anti skate and tonearm height

[oldman54]

I have a Numark 1520 tt and the anti skate does seem to do anything. I also have a Numark ttusb and it works on blank record (video disc) but only on inner, about 45 diameter, part of disc. I also had a Sony, 250, the belt drive 1200 clone that it had no effect. So are these tables broken or is skating that subtle? Also the arm height doesn't seem to be adjustable. I made an 1/8" wood shim in headshell AND a 78 record under a cork mat to get arm level, curing doesn't lift cart off record, otherwise works ok, but...I have shure and at carts.

 

[Poinzy]

The first thing you need to do is relax. If you have instruction manuals, consult them on the issue of antiskate. Don't fiddle around with other issues until you've got the antiskate issue resolved.

 

[tnsilver]

I have a Numark 1520 tt and the anti skate does seem to do anything

b/c it shares the same production line with other TT's that are badged differently but all share the same rotten anti-skate mechanism. If you open the bottom and get to the tonearm area, you might notice the anti-skate spring. It usually just dangles out of place. One end of it is fixed to a post, the other needs to lean against the tonearm. There should be a slot for the spring on the TA and for some reason the spring never stays there. I guess you could fix it on your own.

Also the arm height doesn't seem to be adjustable.

yeah, well... learn to live with it. No, actually scratch that, no one should.

 

[oldman54]

Thanks, I suspected a dangling or broken spring. I used the metal weight that came w/my ss35c for a pattern and made a shim out of 1/8" plywood but didn't quite level arm. I bought a pioneer deck to get a m44e cart that had no anti skat. Put at3600 on it, got my money back. I had a arxa for 30 years w/ no skating either so I'm not really sweating it. Moving soon so I'll put fixing it on my to do list when i get settled. Thanks again, back to packing albums.

 

[majick47]

Numark and various other countless brands of new/newer turntables are mfg in Taiwan/China by the Hanpin Turntable Factory and they all are mfg on the same production line using the same parts with slight variation of outward appearance. Even though they look like the venerable Technics SL-1200Mk2 any similarity stops there, expect warped platters, loose tonearm bearings, nonfunctioning antiskate and subpar design/materials along with no apparent quality control. Not worth the time or effort to fix the Numark, try to unload it on Craigslist and then start looking on Craigslist for a MADE IN JAPAN turntable, many can be had for well under $100 with perfectly functioning antiskate that would run circles around the Hanpin made tables as far as build quality and performance.

 

[oldman54]

Been looking at a couple on Let go sub $100 Technics, even if not working well probably worth repair. Had a Technics w/p mount, auto return, had issues but platter speed was dead on.

 

[tnsilver]

Some of the older Numarks, from the turn of the century, are half decent and were made in Korea.