today i experimented and wrapped about 25 feet of wire around the top railing of my balcony, spaced about 3 inches apart each wrap. I then connected one end to the bnc connection going into the whip which would be the outer coax. the signals are now excellent and the noise level dropped to about S2.
is this wire acting like a "ground" kind of, or is the wire being the main antenna instead of the whip ?