Tool for measuring pivot to spindle distance?

lol - guess I will just get a better metric ruler/straight edge and hope for the best. :-)

Holly

I think I am confusing folks, or I am confused myself, lol, I know what the spindle to pivot distance is supposed to be, just looking for a tool that will give me a reasonably accurate measurement.

I have a Teres turntable with the original acrylic armboard; my Moerch DP-6 (with a 12" armtube) is already mounted in the armboard. The arm board is loose because the hex screw was not tightened down. The tone arm manufacturer says the spindle to pivot distance should be set at 294.1mm (11 9/16".) I am assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that I need to move the armboard until the spindle to pivot distance matches, or gets very close to, the manufacturer's recommendations, then I can tighten down the screw to keep the armboard in place and go on to align the cartridge with a protractor.

Am I going about this wrong? Doesn't the mounting distance need to be basically correct and the armboard secured in the right place before you use the protractor to align the cartridge? Or do you align the cartridge with the protractor and once the null points are correct, that means the tonearm pivot to spindle distance is automatically correct and you tighten down the arm board then?

I have been looking at that Neiko caliper, too, Banquo. I would think that it would be accurate enough for use in turntable set up - and the price certainly works for me!

Sorry, Mofi and Lewm - for some reason didn't see your posts when I wrote my last one. Mofi has the situation correctly described, and, no, I can't blame him for the unsecured state of the armboard. :-D

Mofimadness has a Dennesen protractor/Soundtraktor, too, Lewm, and I would love to have one, but, they don't seem to come up for sale/auction very often anymore, and the Nerve Audio protractors, which appear to be a copy of the Dennesen Soundtracktor, is almost $200, so out of my reach.

So, I need to get a good metric ruler or an acceptable pair of digital calipers; I may go the Harbor Freight route; their Pittsburgh calipers get decent reviews.

Holly

Well, just saw a Dennesen Soundtraktor on the US Audio Mart site that sold for $39 at the end of December! Darn it! And one that sold on eBay for $120, a more likely price. Sounds as if a good metric ruler is what I had best get for the time being - back to square one. There may be a Soundtraktor in my future, though!

Holly

Thank you for your response here as well, John.

Maybe I will set up everything with just a protractor...I did order a good metric straightedge though - cost almost as much as a cheap pair of 12" digital calipers, lol.

Holly