[VTVM]

Ah yes, the three pronged cord was not installed yet. The schematic reflects the construction plan, the photos are only of the construction in progress. It had a two prong cord for testing and adjustment. I did not have a good computer type cord on hand during construction. There are also part missing in the photos. I thought it obvious that the schematic would be referred to, and not the under constuction photos--missing parts and all--as to how I was building my tracer. The signal ground is through a capacitor to allow the chassis to act as a shield against feedback or external noise. The chassis itself is in fact hard wired to the earth prong and the power conductor is fused. The fuse should blow if the chassis is cross connected to any "hot" lead.

I don't understand why you posted the schematic above, and stated that it (the schematic) confirms it to be a hot chassis, but now are referring to the under constuction photos to state that it is a hot chassis?