Another one of those cheap as borscht chinese stylus force gauges just stopped working for me. I'm pretty much done with these cheap things. Anyone know stores in the GTA that carry reliable vtf gauges that don't cost an arm and a leg?
Byrpn

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“Without music, life would be a mistake"
― Friedrich Nietzsche

I know the Parts Connexion folks are always advertising theirs, but I have no idea as to it's quality....

walmart?
https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/Insten-300 ... MWZAR85UI9

Or you could find an ortofon dealer, call and ask if they have a cart balance. Should cost less than $25.

https://www.ortofon.com/stylus-pressure ... cale-p-279

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"In theory, everybody tells me I'm not under investigation!"

I use this from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.ca/Neoteck-Digital-Turntable-Backlight-Cartridge/dp/B01HRJ9NAY/

I have a Christian Becker 5g calibration weight and the scale is right on ... at 5g anyway!

Edits:

Trying to get the link to work. Grrrr

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Tom

Collecting vintage tube Pilot (Pilotone) HiFi gear.

That's exactly the cheapskate ones I've been using and I am tired of them failing on me (I've had three or four!)
B

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“Without music, life would be a mistake"
― Friedrich Nietzsche

I must have gotten lucky. No problems so far.

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Tom

Collecting vintage tube Pilot (Pilotone) HiFi gear.

The first one, I dropped. My bad, The second and third just stopped working...no reason. Not sure...I'll likely just buy another one anyway, unless I happen to get down to a dealer at some point soon...
b

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“Without music, life would be a mistake"
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Curious, can you return the gauge if you bought it from Amazon?

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Tom

Collecting vintage tube Pilot (Pilotone) HiFi gear.

Silly question but I am going to assume you checked the battery?

I own the Pro-Ject branded gauge which is similar to the one linked from Amazon – although a lot more expensive (~$100). No problems so far

Rega just released their own if you are willing to dish out $250 US.

http://www.rega.co.uk/atlas.html

Outside of that, the Ortofon digital gauge goes for around $180

Yeah, I replaced the batteries thinking that it might be the issue. The problem is that for anything over ~ 1g it says 'FULL'...there appears to be no factory reset or anything else...
b

_________________
“Without music, life would be a mistake"
― Friedrich Nietzsche

I got mine from Fleabay for $6.99 shipped and it works well. I also have the Shure as a back up. Remove the mat and place the guage directly on the platter for a more accurate reading.

TFA demonstrated a DIY stylus gauge.

https://www.takefiveaudio.com/contents/ ... forcegauge

The Amazon, the Parts Connexion ($50) and many others all appear to be the same as mine but from D-Ex in China for $13. (I also use an Ortofon balance scale ($10 ish) as a second opinion). I also have one in a cd box that is unreliable.
The Chi one has three buttons across the top and can be recalibrate. It may be as simple as you changed the mode. Did you keep the instructions?
I'm thinking mine's been around for 7-8 years or more..

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"In theory, everybody tells me I'm not under investigation!"

yeah, it's in grams for sure...but I wonder if I need to recalibrate - I might try that, though I don't think mine came with the 5g weight...will have to find one!
b

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“Without music, life would be a mistake"
― Friedrich Nietzsche

You may wish to look at the Ortofon DS-3 Gauge...made in Japan

https://www.ortofon.com/ds-3-digital-st ... 708-n-3444

Regards,
MKoM, Toronto

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"Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue." Plato

MKOM represents designs which combine the pinnacle of Audio Engineering Excellence with in-house experience.
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