Anti skate question for Rega P8/RB 880 arm

I think of you as a fairly experienced guy, but I will take a shot at your question anyway.  First, there is no one single "correct" setting for anti-skate, because the skating force is varying in magnitude, second by second, as the stylus traverses the LP surface.  Second, no matter what Rega may say, everyone else seems to agree that one should use the most minimal amount of AS needed to correct for channel-specific distortions one might otherwise here.  In other words, with no AS, one typically hears noticeable distortion in the R channel.  (Owners of VPI tonearms claim not to hear this.)  If you do hear distortion in the R channel with no AS, then add AS force in tiny increments until that goes away.  The needed amount in grams is usually a very small fraction of VTF.  That's what I do.  Others view the cantilever from the front end of the cartridge and look for its deviation from 90 degrees to the LP surface; they add AS until the cantilever seems to be unstressed.  I don't do that.Still others will say they use the run-out grooves of an LP and look for "gradual" motion toward the label.  And still more others will say they use a groove-less LP and look for the stylus to remain stationary.  That's my least favorite idea, because the skating force is due to friction in the groove, and with no grooves you are not reproducing the force you want to cancel.

Thanks lewm. I am pretty experienced with equipment over the decades, but never set up my own tables and never even thought about anti skate until the guy from tru lift brought it up because the arm was skating off his lift bar just last week. It was set at 1 or so. He had me set it at about .6-.7 (it's hard to see exactly where it's at) but agrees with you that it should be as low as possible. I'm going to try it at .2-.4 as VDH recommends unless I hear distortion and then I'll up it a bit.

I guess in an ideal world, you'd use a linear tracking arm that has no need for anti skate, but that presents other problems as to how the arm moves across the record. I had a Phase Linear linear tracking table (8000) for a long time up until about 2000 or so that was fully automatic with all kinds of motors and things to distort the sound. I didn't realize how bad the sound was until it broke and I replaced it with a Music Hall MMF 5 that absolutely blew it away. Before then I didn't want a manual table. Thanks again.

After many years, I started using an lp with a smooth surface, no grooves, like this

https://recordblanks.com/product/anti-skate-calibration-record-pre-order-calibration-records-will-ship-july-6th/

you may have all this done, if not, for others following

get needed tools, you can learn to do this yourself if you don’t have the skills yet:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07794JXYZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HF9PEA4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N9TRSPC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/Coghlans-8501-Featherweight-Mirror/dp/B000RZQI68/ref=sr_1_17?dchild=1&keywords=small+mirror&qid=1598463376&sr=8-17
https://www.amazon.com/Hudson-Hi-Fi-Azimuth-Protractor-Bundle/dp/B07S3Y7FXS/ref=sr_1_21?dchild=1&keywords=tonearm+alignment&qid=1598463969&sr=8-21

I have one of these specific for my tonearm, but there are enough marks for any tonearm
https://www.amazon.com/Zripool-Turntable-Tachometer-Calibration-Stroboscope/dp/B07QNVF74Y/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=lp+strobe&qid=1598464313&sr=8-13

If you have OCD, you can buy fancier stuff, but those will get you there.

1. zero anti-skate for everything, anti-skate last

2. after very careful alignment of

overhang, distance stylus tip past the spindle (specific for each tonearm)
two null points, horizontal alignment in arm/headshell, view from top
azimuth, vertical alignment down into the groove, view from front
VTA, vertical tracking angle, cartridge maker specifies, view from side
SRA, Stylus Rake Angle is what you are really going for when getting vta correct
VTA/SRA involves precise adjustment of height of tonearm

3.. tracking force, use digital scale

4. finally/last: anti-skate
add amount equaling the tracking force, just to see if your arm anti-skate is accurate, as will be revealed by:

place stylus tip in center of smooth lp, spin by hand, see if moving out/in/ stays essentially where it was.
refine adjust for 2 movements
a. place tip near where inner grooves typically are. manually spin. in a bit is ok, out, lessen as till in a bit.
b. then double check action when stylus starts from where center of grooves are, not out, not in too quickly.

5. test record if you must,

6. I prefer this LP for final verificarion

https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/5862108?ev=rb&sort=condition%2Cdesc

side two, tracks 2 and 3, all 3 guitarists play, you know and can try/make AS adjustments listening to the imaging, if right you will hear john in the middle with greater clarity/separation from paco to left, al to right. listen not only to paco and al for volume and imaging,also listen to the audience for general wall of sound.
.................................
if you have room to place this between your arm and edge of platter, this is terrific end of play lifter.  it fit for my main 12.5" arm, no room for my 9" arm, base too close to platter.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HKX6WL7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

this weight is reasonably priced

https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT618A-AT618a-Disc-Stabilizer/dp/B07HB2LDYT/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=audio+technica+weight&qid=1598464704&sr=8-1