The unit commonly referred to as the 1st VFO actually encompasses the Front-End with Preselector, 1st VFO, 1st Mixer and the 30MHz Low-Pass-Filter. Since this particular RA17 is a MK1, the Front-End Preselector circuitry is exceptionally simple. However the lack of tag-board renders this an awkward unit to work on. Where components are simply strung between valve base pins for instance, you have to work out the order in which they were originally connected in order to remove them without breaking anything. I found that the easiest way to accomplish this was to cut the lead off a resistor for instance, thus allowing each end to be more easily ‘unwound’. When fitting the new components I was careful to ensure that wherever possible, they were positioned as close as possible to the original parts maintaining continuity with the layout photographs in the manual.
