Korg Poly800/EX800 Users

Nope, 'tape' loading is still an issue.  But I'm putting that on the backburner for now.  I did buy new 1/8 jacks to solder in, but I have a feeling that may not be the problem.  My mini voltmeter and a stripped wire 1/8 male plug tells me the signal path is valid from wires to board. The problem is more likely downstream, beyond the jack.  But like I said,  I stopped messing with that for now while the Poly is all dismantled on my kitchen/operating table.

I manually installed the first bank of original patches 11-18, and they are holding just fine.  My battery and battery case just arrived in the mail last night.  So I'll install direct board memory this weekend so I dont have to worry about C cells.

I did find one more problem... the rate/speed slider for the sequencer is not working well.  Sad since,  even tho the sequencer on it is very limited,  its still alot of fun to mess with. 

--- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, Eanna Butler <eanna.butler@...> wrote:
>
> Well done!
> You're able to load patch banks now?
> 
> 
> On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 1:50 PM, daveyray913 <sinisterthewicked@...>wrote:
> 
> > **
> >
> >
> > " …didn't mean you fucked your mother" Ha! So glad I misinterpreted that.
> > You are right of course. I'm married to one of those `women' things. And
> > they can be quite hysterical at times (no offense to any ladies on this
> > forum).
> > If my Little Casio SK-1 wasn't in such rough shape, I'd consider
> > circuit-bending that! It is a fun & cheap little toy, and it was my very
> > 1st keyboard when I was 13-ish.
> >
> > I started digging into the Poly last night. I found some very interesting
> > things inside: A couple moth cocoons, a 5 cent nickel (now THAT could have
> > cause serious short circuits), and a tiny round wad of duct tape. Why? From
> > its shape I guess it was wadded up and put into a rubber boot of one of the
> > key contacts that was no longer depressing far enough? I took it in to have
> > the joystick repaired once; it had to be the service tech that did that, it
> > wasn't me.
> >
> > I think I can move the patient out of ICU and into the recovery ward. I
> > did the isopropyl and cotton swab trick and got all the key contacts
> > working again. I ordered 4 replacement keys and also fixed a
> > crackling/misfiring ¼" output jack with a little solder.
> >
> > I think it's almost time to order me a Hawk800 kit.
> >
> > Exciting!
> >
> >
> > --- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, Jason Adkins <jason_ralf808@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > no I didn't mean you fucked your mother I meant ALL women are
> > > Hysterical...
> > > Regarding the SK1,Casio always makes great gear,I used to have one
> > > myself,i love the drum sounds in that (like i love the Vl-Tone) and
> > > the 4/6/8-bit sampling is interesting my first sampler then another
> > > home keyboard Yamaha VSS-100 I think (crap) then an Akai X7000 great
> > > but used bloody 2.8inch quickdisks as storage and had a stupid way of
> > > giving it 6 seperate out's,was a 13 pin din to 6 jacks,nightmare to
> > > solder up and kept needing repairing.
> > >
> > > The Poly800 is worth bothering with,its real analogue not virtual and
> > > has as I have said a million times before you can tell the difference.
> > >
> > > J
> > >
> > >
> > > On 20 Jun 2013, at 17:28, daveyray913 wrote:
> > >
> > > > Ha, are you getting cheeky with me mate? I may be misinterpreting.
> > > >
> > > > Yea, I'm pretty certain it was my mother, not my girlfriend. Greek
> > > > king of Thebes, Oedipus, I am not.
> > > >
> > > > The gear on the floor was drown in black, sooty, very hot water for
> > > > over 2 hours...it had no hope of functioning ever again, and besides
> > > > the prolonged heat melted part of the DX11.
> > > > Trust me, I know dead when I see it. I do still have one other item
> > > > that survived even though it melted a bit.. a Casio SK-1 …still
> > > > works too.
> > > >
> > > > It's pretty obvious which keys were broken; they were sticking up at
> > > > Picasso-esque odd angles.
> > > >
> > > > And besides, this all happened a long time ago, I just happen to
> > > > still have my poly800 and recently have been feeling nostalgic
> > > > enough to try and fix it.
> > > >
> > > > "...And this is where I met the leprechaun... He told me to burn
> > > > things."
> > > >
> > > > --- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, Jason Adkins <jason_ralf808@>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Hysterical mother,Hysterical girlfriend take your pick..
> > > > > Yeah I'd def want to see a big photo of a firemans boot on your Poly
> > > > > 800 then we could tell which bit might be broken.
> > > > > The moral of this story is:- don't burn your house down.
> > > > >
> > > > > The stuff that got wet,should actually function once dryed out
> > > > > especially that DX11 which only got slightly wet,ok yiou might
> > > > have to
> > > > > do some cleaning up ,contacts erc but should be ok I'd guess most of
> > > > > your stuff is DC ? If so they might work if dryed out.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > On 20 Jun 2013, at 15:37, daveyray913 wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > Luckily the Poly was in a 1/2 exposed basement studio. I don't
> > > > think
> > > > > > the smoke hit it too hard. It was tossed about 8' out a near
> > > > ground
> > > > > > level window, so it was more of a hard slide than a fall I'm
> > > > > > guessing. (I didn't see, I was busy on the street trying to calm
> > > > my
> > > > > > hysterical mother) Then...it was kicked/stomped on by fireman I
> > > > > > guess to get it out of the way(BTW: all we Americans are ham-
> > > > fisted,
> > > > > > that goes w/o saying :) ) It did get a little wet. Anything I
> > > > had on
> > > > > > the floor /leaning on a wall i.e.: a DX11, a drum machine, a
> > > > couple
> > > > > > amps, a few effects pedals, etc. were in a foot+ of water and
> > > > > > trashed. I did my best to clean up the few items that survived the
