One other item that needs to be considered if purchasing a working unit or one that is desired to be returned to working condition is the condition of the two IF transformers T1 and T2.  The issue is the quality of the solder connections (as they age), inside the transformers, between the Litz wire and solder terminals.

In my working unit, the primary and secondaries of both transformers measure around 10 ohms, which is considered “good”.    On my other unit,  T1 also measures around 10 & 10 ohms but the resistances for T2 are 18 (secondary) and 32 ohms (primary).   That doesn't mean T2 is bad,  but the 32 ohms reading should be noted.

I bring this up as working or working candidates can be pricey today, and those resistance measurements can give you an idea of how long the unit may last without you needing to get replacement transformers or fixing the existing ones.   And I understand that fixing them is not for the faint of heart....   The good news is that when you remove the board, measuring the 4 resistances is straight forward.

>>do you love it? Hate it? Worth it? If you could do over, would you still have bought one, or skipped it?

I got my pair quite a few years ago from a friend of a friend for a good buddy price, so I was not paying 2026 or eBay prices.   If I did not get into re-enacting last year I would probably put both up for sale.   Aside from taking them to club meetings to wow the newbies, they would not get used.  As it is, this will be my first year taking it “on the road” to talk with others (if any) at the shows.   So at this time, it is “worth it” to own them.

To me, they are a royal PITA to work on.  Small quarters and you have to scrape off the liberally applied anti-fungal coating.   And I mean liberally applied.   While I consider them a PITA to work on, I must admire the work the engineers did to build those units in the 1940s.