what do the dots on the platter of turntable mean?? how do u fix broken mixer lights?

[chabbi4116]

A dj friend was over my house thee other day, and told me that my tables werent working right--- becuz the little dots on the platter looked like they were moving and jerking. Is that true.?? could that be beacuase the tables arent level? How do i fix them....they both do it?? and how much $ is it??

Also, about 3 weeks after i got my vestax mixer...one of the volume light bars did not work any more. Than a few weeks ago the other 1 went out. Could it be from not enuf power or is it cuz they are broke?? what should i do and whats the cost of fixing??

 

[mikefatom]

i don't know too much about platters but i know that on any good tt should have a strobe light that iluminate the dots on the platter side. Each row of dots represent a different platter speed which is of course relative to the pitch. at a given pitch, u should notice that one of the rows seems like not moving, and each row has it respective pitch. I think that with time your pitch control lose its precision and it can be a useful way for the technician to recalibrate the platter. but i don't think that its really important since u use the pitch control by ear and not by sight...

as for the Vestax mixer, if u still have the garantee on it , send it back to the shop for repair or replacement, otherwise if u're handy enough, open it and see for yourself...


mike

 

[Siv]

Re: what do the dots on the platter of turntable mean?? how do u fix broken mixer lights?

A dj friend was over my house thee other day, and told me that my tables werent working right--- becuz the little dots on the platter looked like they were moving and jerking. Is that true.?? could that be beacuase the tables arent level? How do i fix them....they both do it?? and how much $ is it??

The little dots are supposed to move. They will only stay stationary if you're at 0 or +/-3% pitch.

If they are jerking - i.e. not moving at constant speed then your tables are running. This means that they are loosing/gaining speed every now and then and are not staying at exactly the set speed. I don't know how you fix this but it makes if very difficult to mix if the tables run. I don't think it has anything to do with the level of the tables - i think it may be a electronic problem of a problem with the motor... i may be wrong though.

 

[dynagroove]

the dots should move smoothly. it almost sounds like a quartz lock problem. but on both tables - that most certainly shouldn't be. i've got a theory of what may be going on here. i have a vestax pmc-17a mixer. once i took it to a house party, plugged it in and the level meter would not work at all. the mixer performed fine, but the meter just wouldn't work. i thought i had damaged it in transport, but when i got it back home and plugged it in, it worked like a champ. my theory is that you are having a problem with the power at the wall where your equipment is plugged in. what country do you live in? are you using any sort of power transformer to run your equipment? do you live in an older house (this is where my problem occured)? since both decks are acting strange and your mixer is having problems, it's gotta be the power source. try taking at least your mixer to someone elses house and try it there. see if your level meters come back. try your decks too. good luck - jeff h