Not sure if there is one made for badminton, I bought an electronic one before but the range was 35lbs to 90lbs. So it won't work for badminton, I found that our from the expensive way, cost me $90 for the tension tester.
Druss, there is one from Eagnas but I cannot remember who is the other company but their is similar to Eagnas too. It works perfect on tennis but not badminton as the tension is too low to take a reading. Operating Procedure: 1. Set up the frame size of the racquet.2. Place the Tension Tester at the center of the frame.3. Attach the Tension Tester to the string by pushing the T-handle toward the Tension Tester.4. Press "Start" key, then tap easily the frame at the 5 o'clock position with finger.
That's pretty interesting but I wonder how accurate it is? How is it testing the tension? Does it push/pull the string perpendicular or parallel to the string bed? How does the tension it tests at and the tension the racket was strung at compare?
I would say the tester is pretty accurate, lets say I strung a tennis racquet @ 62lbs, the tension reader will read 59 - 60 lbs right after the string job, a week later might read anywhere from 54 - 56 lbs which would be expected as we all know the tension will continue to drop. Basically the tester is clipped onto a Main & a Cross near the center spot of the racquet, by tapping the frame it will vibrate the stringbed which send a frequency to the tester, the tester will calculate the hertz compare to the head size of the racquet which you input at the beginning of the test, then it will displace as LBs after. Then there is a device from Gamma called tension tester but it only displace as STI unit not the actually lbs. What it does is you record your STI reading right after the stringjob, if the tension reading drop more than 5 units later that means it is time to re-string.
I just use "Cleartune", a tuner app for my iPhone. Good if you only use the same strings all the time. I just strum the strings and it tells me the frequency and from past experience I know approximately the tension.
Any luck with the string tension meter? I would like to know anyones experience with that type of gadget. Like: is it accurate or does it even work?! Looks like there are such devices: http://www.sunfast.jp/SHOP/ST-TASTER.html From the picture it seems to work by measuring the resistance to twisting the strings between two pins on the back of the device.
That last one looks interesting - seems to go by deflection of the centre mains. However, there might just be too many variables (string thickness, stiffness, racket head size etc) for it to work across every combination. However, it would be an excellent way to track tension loss on a particular rackets, or to compare ostensibly identical string jobs.
I'd be very interested into buying the gadget linked above (http://www.sunfast.jp/SHOP/ST-TASTER.html). Can anyone decipher the price ? Anyone know if it is sold anywhere else ?
Use google toolbar page translation - it can display most of the text in g-jinglish. Price is 1,680 yen (tax included) but there is something about COD and shipping that doesnt translate clearly. For international orders there is an email address at the bottom of the page: info@sunfast.jp That price looks cheap - brings to mind the expression about "you get what you paid for". I did find a person who had tried one of these but they said it is difficult to use - pity. Here is another: www.stringmeter.com - us based - tennis oriented though. Tennis string tensions are roughly double that of badminton strings so the accuracy may suffer a bit in the lower range of this device. Ouchee's post above shows a vibration meter placed directly on the strings - as the mass of the device is significant compared to the mass of the strings it will lower the vibration frequency - about 15% for tennis rackets so probably much more effect for a badminton racket's lighter string bed. -- apologies for the long post - consider a coffee before reading on. Found some some papers from an academic research project again for tennis rackets but the theory should be relevant. http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~cross/CrossBower.pdf <-- dont try this on your own racket... http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~cross/StringTension.pdf According to those papers the important points were * string tension falls continuously with time, starting immediately after stringing and accelerates during periods of usage. * vibration frequency of the string bed is a good indicator of the average of the individual string tensions in the bed. (and a bit more esoterically) * vibration frequency is proportional to square root of the tension. * the area of the string bed is significant when comparing string of same mass but in different rackets. * the individual string qualities other than mass do not affect the frequency, just the rate of decay. An accessible way to measure the frequency is using an audio program on a recording of the vibrating strings. For example audacity (free!) on a notebook or a guitar tuning type app on a smartphone. I wouldnt put too much store in trying to find out or relying on the absolute tension of the strings as for practical purposes the important factor is how the racket feels to you during games. Rather I would start with a fresh racket with good feeling and record its sound as a starting point and then over time record the racket's sound until it has degraded according to your preference/budget. Once you have recordings of your "good tension" and "lowest acceptable tension" string sounds then you can keep these for future comparisons. A mini project for another post.... -- thats it. can switch back to beer now and ruminate.
About 21.64 USD for the first one linked. I have been using frequency to test tension on my rackets, however, I find that it seems to vary a little depending on the racket I string, so I wanted a more steady way of testing string beds of the rackets I string for others. I would also like such a device to show our local sports stores how bad they really are when they string rackets (Last time I had my rackets strung from them, the tension was closer to 15lbs than the asked 22lbs), and I doubt that using frequency will make them understand anything. So I'm hoping this device can be accurate. The meter you linked from stringmeter.com seems to be made for tennis, and all the devices I've seen for tennis cannnot be used for badminton. Thank you for the information!
yan.v : whereabouts are you? if you're out in GVA, then perhaps we should do a group buy if these devices are reasonably priced... I know a few people who are interested.
I'm quite at the opposite of the continent, in Montreal This would have been a great idea! Although, if I'm not mistaken, the one from sunfast should only be about 40$ with shipping. I contacted them by email, hoping someone there understands English. I'll post my updates as soon as I get a response
Haven't got a response still =( If anyone can understand and write japanese, it'd be great to have more information
