[Heathkit] VF-1 annoying problem... a follow-up...

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

First of all, I want to thank everyone who suggested ways of dealing with 
the problem I mentioned last week concerning my VF-1. You guys are 
super!

At this point EVERY fixed capacitor except the two temperature 
compensating caps has been replaced with the best modern equivalents I 
could find, most from Mouser.  I have cleaned up every joint, ground 
lugs, bearing, etc., in it. I have used liberal amounts of DeOxit 5 every 
where it could remotely help. I have replaced all the wiring in the 
frequency determining parts of the circuit with #12 solid THHN. I have 
gone through my stash of 6AU6s, mostly new ones, and 0A2s, again, 
mostly new ones.

Now, I can honestly hammer on the VF-1 without it moving much. 
Wiggling the bandswitch knob causes NO shift in frequency as it did 
formerly.

However, the original problem is still there...random jumps and slight 
random frequency shifts back and forth, less on 160 than on 40, but still 
there on both bands.

I am strongly suspicious, at this point, of the two temperature 
compensating caps, although I have not changed the three ceramic high-
end-of-band-setting trimmer caps.

Gee, by the time I get this last problem fixed, this should be one of the 
most stable VF-1s there has ever been! :-)

Any further suggestions from you people?

BTW, it keys beautifully on both bands, whether I use cathode or grid-
block keying, although it is a little clicky.

Ken Gordon W7EKB