Here's another (way out
) idea, since Phil now has an extra 12uh coil, and assuming he has an old 10-365 pf tuning condenser. But first I'd like to run it by the collective wisdom of the group and see if it has any merit.
Cut the crystal and R248 out of circuit as shown, and replace them with a tank consisting of the 12uh coil and the tuning cap. Sweep the cap and see if it'll hit a resonant spot where the osc will start and run.
The xtal is primarily for freq stability, but the osc should free-run OK on the LC circuit (shouldn't it?)
