Tonearm Alignment Calculator Pro

[djw.lp]

Of course - you are correct, and I see my error.
The manual for the PL-51 lists Eff Len = 221mm and overhang 15.5mm
221-15.5 = 205.5mm (spindle to pivot),
which is approximately my 204mm rough measurement.
221+15.5 = 236.5mm which is incorrect. However - checking the database again it either has been corrected - or I am totally out to lunch.
Thanks for your response.
dan

[JaS]

However - checking the database again it either has been corrected - or I am totally out to lunch.

The figure in the library was correct, the figure in the database was a typo, now corrected, thanks

Regards,
JaS

[Dyolf]

If you spot any bugs or layout issues please post here with details, thanks

Regards,
JaS

nice work!!
I am in the mental process of DIY'ing a tonearm a "little" longer than usual, and was wondering if you could remove the limit, regarding the length input on the calculator. 500mm is a little short
Another totally different matter: Offset angle is one thing, but are there any rules or calculations that state how far from the stylus tip, the "bend" on the tonearm begins?
Regards
Steen

[Alec124c41]

Why do you need any bend if you are going past 500 mm?
A tone arm can be wildly bent or perfectly straight, as long as the cartridge is in the right place.

Cheers,
Alec

[Dyolf]

Why do you need any bend if you are going past 500 mm?
A tone arm can be wildly bent or perfectly straight, as long as the cartridge is in the right place.
Cheers,
Alec

Thanks Alec. It was an answer along theese lines I had hoped for. My uncertainty is develloped due to the multiple solutions on the market. Something must be the cause to the many different approaches?
Steen

[JaS]

I am in the mental process of DIY'ing a tonearm a "little" longer than usual, and was wondering if you could remove the limit, regarding the length input on the calculator. 500mm is a little short
Another totally different matter: Offset angle is one thing, but are there any rules or calculations that state how far from the stylus tip, the "bend" on the tonearm begins?

Sorry but the calculator was built around this limit and increasing it would throw up errors. As the calculations and plots are made on the sever it is necessary to have limits and error handling to prevent excessive load on the server.

As for any bends in the arm tube, as Alec says this is not part of the alignment. Straight arms will need attention paying to the angle the tube meets the vertical bearing, J shaped arms may need a lateral balance weight, and S-shaped arms are shaped to balance the arm mass, but this is beyond the scope of the calculator which is designed purely to compare alignments, not other aspects of arm design.

Regards,
JaS

[Dyolf]

Straight arms will need attention paying to the angle the tube meets the vertical bearing
Regards,
JaS

I found a spreadsheet on the web, that allowed for armlength inputs with no limits. Putting in 499mm in both calculators, gave identical results
Is it advicable, for a unipivot arm, to mount the pick-up at the correct offset angle, but with the stylus tip directly under the center line of the arm?
Steen

[JaS]

I found a spreadsheet on the web, that allowed for armlength inputs with no limits. Putting in 499mm in both calculators, gave identical results

That's good to hear as we should all be using the same math. However, I would have thought that making an arm that long that is also stiff and light is going to prove troublesome?

Is it advicable, for a unipivot arm, to mount the pick-up at the correct offset angle, but with the stylus tip directly under the center line of the arm?

I'm no expert I'm afraid. It seems the norm with unipivots that have straight arm tubes, but I don't know if this is just to keep weight down, or to balance the arm laterally (this is most likely)?

Regards,
JaS

[Alec124c41]

Having the stylus off-center would introduce a bit of torque. If you stand on one foot, it had bette3r be right under you.

Cheers,
Alec

[lini]

JaS: Good job! I've just discovered the new version recently and already played quite a while with it since, and it's really nice and convenient to use - basically the old calculator and the old comparator now combined into one single tool. Thanks for that, 'cause it's now a good combo tool - helpful for quite a few things, and be it only to give newcomers to the topic a good, quick overview as well as the possibility to play around with the parameters and compare the results both numerically and graphically... And for me as a "use convenient alignment jig, if easily available"-lazybag, it certainly comes in handy to justify my opinion, that the slight loss of alignment precision by using those jigs doesn't really have much of an impact on distortion.

So thanks again for the good work & greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

[albertocm44]

Too much helpful alignement tools and tonearm overhang shift!
Often I can't connect with vinylengine, the site is busy or I do not have internet connection.
How I can do download of the software for calculation? I can give a contribution to the work ...
I hope can be
Thank you and congratulations
Alberto

[JaS]

How I can do download of the software for calculation?

Sorry but I wrote it specifically to run on the website; it isn't a stand alone application that can be run away from the server and relies on custom functions and installed plugins that are specific to this site.

As for connection problems, the site is generally fast and reliable from the UK (I'm about 6000 km away from the server) at the times of day I access it, but it's hard to say how it looks from other locations/time zones.

Regards,
JaS

[Alec124c41]

Conrad Hoffman's arc protractor generator is downloadable. Not the same, but might be useful.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=16849

Cheers,
Alec

[michael lau]

Hi there, could somebody please help me with my STANTON STR8-50 turntable. I am currently using the ORTOFON CONCORD STYLUS, they call it the banana stylus if i am not wrong.

Currently i could not get the DESIRED SOUND which i has always wanted, i have downloaded the Cartridge Alignment Protractors from this website and found out that my stylus is out of place and worse is that the ORTOFON CONCORD STYLUS do not allow me to do the adjustment on it. I have tried all three Cartridge Alignment Protractors and all three shows my stylus is out of place especially on the third song and worse is last songs sound distorted.

I was told by a few people that the STANTON STR8-50 TURNTABLE is not a good one cos the tone arm is shorter then the others, is it true and is it that my STANTON STR8-50 is not a good model?

I want to get a NEW HEAD SHELL and a NEW STYLUS to replace the ORTOFON CONCORD STYLUS and give it another try before am considering getting rid of this junk(really headache when you cannot get the desired sound that everybody is having).

If there is any RECOMMENDATIONS for what BEST HEAD SHELL or NEW STYLUS to get, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know.

Your help is always APPRECIATED. Below is the picture of the PROBLEMATIC STANTON STR8-50 TURNTABLE that i am using.