Rhodes Chroma Polaris

> From: "alex459686" <no_reply@yahoogroups.com>
>... for example i have tried :
> F0 (sysex start) 08 (fender manufacturese ID) 03 (polaris model ID)
> 0Css (press switch number ss) 7F (sysex message ends)...

It's been a while since I attempted to talk to the Polaris via Sysex, 
but I believe that the format was

SYSEX Start (F0)
Fender ID   (08)
Channel Number (value 0 -> 15)
(Commands)
SYSEX End (F7)

The Polaris is set up to only respond to sysex on the channels it is 
currently programmed to listen to.  For instance - if the Polaris is 
only listening to channel 2, then sending sysex on channel 3 should be 
ignored.  The exception to that rule is if the Polaris is in Omni mode - 
then sysex should be received regardless of the channel number used.

To confirm that sysex is being received OK by the Polaris, I'd first try 
some very simple commands, like the "Identify" command.

F0 08 00 49 F7

(0x49 = ASCII "I")

I believe this should return the instrument ID, software revision anem 
the name "Polaris"

The 0Css referenced isn't a direct SYSEX opcode; rather, it's part of a 
bigger idea.

SYSEX on the Polaris is a bit strange (at least in terms of other 
implementations).  You can actually 'talk' to the internal data streams 
controlling Polaris behavior and you do this by sending and receiving 
'messages'.  This is very much like an operating system I/O - you can 
'open' a stream, and the read or write to it.

I may not be remembering if there's an easy way to do this - but my 
recollection is that to do panel control you'll first need to do an 
'open' on the 'panel' data stream.

You can then 'write' data to that open stream.

The format for an 'open' is 0nnnnmm, where n - the object number and mm 
= the mode.

the 'panel' object is '16'

a mode of '01' is 'write-enabled'

So - that might be:

F0 08 00 4F 00 16 01 F7

Once 'opened' you could do a 'send' message.

The details are in the MIDI Implementation manual, although some trial 
and error will likely be needed, as it takes some tries to get used to 
how the Polaris likes to see data (e.g., ASCII characters, but 
translated into hex.)