Ensoniq EPS 16+ Keyboard Module Communication

[kxkxkx]

Hello everyone,

It looks like there are some real Ensoniq enthusiasts on here, so I was wondering if anyone knows anything about the KPC boards that run the Polyphonic aftertouch keyboards that come in some of the Ensoniq units?

I have acquired two keybed modules (with KPC boards) that I believe came from parted out dead EPS 16+ units some years ago, and I would like to build my own synthesizer around one of them. In order to do this, I'll need to try and reverse engineer the communication lines (UART and/or SPI) from (and to?) the KPC board in order to attempt to acquire key-presses and polyphonic aftertouch info from it.

I've done some electronic tests of my KPC unit, and it seems fine (CPU clock a nice 8MHz, address ports clocking nicely), but the UART and SPI lines do not send any data. I suppose that I need to conduct an initialization or 'handshake' before the unit will start sending out events, but without an Ensoniq unit available to analyse I have no way of finding out what messages the KPC board needs to receive.

Is there anyone out there with any info on communications with these KPC boards, ability to check the communication lines on their own unit, or any ideas on directions of enquiry?

Thanks so much in advance for any help or ideas you may have.

[Hyde]

cool project. Hope you can get some help on this