Post by skillMy Ensoniq SQ-80 seems "gonne" Every time i turn it on, it has to
"Calibrating keyboard - do not touch" and
after some second, an ERROR message is showing, then back to
"calibrating...", and there is stays.
Those few times I get it to start proper, it sends MIDI signals totaly wild.
I remember having to change internal battery on my late ESQ-1, but none of
these symptoms appeared then.
What could be wrong?
S!
This is a known weakness in SQ-80s. I'm surprised yours took so long to
develop the problem. My SQ-80 had similar calibration problems in 1991
after i had owned it for 3 years. Tech told me that this was a problem
with the polyphonic aftertouch keyboard and some sloppy soldering during
the manufacturing. The EPS and VFX Ensoniqs also had the calibration
problems. Ensoniq ended up replacing the keyboard assembly and I was
only charged for labor, even though the warranty had expired. Haven't
had any problems since (I still have my SQ-80 and I love it).
Ensoniq is long dead, and I'm not sure what you can do about it,
especially since the SQ-80 has been out of production since 1989. You
could try re-initializing the synth by pressing "Record" and the
leftmost button above the display simultaneously. You will be prompted
for a "yes" or "no" response. Press "yes". Warning - you will lose all
internal sequences and custom patches, so make sure they've been saved
on floppy disk or by sysex to editor/librarian software. The EEPROM
cartridge (if you have one) will not be affected.
If that doesn't work, check out http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/ and the
mailing list on this site. This seems to be the best current Ensoniq
resource and you might get some repair tips there.
Good luck, and I hope you get your machine working again.
Tonyola