sacrelcious
New Member
okay, I've been pondering something (and feel free to steal this idea, btw): a laser sighted turntable.
why? ever tried to play a record in the dark? you fumble around, and end up with you index finger on the side of the cartridge, snd the side of the platter, andif you slip this could get very upsetting. that's why! ever have friends over that don't know how to use a turntable? they bounce that needle on the halfway point of the first track, and screech the thing when they want to take it off and move it to another track. that's why!
the idea is to attach a laser sight (using a standard laser pen) near the needle. however, an obvious problem would arise from that sort of weight bearing down on the tonearm. one solution I came up with in my head would be to use fiber-optic cable, so that the laser could be placed somewhere on the outside or inside of the turntable body, attached to a fiber-optic cable, the other end of which can be placed on the head of the tonearm (this would also allow me to place it closer to the needle, and thus have better accuracy). the problem then is that fiber-optic cables are a little stiff, and would tend to hinder the movement of the tonearm (a problem that would also be shared by simple mounting the laser on the head of the tonearm, since there would need to be a cord for the power. unless I were able to tap into the wires leading to the cartridge).
now I'm no engineer, and I have had no [succsessful] experience with a soldering iron, so I would like to hear from those with a bit more knowledge in the matters. what solutions can you guys dream up? what problems can you forsee? can you dream up solutions to those new problems?
why? ever tried to play a record in the dark? you fumble around, and end up with you index finger on the side of the cartridge, snd the side of the platter, andif you slip this could get very upsetting. that's why! ever have friends over that don't know how to use a turntable? they bounce that needle on the halfway point of the first track, and screech the thing when they want to take it off and move it to another track. that's why!
the idea is to attach a laser sight (using a standard laser pen) near the needle. however, an obvious problem would arise from that sort of weight bearing down on the tonearm. one solution I came up with in my head would be to use fiber-optic cable, so that the laser could be placed somewhere on the outside or inside of the turntable body, attached to a fiber-optic cable, the other end of which can be placed on the head of the tonearm (this would also allow me to place it closer to the needle, and thus have better accuracy). the problem then is that fiber-optic cables are a little stiff, and would tend to hinder the movement of the tonearm (a problem that would also be shared by simple mounting the laser on the head of the tonearm, since there would need to be a cord for the power. unless I were able to tap into the wires leading to the cartridge).
now I'm no engineer, and I have had no [succsessful] experience with a soldering iron, so I would like to hear from those with a bit more knowledge in the matters. what solutions can you guys dream up? what problems can you forsee? can you dream up solutions to those new problems?