[Hallicrafters] BFO - BFD?

[jeff]

I've attempted to listen to the get-togethers and failed spectacularly
and consistently (it's nice to have one area of my life that's
consistent).  

Using my S-120, I'm following the directions and moving the magic BFO
knob around, trying to make the noises understandable (assuming I have
the correct frequency, of course) to no effect.

Now here's where I get technical:  I hear odd noises while tuning, which
I figure is SSB.  They either sound like Donald Duck or Satan (all low
end, no middle, few highs).  Turning the BFO knob has the effect of
stuffing different fingers up Satan's nose but not really varying the
pitch.  At about 50% it gets really loud, then nothing for the rest of
the travel.

I guess I'm asking if this is normal BFO behavior and if not, do my odd
descriptions point out any course of action for me to take?  Bad tube,
bad components, bad operator?

I purchased a Grundig YB400 because I like pretty digital displays
(thank you for that advice) and to see how the reception compares.  

This weekend I'm going to be brave and try aligning the S-120 per the
manual.  I'm hoping for at least no additional damage :)    Speaking of
which, they recommend building a dummy antenna for part of the
procedure.  Is this strictly necessary?


Thanks for all your help - I'll eventually get good at this.

jeff the thermionic hack