Le Son Strobe Disc Generator

Printable turntable speed-check strobe discs for 50 Hz and 60 Hz mains lighting, or custom bar counts.

Strobe

Leave empty while both guides on your printed sheet measure 150 mm. How to measure: see below.

How to use

  1. Print. Choose your mains frequency and paper, download, and print at Actual size (100%). Never use “Fit” or “Shrink”.
  2. Check the size. With a ruler, measure between the two marks at the top of the sheet (X1 to X2) and the two on the left edge (Y1 to Y2). Both should read 150 mm.
  3. Correct if needed. If a reading is not 150 mm, type both readings in the X1 to X2 and Y1 to Y2 boxes above and download again. The new sheet is corrected for your printer: print it and measure once more.
  4. Cut and fit. Cut out the disc along the outer circle. Cut the two red lines, fold on the dashed line, and press the disc over the spindle.
  5. Read the speed. Under a filament bulb or a neon lamp, play at the speed you want to check and watch its ring. Bars standing still: correct speed. Bars creeping clockwise: too fast. Counter-clockwise: too slow.

Most LED lamps do not flicker, so the bars never stand still. Time the black mark instead: 100 turns take 180 seconds at 33 1/3 RPM and 133.3 seconds at 45 RPM.

At 50 Hz the lamp flickers 100 times a second, and 45 RPM would need 133 1/3 bars, which no ring can have. So at exactly 45 RPM the 133-bar ring creeps counter-clockwise 1 bar every 4 seconds. Standing still means 0.25% fast.

Print size keeps the disc round and the spindle hole snug. It does not change the speed reading.

Preview