Jeremy,
The other thing is, the engineers coming in...."Forget it", from what I've been told. The pay too, isn't what it once was.

Z....as far as radio, I don't know. Have always liked CCrane stuff. I believe they're built for geeks. The FM is nice. AM is good, selective.
My favorite of all time was the Panasonic RF2200....giving away my age, hi. For FM, basically, I use the Sangean ATS-909X, stock whip.

Icom IC-R75 is what I use, replacing the IC-R70. Nothing new since in the "boat anchor" department.
I mean I think I have a few radios in every room. Now you can't even find one.

I'm easily amused!
John