A friend of mine passed along a couple of photos of something that looks
like some sort of jig, perhaps turntable related. He hasn't seen it or used
it in so long that he can't remember what it is. Any ideas?

http://webpages.charter.net/mrfixite...y-device-1.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/mrfixite...y-device-2.jpg

Ummph. This does ring a bell... in fact I think I had one much like
it many decades ago, as part of an AR turntable setup.

If I'm right, it's an automatic tonearm raiser accessory, for use with
manual turntable/tonearm systems such as the AR XA which had none
built-in. It's designed to lift the tonearm off of the record once
the whole side of the record has been played and the stylus enters the
lead-out groove.

You place the base of it on the turntable plinth, between the tonearm
pivot and the edge of the platter. You position it so that the
tonearm will contact it only when the stylus is in the leadout
groove, and set the height adjustment so that the point of contact
with be above the pivot in the center of the weighted rod.

Before playing a side of the album, you "flip" it into the "armed"
position... in photo 2, you would rotate the weighted arm clockwise by
just over 1/2 turn. The weighted section will be just past the
upright position, stopped from falling down (further clockwise) when
the long rod contacts the adjustment screw at the bottom.

When the tonearm finishes playing the LP, it will move into the
leadout groove, and the tonearm shaft will contact the (delicately
balanced) weighted section and gently push it back counter-clockwise
past vertical. The weighted section then continues to drop, the rod
rotates counterclockwise up under the tonearm shaft, and lifts the
tonearm off of the record.

Yeah, it's a klugy idea... but if I remember properly (it's been 40
years) it does actually work if properly set up and aligned.

Now, I could be wrong... this could be part of an aftermarket
"anti-skate" system for the turntable arm... but since I don't see a
hole in the end of the long rod into which a thread would fit (to go
over to the back of the turntable counterweight) I tend to think not.