[Hallicrafters] re: SX-42 Hum(bug)

[GARDGORE at aol.com]

I wholeheartedly agree with Ken about "Elements of Radio Servicing" by 
Marcus-Levy. Also look for "Practical Radio Servicing" by the same authors. I 
initially found out about them by reading Chuck Dachis' recommendation for 
them in his "Hallicrafters" book. I found and bought both copies soon after 
that and can say they are probably the best radio repair and troubleshooting 
textbooks I have seen. You will find them at "that auction place" sometimes 
for ten to fifteen dollars. In addition to the test equipment already 
mentioned I would recommend adding the following:

Good mutual conductance type Tube Tester- TV-7/DU hard to beat & highly 
recommended for the serious hobbyist
Soldering Iron- 30w Weller or equivalent (not soldering gun) 
Digital Multimeter- Fluke or equivalent
VOM- Simpson 260 hard to beat (most used piece of gear here)
VTVM- Simpson 303 hard to beat (use for grid bias, AVC and as an output 
meter)
Frequency Counter- (to know where your signal gen. is for accurate alignment 
work)
Capacitor Tester- (Sprague TO-6, also great for testing and reforming 
electrolytics. You will know right away if the old cap is worth fooling with.
Desoldering Gun- more of a luxury item than really essential but I have 
become spoiled by having one here now as its really nice to be able to suck 
all the old solder out of a joint which then makes it easier to unhook the 
component you want without having to wrestle with all the others there too. 
It's nice to be able to untie wire leads easily now without having to cook 
everything and melt wire insulation. Makes it easier to do nice neat good 
quality work.

Have fun, 
Greg Gore; WA1KBQ