If step 1 is locating the pivot by aligning the crossarm with it such that the pointer sets down on the pivot point at a distance from the center of the spindle equal to the manufacturer's recommendation (thus setting the P2S distance; for this, the tonearm might have to be loose in the armboard so you can tweak the distance by a few mm either way), then they are saying you should now ignore that (after securing the tonearm in its mount) and go on to step 2, which requires rotating the whole platform in order to make the stylus sit down on the crosshairs. This usually requires some maneuvering of the cartridge in the headshell to set the stylus tip exactly on the single point in the crosshairs and to align the body of the cartridge with the parallel lines flanking the crosshairs. Once you've got that dialed in, then tighten the cartridge screws being careful not to disturb the position of the cartridge. THEN they probably ask you to swing the tonearm over to the second set of crosshairs and check that the cartridge also aligns with those (step 3). If the P2S distance was not exactly set in step 1, then step 3 won't work, because the arc described by the stylus tip will not pass over the second set of crosshairs. (I am reciting this from memory; I don't have the instructions at hand.)
Question about how to use Feickert Protractor
Greetings from Oregon,
I'd been following the discussion about the Feickert Protractor and finally decided to order one. I'd been using the GeoDisc for setup, and I wanted something a little more precise. I have been working with the protractor this evening, and the directions on the second step are not entirely clear. The first step is easy enough - set up the protractor with the gauge pin over the pivot point (easy to find on a unipivot) and adjust the cartridge to the bulls eye in the geometry you want (I'm using Baerwald). Moving to step two things become unclear
My first question:
Step 2 says "..we don't need to aim over the pivot point anymore. Please rotate the Protractor so that the stylus tip touches the cross hairs at step 2." The picture shows the stylus sitting right on the target. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not physically possible. The cross hairs at step 2 are a fixed distance away from the cross hairs at step 1. There's no way to rotate the protractor to make this happen. You have to move the tonearm over to step 2, right?
My second question:
Assuming that I'm moving the tonearm over to the lines for step 2 on the protractor, should the stylus fall right on the bullseye as it did at step 1? Mine doesn't, but I assume there's nothing I can do about it without having the whole tonearm assembly remounted. It's a VPI Prime, which doesn't appear to have any adjustments for pivot-to-spindle distance.
I hope the questions make sense, as it's not easy to explain without having the protractor in front of you. Hopefully, someone with experience using the Fleickert can help.
Thanks for any advice!
Scott
I'd been following the discussion about the Feickert Protractor and finally decided to order one. I'd been using the GeoDisc for setup, and I wanted something a little more precise. I have been working with the protractor this evening, and the directions on the second step are not entirely clear. The first step is easy enough - set up the protractor with the gauge pin over the pivot point (easy to find on a unipivot) and adjust the cartridge to the bulls eye in the geometry you want (I'm using Baerwald). Moving to step two things become unclear
My first question:
Step 2 says "..we don't need to aim over the pivot point anymore. Please rotate the Protractor so that the stylus tip touches the cross hairs at step 2." The picture shows the stylus sitting right on the target. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not physically possible. The cross hairs at step 2 are a fixed distance away from the cross hairs at step 1. There's no way to rotate the protractor to make this happen. You have to move the tonearm over to step 2, right?
My second question:
Assuming that I'm moving the tonearm over to the lines for step 2 on the protractor, should the stylus fall right on the bullseye as it did at step 1? Mine doesn't, but I assume there's nothing I can do about it without having the whole tonearm assembly remounted. It's a VPI Prime, which doesn't appear to have any adjustments for pivot-to-spindle distance.
I hope the questions make sense, as it's not easy to explain without having the protractor in front of you. Hopefully, someone with experience using the Fleickert can help.
Thanks for any advice!
Scott
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- 19 posts total
Thanks for the quick response. I'm still a bit confused about a couple of things - maybe I'm just having an off night :). First, I don't think I can change the P2S distance on the VPI Prime, at least not that I can see. The manufacturer recommends 258mm, and the measurement on the protractor is 261mm. I'm not sure I explained the problem clearly. According to the instructions, the first step (it doesn't mention the P2S) is to place the gauge pin over the pivot point and then place the cartridge on the lines marked "Step 1" (actually printed on the protractor itself) to adjust the overhang. I don't have any problem getting that dialed in with a little patience. So, once I have that dialed in, it asks me to move to the lines on the protractor marked "step 2" (which are on the outisde part of the protractor) by rotating the protractor. However, the protractor only moves in a circular motion, so as long as the stylus is over the lines marked "step 1" it can't ever be over the lines marked "Step 2". It's like placing your stylus over track 3 of a record and then trying to rotate the record until your stylus is over track 2. You'll just go in circles. You have to move the tonearm over to "Step 2", presumably without moving the protractor, to make sure that the arc is correct. Or am I missing something? Here's a pic http://www.maestrogarage.com/data/maestrogarage/product/feickert_protr_1.jpg Sorry if I'm just dense.... Thanks, Scott |
Yes you move the tonearm to the crosshairs in the second step. The first step is to get the overhang correct. Rotate the protractor some and swing the arm out to step two to set the alignment at the second point. You are then checking the cartridge (stylus) alignment at a second (null?) point. The cartridge should ultimately show correct alignment at both points and point 3. To move from one to the other requires rotation of the turntable platter (alignment jig) and moving the arm. |
- 19 posts total