Gary Carson wrote:

I'm a shortwave newbie. Just inherited an ICOM IC-R70. I live in an
apartment and right now I'm just using a length of wire run more or
less at random around my bedroom for an antenna. Reception is OK, I
guess, but what do I know? Anyway, I'm thinking about getting an
active antenna and the Ameco TPA looks about right for my budget.
Passport To World Band Radio (2003) gave it two and a half stars.
Anyone have any opinions on the Ameco TPA?

I had one, and used it for camping with a Drake R8 and a Racal 6790/GM.

I found it performed almost as well with the power turned off.

The tuning seemed twitchy - replacing the tuning knob with a vernier dial would be a big help.

LF engineering makes a "SkyMatch" antenna - Grove sells them, but if you go direct from the factory you can get one with a connector so you can replace the thin coax when it dies. The connector version is well worth the extra few dollars.

Alternatively, you might consider using a milspec preamp with an impedance matching transformer on your existing wire.

These turn up on ebay periodically, or at hamfests and they generally work well. They often run on 15v but will work OK on 12, and they usually use SMA or BNC connectors.

Brand names for preamps I've had good luck with include Anzak, Watkins Johnson, & Norlin/applied communications/aiken.