What's some good beginner test gear?

[VintagePC]

Alright, now that my TV/radio combo is at the phase where it needs to be aligned... I'd like to pick some folks' brains on test equipment.

My set has 21Mhz IF, AM, and shortwave bands to align.

One of the things for me is cost. I see a wide range of equipment on a certain auction site for it, but I don't really want to drop too much on a specialized piece of gear I'll only use very little. (I don't have much space and am drawing the line at 1 tube radio and 1 tube tv... so this won't be a massive hobby for me).

So what do folks here generally recommend as a good all-around tool that can do both radio and tv alignment frequencies without breaking the bank, and still have good future use? I've seen sweep/freq gens which are a more general piece of equipment, but those are more pricy than a VA62 modded for 21Mhz IF (which still doesn't do AM/shortwave frequencies, and they don't appear to re-sell too well either). Ultimately it seems like I'd probably be looking at a good sweep/marker generator and scope combo...

Has anyone tried home-built alignment equipment, or is that just too complex to do practically for the cost?

[Electronic M]

A tip on TVs: If it does not have significant video issues that point to an alignment issue LEAVE THE ALIGNMENT ALONE. It takes a lot of practice to get good enough at alignments to do a halfway decent job.

You need the factory(or Sam's) alignment instructions for your model of set to have a chance at success as well as, a good scope, a source of sweep and marker generation, probes, and likely a frequency counter(if you have a variable frequency marker generator or equip that has not recently been calibrated this is important to have).

Some sweep generators only sweep and thus require external marker generation. There are a few types of internal marker generation on other gens. There are ones that have continuous marker gens(which sometimes work for AM radios by them selves), some use crystals, and others use both cont. + crystals. The latter is best as you can have multiple markers and a variable one in case you need a marker that you don't have a crystal for.

[VintagePC]

I do have the factory manual for the set that comes with full alignment instructions, so we're good on that aspect.

As for actually needing to do one.. while it works, and I suppose I could live without doing the alignment, there are some issues like sound carryover and a few video blips that indicate some bleeding.

I'll post pics in my restoration thread later today and per your warning get a second opinion on whether alignment is necessary though. I don't mind fiddling with things like this and if it takes some practice to get it right... that's what it takes

My main aversion too is that most of this gear is a boat-anchor and you pay almost as much for shipping as for the gear itself.

[Username1]

You can always buy some good stuff, use it as needed, then sell it off later if you don't think you'll use it again.... No reason to think you won't get close to what you have given while bidding against others who may also be in need of the equipment. Or just get really old bulky less easy to use stuff, and when yer done, use it to hold open doors as needed....