Rhodes Chroma Polaris

Thanks. I am unable to control anything bute note changes and 
transpose functions via MIDI, which is why I was buggering around 
inside in the first place. I would have no issue if I could access 
all the functions, but for some reason I am unable to do so when I 
attempt control from another synth.

I have a fairly lengthy document regarding cc's and what not for this 
machine, but to be honest I'm not familiar with sending these types 
of messages from a software controller.

--- In chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com, David Clarke <ac151@...> wrote:
>
> From: "teknowh0re_1999"
> ...
> > I've owned my Polaris for about a year now, and it has the 
infamous
> > membrane button death. I've opened it up a time or two but not 
gotten
> > too adventerous until tonight. Long story short, the jumpers
> > connecting the PCB to the membrane panel are pretty much dead 
(deader
> > than they were). But when I say "jumper" I mean "leads in a thin
> > plastic sheet."
> >
> > Can I simply solder in some jumper cable or wires from the PCB to 
the
> > membrane panel or do I need to think about using this machine for
> > spare parts?
> 
> If the problem is with one or more of the plastic strips that come 
from the 
> front panel and slide into connectors on the circuit boards, then 
soldering 
> will be tough.
> 
> The plastic/mylar normally has a conductive coating on it, and 
that's what 
> transfers the signals to the circuits.
> 
> The most common polaris sickness will be a cracking of that 
plastic - and as 
> the plastic cracks, the signal traces are broken.  In many cases, 
the 
> cracking occurs at the end of the connections - and so you can get 
lucky by 
> trimming off the bad end with a pair of scissors.
> 
> If the crack/rip/tear is too far away from the connectors to make 
cutting 
> likely, then there are a couple alternatives:
> 
> 1) Try to physically repair the crack by gluing/attaching another 
piece of 
> plastic to the broken piece.  This will not necessarily repair the 
> electrical conductivity, but it will be the mechanical support for 
the 
> connection.  Once mechanically secure, the trace itself can 
sometimes be 
> repaired via a 'conductive ink pen'.  They sell these at 
electronics stores 
> (and on-line), and they're specifically made for this sort of a 
task.  You'd 
> hold them like a pen, and then 'draw' the connections you need.  
Once dry, 
> the connections can pass the signals you need.
> 
> 2) A slight variation of #1 (and this is if you're desperate), 
would be to 
> try to 'stitch' a fine wire back and forth between the broken 
track.  (Think 
> of it just like a needle and thread - but instead of holding 
material 
> together, you'd be holding the traces together).  Certainly not 
ideal, and 
> depending how brittle the connector is, may cause more damage than 
it fixes.
> 
> You can have even more variations, with wires being fished up 
between the 
> layers of the front panel - but these are really last-gasp sort of 
> solutions.
> 
> 3) If all else fails, then you'd be looking to forego the use of 
the actual 
> membrane switches, and to add in your own switches (which you'd 
wire in with 
> real-wire instead of the plastic).  These switches could be mounted 
right 
> on/through the original panel, or they could go in an external box.
> 
> In the short-term, it is the case that the parameters can be 
controlled from 
> MIDI - so an external MIDI knob-box (or access from a sequencing 
program) 
> could be used.
>