[conroyp]

im doing a little work on my 38-4 and noticed the wire connecting the the tuning condenser is different than anything else in the set. Is this a specific type, and is there a modern equivalent?

       

[morzh]

Any wire whatsoever will do.

[conroyp]

what do you think about skin effect?

[morzh]

I don't think about it.
It will not affect this circuit.
But if you want, you could always buy some litz or silver-plated multy-strand.
I would not bother.

[rfeenstra]

For grins and giggles once, I took a bunch of strands of very fine magnet wire, braided them and installed them in the radio where there was what looked like litz wire. Did it make any difference? No.

[morzh]

Rob

At this length at these frequencies it shouldn't.
I might pay attention to that in FM circuits if the length was any longer.....

[Radioroslyn]

If you what to use something that is braided get some RG-174 coax. Strip off the outer sheath and pull out the center conductor. This will leave you with braided copper wire when flatten about 3/16 wide or so. If it has a X on the end (174X) it may have an aluminum foil shield between the braid and center conductor.
Looks like your sw osc coil is missing it's clip.