• FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    Just for the record… it has to do with practicality.

    the notches are spaced similar to a clock, but with the deadzone most potentiometers have, it doesn’t go a full 360 around, so they stop at 11. This makes for an intuitive scale with familiar spacing on the notches- even if it is entirely arbitrary.

        • helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          Even the 11 clock position makes no sense, most amps will go from 8 to 4.

          Edit, I see what they did. In the picture they used 7 to 5 o’clock as min/max, (which is essentially the same as my 8-4). For some reason they adapted the o’clock numbers to the dial number which is not helpful.

          The o’clock numbers are meant to be a static reference point with 12 always at the top most position. You don’t bend the clock scale to match the knob min/max.

    • Synapse@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      This is not at all the case.

      Most potentiometers have a full rotation or 270°, sometimes up to 300°. By convention the mid-travel is at 12 o’clock. That would make the 0 around 7:30 and the 10 around 4:30.