> From: James
>
> I'm wondering now if you think it advisable to remove the
> sockets (that the ribbons attach to), from the PCB so the
> ribbon connection ends don't need to bend to attach to them.
> This is what I did on my previous Polaris restoration where I
> DIDN'T replace the panels, but instead trimmed all the ribbon
> connectors shorter (past where they were cracking), and
> removed all the sockets from the PCB so those trimmed ribbon
> connectors wouldn't have to bend at all. I know these are new
> panels I've installed, but I'm still thinking perhaps they'll
> live longer if they aren't made to bend in a U to connect to
> the sockets.

I don't think there's anything wrong with bending the tails into an
S-curve. Real Mylar shouldn't have a problem with that. The old Polaris
panels were made out of some other kind of plastic, I believe, which
didn't age well, especially if bent. And the new panels have an insulation
layer over most of the tails to protect the ink, which would be hard to
remove without taking the ink with it.

> As a complete aside, if you ever had a few replacement panels
> made with that original ARP-y yellow/orange/red color scheme
> I'd buy another set in a heartbeat!

I wish there was a way to make really small quantities of panels, perhaps
using inkjet printing and laser cutting, but I haven't found anyone who
does that. The new Polaris panels are tooled, and the tooling is only
economically feasible if you're going to sell a significant number of
them.

--

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