A long time ago I ordered a new 37-key Doepfer keybed and cable from in the USA. In fact I think Doepfer gets them from in Europe so there might be a better way to obtain one. The new keybed is make/break (velocity sensitive) style, but the Pro One does not have the pinning to make use of the break contacts, so I only used the make ones.
Long story short, after making a new cable out of the supplied Doepfer/Fatar one and a 16-pin DIP, my Pro One keyboard is like brand new! The new keybed will fit in the Pro One, but the hole pattern on the bottom of the synth need to be drilled. This is fantastic news for anyone that has the membrane style Pro One keyboard. Anyway it will work with either the original Pro One CPU or my new TurboCPU. I have a couple of photos, but will also upload a wiring pinout later when I get time.
pinout for the Fatar 37-key matrix to the Pro one DIP connector
I’d love to get a new keyboard too.
Sounds like you are close to a full reproduction of the Pro One!
Cool!
Good News.
Is this keyboard ever going to be for sale? It’s just what my Pro-One needs
Anyone can buy it. I got mine from Analog Haven in the USA, but I imagine there are other (better?) places to get it. I just bought the one for myself to fix mine. I wasn’t planning on buying and reselling them. Any tech could do the installation.
Hi is it possible if you can post the pinouts for the connections?? I’m going to make a new cable and connector so was just wondering if you can help.. I have the schematics but just thought I’d ask..
Cheers
DD
I have a photo of my marking on the schematic so I will post that. I have not had time to do a detailed writeup yet though. It still works great! I love it.
Ok please do post ur pin out pic?!?!?
Cheers
Doug
I finally found the pic and posted it.
Bliss!! Thanks
Where we’re you able to find a male to the fatar ribon connector?
The cable came with the keyboard… or I should say that I ordered it that way. I got it as a set from Analog Haven in the USA. Took about a year to get it though. I’m sure there are better ways to get it. Doepfer sells it too, so anyone that sells their stuff will have it as well. It’s probably a standard connector, but I don’t know what it’s called. Some type of insulation displacement header. I don’t recall any marking on it.
Do happen to have the product #?
This is where I got it (including the cable):
http://www.analoguehaven.com/doepfer/mke/
Hello
Are these J wire keyboards for the Pro one still available. Checking the doepfer
site shows them unavailable and it also looks like they were not j wire types. Thanks
They are not J-wire, they are the new type that almost everyone is building into synths these days (with the possible exception of the giants Yamaha and Roland who I imagine make their own). I’m not sure what the technology is called but I think it’s a light gray rubber strip with domes. To be honest I never really looked that close at it. Anyway it’s not J-wire and it’s not membrane.
Getting them is another matter. I’m not sure who all sells them. I’m pretty sure Fatar makes them. It might even be cheaper to buy some used controller and gut it for the keyboard part?
You could try these guys maybe or contact Fatar directly:
http://www.midi-store.com/Fatar-Studiologic-mid-26-p-1.html
I found a Studiologic CMK-137 for this mod. It’s a 3 octave Fatar keyed, and looks exactly like the ones that used to be sold by Doepfer. I’m going to try this mod, and will let you know how it works. Hopefully a cheaper option (I got mine for less than $20 USD) for those of us wanting to upgrade our beloved Pro-Ones…
Update, and some frustration: the CMK arrived and I liberated the keyboard. It will fit, but the connector is a 16-pin Micromatch (like the one grantB4 shows on the left above) – I’m trying to wrap my head around how just 16 connectors will cover a 3-octave keyboard along with the Make/Break connections (it’s velocity sensitive)… Finding a schematic on the web has been impossible as Fatar’s site is password protected. Any ideas here? Also, are the pinouts on the Micromatch counted sequential or counterclockwise? Thanks!
