Polaris Service Manual: Diagnostics
The "Scratch Patch"
Prior to making any adjustments on the Polaris a "scratch patch" should be established. The "scratch program" is also useful in trouble analysis, since you can be sure there is nothing in the program that will mysteriously affect the sound.
Any program erased from memory will revert to default values thereby establishing the "scratch program". So you need to erase a program, but what if you are working on a Polaris with 132 programs stored? No problem! Simply use the swap feature. The following sequence works fine:- Select program A1. (A1 is now in the workspace).
- Press upper function - erase prog. - A1 (Scratch now in A1).
- Press upper function - swap prog. - A1 (Scratch now in workspace, A1 now back in A1).
You should hear a raspy sounding sawtooth, characteristic of the scratch program when keyed. This is the starting point for most diagnosing and adjusting.
Channel Enable/Disable
One of the more important functions in troubleshooting is the ability to listen to one voice at a time, or shut off voices one at a time to locate an offending sound. Simply press LOWER FUNCTION - E (CHANNEL CK). Switches 1 through 6 now control the 6 voices. The LED'S, obviously, indicate the on/off status of the corresponding channel. Switch 7 controls the channel most recently played.
Oscillator Enable/Disable
Along the same line of reasoning, you may want to disable the number 1 oscillators or number 2 oscillators. Select pulse and set the pulse width to minimum (0%) or maximum (100%) for either oscillator 1 or oscillator 2.
Diagnostic Readouts
- Lower Function - D (Diagnostics) - 1
- Displays charge on battery in right column of LEDS in assignable control section. Expect 4 or 5 LED's to light for a normal condition. Replace the battery cells if less than 2 LED'S light. If all 7 LED's light, it may mean that the capacitor on the battery holder has charged to more than the normal 3.2V. Likely, the capacitor will have charged up to +5V indicating an open connection between a cell and the holder terminal. Turning off the Polaris for a short time will not dump memory; off for a lengthy time, clearly will.
- Lower Function - D (Diagnostics) - 2
- Displays revision level of EPROMS by a flashing number LED. Example: flashing LED number 5 indicates revision 5 software.
- Lower Function - D (Diagnostics) - 3
- Turns on all LED'S. Useful for checking LED'S and loading the digital +5V supply by drawing maximum current. Voltage levels and ripple should always be checked with the supply under full load.
- Lower Function - D (Diagnostics) - 4
- Turns on the LED above the master slider when the master slider is positioned to produce a value of 255. This checks out the range of the A/D converter.
- Lower Function - D (Diagnostics) - 12, STOP
- Erases all RAM and resets the microprocessor. Everything in RAM is wiped out; all adjustments, programs, and sequences. The Polaris must be reloaded and all factory adjustments must be performed following this particular function. Generally, this should be used whenever EPROM'S are changed to a different revision.
- Lower Function - 10: MIDI reset
- Sends a MIDI reset byte over the MIDI interface to reset any external device that recognizes the standard MIDI reset (hexadecimal FF).
- Lower Function - 11: Warm reset
- Clears minor glitches. Example: A surge on the power lines can cause impulse or oscillatory noise on the 120V mains. This may result in unusual glitches such as self-sustaining notes, etc. Use this function to clear these kinds of problems without clearing any configuration parameters you may have set up through the software controlled switches.
- Lower Function - 12: Cold reset
- This is a major reset similar to turning off the power and turning it back on. It will clear configuration parameters and set them to their default condition.
The following is a listing reprinted from the Owner's Manual, provided here as a quick reference to hidden functions. It is not intended to be used as a comprehensive guide, rather, every service center should have on hand an actual Owner's Manual. The terms "Lower Function" and "Upper Function" are designated by "LF" and "UF" respectively.
