Hey everyone! I’m new here! I’ve just gotten into designing turntables and audio equipment so I’m excited to learn more about how they function!
Welcome HreyBerry! Are you approaching design from more of a mechanical/aesthetic direction, or electrical? You don't often hear of people designing turntables, so that is intriguing, and there are a lot of folks here designing and building amplifiers, so you will find a great resource of ideas and knowledge here. Anything particular you are working on or have questions about now? (By the way, we =LOVE= photos, so lots please 😀 )
Sure thing here are some pictures! the frame is meant to be at a slant with pegs in it so that it can pop in and out of the stand. I know having it at a slant poses a lot of issues with leveling and the angle that the needle connects to the vinyl. So I thought that a linear tracking tonearm would remedy the issue. If linear tracking is the solution I would want to to be more mechanical than aesthetic, I have limited experience with working on something like this and since the base is a bit out there I want to focus on functionality for the tonearm. I think my main question for starting is do linear tonearms need a motor to function? Or can the needle be guided along the track by the moment through the grooves?
That is a beautiful base you are making.
A pivoted tonearm will not work unless everything is level. A linear might, but that increases complexity by a factor of 10x or more. Some linear trackers are on incredibly low-friction bearings (air) and have no motor moving them. Most are motorized.[/i]
A pivoted tonearm will not work unless everything is level. A linear might, but that increases complexity by a factor of 10x or more. Some linear trackers are on incredibly low-friction bearings (air) and have no motor moving them. Most are motorized.[/i]
Thanks! If only it was functional🤣
Is there maybe an alternative to both that could solve the problem without changing the overall shape of the base? Or is linear the only viable option?
Is there maybe an alternative to both that could solve the problem without changing the overall shape of the base? Or is linear the only viable option?
Linear may not even work. You need a tonearm that is dynamic (sprung or motorized) balance in both directions, which isn’t common at all.
I am sure that if you mount the platter and arm level, all these issues go away and regularly available tonearms will work perfectly.
I am sure that if you mount the platter and arm level, all these issues go away and regularly available tonearms will work perfectly.
Haha yeah! I'm glad there are so many people out there who are into this! Any and all feedback is appreciated. The slope of the base is 10 degrees so Hopefully it won't affect sound quality too much but pressure on the vinyl and wearing out the record and needle is still a concern
The problem is skating of the tone arm out of the groove. Tonearms are balanced so only about a gram or two of weight are bearing straight down on the stylus, so tonearm 'tracking" depends upon the needle staying in the groove with only this light pressure. Anti-skating applies a tiny spring force pulling the tonearm out towards the edge of the record as the groove is trying to pull the tone-arm towards the center of the record. This delicate balance of forces has to all be dialed in exactly for the tonearm to track. Allowing gravity to pull on the side of the tonearm will significantly complicate things. Perhaps consider a design where the plinth need not be at an angle?