Vintage Simmons Drums (UK) Users Group

hi people,
i've got a problem with the SPM 8:2 mixer i recently bought 2nd hand; 
being that the machine will power up whewn turned on, but after a 
short while it'll turn itself of again, after which it sometimes 
takes a short break and repeats the process, but mostly it just stays 
of then, until i throw the power switch off&on. my best guess is that 
the cause of the problem is a dead internal battery; i've found it 
and the plastic cap reads NC-M 110 EMMERICH. i've also determined 
that i'd have to desolder it from the pcb to replace it, which is not 
a problem. but i'd like to know if this is actually the problem 
before i take the whole thing apart to access the battery's soldering 
points. any tips anyone?

thnx, Chiel

Hello, I recently replaced the back up battery in two SPM's. I did not have
the issues you describe. When the batteries were dead, the mixers worked
fine except for not being able to store programs. I suspect that your
problem may have to do with the power supply or the on / off switch.
Off the subject though, does anyone on this list own an SDX? I am interested
in trading sounds.

Jeff

> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 09:11:20 -0000
> From: ch.³l <oozi-x@...>
> Subject: SPM 8:2 has got some issues
> 
> hi people,
> i've got a problem with the SPM 8:2 mixer i recently bought 2nd hand;
> being that the machine will power up whewn turned on, but after a
> short while it'll turn itself of again, after which it sometimes
> takes a short break and repeats the process, but mostly it just stays
> of then, until i throw the power switch off&on. my best guess is that
> the cause of the problem is a dead internal battery; i've found it
> and the plastic cap reads NC-M 110 EMMERICH. i've also determined
> that i'd have to desolder it from the pcb to replace it, which is not
> a problem. but i'd like to know if this is actually the problem
> before i take the whole thing apart to access the battery's soldering
> points. any tips anyone?
> 
> thnx, Chiel

Jeff & Greg, 
thnx for your speedy answers. i've desoldered the battery this moning 
and i'm about to go get a fresh one. if that doesn't fix the problem 
i'm going to have to break out the multimeter and look into jeff's 
suggestion of the power supply & switch.
i'll keep you informed.

cheers, Chiel

...well i changed the internal battery but that does'nt make a bit of 
difference. my next best bet, i.e. the thing i'm gonna check next is 
the transformer of the powersupply, which i now think is probably 
broken. 
and i also found out a friend of mine has an spm 8:2 as well, and his 
works, so i have something to use as reference...and i have the 
manual, which he doesn't so it's a mutual benefit thing again..:) 
any hints & tips are still very welcome though!

--- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Biegert <biergoat@p...> 
wrote:
> Off the subject though, does anyone on this list own an SDX? I am
> interested in trading sounds.
> Jeff

Hiya, Jeff. I have an SDX and a pretty complete collection of what 
samples they offered. To share SDX sample discs or software, first 
you need to download RAWwrite here:

http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/rawwrite.htm

Simmons SDX files aren't readable by PC or Mac. Installing RAWwrite 
lets you create an image of the 3.5 Simmons disk that you can use to 
make a 3.5 copy, in your computer's 3.5 drive (hope you still have 
one).

I haven't tried it yet, but you should also be able to e-mail this 
image to another user (a 3.5 disk holds only 1.38 meg, smaller that 
many MP3 files). If they download RAWwrite as well, you can share 
disks via e-mail. If all else fails, snail mail can do the job.

You can contact me through my Yahoo email.

--- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, ch.³l <oozi-x@z...> wrote:

> my next best bet, i.e. the thing i'm gonna check next is 
> the transformer of the powersupply, which i now think is probably 
> broken. 

...and that was the problem. well not exactly; i was screwed by the 
guy i bought it from, as it was a 220/240v version according to the 
sticker but the transformer was 120v, which means he swapped either 
the transformer or the sticker before shipping it. oh well, that's 
internet-auctions for ya. but i replaced the 120v transformer and now 
it's working like a charm...and i love it! now (of course...) i'm 
thinking of modding it so i can sync the LFO's to a midi-clock. 
anyone have any suggestions for this?

grtz Chiel