Why am I losing the signal when I attach this RF amp circuit and how can I correct it?
Your RF "amp" is loading the tuned circuit. When the gain pot is at Rmin you have a prospective voltage gain of maybe 100 but the input impedance could be only 500 ohm. So the mismatch is robbing your gain. When the gain pot is at Rmax, Zin goes up but gain is less than 2 anyway. This could be fixed by using a JFET like MPF102 or an emitter follower or tapping down the coil closer to ground.