> > > > > > fire the next day.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Thanks for all the assistance. Nothing left now then to decide on
> > > > > > which mod path to take once I have it fully operational. After
> > > > > > everyone's assistance I guess I'm not bothering with the tape load
> > > > > > function much longer, I'll make one more effort with the
> > > > suggestions
> > > > > > given, then move on. Besides, I'm still battling getting the keys
> > > > > > fixed, and contacts cleaned etc. It will live again by golly!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I'll photo document my progress for posterity and keep anyone
> > > > who's
> > > > > > interested posted.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Thanks for all the assistance!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > --- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, Michael Hawkins
> > > > > > <korgpolyex800@> wrote:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > There's a mod that you can do that puts an EX800 ROM "on top" of
> > > > > > the original Poly ROM. And you use a switch to flip from one or
> > > > the
> > > > > > other ROM's. This allows you to keep all of your Poly-800 joystick
> > > > > > goodness etc while also getting the sysex ability when you need
> > > > it.
> > > > > > You power off, flip the ROM select switch, power on, do your
> > > > sysex.
> > > > > > Then power off, flip the ROM select switch, power on, do your
> > > > > > keyboard, joystick thing. Not a bad idea at all, for its time.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The biggest problem with fires is the awful damage that
> > > > happens if
> > > > > > electronic stuff is exposed to thick acrid smoke. Did your Poly
> > > > get
> > > > > > affected by the smoke or was it the fall from a great height that
> > > > > > messed it up? If it's smoke damage then I would say it's a miracle
> > > > > > the dang thing still works at all. And fixing smoke gunge covered
> > > > > > PCB's and parts is a professional job unless you like dipping your
> > > > > > hands in solvents and other carcinogenic stuff. Soap and water
> > > > and a
> > > > > > long drying time might be worth the trouble.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The tape switch problem you have is NOT the reason you can't
> > > > get a
> > > > > > tape dump to load properly. As long as you can get the thing into
> > > > > > Tape mode (which you can) and it stays that way for the duration
> > > > of
> > > > > > your dump, then the switch is good enough. Get some de-oxit and
> > > > most
> > > > > > likely you'll find your tape switch will be fine after some de-
> > > > oxit
> > > > > > treatment.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The Poly-800 schematics (found in the download section of this
> > > > > > group) are good enough for the EX-800. Especially with respect to
> > > > > > the tape circuit section, they're identical.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Yes, the HAWK would fix your tape problem because the HAWK has
> > > > no
> > > > > > tape functions at all. They are all replaced with sysex and MIDI
> > > > CC
> > > > > > implementation. I do agree that you ought to try to stabilize your
> > > > > > patient before you try to transplant a HAWK into it.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Your Poly is functioning which tells me it's not "knackered".
> > > > > > Banged up a bit sure, who wouldn't be after a multistory throw
> > > > by a
> > > > > > ham fisted American firemen!
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > So I would say, give your patient some more TLC. Don't sweat the
> > > > > > tape problem too much. And if you can make her reliable then
> > > > maybe a
> > > > > > HAWK brain transplant might be worthwhile.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Mike
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ________________________________
> > > > > > > From: daveyray913 <sinisterthewicked@>
> > > > > > > To: korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com
> > > > > > > Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 3:30 PM
> > > > > > > Subject: [korgpolyex] Re: New Member: (constant Load ERR.)
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Â
> > > > > > > Ya, she's in rough shape, but I'm not quite ready to give up.
> > > > > > After I cleaned it up this week and started fixing the broken
> > > > > > keys... it doenst look TOO bad. The couple patches I manually
> > > > > > programed are loud and clear and sound good...
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > What I really want is to MOD it, make it useful in my band as a
> > > > > > gimmicky piece of nostalgia, but I'm nervous installing Hawk
> > > > into a
> > > > > > 'knackered' 'board as you put it. (I love your vernacular btw).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > But I guess HAWK800 would fix the problem too...with it's much
> > > > > > improved Midi Sysex? I could forget about the tape interface/
> > > > lack of
> > > > > > Mk1 sysex altogether.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Silly question: Where do I aquire an EX-800 ROM? & Wouldnt I
> > > > lose
> > > > > > Joystick control?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Decisions, decisions....
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > --- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, Gordon JC Pearce <gordon@>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 04:08:25PM -0000, daveyray913 wrote:
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > I'm also installing a dedicated memory battery on board,
> > > > SO I
> > > > > > can at least manually load patches and not worry about losing them
> > > > > > when the C batteries fail.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Didn't you say the keyboard was knackered? Why not just bung
> > > > an
> > > > > > EX800 ROM in and load them over MIDI?
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > --
> > > > > > > > Gordonjcp MM0YEQ
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> >  
> >
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> 
> -- 
> EBu
>