That's all good advice, but if you have to go through twisting the extensions to get a good range check there's something else wrong.

I build a plane in a hurry. I just throw everything into it and tie it down so it doesn't come unplugged in flight. No sp[ecial attention to anything except using good parts. I put the anbtenna on the outside bottom of the fuse and tie it to the tail with a rubber band.

This works for me with apparently quite a bit of margin. Not recommending it, but this is an example of how good the average radio is, yours should be as good.

TF