2. analog
  3. 1345857361

Electronic stylus force gauge question

I recently bought my first electronic stylus force gauge. It's a generic type made in China, but looks and feels a surprisingly decent quality. It was purchased from Mehran at SoraSound for those who happen to have it.

I noticed that when I try to measure the VTF, the gauge begins to display a minus reading of -0.01-03 g as I'm lowering the tonearm to place the stylus on the black dot. It then displays a steady reading once the stylus is placed on the dot, which appears to be accurate by comparing with the Shure gauge I used in the past.

I make sure that the platter is secured so I'm not quite sure why the gauge displays the minus reading before the stylus lands in the measuring spot.

Has anyone else experienced this with their electronic gauge? I realize the minus value is arguably negligible, and the issue might be of no practical significance, but I'm trying to get my Delos to track as close to 1.75 as possible so I wonder whether I need to adjust for the minus value. I'm also curious why this is happening.

actusreus
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Pradeep,

A scale that resolves to .1g is okay. If it displays 1.7 then you're somewhere between 1.65000 and 1.74999... That's close enough to begin tweaking by ear. My scale resolves to .01g but I rarely pay attention to the second digit.
sarcher30
596 posts
 
One definitely needs to adjust by ear after initial setup. The value in having an accurate scale is one knowing your in the ballpark and two being able to return to a specific weight after removing a particular cartridge. If you don't change carts very often then it's not as necessary. I only have one arm now and several carts so once I have a certain cart dialed in I note the weight I had it at last for next time. This saves time dialing it in latter.
dhcod
710 posts
 
Definitely have had the same experience with those scales. For me, it was never the same reading twice. Total rip off. I use the Shure with my Delos and for me 1.75 (assuming the Shure is accurate) tracks and sounds the best.
sbrownnw
692 posts
 
I used the less than $15 pocket scale from ebay. Very accurate. Nickel weighs out to 5.00g and my audio shop had a 5.01g weight for calibrating and the scale was dead on. Has a tare button and does US / metric. Also comes with an extra battery and case.

pocket scale - no affiliation
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,982 posts
 
Sbrownnw...thanks for the link to that scale! You can buy several of these for the price of one of the other scales.

I'm going to order one and try it.
More to discover