My Technology: Clubland's unsung hero

In basic terms, the turntable is the one central ingredient of DJ culture. Invented in 1979, the Technics 1200 is probably the only commercially available turntable, as well as the tool of the DJ trade.

Every single dance club has turntables and a mixer, but the mixer can come from a variety of companies (the main ones are Numark, Pioneer, Vestax). On the other hand, you would be hard pushed to go into a night-club and get anything other than a Technics 1200 turntable. It's the common currency of clubland. There are a couple of imitation versions, which are from specialist hi-fi makers and are generally sold to bedroom DJs.

Before Technics, the mobile DJ had to make do with a very naff thing called a Disco Counsel. It incorporated a turntable and mixer, and you could take it to a wedding or bar mitzvah and plug in the traffic-light-like light box, and all you needed was a sampler and speakers. But they soon became redundant; sonically the Technics are so much better.

The stand-apart innovation is that they have no mechanical parts; they rely on a magnet that runs on the outside of the platter - which spins a record - making it virtually unbreakable. Because it is so stable, even with quick changes in the collage of sound, either in speed or perhaps scratching (the staple tool of hip hop DJs), it isn't likely to jump.

The turntable has a speed adjuster and an on/off button. One reason why the Technics have been so successful is that they were the first with a user-friendly speed adjuster. In the past, it was a fiddly knob, but the Technics has sliders with a green light in the middle to show normal speed, then you get plus or minus 8 per cent either side.

Needles aren't supplied with the turntable. A couple of specialists supply DJs, because you need to pull the needle forward and backwards and a standard needle wouldn't function. How long do needles last? It's like asking how long is a piece of string. But you want to change every three to six months.

Vinyl is still very important to DJs because small labels release only on vinyl and rely on being signed by major labels or released on CD compilations to reach a wider public. Although vinyl sales in the mainstream have evaporated, there will be a demand for small label vinyl releases for many years to come. There are 200-300 released each week, but one will go on to be a huge chart success.

Technics as a DJ tool will remain popular because the dance music drive isn't drying up. They are so popular that the manufacturers launched a limited edition, which replaced the steel parts with gold, and was bought by clubs that wanted to be flash. Normally Technics would cost pounds 400, and the limited edition went for pounds 1,000.

I bought a pair of the black ones for a purely cosmetic reason: they tend to show age less visibly than the silver.

Of course, the quality of my turntable is a priority. My job is twofold; Radio 1 shows twice a week, but more important is my club work. Because I am darting to a whole host of venues, running at top speed from one country to another, it's very reassuring to know that there is just one piece of equipment. I can get on with the job without any worries.

The Technics turntable is the unsung hero of the dance revolution.