Poor radio reception

[Paul Hill]

Well I finally got the 86 5KCSTQ inspected and back on the road, but my 40 
minute drive reminded me just how bad the radio reception is (much worse 
that my cheapo crappy ford escort wagon 8^( ) i.e. unusable.
The radio is reasonable quality (and the original radio performed as 
badly), so it would appear to be either the antenna or the stupidly thin 
non standard co-axial cable to the radio. I have the original "amplified" 
power antenna, but have no way of telling if the amplifier is still working.
Anyone got any BTDT on getting this working normally again?

Thanks,
	Paul