[BrendaAnnD]

If you don't have the cabinet antenna connected, this would definitely be the reason for not having any strong signals. The end of that wire that is soldered to the lug is the antenna section of the tuner, this is why when you touch it, you get a signal. The garble in the audio could well be due to the antenna not being connected. This is because when there is no return path on the antenna input, it creates a very high impedence input, which can pick up hum from the environment. This gets sent down the chain and you hear it in the speaker. Once the antenna is properly connected, and there is a return path (usually through the AGC circuit), this hum will not be there because the input then becomes a lower impedence.