I just finished lacing up and sort of truing and tensioning my first set of wheels. I would like a few pointers on getting them completely true and checking the tension (I don't have a tensiometer). Anybody in the Greater Chicagoland area want to help me? I will buy beer for us to drink while we work.

Good luck..I'm in the midst of trying to build my first set of wheels...its a pain in the ass alright, but worth it, I guess, if I can ever get it to a satisfactory level of tension and truness. I eventually just gave up trying without a tensiometer, and I ordered one. I would probably have been cheaper to bring the wheels into my LBS to have them properly tensioned and trued, but I'm determined to do it myself.

1) take your time!!. can be pretty harsh or even stressful if your not in the right mood.
if it seems like you are fighting the wheel to get it straight as an arrow. try to releive tension instead of piling on tension.
What I like to do right from the beginning is tension and true at the same time, its all about balance. So when I'm near full tension, the wheel is already pretty straight.
Rember: its easier to get the wheel perfectly true when the tension is low.
2) check out other wheels you have and just tension to a level near that. If you do have a tensiometer, get it around 70 NM.
3) remember to de-stress your wheel periodically when your building it up to get all the "PINGS and CREAKS" out. Since its your personal wheel, de-stress it about 5 times.
4) hopefully one of the super duper chicago friends can help you out.