> From: mathroutine
>
> Hello everyone. I am looking to buy a Polaris, I went over to
> the owners house and checked out the synth. All the membrane
> switches appear to be functioning, with the exception of the
> master tune button (the one in the third column from the
> left). In the manual it said that the lights would only light
> up for each voice that was being tuned, correct? So if the
> synth is in tune, does the button light up when it is
> depressed, or only if it is out of tune? No matter what other
> buttons were pressed in combination with it, it would not
> light up. Is it broken? The synth itself sounded like it was
> tuned at the time.

You can tell if the problem is the switch or the LED by seeing if the switch
actually does anything. By itself, pressing the switch toggles the function
of the MASTER slider between volume and tuning. If it's the LED, it's an
easy fix, although anything that requires removing the panel boards is a bit
dangerous at this point, since the membrane switch tails might be on the
verge of cracking in a unit this old. If that was the problem and it was my
unit, I'd leave well enough alone. If it's really the switch, though, you
could replace just that switch with a mechanical one.

> Also, can this function be accessed through an external midi
> control? Or does the synth require a repair.

There are System Exclusive messages that can simulate the pressing of
switches. And of course the Tune Request byte does the same thing as LOWER
FUNCTION, TUNE ALL.

--

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