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?