From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Sat Nov 12 10:47:54 2005
Subject:Re: VK7 - any ideas?

Hi Barry,

The electronics in your VK-7 circuit are failing somehow. A (comparatively) simple thing that you can try -- if you are handy with taking things apart and putting them back together again -- is to open up the organ, and disconnect and then re-connect the cables going to the keyboard. Sometimes the problem is just a bad connection, and this might fix things. Also, if there are any ICs that are in sockets, try pushing down on them to make sure that they are seated in the sockets. (This used to happen to my Fatar Studio 88 about twice a year, and I would lose every D on the keyboard.)

If neither of those things fixes your problem, then an IC or something is overheating on the PC boards, and you will need a tech's help.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™ http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com

At 11:06 AM 11/12/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>I've been having troubles with my VK-7. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
>
>If it hasn't been turned on in a while, it will work for maybe 15 or 20 minutes. If you don't play it, it will just sit there and nothing will go wrong. If you play it a little while, a high E-flat note will stick on. It is one octave higher than the highest E-flat on the keyboard. I tried transposing the keyboard so I could play that note thinking that the 'note off' would turn the sticking note off, but that doesn't work. Usually everything else on the organ works fine, but that note keeps playing. If you let it sit, it will play that note forever. All the drawbars and effects work on that stuck note, just like if you were playing it.
>
>If you turn it off and on again, it will work fine, but for shorter time. Then that note will stick on and sometimes others will, too. Sometimes the whole thing will freeze up and nothing will work except the stuck notes.
>
>If you turn it off and on again, it will work fine for an even shorter time. Then it will be all screwed up, nothing will work, or it will make bizarre digital noises, or the keyboard won't make sounds, or lots of notes will stick on.
>
>I have no idea what is going on. The only thing I've ever heard is that can be a problem with the power supply on the VK7. Roland replaced a lot of the circuit boards on this organ a couple of years ago, and I put in the newest OS about a year ago. I also re-initialized it a few weeks ago. Everything seems to work for a while, than it just crashes again.

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