Rhodes Chroma Polaris

ok-i just raved about getting my old polaris working with the new membrane
switch panels---
but i just noticed an odd phenomenon with the touch sensitivity---
all keys do play fine with no touch sensitivity --and all do fine with light touch with ENVELOPE touch ON --
but with VOLUME ENVELOPE touch ON its very iffy--

i can get sound if I hit hard, but with light touch many keys dont play (some
do) --- at one point going up the scale it seemed evry 6th didnt play
lightly--but then sometimes two next to each other--then down keyboard it was
more erratic with sometimes 2 or 3 in a row not playing with light touch. at
first i had thought it was a bad voice--but it seems weirder than that. but the
pattern of one in 6 only worked on the way up.
i cleaned all the key contacts w/alcohol -- but that didnt fix it.
the one out of 6 pattern just doesnt seem constant now, but was certainly the
case at first.
any ideas? its just with VOLUME touch on

> From: steven
>
> ok-i just raved about getting my old polaris working with the
> new membrane switch panels--- but i just noticed an odd
> phenomenon with the touch sensitivity---
> all keys do play with no touch sensitivity --and all do fine
> with light touch with FILTER touch ON --but with VOLUME
> touch ON its very iffy--

The most likely reason is that the volume offset calibration needs to be
redone. This is described here:

http://www.rhodeschroma.com/?id=polarisserviceadjustmentscheckout#volumeoffs
et

There's also a per-key velocity calibration process that you can do, which
is described in the immediately following section.

> i can get sound if I hit hard, but with light touch many
> keys dont play (some do) --- at one point going up the scale
> it seemed evry 6th didnt play lightly--but then sometimes two
> next to each other--then down keyboard it was more erratic
> with sometimes 2 or 3 in a row not playing with light touch.
> at first i had thought it was a bad voice--but it seems
> weirder than that. but the pattern of one in 6 only worked on
> the way up.

The other possible problem is that some of the keys, especially black keys,
may not even close the second switch contact if you press the key lightly.
I've found that the easiest fix for this is to remove the key and put a
square of Scotch tape on the post that presses on the silicone dome switch,
to add a few mils of height to it.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@...

--- In chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com, "Paul D. DeRocco" <pderocco@...> wrote:

>
> > From: steven
> >
> > ok-i just raved about getting my old polaris working with the
> > new membrane switch panels--- but i just noticed an odd
> > phenomenon with the touch sensitivity---
> > all keys do play with no touch sensitivity --and all do fine
> > with light touch with FILTER touch ON --but with VOLUME
> > touch ON its very iffy--
>
> The most likely reason is that the volume offset calibration needs to be
> redone. This is described here:
>
> http://www.rhodeschroma.com/?id=polarisserviceadjustmentscheckout#volumeoffs
> et
>
> There's also a per-key velocity calibration process that you can do, which
> is described in the immediately following section.
>
> > i can get sound if I hit hard, but with light touch many
> > keys dont play (some do) --- at one point going up the scale
> > it seemed evry 6th didnt play lightly--but then sometimes two
> > next to each other--then down keyboard it was more erratic
> > with sometimes 2 or 3 in a row not playing with light touch.
> > at first i had thought it was a bad voice--but it seems
> > weirder than that. but the pattern of one in 6 only worked on
> > the way up.
>
> The other possible problem is that some of the keys, especially black keys,
> may not even close the second switch contact if you press the key lightly.
> I've found that the easiest fix for this is to remove the key and put a
> square of Scotch tape on the post that presses on the silicone dome switch,
> to add a few mils of height to it.
>
> --
>
> Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
> Paul mailto:pderocco@...
>

i did the volume offset--- it seems fine now---
that was an odd thing to have out of kilter,
i wouldnt have thought of that -- thanks.
now i can relax --all is good

> From: steven
>
> i did the volume offset--- it seems fine now---
> that was an odd thing to have out of kilter,
> i wouldnt have thought of that -- thanks.
> now i can relax --all is good

Didn't you say you changed your RAM? That would mean you would have lost all
calibration, not just your stored programs. When you change RAM, you have to
go through all the calibration steps mentioned in the "What to do if you
lose your memory" section of the service manual.

Fortunately, the volume offset cal only takes a minute.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@...

you are right again--
Volume offset seemed to do the trick---
i did follow the list of steps for restoring memory, but must have missed that step or something.

--- In chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com, "steven" <wasteking1@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> --- In chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com, "Paul D. DeRocco" <pderocco@> wrote:
> >
> > > From: steven
> > >
> > > ok-i just raved about getting my old polaris working with the
> > > new membrane switch panels--- but i just noticed an odd
> > > phenomenon with the touch sensitivity---
> > > all keys do play with no touch sensitivity --and all do fine
> > > with light touch with FILTER touch ON --but with VOLUME
> > > touch ON its very iffy--
> >
> > The most likely reason is that the volume offset calibration needs to be
> > redone. This is described here:
> >
> > http://www.rhodeschroma.com/?id=polarisserviceadjustmentscheckout#volumeoffs
> > et
> >
> > There's also a per-key velocity calibration process that you can do, which
> > is described in the immediately following section.
> >
> > > i can get sound if I hit hard, but with light touch many
> > > keys dont play (some do) --- at one point going up the scale
> > > it seemed evry 6th didnt play lightly--but then sometimes two
> > > next to each other--then down keyboard it was more erratic
> > > with sometimes 2 or 3 in a row not playing with light touch.
> > > at first i had thought it was a bad voice--but it seems
> > > weirder than that. but the pattern of one in 6 only worked on
> > > the way up.
> >
> > The other possible problem is that some of the keys, especially black keys,
> > may not even close the second switch contact if you press the key lightly.
> > I've found that the easiest fix for this is to remove the key and put a
> > square of Scotch tape on the post that presses on the silicone dome switch,
> > to add a few mils of height to it.
> >
> > --
> >
> > Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
> > Paul mailto:pderocco@
> >
>
>
> i did the volume offset--- it seems fine now---
> that was an odd thing to have out of kilter,
> i wouldnt have thought of that -- thanks.
> now i can relax --all is good
>