Treo 680 Aerial repair

I have a relatively recent hardware issue, for which I need your advice.

For the past two months I have been aware that my Treo 680 has lost receptivity to the radio signal. I am now in a very rural area of South Africa and find I cannot pick up a signal at all. The other day, a visitor who is using the very same service provider, MTN-SA, told me he had excellent receptivity. After hearing that, I realized the problem must be with my apparatus, and I started experimenting.

Sure enough, when I removed the soft rubber protective piece on the upper right hand side of the back of the phone I discovered I could get a very good signal when I gently inserted a short 3 inch broken off piece of a radio antenna!

I then reflected back and identified as the most likely dating of the problem was when I dropped my phone in an airport two months ago. Within two hours I had reclaimed it from the Lost and Found. At the time it had been in a very sturdy case, but there were signs (scuffle marks) which suggested the phone had perhaps been stepped on. Could this be the source of the reduced signals? I am puzzled as to how this could be since the Treo form is so solid and the aerial seems to be almost inaccessible. However, when I gently shake the phone close to my ear I can hear a faint thumping in the general area of the aerial.

Is there any way I could reedy this problem besides my little ‘radio antenna’ trick which would certainly not serve as any permanent solution?

Please kindly advise me. Thanks you very much.

My connection here is not steady (I’m using the phone as a modem with a laptop), so if it breaks off it might be easier to send me a reply via e-mail: Burkejfsnd@aol.com.

Sincerely,
J.F. Burke