Hi Doug,
Yes, the protractor is a dead-ringer for Tim's (Turntable Basics) protractor. I believe Tim is also in Minnesota. My only complaint about this protractor is that it falls slightly short of my Ortofon (Thorens? I forget ... I picked it up 20 years ago) mirrored protractor.
With mine, you can look at the cartridge/cantilever head on, and see the reflection of the lines converge as you move your sight-line to the right position. If you can visualize it, you use it the way you might focus an SLR camera with a split image focusing spot.
This is a minor gripe, but an improvement I'd make ... it's the kind of thing that drives someone to manufacture their own ... then again, Frank Schroeder gets a pretty nice setup with his card-stock protractors.
One thing I always forget to do before boxing up an arm is to verify the sight line to the bearing tower. I'm wondering if it is designed for TriPlanar's 233.5 mm p-s distance or if it is a residue from the TT basics design. I'll be getting a "keeper" arm for myself in a couple of months ... plenty of time to experiment.
This sighting in to the bearing tower, I find to be superfluous with setups like yours and mine anyhow ... set the p-s distance as close as you can with a ruler, and then do the fine adjust to land parallel at the two null points. What more does one need to know?
Cheers,
Thom
Yes, the protractor is a dead-ringer for Tim's (Turntable Basics) protractor. I believe Tim is also in Minnesota. My only complaint about this protractor is that it falls slightly short of my Ortofon (Thorens? I forget ... I picked it up 20 years ago) mirrored protractor.
With mine, you can look at the cartridge/cantilever head on, and see the reflection of the lines converge as you move your sight-line to the right position. If you can visualize it, you use it the way you might focus an SLR camera with a split image focusing spot.
This is a minor gripe, but an improvement I'd make ... it's the kind of thing that drives someone to manufacture their own ... then again, Frank Schroeder gets a pretty nice setup with his card-stock protractors.
One thing I always forget to do before boxing up an arm is to verify the sight line to the bearing tower. I'm wondering if it is designed for TriPlanar's 233.5 mm p-s distance or if it is a residue from the TT basics design. I'll be getting a "keeper" arm for myself in a couple of months ... plenty of time to experiment.
This sighting in to the bearing tower, I find to be superfluous with setups like yours and mine anyhow ... set the p-s distance as close as you can with a ruler, and then do the fine adjust to land parallel at the two null points. What more does one need to know?
Cheers,
Thom