Beogram 1602 Tracking

[tcraig]

Hi all,

I have searched these forums to the best of my ability and haven’t found any information on this subject, so I am posting a new topic. Apologies if I missed something obvious.

I recently inherited a B&O Beogram 1602 turntable. It has been in storage since 2002! and was lightly used prior to that so it seems to be in good shape. It has an MMC 10 E cartridge and the stylus is fine. The tracking weight is set to 1.44 g, which I think is about right, but I could be wrong. It starts up fine and rotates at speed, but as soon as the tone arm touches down, it skates inward. On turntables that I have owned in the past, this would be an anti-skating adjustment, but I can’t find any information about such an adjustment on the Beogram 1602. Is there such a thing? If so, how does one adjust it? If not, is there anything I can do to alleviate this problem? Any info would be appreciated.

Regards,

Tom

[Mark-sf]

My guess is that you are not really tracking at that weight. How did you measure 1.44g?

[Dillen]

Yes, wrong tracking force setting. Check it with a gauge and reset the scale if it is off.
Or damaged stylus.

Martin

[tcraig]

Thanks for the replies. I measured the tracking force using a Proster scale that I bought. It came with a 5 gram calibration weight, which does register 5 grams on the scale. Short of obtaining multiple scales, I can’t think of a way to further validate the accuracy of the measurement.

The stylus looks okay from what I can tell and it does make sound when touched (very gently of course). Are there any other ways to check the integrity of the stylus?

I was thinking that I might increase the tracking force in small (say .25 gram) increments and see if a little more force would fix the problem. At what point do I risk damaging the stylus? (I’ll use some vinyl that I don’t care about).

Thanks again for the feedback.

Regards,

Tom

[Mark-sf]

What you are hearing when you physically touch the stylus is cantilever movement not the condition of the diamond. Have it checked under a microscope as it might be that the diamond portion might be missing.

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