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Re: [ARSCLIST] Anti-skating (was Mostly for laughs)



Steven C. Barr wrote:
> The phenomenon we refer to as "centrifugal force" is actually the 
> straight-line inertia of an object moving in a circular path
> (or a portion of one). 

Phillip Holmes wrote:
>... The net result is that you exacerbate the misalignment of the stylus
> in the magnetic gap.  In other words, the needle/stylus is still pulling
> in and you are pulling the cartridge body the other way.

Since the stylus/catridge doesn't rotate, there is no centrifugal force:
Fc = mv2/r, where Fc = centrifugal force, m = mass, v = speed, and r = 
radius.

The root cause of skating force is friction between stylus tip and record 
groove walls. Since the line between stylus tip and arm pivot is not 
tangential (perpendicular to radius), the friction force is decomposed in a 
vector towards the pivot, and another one pulling the arm inside (skating 
force). Only a tangential arm (or one with infinite length) produces no 
skating.

The anti-skating mechanism offsets the radial force vector, such that both 
groove walls get equal pressure. Proper anti-skating adjustment can easily 
be verified with a test record containing a heavily modulated sine wave 
(e.g. 300Hz lateral @ +15dB). The anti-skating (bias correction) is 
properly set up when distortion in both channels is equal. Without anti-
skating (or with too much), one channel will be more distorted.

The required anti-skating force depends on the friction resistance of the 
groove, stylus pressure, stylus shape.
A stylus on a blank disk surface (without grooves) behaves differently from 
the V-shaped groove.

Jos Van Dyck
NGM Archiving Solutions
centrifugal 


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