Among the questions I got offline, in response to my 090813 posting
and its 090820 follow-up, was the request that I share responses that
suggested alternatives to the Laurent Corey/Ron Perry Octet boards.

One person gave me this pointer: "There's a discussion on some
alternatives at: http://organ.10.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=1715 ,"
remarking that "the J-Omega looks like a nicely designed system."

Two other people had praises for the J-Omega system designed by John
Wale, saying that his products are simple, well engineered, and well
supported:  http://www.j-omega.co.uk/  His firm is listed among
others supplying MIDI system hardware on this MMD page:
  http://www.mmdigest.com/Links/MIDI 

Finally, there seem to be several other people besides me looking for
a spare Octet UM-0 or UM-1 board.  It would be a service if anyone
having a spare to sell would advertise it in the "For Sale" section
of the day's Digest.

Matthew Caulfield
Irondequoit, New York