hello, I see this on my tone arm what does it mean? can anyone help

+ -
-
-
-
-
-
- -


Thanks
Rusty

"rusty" wrote ...
hello, I see this on my tone arm what does it mean? can anyone help

+ -
-
-
-
-
-
- -

Without better description...

1st most likely: adjustment for stylus pressure.
It is asociated with something which moves the
counterweight (at the back end of the arm) in and
out to accomplish a particular pressure.

2nd most likely: some kind of anti-skate adjustment.
This is more likely down on the top place, or around
the tonearm vertical shaft. It is a kind of spring which
counteracts the centrifugal force that wants to pull
the arm in towards the center.

"rusty" wrote in message
ups.com...
hello, I see this on my tone arm what does it mean? can anyone help

+ -
-
-
-
-
-
- -

Probably the name of the company that made the tonearm.

Norm Strong

wrote in message
. ..

"rusty" wrote in message
ups.com...
hello, I see this on my tone arm what does it mean? can anyone help

+ -
-
-
-
-
-
- -


You mean something like + ....... - but vertically?

Probably the anti-skating adjustment.

Maybe the stylus pressure adjustment.

You mean something like + ....... - but vertically?


Let me be a little more specific.

If it is on the tone arm, it is probably the tracking pressure.

If it is on a separate little lever near the base of the tone arm, it is
probably anti-skating.

"Richard Crowley" wrote in message
...
"rusty" wrote ...
hello, I see this on my tone arm what does it mean? can anyone help

+ -
-
-
-
-
-
- -

Without better description...

1st most likely: adjustment for stylus pressure.
It is asociated with something which moves the counterweight (at the back
end of the arm) in and out to accomplish a particular pressure.

2nd most likely: some kind of anti-skate adjustment.
This is more likely down on the top place, or around
the tonearm vertical shaft. It is a kind of spring which
counteracts the centrifugal force that wants to pull
the arm in towards the center.

Off topic, and a bit of a quibble, but it isn't centrifugal force that
causes inward skating. If you draw a line straight back from the tonearm
shell, you will find that it misses the tonearm pivot by a distance (offset)
of about four inches. The force of friction of the stylus dragging on the
record times the offset creates a torque around the tonearm pivot that makes
the whole thing tend to skate inward.

The anti-skating mechanism (spring or weight) is a crude attempt to
approximate an equal and opposite force to balance it out.

"Karl Uppiano" wrote in message
news:XTrtf.800$yW1.129@trnddc05...

Off topic, and a bit of a quibble, but it isn't centrifugal force that
causes inward skating. If you draw a line straight back from the tonearm
shell, you will find that it misses the tonearm pivot by a distance
(offset) of about four inches. The force of friction of the stylus
dragging on the record times the offset creates a torque around the
tonearm pivot that makes the whole thing tend to skate inward.

Thanks - that's the clearest explanation of skating I've ever heard. The
essence of it is simply that the record is pulling on the cartridge, but not
pulling it directly away from the tonearm pivot, hence the tonearm wants to
pivot in the direction in which it's being pulled. Right?

"mc" wrote in message
. ..
"Karl Uppiano" wrote in message
news:XTrtf.800$yW1.129@trnddc05...

Off topic, and a bit of a quibble, but it isn't centrifugal force that
causes inward skating. If you draw a line straight back from the tonearm
shell, you will find that it misses the tonearm pivot by a distance
(offset) of about four inches. The force of friction of the stylus
dragging on the record times the offset creates a torque around the
tonearm pivot that makes the whole thing tend to skate inward.

Thanks - that's the clearest explanation of skating I've ever heard. The
essence of it is simply that the record is pulling on the cartridge, but
not pulling it directly away from the tonearm pivot, hence the tonearm
wants to pivot in the direction in which it's being pulled. Right?

Exactly. Linear-tracking turntables have no skating issues (but they're more
complex, and may have other problems).

"mc" wrote in message
. ..
"Karl Uppiano" wrote in message
news:XTrtf.800$yW1.129@trnddc05...

Off topic, and a bit of a quibble, but it isn't centrifugal force that
causes inward skating. If you draw a line straight back from the tonearm
shell, you will find that it misses the tonearm pivot by a distance
(offset) of about four inches. The force of friction of the stylus
dragging on the record times the offset creates a torque around the
tonearm pivot that makes the whole thing tend to skate inward.

Thanks - that's the clearest explanation of skating I've ever heard. The
essence of it is simply that the record is pulling on the cartridge, but
not pulling it directly away from the tonearm pivot, hence the tonearm
wants to pivot in the direction in which it's being pulled. Right?

By the way, my explanation is a first approximation. The head shell angle is
a compromise. It is only parallel to the grooves at one point in its arc.
What you really want to do is draw a line tangent to the groove at the point
where the stylus contacts the record at any given moment.

The force of friction of the stylus also varies as it moves to the center of
the record, as well as with the amount of groove modulation, vinyl
composition, stylus shape and tracking force (the only things designers ever
really even attempt to take into account) and so on.