Thus spake Adrian C:
Ian Bell wrote:

I am surprised there has been so little development of cartridges
beyond the two basic magnetic types and good old ceramic. What about
an optical cartridge for example?

Ian

I've wondered about that! If you take the electronics that is
currently used to read where a microsoft optical mouse is on its
surface, give its microcontroller a short sharp reprogramming
session, and hang the whole caboodle off a linear tracking arm, it
would work?
University final year project for some lucky student reading this!

Remember the Finnial deck? HFN used to mention it as vapourware from time to
time. I think it finally got made. Laser optics to allow LP archiving
non-destructively but prone to noise unless used in a cleanroom IIRC & with
a truly cosmic price. As for linear tracking, aren't records mastered on a
swinging cutter arm?

My brother had a Miniconic strain gauge cartridge 30yrs ago - had a supply
but can remember too much about it. I suspect cartridge development more or
less stopped shortly after March 1983. With the average manufacturing
quality of vinyl, was not a huge surprise to me at least. Records weren't
thin enough not to support a warp & not thick enough not have one either.