Dont want to be a troll but I have to tell you this, that saying you are not into ham radio or anything like that does not mean you can skip the theory, and just saying "But I just want improve the use of my radio" also will not work.
The rules of nature are king and we can only obey them.
In fact despite all the stuff you read on forums you MUST have BOTH the theory and practical knowledge, only after you completely have these can you bend the rules a to suit yourself.
Same goes for all of Electronics.
Despite its legendary status the ARRL antenna handbook, although necessary is not that helpful for what you are looking for.
Learning such things is easier than ever.
I paid thousands of dollars for books covering this topic and spent ten of years at university to find the information you can now get on the internet for free.
You just need the discipline to do it, there is NO other way.
Having said that here a few suggestions.
1- An impedance matching device such as a 4:1 up to a 64:1 device is is very useful.
Most probably a 9:1 is as far as you need to go.
To use it you need to have some idea of the impedance of your antenna and the input impedance of your radio.
If you don't know these then you can experiment by measuring it or simply guessing, a guess to start with might be that your long wire antenna on the broadcast band is thousands of ohms and your radio is some where from a few hundred ohms to a thousand ohms.
To correctly make a matching transformer you will need to study balun and transformer types, Rutherov and Guallena.
You will need to study ferrite and powdered iron types and their uses, in particular which type is suitable for the broadcast band.
Also look at if you would use a rod or toroid type.
2- You might look at putting a band pass filter in between you radio and the antenna.
the reason is if a strong signal is getting into your radio, and it can easily be an FM station or even TV station, it will reduce the sensitivity of your radio.
These other unwanted signals don't even need to be strong.
Find out what "desensing" is.
3. Desensing can also be be caused by another AM station.
Find out what an adjacent station trap is, how to make one, and how to use one.
They are very useful.
They are basically nothing more than a series tuned circuit.
4- Consider putting a solid state, or hollow state if you must, RF preamplifier between the antenna and radio.
But be careful not to overload the radio this would probably mean the amplifier has a gain control so you can stop overloading (google it).
Also the amplifier must not produce crossmod.
5- There is some debate on whether an antenna tuner is useful, I have found not.
There are reasons for that.
Lets not start that argument here, you will find plenty of them on the net.
There are heaps of other things that can be done.
There are many people who use the simplest of receivers, crystal sets, to receive overseas broadcast stations and successfully too!!
I know some and have done it myself.
I totally guarantee that I could do things with that radio that would stun you, no not because I think I am smart ( that never helps), but because I have put decades of work into learning the practice and theory of this matter.
As I have said, again there is no other way, the rules of nature are king.
That is until we can enter the realms of Super Nature were we rewrite the rules.
Hi there '
Kerlin'. Thank you (
and the others here!) for the details supplied above by
all.

I am a bit taken aback/confused with your initial statements though?? (I'm trying to structure my thoughts here).
Firstly, I'm not only 'getting-on-a-bit', but also have a greatly limited 'future' medically. Believe me, 'Google' is my
friend, and there is not too much one can't find if you know where/how to look these days. I LOVE researching
things, but I don't have the ability now to go through years of studies in particular fields any more.

I guess it's like the 'Medical' field. Someone
MAY want/need/like to understand say 'Orthopedics', or 'Immunology',
but after many years in such fields, they know little in regards to say 'Brain-Surgery' or 'Heart-Transplants'

So my 'question' was quite generic without trying to get too technical, after reading many 'thoughts' about it.
When i said things like... "
I'm not into HAM radio"...
All I really meant, is that I'm not dealing with 'Transmitters'
where obviously special aerial designs are specifically important in that regard. Although I would not ever come close
to understanding what some people (and you) understand, all I meant is things like....
"Should one use a coax out to an external aerial", or "Should I bother with tuned aerial lengths for MW/SW bands",
or "Is it beneficial using a directional loop antenna", or "just use a Long-Wire for basic needs"...

That was generally explained, and I'm thankful. Am not trying to get too deep!
