[Hallicrafters] Need suggestions for my HT-44

[Waldo Magnuson]

    A friend of mine and I finally found a way to communicate via ground 
wave (he is about 25 miles away on the other side of some hills) on 15 
meters so we can practice CW (mostly mine).  I have been trying to 
develop CW capabilities for the past 3 or 4 years.  Anyway he has a top 
end iCom and I have a SX-117/HT-44 setup.  My 117 seems to be quite 
stable after warmup.  My 44 seems to drift and is several KHz above the 
117 even after I zero-beat the two.
    So can anyone offer suggestions on what to look for that might be 
causing the drift and the "offset" in the HT-44?  I have about 80 w 
power output after tuneup (the HA-8 "Splatter Guard" is a neat way to 
tuneup).
    My friend receiving my CW (bad as it is) said he had to keep one 
hand on the tuning knob to keep receiving me.  We had tried before on 
40 m but no ground wave - 15 m is nice though as it is very quiet.
    Thanks in advance.
73,  Skip  W7WGM