Use the counter with the Oscope probe to read the frequency of each stage in the transmitter.
His transmitter is working with the 8.2Mc xtal so it’s not the radio, but as his manual states the oscillator tunes to the 3rd harmonic of that xtal or VFO.
Another idea would be to use a 10 meter rig that goes up high enough with some attenuation and use it instead of the VFO.
Clark, it wouldn’t hurt to try and reconfigure the input of that oscillator stage like the 6N2 with the grounds and see what happens. If it didn’t work at least it would rule that out.
But I am curious as to the frequency and RF voltage level is present at the grid of the first stage and the grid of the second stage.