If the old tangentials didn't have a cartridge installed, would that make the sensor unable to find the starting edge of the record? Would the absence of the cartridge, for instance, prevent that function form working?

 The reason I ask is that there's one for sale that has no cartridge; it's hard to tell if the table functions well ... I have a cartridge I could install, but the deck is far away ... grrrr.....

 My vinyl habit is taking its toll on me ...

 

No, but the arm will not drop. It should work normally in other ways. You should also get the click as the solenoid works as well.

Hello,

Dont know if the BG 3000 is different, but  when my stylus was out of order I tested the Beogram without the cartridge and the tonearm did in fact drop but did not reach the platter without cartridge.

Peter is, as always, right. Without a cartridge the arm will float free to some extent and may swing a bit to the side when "playing" and it can sometimes cause the tracking mechanism to start driving the carriage towards the left until the end-of-record point is reached, it will then "lift" and return to stop.

Beogram 4000,4002,4004 and 6000 makes a clear audible click sound when releasing (lowering) the arm. This click is directly related to the lowering mechanism and is a sign that a record has been sensed and the arm is to be lowered.

The others (6006, 8000, 8002 etc.) are different, the tiny click that can be heard comes when the arm has been lowered all the way and the muting relay activates, allowing sound through. The click is from the relay, not from the lowering mech.

Martin