Lisa Simpson wrote:
Some time ago I picked up a Sangean ATS-803A off ebay only to discover that
it was stone deaf off the attached telescoping antenna in the SW bands.

IIRC, don't those things have an FET right off the antenna that is
notoriously fragile? Seems this is not a rare problem.

I have my eyes peeled for one at a yard sale, but so far no dice.

Best wishes.