Rhodes Chroma Polaris

--- On Mon, 4/30/18, adirondack_pc@... [vintagesynthrepair] <vintagesynthrepair@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

> From: adirondack_pc@... [vintagesynthrepair] <vintagesynthrepair@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [vintagesynthrepair] Help With a Chroma Polaris - Please?
> To: vintagesynthrepair@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Monday, April 30, 2018, 1:03 AM
>
>  
>
>
>
>
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>
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>
>
> Hi Everyone -
>
> I
> have just undertaken refurbishing my Polaris.  I
> fixed the output jacks, did a mod on my headphones
> (absolutely NO
> NOISE!), replaced the entire faceplate (Paul DeRocco)
> (because of faulty
> original strips), soldered in an LED and swapped out two
> sliders after
> repairing and cleaning them.
>
> To me, that's about 4 hours work. 
> But I love my Polaris sound.  I wouldn't do all that
> for another
> keyboard, except for...   anyway, here's my woes...
>
> 1) Filter
> Cutoff.  when you first start to slide, it's sort of
> dead but then comes
> to life.  Slide back to bottom and the sound completely
> goes away. 
> Dead space.  It's not the slider because I just changed
> it and received
> the same results as before.  Exactly the same, but better
> movement.
>
> 2)
> Resonance - next to the Cutoff - related problem?  I just
> replaced the
> slider and received the same results, although the slider
> was cleaned
> and so forth.  When I hit the top, it gives resonance, but
> also some
> when I pull it all the way down.  Ridiculous.  Also much
> better
> movement.
>
> 3)
> I replaced the top left motherboard a while back with a
> used one (hence
> the broken LED) but that works now over Noise.  Minor
> issue, can't
> complain.  I had similar problems before with the old top
> left
> motherboard, but the sliders were a little bent and gave a
> slightly
> different result.  This tells me it goes deeper than
> surface.
>
> 4)
> Now - when these problems occur, hitting the patch number I
> was playing
> brings back the original patch with no deformities /
> abnormalities. 
> That's nice, but when I want a little Cutoff, I get
> totally "cut off"
> (pun intended).
>
> 5) The
> sliders on Cutoff and Resonance and smooth
> with no bumps / bruises since they'd been cleaned /
> replaced.  At least
> I'm learning some good techniques here.  There's a
> guy on YouTube who
> demonstrated how to do it properly and I think I have that
> part down
> now.
>
> Observation: Methinks
> the Cutoff and Resonance have a chip /
> board problem but I wouldn't know where to look. 
> I'm getting handy
> with a soldering gun, but not with schematics.  I have 25
> years
> repairing PCs but little multi-meter experience, especially
> when the
> specs aren't available.  I have the Polaris schematics
> and service
> manual but I need to research it to get a clue as to what
> I'm up
> against.
>
> If anyone can help
> me here, I have the remainder of the
> old top left motherboard, minus a few sliders and an LED
> that I'd gladly
> send to you in exchange for the info.  The sliders sell on
> eBay for a
> few $ and it would be a small gold mine of parts.
>
> Thanks for reading.  I hope
> to hear from someone on this - even a clue!
>
> Tracy
> BarberPolaris
> Fiend
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>

 i have the same issue as tracy. theres a deadspace at the start with the cutoff and resonance slider. the sliders seems to be ok, the latest derocco firmware (rev 11) is on the eproms, is it a matter of calibration after updating...does paul have a clue? 

Hi -

I was hoping he would. Maybe he's too busy. I have yet to reseat everything and then give it a go. I may try that today. I have a feeling it's a trace screwed up, a chip malfunctioning or maybe even a cable off 1 pin. You never know.

I have replaced the front face panel with complete success, but I may want to check out the ribbon cables and see if the painted lines match up perfectly with the plug, etc...

I have noticed a few other small quirks as well, but then this is a finicky keyboard at times. I love the sounds but may have bought it (a long time ago) with small faults that escaped me back then. Funny, the sounds, without modding them play fine!

I have replaced the faceplate, top left mommy board, and LED, the output and headphone jacks. I have also taken 2 sliders from the old board that were working, cleaned the crap out of the them and soldered them back into the Contour and Resonance spots. Maybe, since I don't have any instructions (service manual is skimpy) that there are calibrations to these filter items. My EX-8000 has calibrations for all 8 parts and uses grommets (?) that you can turn. I haven't touched them because they work!

Since I changed the sliders, they work better but not anywhere near perfect. I know I cleaned and mounted them properly.

Yup, I'm at an impasse here.

Tracy


--------------------------------------------

On Thu, 5/17/18, karmakater@... [chromapolaris] <chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Subject: [chromapolaris] Re: Fw: [vintagesynthrepair] Help With a Chroma Polaris - Please?
To: chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2018, 12:27 PM


 









 i have the same issue as tracy. theres a
deadspace at the start with the cutoff and resonance slider.
the sliders seems to be ok, the latest derocco firmware (rev
11) is on the eproms, is it a matter of calibration after
updating...does paul have a clue? 
















Posted by: karmakater@...

BTW -

I have to re-select the patch after pulling the Contour all the way down. That's a serious drag. On my Mini-Moog (a long time ago) that was a breeze! All the way up gives me the brightness and so forth of a true Contour change.

Further, when playing with resonance, all the way up gives great resonance, but all the way down it doesn't go off. Still vibrates a little. Annoying. Move it about 2/5 back up and it evens out to no resonance.

Now, I'll take the blame for problems I created, but I'd like to know what I created! hehehehehehe...

Finally, it seems all of the other sliders are sliding fine. I'm going to undergo the test to make sure, but last time I tried. they were working fine. Like the ADSR of the Filter and the multi-slider and the Master and so forth.

The clot thickens...

Tracy


--------------------------------------------

On Thu, 5/17/18, karmakater@... [chromapolaris] <chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Subject: [chromapolaris] Re: Fw: [vintagesynthrepair] Help With a Chroma Polaris - Please?
To: chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2018, 12:27 PM


 









 i have the same issue as tracy. theres a
deadspace at the start with the cutoff and resonance slider.
the sliders seems to be ok, the latest derocco firmware (rev
11) is on the eproms, is it a matter of calibration after
updating...does paul have a clue? 









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