Dead Radio, cassette works...

[GibsonGM]

Hi, this is my first post. I love these forums, people tend to be really helpful!

So here is my trouble:

My fiancee's car is pretty ok, 2000 Taurus SE. The radio didn't work when she got it, but the tape player does, so we know the internal PA is ok, etc. Not a fuse problem. Seems to me that the antenna might be bad - have thrown another stock radio in there, still nothing but circle-chasing around the dial (I have an electronics background). So I have to test the antenna.

Has anyone come up with a good way to check the continuity of the antenna cable, etc? Or do you just suck it up, run a new cable and hope it works? I was thinking of getting an aftermarket antenny and seeing if I can get some results before I go to the trouble. I build/work on guitar amplifiers, this is different and so I'm hoping to find some ppl w/similar experiences and fixes!

Thanks for any suggestions!

~Mike