[Hallicrafters] Slack in metallic dial cord on SX 100A

[John King]

I have recapped my SX 100A and it is working great electrically. The problem is backlash in band spread tuning due to slack in the metal dial cord.

When I turn the band spread dial to the, as in tuning in a SSB signal, there is slack in the top part of the metallic  dial cord. The slack is apparent when reversing the direction of tuning with the band spread tuning knob. It is obvious that the top segment of the dial cord has slack in it.

Has anyone had experience in taking the slack out of the metal dial cord on the SX 100A?

The bracket that holds the pulley for band spread tuning is anchored to the chassis with what appears to be two sheet metal screws.It has crossed my mind that I might loosen the two screws and try to gently slide the bracket slightly to the right to take up excessive metal dial cord. Also the pulley is attached to the bracket with a bolt through the middle of the pulley with a nut on the back side of the bracket holding the pulley in place. I have also thought about loosening that nut and trying to move the pulley slightly to the right to take some slack out of the metal band spread dial cord.

I would appreciate the benefit of your knowledge and EXPERIENCE in tightening or making adjustments to the metal dial cord on the Hallicrafters SX 100A. Please make suggestions based upon knowledge and experience. I don't want to make the metal dial cord worse than it is however the backlash due to slack in the dial cord makes SSB tuning almost impossible. Thanks and 73, John, K5PGW