Anti-skating Force

The last parameter this article will discuss is anti-skate, or Horizontal Tracking Force (HTF). This is only necessary on pivoted arms, and is designed to counter the force drawing the arm towards the center of the record due to the offset of the cartridge relative to the armtube. This is most often set using a tracking test on a test record. While playing a mono track or series of mono tracks with increasing groove modulation, you listen for the effects of mistracking in either channel. Adjustments are then made to try to get both channels to mistrack at the same level, hopfully much higher than the peak level of any record in your collection. If the anti-skating force is improperly set, it will cause some of the same effects as misadjusted VTF. The suspension of the cartridge, this time in the horizontal plane, will not be properly loaded. The magnetic generator will also be misaligned. Additionally, if left misadjusted for a long period of use, the canelever can become permanently skewed toward one side. Finally, the last three parameters, SRA/VTA, tracking force, and anti-skate will each affect each other. Changes in SRA/VTA will change tracking force, and changes in tracking force will cause changes in SRA/VTA. And any time you adjust tracking force, you will need to verify anti-skating force.