RB300 Tonearm Swinging to the Right

[Jason36]

When I have been trying to sort the set up on my Rage Planar 3 out I have noticed the the Tonearm does not stay static and want to swing back to the rest all the time.

The anti skate and vertical tracking are set to zero and when I try to balance the tone arm it wont stay in one place. I have checked my turntable and the surface this sits on and both are level.

Is this a normal problem or do I have a problem somewhere with the tonearm?

 

[respe]

the arm will swing back towards the arm rest while you set it up.

If you have the cart mounted, set the counterweight so that when the arm is set free as it where, (carefully) it will swing back in towards the rest, but it should stay level. Then set the tracking weight required, then set the antiskate at around half the tracking weight.

When you have done that, place the cart back on the alignment protractor and ensure that you have cart/cantilever correctly aligned, as in with the arc, and with the alignment grid.

 

[chebby]

No problem.

Get something with a very smooth, straight edge and let the arm swing back against it when balancing the arm to zero tracking force.

A plastic rule is ok because you can measure the point (a couple of mm above the height of the platter and felt mat) that represents the height of the stylus on the playing surface, then check that the stylus is at the same height when the arm is 'hovering' at zero tracking force.

So long as the edge of the rule is smooth, the arm will still find it's resting place (when 'hovering') and allow you to adjust.

 

[Jason36]

respe:

Then set the tracking weight required, then set the antiskate at around half the tracking weight.

I thought the antiskate should be set at the same as the Tracking weight in the case of an Elys2 Cartridge 1.75g

 

[Jason36]

chebby:

No problem.

Get something with a very smooth, straight edge and let the arm swing back against it when balancing the arm to zero tracking force.

A plastic rule is ok because you can measure the point (a couple of mm above the height of the platter and felt mat) that represents the height of the stylus on the playing surface, then check that the stylus is at the same height when the arm is 'hovering' at zero tracking force.

So long as the edge of the rule is smooth, the arm will still find it's resting place (when 'hovering') and allow you to adjust.

Thanks for that Chebby......never thought of that (obviously).

I think everything is set accordingly but it is hard to judge when the arm is moving. Will double check with the ruler just to make sure

 

[respe]

Jason36:respe:

Then set the tracking weight required, then set the antiskate at around half the tracking weight.

I thought the antiskate should be set at the same as the Tracking weight in the case of an Elys2 Cartridge 1.75g

Thats the info in the manual, start at about half that, and if you need a tad more increase. Your ears will soon tell you if you need to.

 

[blackholesun]

Jason36:respe:

Then set the tracking weight required, then set the antiskate at around half the tracking weight.

I thought the antiskate should be set at the same as the Tracking weight in the case of an Elys2 Cartridge 1.75g

Respe is right, although the manual says that the antiskate should be the same as the tracking force, I also noticed that the antiskate on RB300 is quite aggressive and half the tracking weight is enough.

 

[Jason36]

Cheers Guys,

Between Resp, Chebby and Blackholesun my turntable is now hopefully set up to its maximum potential at the moment.

Tracking weight has been measured with digital scales and the antiskate is now set to just under 1 with no problems to my ears so far

Once again thanks for all your help Guys

 

[blackholesun]

Yesterday I bought a cheap house 12" with a blank side to check whether the anti-skate is set up correctly on my RB300. The anti-skate is something like .75 which is even a bit less than the tracking force. It's enough, the needle does not sway to either side, except the outer track region and I suppose it's the poor pressing of the record. Which proves that even this method is not very precise ;-)

 

[Anonymous]

The reason is because Rega arms use a magnetic bias system. When it's 'off' there's still some pull of the magnet so it moves towards the arm rest.