Update 2, and some hope! The bottom of the keyboard shows a daughtercard (pic here: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/545852/daughtercard.JPG), and removing it shows a 20-pin Micromatch connector (pic: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/545852/removed.JPG) – I knew I was missing something… I now have to either find a 20-pin Micromatch cable, or desolder the connector from the daughtercard and wire it directly to a 16-pin DIP as grantb4 shows above. As a nice bonus, the card also shows that the pinouts are sequential (look at the bottom of the daughtercard pic linked above). This just might work… : )
Was my wiring photo helpful? Of course the keys are arranged in a matrix (see the original Pro One schematic). Also you can’t make use of the break contacts, only the make ones.
If you search Micro Match Connector on eBay there is a guy in the UK selling 3 right now.
Your mod was the instigator of this – I have a j-wire keyboard, and was getting tired of having to clean the contacts constantly, and have been thinking about a solution for years. Your wiring diagram has been a huge help!
I’m in the US, and can find the connectors from Mouser Electronics, so that’s not a big issue. I had hoped to find a pre made 20 pin Micromatch jumper cable on the web, but no luck. The Midi Store (from your link above) has them, but they are the new black connectors, not the (old) red ones.
I’m either going to have to get ribbon cable and a connector, or may just go ahead and disassemble the keybed, desolder the Micromatch connector, and hardwire the 16 conductor ribbon that came with it to the 13 appropriate connections, and then to a 16-pin DIP header. Disassembly would allow for a good cleaning of the keybed, but the connector route would probably allow for easier servicing in the future. Still on the fence as to what is better…
Again, I’ll keep you updated to progress, and hopefully have this up and running soon. I’m documenting everything – hopefully will make it easier for other to to this.
Cheers, and thanks again!
This is probably the same keyboard:
http://www.keyparts.co.uk/shop?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=74&category_id=8
I am planning on doing the same modification. I have the Pro One with the “membrane” keybed and it’s horrible. Love this synth, so am really anxious to have it firing on all cyclinders soon. Can you please post any other photo’s of your work…ribbon cable results, how you mounted it to the chasis, etc. Just anything about this mod. It’s the ultimate solution for resurrecting the classic Pro One. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Make sure you “view” the photos shown on this page. The photos are much larger than appear in the blog format.
Grant can I double check your schematic connections from the 20 pin to the 16 pin cable:
20 Pin 16 Pin
1 16
3 2
5 15
7 1
9 14
13 3
14 4
15 5
18 6
16 7
17 8
19 9
20 10
not used not used
2,4,6,8 11,12,13
10,11,12
This is how I am reading your schematic. Can you please correct me if this is wrong. I’ve hooked everything up this way on the new keyboard and only get the sequencer to work. Thanks, Pat
Yes, that appears to be correct. What is not clear is which pin is pin 1 on the DIP end. It’s confusing because the socket is on the opposite side of the PCB than normal. I can “buzz” it out this weekend when I have it apart for other work. The other thing you can look at in the meantime is that the various CPU pins are making contact as I have marked them on that diagram as well.
Here is a link to the wiring diagram I made for this project – it might help (or, someone might find a mistake on my end…)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/545852/P1%20Wiring%20Diagram.png
That is a beautiful wiring diagram. Really easy to follow. Helped me to correct a mistake I had made. I had assumed that the 20 Pin dip was alternating between pins sequentially (like this; 1, 20, 2, 19, 3, 18 etc) which is what the 16 Pin Dip does (16, 1, 15, 2, 14, 3) when in fact the Keyboard 20 Dip pins are in sequential order (1, 2, 3, 4, 5….). So when I was running wires from what I thought was Pin20 (keyboard) to Pin10 (PCB) I was actually hooking up Pin 2 to Pin 10 (wire 2 and wire 13). So now that I’ve got that straightened out, I’ve got no connection between pin 2 and 10 because pin 2 is not used (along with 4,6,8,10,11,12 on the 20 Pin Dip) and the actual connection is Pin 20 to Pin 10 which are