MR>Tom, *all* unbalanced antennas require a ground to work properly.
MR>Without a ground the receiver loses a lot of signal because the
MR>impedance is too high. The only ground that exists then is whatever
MR>impedance there is into the AC powerline and the antenna emf is lost.
MR>Worse yet the AC powerline is full of noise and now in series with the
MR>lower impedance of the antenna which recycles it back to the radio.

 They why do Battery Radios work so well?
---
 þ SLMR 2.1a þ This note from El Cajon California USA