This has been a 2+ yr project and am pretty close to making my first signal with it, but as Im not too good with user manuals, having trouble figuring out what to set the knobs to and what to look for with current on the meters.

This ones been modified from AB2 to AB1 somehow that I am not sure of, but the manual says once you hit a certain
point the amp normally transcends to that mode anyhow. Its a typeset manual from 1959, so theres a bit of a generation gap
for sure.

I have a bunch of pictures here : http://www.mediafire.com/folder/7plc...vz/THUNDERBOLT
(as well as a schematic in PDF)

Its using an external Heathkit KS-1 KV power supply , which originally went with the Chippeawa matching amp. I have
a seperate 220V line for it, and confirm its putting 3486Vdc into the amp. Word has it that the stock transformer in the
Tbolt was the bare minimum to drive the 4-400A finals, so this was someones idea to get more power from the amp, and
apparently it worked wit no arcing on the plate tuning caps, which was I guess a big concern.

Right now, I can power it up - fans run, all filaments light, had to replace 2 dial lamps but that was no big deal.
I have not measured the screen voltage yet, but there is an external bias cable that has to have 2 pins shorted for it to be in standby. The manual says to use a T-R relay, which I am doing, so that part seems all set. Im told with NO plate voltage applied, I ought to have no meter movements for any current - and that has been confirmed. When I apply plate volts, the meter of course peggs, because its a 2kv max meter movement, but when I choose curent, it shows about 63mA during standby. Curious if this is normal before I go further and try to load up. I'm told my plate ought to be 700mA to 1A with
the higher KV from the external PS. The bias cable I guess gives the final tubes a little negative bias to keep it turned off,
so I am thinking maybe the 63mA is normal as its I guess nothing compared to the 700-1000 mA the engineer told me ought to be seen during normal operation.