[Hallicrafters] tools for the newbie

[Arthur E. Joly]

1)
Well...how fast/bad do you need it?
If you can wait try a local hamfest/electronic flea market/swap meet-pay any were from $5 to $50 used. ( most will be around $15-25) get a 2.5 amp to 5 amp for most receiver work- larger if you will do transmitters as you will have to go by wattage /loads.
New, go to Newarks or Allied and pay around 150-200 for the better ones.
If you go the used route look the winding all over-not just were the brush wears on it- for over heat damage/nicks/loose wires. Check that the brush has some wear left to it. You can find them with amp meters and voltmeters mounted on them some times (pay more) but worth having.
2) Again hamfest/swap meets used pay around$10.00 (Heathkit/allied/older ones) and up for the nice analog ones (HP or Booton). 
Or you could look at newer digital ones but I do not know prices as I use analog with a digital counter on it. You will want one that has a modulator in it. (Most are fixed at 400 Hz) Better ones have a variable audio osc. built in the modulator so you can check audio response/bandwidth (200hz to 5000hz).
Also you will need to be able to vary the RF output, most will have a low/med/high switch with a variable control for each step. The better ones will have a calibrated output in volts/microvolts which is good to have to be able to check the gain of each stage in the radio.
As far as range- It should cover your IF freq. And your full Dial range. Most cheap ones cover 100khz to 30mhz but the better ones will cover from 50khz(some Nationals and Hallicrafters have a 50khz IF) to 100mhz or more.
ALSO if you want to do an alignment with the oscilloscope (the best way) you will need one that has a "sweep" output for your scope and a oscilloscope that has a freq. rang that will cover your IF (min) to your H.F.(to be able to check you RF/ANT circuits).
3) The normal way is to use a VTVM (not a VOM) because of its high input and look for a DC voltage that is "leaking" over. This means ONE side of the cap SHOULD have a DC voltage on it but the other one should have ONLY AC on it ( this may be hard to see in the rf/if part of the radio with out using an oscilloscope but you should be able to see the DC part of it) This will be true most of the time  BUT you have to look at the electrical drawings to see if that part of the circuit has a bias on it or some other DC component to it or if it is a bypass cap as one side will be grounded and you can not test it this way, you will have to undo the grounded end and check for current flow or voltage  at that point.
Physically look for caps that are dried out /wax/cracks/leaks/drips. I would normally change all the caps, as the new ones are much better than the older ones.
4) The heat is most likely normal (it may go down some with new caps in it) and I would bet that the side that is the warmest is were the rectifier and or the audio output tube is located
Art
N1RPN.