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Subject: Re: [chromapolaris] Re: Bought Polaris

From: kide krazy <vexkon@...>
Date: 2013-08-20

Thanks for the quick reply Paul.  I agree there's no way I would take her on the road with the hack job that has occurred here but I'm still glad not to have brittle ribbon cables.  I will do some more testing with the midi implementation because so far I have not been able to establish midi transmission between the polaris and my kiwi technics midi controller.  All that it accepts right now is note data.

A future customer,
Jes



From: Paul D. DeRocco <pderocco@...>
To: chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2013 11:59 PM
Subject: RE: [chromapolaris] Re: Bought Polaris, look inside, someone already modded or replaced membrane?

 
> From: vexkon
>
> Just figured out that at some point a previous own replaces
> ribbon cables with this "blue mess" of wires which is great
> because they won't degrade. How do I find out whether the
> membrane has been replaced?

I'm sure they haven't been replaced, but one easily visible but not very
noticeable difference between the new and old panels is this: the word
SEQUENCER is in somewhat smaller letters on the old panels, but are the
same size as the other section names on the new ones.

That wiring will probably prove unreliable, because there's no good way to
attach wires to silver ink except with a proper connector. If you're using
the Polaris at home, it's reasonable to wait until they fail and then
upgrade, and maybe you'll stay lucky and not have to. If you're using it
professionally, I'd recommend ripping that junk out and doing it right, so
you don't wind up with a malfunctioning instrument on a gig somewhere.

However, it looks like the technician has replaced the membrane switch
tail connectors on the board with completely different connectors, so
you'll have to change them back. If you buy panels, I can throw in the
necessary connectors for a little more, but you'll have a soldering job to
do.

--

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