Now, cleaning the keyboard...

rick