Hi, Tom:
I have several old test and setup LP's which (collectively) have both blank areas for setting anti-skate (in the way you describe), as well as recorded signals which distort in one channel or the other (you adjust the anti-skate until the distortion is the same for both channels). If you want to try the recorded distortion method for setting anti-skate, several of the old Shure Type V-15 cartridge "torture test" LP's have this feature.
Having used both methods of setting anti-skate, I'm reasonably convinced that the method you used works as well as the others that I have tried. I now set anti-skate using the blank sections of a test LP. If you use this method, be sure that the blank sections are near the center of the LP, where the skating forces will be more balanced than at the beginning or end of the LP.
(As an aside, if you buy any of the 45-rpm versions of the LP's now being produced by Analogue Productions, one side of each LP is left blank. This gives you an entire side of ungrooved area with which to test the anti-skate. It's an excellent way to see if the anti-skate is properly adjusted for correct tracking from beginning to end of the LP.)
I have several old test and setup LP's which (collectively) have both blank areas for setting anti-skate (in the way you describe), as well as recorded signals which distort in one channel or the other (you adjust the anti-skate until the distortion is the same for both channels). If you want to try the recorded distortion method for setting anti-skate, several of the old Shure Type V-15 cartridge "torture test" LP's have this feature.
Having used both methods of setting anti-skate, I'm reasonably convinced that the method you used works as well as the others that I have tried. I now set anti-skate using the blank sections of a test LP. If you use this method, be sure that the blank sections are near the center of the LP, where the skating forces will be more balanced than at the beginning or end of the LP.
(As an aside, if you buy any of the 45-rpm versions of the LP's now being produced by Analogue Productions, one side of each LP is left blank. This gives you an entire side of ungrooved area with which to test the anti-skate. It's an excellent way to see if the anti-skate is properly adjusted for correct tracking from beginning to end of the LP.)