[Milsurplus] Need BC-348 Expert!

[Michael D. Harmon]

I'm rebuilding a BC-348-P which had been modified (poorly) sometime in 
the past.   I'm using the TO 08-10-119 manual downloaded from Andy 
Moorer's BC-348 site.  With a date of 15 DEC 42, it's not the latest 
BC-348-P manual I have, but it's by far the best print quality.  Both 
the parts list and the schematic show a 100K, 1/2W resistor (Ref # 48-5) 
between the screen and cathode lines on the 2nd RF tube (VT-86).  
However, this resistor is NOT shown in the wiring diagram - not the main 
chassis, the terminal strips nor the tube shelf.

At first, I thought the discrepancy was due to an engineering change 
that either added or deleted this resistor, but every schematic and 
parts list I have shows this resistor, and none of the wiring diagrams 
show it.

The parts list describes the resistor's function as 'bias control'. The 
other BC-348 manuals (B, H, K, L, R, S) don't show this resistor.  In 
fact, one of the manuals I have shows this resistor X-ed out, as well as 
the 3.5K 'noise compensator' pot (Ref # 58). I've been somewhat 
ambivalent about whether to leave the 'noise compensator' pot connected 
or not.  It was designed to reduce the RF gain as the frequency went up 
on each band, but I'm pretty dubious about the benefit of this feature 
when used in ground-station applications.  In fact, I can see that this 
'feature' might be at odds with getting the best performance out of this 
receiver.

What do you experts think?  Should I leave the 'bias control' pot out?  
What about the 'noise compensator' pot?   FWIW, I'm not trying to build 
a museum piece.  I just want a BC-348 that performs well.

Thanks!
Mike, WB0LDJ
mharmon at att.net