ChromaTalk Archives: December 2002
Piece of Chroma History on Ebay?
David Clarke [21030085++] · Thu, 05 Dec 2002 21:15:14 -0500
Sort of neat for those Chroma collectors - saw this on eBay [item 927254948]:
"VERY VERY RARE QUITE HONESTLY ONE OF A KIND RHODES CHROMA SOFTWARE FOR THE APPLE II CHROMA INTERFACE. ... I was digging around and found the original chroma interface software that was used to test all of the Apple II interface cards that exist. There is two sets here some of the software was strictly used for testing but there are two sets of interface software for sure. There are also inter-company memos concerning the set-up and testing of these units. The book have all of the required information for setting up the interface as well as schematics for the interface its self."
Here are the pictures.
Dead Key
Nev · Sat, 21 Dec 2002 18:50:43 -0500
Greetings all, been kind of quiet around here lately! Well I am having a slight problem with my Chroma. One of the keys has gone dead.
If I switch the Chroma on, then play the defective key, it will sound the note and just keep sustaining, like its stuck. Subsequent strikes of the key then produce no sound, all other keys work fine. Mechanically the contacts on the problem key look fine and the problem note plays fine via MIDI.
Anybody got any pointers for me on this one?
Thanks and Happy Holidays to all !
Andrew Cohen · Sun, 22 Dec 2002 11:52:55 -0500
Hi Nev,
I've had this happen an endless number of times. It's always been dirt on the keyswitch, although it's possible for the contacts to break from fatigue. Try cleaning it by blowing it out then using a contact cleaner of some sort. I use Deoxit from Caig labs. (www.caig.com) There are lots of other brands/varieties of cleaner, tho. Sounds like it's the bottom contact that's dirty on yours. (Top contact for "key down, bottom for "key up"...er. I think. As I recall. Right?)
Good luck!
Nev · Sun, 22 Dec 2002 15:04:05 -0500
Hi Andrew, thanks for the tip! Upon cleaning the contact everything works fine again! Yes it was the bottom contact.... Look fine but must have been dirty.
Service Technician in Washington DC
Deborah BK · Wed, 25 Dec 2002 12:38:48 EST
Hi
Does anyone have any leads for having my chroma serviced in the Washington DC area...I am having power supply problems.
Many thanks