wires 20 to wire 13. Can you confirm that the wires coming out of the 20 Pin Dip are in sequential order just like the pins (so that Pin 1 would be wire 1, Pin 2 wire 2, Pin 3 wire 3, etc) and that the pin/wire config on the 16 Pin Dip looks like this: Pin 16- wire 1, Pin 1- wire 2, Pin 15-wire 3, Pin 2-wire 4, Pin 14-wire 5 etc. Why I ask is because hooking pins together requires the correct wires soldered. I know your hooking Pin to Pin but it’s done by wires, so my bottom line is should the wire connections from 20 Dip to 16 Dip looks like this: wire 1 (being Pin 1) to wire 1 (being Pin 16), wire 3 (being Pin 3) to wire 11 (being Pin 2), wire 5 (being Pin 5) to wire 3 (being Pin 15), wire 7 (being Pin 7) to wire 2 (being Pin 1), wire 9 (being Pin 9) to wire 5 (being Pin 14), wire 13 (being Pin 13) to wire 6 (being Pin 3), wire 14 (being Pin 14) to wire 8 (being Pin 4), wire 15 (being Pin 15) to wire 10 (being Pin 5), etc. Anyway, after doing this I only got three keys to work-E, F, G in 1st octave…uggh. Something is still off and I am stuck again. But something is right too for even 3 keys to work. I am wondering if the connector on the 20 Pin ribbon is just not good. Any advise, help , confirmation is appreciated. Thanks, Pat
I had a laptop crash so I don’t know if I can find the rest of the photos or not, but keep in mind that the DIP cable on the bottom of the Pro One exits toward the rear of the case. If I get a change today I will see if I can get more detail together.
Here are a couple of diagrams that might help. I would ignore the pin numbers for the most part and just go with the orientation as shown. I didn’t get all the pins on there, but hopefully it’s enough to establish the pattern.
pic 1
pic 2
pic 3
Grant that is extremely helpful. Any way you can just list where the remaining pins 5,6,7,8 on the 16 DIP connect to on the 20 pin DIP? I am just not seeing the pattern that would allow me to complete the last 4 of the 13 connections.
I was getting the MicroMatch pin configuration from my pic above (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/545852/daughtercard.JPG) – if you zoom in on the bottom, you’ll see it shows a staggered layout with pin 1 to the bottom right, and pin 19 at the bottom left.
Yes, I see what what your saying now. However for wiring purposes it really just moves in a sequential way from (using your photo) right to left. I was more worried that it may be like the 16 Dip config where it goes from 1 to 16 to 2 to 15, etc. Still trying to find the last 4 connections from Grants latest “pic 1″. He shows it all except for 4 connections from the Dip 16 (pins 5, 6, 7, 8) to the Dip 20. Just need those to start soldering.
Thanks, Pat
Ok, I’ve figured the pattern out but it only works if the 20 way IDC connector is moving from pin 1 to 20 by non sequential Pin numbers (1, 20, 2, 19). So, I’ve now hooked up all the wires following the correct Pin connections from the schematic and matching the wires of each pin to the correct wire of each pin on the other DIP and all I get is two notes to play. More and more I am convinced I must have a bad ribbon connection. Any place to buy a non-plastic male 20 Pin ICD connector?? This red plastic one is cheap and flimsy!! Thanks, Pat
I haven’t had a chance to complete the pinout, but I wouldn’t over look the DIP end. On mine every second time I plug it in I have dead keys and if I fiddle with the DIP it starts working. I’ve also replaced my DIP socket which helps alot too. My DIP cable (plug) is old and that’s the part that is causing problems.
Interesting. Are you soldering a new male onto the PCB (with ribbon attached) or installing a female then getting a new male and attaching 16 wire ribbon cable to it? Could I ask where you got the DIP (male, female, or both)? Thanks
I still haven’t gotten around to actually creating the cable (work, school, new baby – nothing major…) so I can’t say whether it works or not. I was planning to just desolder the ribbon cable from the 20-pin MM and resolder the legs to the 16-pin DIP header I picked up with some 28 AWG wire. This way I would save the original cable if it didn’t work properly.
All the MM connectors I found seem to be designed to ‘press on’ with ribbon cable or solder directly to a circuit board. I did see this, which might work with some cutting/stripping:
http://www.newark.com/te-connectivity-amp/1483358-3/micromatch-20way-250mm/dp/98K5752?in_merch=Popular%20Cable%20Assemblies