[R-390] Source for good ceramic alignment/tuning tools

[Tim Shoppa]

I've got a set of thiry-year old alignment tools made out of nylon that I probably bought at Radio Shack. (In any event they come in a now decaying plastic pouch that say "Color TV alignment set"). They're getting pretty worn and ratty now, and since I'm getting deep into aligning RF decks and eventually IF transformers I want something better.

Radio Shack doesn't seem to have any tools like this anymore. AES has some nylon tools but I'd like something better than what I have. (Well, at least the nylon ones are a little bendy and don't break).

At one point you could buy from the electronics parts places some really nice ceramic and/or carbon graphite alignment tools. If I poke around Digikey etc. I see a couple of nice insulating screwdrivers but nothing with the hex tips (including the narrow-shaft one for doing the bottom of two slugs in a trasformer).

If anyone knows of a good source for buying these ceramic hex thingys, I think that I'd now like to invest a little bit of money (maybe $20-$40) for a set that'll be useful in my R-390A and other radios. If anyone knows the exact designation for the hex core sizes that'd be handy someday too.

Tim.