Resets |
|
| LF, 10 | MIDI reset |
| LF, 11 | Warm reset |
| LF, 12 | Cold reset |
| LF, D, 12 | STOP: Erase and reset all |
Adjustments |
|
| LF, A, 1 | Stop mode click volume |
| LF, A, 2 | Record mode click volume |
| LF, A, 3 | Play mode click volume |
| LF, A, 4 | Switch press click volume |
| LF, A, 5 | Error honk volume |
Interface |
|
| LF, B, 1 | Main local control switch |
| LF, B, 2 | Link local control switch |
| LF, B, 3 | Sequencer local control switch |
| LF, B, 4 | Main Chroma out switch |
| LF, B, 5 | Link Chroma out switch |
| LF, B, 6 | Sequencer Chroma out switch |
| LF, B, 7 | Main MIDI in switch |
| LF, B, 8 | Link MIDI in switch |
| LF, B, 9 | Sequencer MIDI in switch |
| LF, B, 10 | Main MIDI out switch |
| LF, B, 11 | Link MIDI out switch |
| LF, B, 12 | Sequencer MIDI out switch |
Cassette |
|
| LF, C, 1 | Cassette load monitor |
| LF, C, 2 | Cassette save monitor |
| LF, C, 3 | Cassette input level: Off = audio, on = digital |
| LF, C, 4 | Cassette output level: Off = low, on = high |
| LF, C, 5 | Chroma program switch |
| LF, C, 6 | MIDI program switch |
| LF, C, 7 | Chroma panel switch |
| LF, C, 8 | MIDI panel switch |
| LF, C, 9 | MIDI omni mode |
| LF, C, 10 | MIDI mono mode |
| LF, C, 11 | Main workspace program sent out over Chroma interface |
| LF, C, 12 | Main workspace program sent out over MIDI interface |
Diagnostics |
|
| LF, D, 1 | Charge on battery |
| LF, D, 2 | Revision level of EPROMs |
| LF, D, 3 | All LEDs on |
| LF, D, 4 | ADC range |
Channel Check |
|
| LF, E, 1 | Channel 1 enable/disable |
| LF, E, 2 | Channel 2 enable/disable |
| LF, E, 3 | Channel 3 enable/disable |
| LF, E, 4 | Channel 4 enable/disable |
| LF, E, 5 | Channel 5 enable/disable |
| LF, E, 6 | Channel 6 enable/disable |
| LF, E, 7 | Most recently played channel enable/disable |
Metronome |
|
| LF, H, 1 | Metronome normal |
| LF, H, 2 | Metronome master, pulses out sync interface |
| LF, H, 3 | Metronome master, timing bytes out MIDI interface |
| LF, H, 4 | Metronome pulses out sync, timing out MIDI |
| LF, H, 5 | Metronome slaved to sync input |
| LF, H, 6 | Metronome slaved to sync, pulses out sync |
| LF, H, 7 | Metronome slaved to sync, timing out MIDI |
| LF, H, 8 | Metronome slaved to sync sync pulse & MIDI timing out |
| LF, H, 9 | Metronome slaved to MIDI input |
| LF, H, 10 | Metronome slaved to MIDI, sync pulses out |
| LF, H, 11 | Metronome slaved to MIDI, MIDI timing bytes out |
| LF, H, 12 | Metronome slaved to MIDI, sync pulse & MIDI timing out |
Sync Input |
|
| LF, I, 1 | Sync in 12 clocks/beat |
| LF, I, 2 | Sync in 24 clocks/beat |
| LF, I, 3 | Sync in 48 clocks/beat |
| LF, I, 4 | Sync in 96 clocks/beat |
| LF, I, 5 | Sync in 192 clocks/beat |
| LF, I, 6 | Toggles polarity of sync in trigger |
| LF, I, 12 | Toggles level of sync in |
Sync Output |
|
| LF, J, 1 | Sync out 12 clocks/beat |
| LF, J, 2 | Sync out 24 clocks/beat |
| LF, J, 3 | Sync out 48 clocks/beat |
| LF, J, 4 | Sync out 96 clocks/beat |
| LF, J, 5 | Sync out 192 clocks/beat |
| LF, J, 6 | Toggles polarity of sync out |
| LF, J, 7 | Sync out rate limit 1200Hz |
| LF, J, 8 | Sync out rate limit 600Hz |
| LF, J, 9 | Sync out rate limit 400Hz |
| LF, J, 10 | Sync out rate limit 300Hz |
| LF, J, 11 | Sync out rate limit 200Hz |
| LF, J, 12 | Sync out rate limit 150Hz |
MIDI Channel |
|
| LF, K, 1-6 | MIDI basic channel (b) = sum of these |
| LF, K, 7 | MIDI in, no extra channels |
| LF, K, 8 | MIDI in, extra channel b+3 |
| LF, K, 9 | MIDI in, extra channels b+3 & b+4 |
| LF, K, 10 | MIDI in, extra channels b+3, b+4 & b+5 |
| LF, K, 11 | MIDI in, extra channels b+3 through b+6 |
| LF, K, 12 | MIDI in, extra channels b+3 through b+7 |
Sequences |
|
| UF, A | Flashes currently selected sequence number |
| UF, B | Chains current sequence to sequence specified by no. (1-12) |
| UF, C | Toggles cue flag at end of current sequence |
| UF, D | Sets sequence tempo to metronome if on; erases if off |
| UF, E | Select (A-K, 1-12) initial program for current sequence |
| UF, F | Select sequence (1-12) |
| UF, G | Erase sequence (1-12) |
| UF, H | Swap current sequence with sequence (1-12) |
| UF, I | Save current sequence on tape |
| UF, J | Save all sequences to tape |
| UF, K | Loads one sequence over current sequence from tape |
Programs |
|
| UF, 1 | Store current program into (A-K, 1-12) |
| UF, 2 | Erase program from (A-K, 1-12) |
| UF, 3 | Swap current program with program (A-K, 1-12) |
| UF, 4 | Save current program on tape |
| UF, 5 | Save all programs on tape |
| UF, 6 | Loads one program from tape into main workspace |
| UF, 7 | Displays in Assignable Control approximate memory used |
| UF, 10 | Toggles cassette motor control |
| UF, 11 | Runs tape to verify. Any error stops tape, sounds honk. |
| UF, 12 | Runs tape to load programs and sequence |