E-MU SYSTEMS DRUMULATOR PAD PROGRAMMER SN 314

via this auction
"The extremely rare E-MU Pad Programmer consists of four independent trigger sensors with appropriate circuitry, with a common housing and power supply. The power supply is a simple three terminal regulator +5V supply. The input voltage is between 8 and 25 VDC and the current requirements are small enough (around 40 mA when an LED is firing, less quiescently) that heat sinking is not required. The plug in wall unit supplies nominally 10V DC, which is filtered and regulated. The sensor is a piezo-electric crystal mounted in a housing designed to transmit pressure from a vertical strike by a drumstick, and attenuate vibrations conducted by the housing. This assembly is glued together and tested at the factory. Service on these assemblies will generally be by replacement, as repairs are difficult to accomplish and will frequently be unreliable. The sensor produces a substantial voltage spike (10 to 100+ volts), which is loaded by a parallel capacitor and resistor, and rectified by a full wave bridge. The resulting positive voltage is attenuated and applied to one terminal of a comparator. The other terminal of the comparator is adjusted for the desired sensitivity threshold. The trim range is set to stay within the common mode range of the comparator. Positive feedback around the comparator is provided to minimize marginal switching. The comparator output triggers a one-shot which will both swallow any comparator oscillation or multiple triggering, and provide sufficient pulse width for the LED amplifier and for the output trigger pulse. Both of these signals are buffered from the one-shot output.

Probably the most rare and sought after vintage E-MU piece out there, and the most hard to track down besides the E-MU modulator system. The EMU Drumulator Pad Programmer allows you to program the Drumulator (or other drum machines with standard CMOS 5V trigger inputs) in real time with ordinary drumsticks. I was able to trigger my Forat F-16 drum brain with no problems and have a blast, in addition to the Drumulator, so it's very versatile. You can also trigger an analog modular with this unit. If you're an E-MU collector this is not a unit you can pass up. It could be years before you find another one. There weren't too many of these units ever made, and if you can find one it is probably very beat up and not working. This unit is in very good condition. Also the original magazine ad for the Drumulator Pad Programmer is included. This unit was purchased from "Roger Dodger Music", a Minneapolis based keyboard/synthesizer dealer. This may be the only time to snag the E-MU Pad Programmer, as they never come up for sale. The last one came up in 2007on Ebay and didn't work. If you have been waiting for years for one of these units to become available, now here is your chance. Owned by non-smoker without kids and pets.

This auction is for the E-MU Pad Programmer only. Please see my other auctions for the mint Drumulator shown."