Hey weboi

Need to keep the antenna the same length as original... that length is of a harmonic for 72 Mg... and soldering another piece to it, even if to get the original length, not good because that solder joint changes the impedance/resistance of the wire and throws off the tuning again... better just to take a fresh piece of wire, same size and length as the original and maybe and try to solder it directly to the ckt board..... assuming you get a good solder joint and don't burn up the board or adjacent components, you should get a better signal.....

if it is a diff brand RX, with perhaps a slightly diff length antenna, for tuning to the other brands RF ckt, may throw you off..... bout need to be electronics tech and know the values of the RF output ckt.... I'm not, and I don't.... just know length and impedance need to match or get weaker signal and how much it will change the range, who knows???..... engineers design a ckt and expect it to perform at a certain level, but even then it still needs tuning and testing to see how it performs....

Most ckt require a little tuning after they are assembled to adjust for impedances, which is a combination of values created by the ckt.... and without a scope, or signal strength meter, kind of a volt meter tuned to set frequency, your kinda shooting in the dark..... so try your luck but don't expect too much.... if got a good electronics repair in town might give it to them, or send it back to manf is best bet.... probably cost you more than a new one.....