I replaced some more caps and resistors, focusing on the vertical section this time. Nothing too terribly out of line, except for a mica cap (c136 from Banderson's schematic) was open. I've found a number of open micas in this set, something that I rarely find in other tvs.
I believe that the tuner has at least one open one in its signal path, hence that is why I have no fm or television reception. The service manual describes the tuner as "easily removed from the chassis for servicing" well, it took about two hours to remove the tuner, mark the dozen or so leads that needed to be pulled, and even then it appears to be physically impossible to get to those mica caps.
Anyway, back to inputing composite video to the video ouput grid. Here are some results:
GEDC0170.jpg
GEDC0171.jpg
The distortion in the first picture comes when I install the dual diode (6h6 on the schematic, but mine is a 6al5). Lots of nastiness sweeping from the left to the right.
When the 6al5 is pulled, you have the better looking result in the second picture. Vertical ALMOST wants to lock. I have a pretty good contrast balance, considering that now twisting the contrast knob just throws off the horizontal sync. I do get a bit of distortion-a pretty variable black shadowiness with jagged edges (not unlike a lesser version of what was happening with the dual diode installed) that changes size with the material on screen. I believe this may still be an issue with the horizontal lock, as the horizontal blanking bars have also been creeping in unless the horizontal is dead on.