HEH! just revived a RCA AR-77

[radioactive]

The sam's folder didn't seem to talk about this, but I guess the left dial is for tuning, and the right dial is for fine tuning ?? Is that right ?

yes. the dial on the left would be considered your "bandset" and the one on the right your "bandspread"for the am broadcast band i'd leave the bandspread knob set at 100 and use the main knob (left) for tuning as the banspread knob wont cover the whole broadcast band(530-1600kc)anyways.as you get into the s/w bands thats where the bandspread knob comes in handy.use the bandset knob to tune around a crowded band and set it at the last heard frequency then use the bandspread to tune down and listen to the stations around that range.a good place to start would be say 10 mhz around 6pm.it really isnt that hard to use once you get the hang of it.as for alignment even if 1280 comes in at the right spot on the dial dont mean its aligned. try a station towards the upper end 1280 should be fine then try one lower down say around 600.alot of times with these older boatanchors theres tracking errors.this goes for the upper bands too.as for aligning the receiver anybody with a signal generator and a scope(dont really need one )can perform the neccesary procedure.unlike fm am receivers are fairly easy to do.

chris