Fully Analog Stylus Timer!

Discussion in 'Vinyl Nutjob World: Turntable and Related Gear' started by powermatic, Dec 12, 2016.

  1. powermatic

    powermatic Friend

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    Okay, not a 'timer' per se, but at least it will give you some idea of how much time the needle has been scraping its way through The Vinyl Valley Of Death. It's a simple tally counter-the idea is to assign one for your new cartridge (or stylus), and click it each time you play a record side. You can then roughly extrapolate a time factor at, say, 20 minutes a side, to give you an idea of either how much use you've had for a particular stylus, or when to start listening for signs of a worn needle. It falls somewhere between the great chasm of 'better than nothing' and 'surprisingly accurate', but it is certainly more accurate than the many used carts you see for sale that, in an amazing coincidence, all seem to have "about 300 hours playing time", with absolutely no evidence of how that time was recorded. Also, and this is very important for the dedicated analog believer, it gives you one more thing to do before you can finally plop needle into groove.

    I bought mine cheap from this guy on The Ebay:

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    http://www.ebay.com/itm/172304085829?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

    They cost $2.01. Postage Paid. Yes, if you send two bucks to a guy in China, you will, in a remarkably short period of time, receive a pretty useful product. We are living in either the best of times or the worst of times. Since I bought more than one, I was also able to take advantage of the 5% discount!

    I turned some wood bases for these to make them more prettier, and soon I'll have one...

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    ...for every cartridge I own!

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    Actually I have more than enough. See 'For Sale' section for a deal for SBAF members if you'd like to have one. I'm passing my .1005 cent savings along to you!
     

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