[jcassity]

another idea was suggested and i tried it last night.

i put my cheapy 10$ analog meter in series within the area shown on the schematic.
the only odd thing is this particular conductor is a part of the solid #8awg tinned copper **HOT** buss bar system that runs bare everywhere under the set.  

i cut the buss bar just ahead of the TEE in the photo and put my ammeter there.

I am not really sure about this yet but i think it will be a good option.

with my ammeter in place, i power up and all is well.
the ammeter has 10ma, 250ma , 10ua and 50ua scales only.
i tried using the 10ma scale and the needle pegs out... no matter what.
using the 250ma scale with radio on, the needle creeps up to around 35ma.
when i tune to a station and it comes in with strength, the needle reading drops proportionally to somewhere around 20ma.

when i use the speaker terminals with my millivolt meter, the needle is around 20mv with no signal and it proportinally increases with voltage.

in order to use a milliamp meter, i need a scale like 50ma i think.
what it will look like installed is this...
-radio off , needle to the left...
radio on,,, needle to around 75% to 80% to the right.
As a station comes in really good, the "GOOD" indication is when the needle moves to the left!!  kinda backwards from a man/machine visual indication but it is what it is.  all i have to do is redo a background label showing such info.