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LED Upgrade

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Replacing the original bulbs with LEDs An obvious issue of the organ is that all controls and indicators are done with light bulbs and that those have a limited life time. When buying a 20+ year old instrument you can expect that the bulbs will burn out having reached the end of their life at some point in time. All bulbs are accessible, so theoretically there should be no problem replacing them. But, the types that were used are impossible to get - at least where I live. Rogers is using so-called fuse-bulbs that look like 30mm micro-fusees, but, instead of the standard 6x30mm those are 5x20mm. Scanning through the forums, Rodgers is rumored to still provide those, but availability seems to be an issue. There are two different types used in the 520/25/30/35. Stop tab switches and indicators use a 12V/1W type, the bulbs for the pedal board are 12V/3W. There are about 60 lamps in the entre instruments consuming roughly 70W peak. That is quite a lot for an aging power supply. So,
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Fatar TP/8L DF and DR Variants in a previous post I explained how to change the keyboard and that I ordered the DF variant as it is the more common one. Bad luck that it did not work. I now got a copy of the Fatar schematics. The difference between DF and DR is that the diodes are used in a different direction. When you compare the schematics with the 530 below, you see that the DR variant would have been the right one to order. Hence, advise I can give here is to check first, wich option applies in your case. My initial inquiry with the Rodgers Sales representative in Germany so far scored zero feedback. Hence, getting access to documentation is key.
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New Sound through old speakers The main reason buying it was, that the Rogers 5xx feature a Midi Interface and do have an Aux-in. So, you can replace the outdated tone generator with a contemporary software sampler. If you go for the high budget variant, simply buy Hauptwerk and you are done. I tried the Basic demo and the integration of the organ works perfectly out of the box. Using GrandOrgue you have to to invest far more time, but far less money. If you are new to the subject, please go here for more info and how to get this great piece of software. There are quite a some free sample sets available in the net, most outstanding those from Piotr Grabowski and his collection of very well sounding instruments. The target for me was now to integrate the entire organ front-end (pedal, manuals, stops, volume control, crescendo ..) into the UI of Grandorgue. Step one was to disconnect the manuals and pedal form the internal tone generator. The most easy way to do this, is to s
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Changing the lower manual ... So, today the new keyboard arrived. I ordered a Fatar TP/8L, DF version. There was no notion in the schematics if it is a DF or a DR, but the DF is the standard so, keep fingers crossed. Removing the old keyboard is pretty straight forward. Remove the power cable! Remove the upper three screws that hold the top lid. Slip it - carefully - forward and put it away. Be careful not to scratch anything as the clamps holding the lid are pretty sharp.  Remove the roll-cover by puling out at the back and watch out that is does not fall into the cabinet.  Next is to remove two screws (see picture, upper right corner) that hold the front panel in place. Once gone, you just remove four screws below the manuals with an Allen key and you can flip both manuals up.  Unscreew the keyboard from the two aluminum rails, cut the copper, remove the two cables and you can lift it out. Mounting is everything in revers order. Everything seems
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This Blog is to document the overhaulings of this old Rodgers Organ I bought.

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Dears, I found this organ on eBay. Its owner deceased last year and the family wanted to get rid of it. So, put it on a trailer and drove it from the Black Forrest to my place. The intention is to repair what needs to be repaired and give it a second life as MIDI frontend for GrandOrgue. Things that need to get mended are: - The felts in the pedalboard were gone - The lower manual needs to be replaced - Some of the bulbs need to be replaced - The sound generator is outdated - The smell .... I worked myself through the Internet to understand what the efforts are and the risk to get it done. The 520/530 models did not get good reviews being built in Italy and positioned by Roland at the lower end of budgets.  At a first glance, yes, some details are not that rock solid as you would expect. Pedal Board The pedalboard is only equipped with rear flat metal springs and not with the additional wire springs in the front as you know from church organs. The s
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