On Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:52:03 -0700, Richard Knoppow wrote:

[snip]

I am beginning to suspect that H my have gotten a lot
of defective tuning capacitors and used them by reversing the dial
stringing as I had to.


Just to continue with the speculation, it's conceivable that
Hallicrafters got exactly the tuning caps they wanted. A reverse
rotation bandspread cap works well enough in the S-40A and the reverse
rotation cap might have been necessary in some planned S-40 variant.

[snip]


? My S-40A appears from various evidence to be an
early one, probably made in the first run or in the first year of
manufacture. One clue is the lack of a filament dropping resistor on the
6H6 noise-limiter and gas gate diode. This is absent in the Rider's
sheets on the web, which are dated February, 1948, but is present in the
Hallicrafter's Service Bulletin dated November, 1948. The latter
indicates it is for Run No.3. My RX has an inspection stamp indicating
Run No.1.

My S-40A has the reverse rotation cap. If I recall correctly, it has the
6H6 resistor.

I can't check it out right now, but I should be able to within a couple
of weeks.

Frank Dresser