The note on the QST article for the FET conversion is a good one to
look into. I've done the conversion on several VF-1 VFOs and the
result is spectacular. Last one I did cost just under $25 to buy all
the parts new. However, I do away with the authors scheme for
dropping the supply voltage, from the transmitter, and added an
internal 20 V DC supply to run the thing. Works great and you can
then use it with any rig you desire.

Bob WB8CAC
http://www.qsl.net/wb8cac