[Hammarlund] Alignment of the HQ 129X after recapping

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

> I am wondering though if a realignment is necessary since none of the frequency
> determining components were changed. Does anyone have any suggestions?

You should "touch up" the alignment. After so many years, 
everything changes, some parts more than others. If you align it 
properly, you should notice a significant change, at least on some 
bands/frequencies, for the better. More sensitivity, flatter response 
band-end-to-band-end, quieter, etc. Depends on how far out it is.

> 
> Also is it possible to realign this receiver without the use of a scope as the
> owners manual suggests, as I dont have acccess to one all I have is a signal
> generator. Anyone ever realigned one of these and could enlighten me?

Alignment with a scope and sweep-generator is a really neat way of 
making sure the IF chain and crystal filter are exactly on, but the 
technique is somewhat difficult to get set up correctly since the 
concepts and method are not easily understood by us moderns at 
first. I have used the method to align several boatanchor receivers 
and the results were well worth the effort I had to take to learn how. 
One of the secrets is that the sweep rate should be kept as low as 
possible, and you must rely on the oscilloscope persistence to get a 
good representation of the IF passband. I usually turn the room 
lights off and use a small light to see the adjustments, so I can see 
the scope trace clearly.

As Glen Zook says, however, one can do a pretty darned good job 
without using the scope method. I like it because I can see exactly 
what my adjustments are doing to the IF passband and crystal filter 
without having to rely on my ears or a meter.

Ken W7EKB