I can't say enough about the Sangean 909's of the same vintage as Rob's. You could attach hundreds of feet of wire to the things and not overload them.
Yes, the Sangean ATS 909 is rather underrated. It cops a bad rap for reception on the whip antenna, which is appalling, I'll admit. But I never try to use it with just the whip. As you say, get some wire strung out and this thing really fires, without overloading (a rare trait for modern portables these day!!).