Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: OldSynths

Okay, I've been wondering about bipolar CV... I built a joystick
controller for someone's Analogue Solutions modular, and I built it
to have -9v/+9v outputs. When I was building it, I'd heard they used
0-6v, then I heard 0-12v, and then -6/+6v. Not knowing for sure, I
contacted the manufacturer, and they said the modules were
controlled -10V/+10V, bipolar. From the hoarse's mouth......

I guess I didn't quite understand. I built the joystick to run off 2
9v batteries, and calibrated the center X/Y positions to 0v. Left = -
9v, Right = +9v, same with Up/Down. I sent each voltage to an
individual output. So there were 4 outputs total (-9, +9, -9, +9).

When I got done and sold it to him, only the + voltages worked. The -
voltages had no effect on any module.

But it worked great, so there was no issue. Just redundant outputs!

The only thing I could think was maybe the CV inputs had stereo
jacks? +/-/ground?? That seemed wrong though.

Can anyone explain bipolar CV?

Thanks,
-Mike Walters
www.mysterycircuits.com