digital tachometer instead of a strobe disc My experience

I wanted a good strobe disc.Really i wanted a kab but at 1oo bucks a balked.
I already have a cheap strobe disc from the 50's it works alright but is a pain to set up because i have no portable fluorescent light.
I researched on a few sites.There were many suggestions but one cought my eye.
Use a digital tachometer.Their 20 bucks on ebay.
I ordered mine for about 24 bucks.
I must say I'm impressed.It needs to be made stable to take a good reading but i was able to take my scout from 33.6 rpm to 33.4 rpm using it.
I have a vpi speed controller but i could not get that last .1 difference because it can't make that fine of a change.
So i just loosen up the motor a bit by moving it closer to the table.
33.3 rpm perfect!
The digital tachometer was able to repeatedly measure any change i made.
I also have a thorens td 160.I found it also ran a 33.6 rpm.
I was surprised at this as i always thought it ran a bit slow.
How to slow this deck down as i have no speed controller and the 160 has a fixed motor?
Well i was using vpi bearing grease.I figured i would use a q tip and add a bit of friction to slow it down.
I pulled the top off to find i had added way to much grease.I used a q tip to take some out and remeasured.
33.3 rpm perfect!
So to say I'm happy with my 20 bucks spent on a digital tachometer would be a understatement.

What a great idea!

Thanks for the tip.

Great idea! I just bought a digital scale and found out my tracking force was way out. The digital tach is probably another great tool for any turntable setup.

To use it you simple cut a 12 mm peice of the reflective tape that supplied with the kit.Tape to the side of the tt platter.You then measure it at a stop .Then you measure it running.I did 10 revolutions.5 worked just as well.
It will give you a high and low reading.
I found if it's not stable it might vary .1%.So i just made something for it to stand on with a chair and some books.