[glyphmon]

MrFixr55,

Thanks for the tips on the grounding rod and the antenna.  My options are pretty limited for arrangement but I think what I've got now improves upon having the wire balled up as I did.  Yesterday I strung the wire (I think originally I had purchased it as a 100 foot length about 15 or 20 years ago) out the window, along the side of the building, and wrapped around the back.  Not ideal, I know, but again, it's the space I've got.

Today I succeeded in driving the rod down at least about 7 feet before it found an immovable impediment and decided to settle there.  The good news is that the water table is probably only six feet down given the sump pump that I keep in a dug well to keep the basement from being a shallow pool.

When I connected the antenna in its new arrangement I did get an appreciable improvement on the strength of the local station and did pick up, last night, some other stations from further away - not sure where exactly.  With the ground connected today, I think there is an improvement in sound quality, in fact the local station is almost crystal clear - less of the whine that even modern radios pick up on it.  The bass in modern music seems to be a bit much for this 12" speaker at times, but we'll see how it performs when it's mounted back in the cabinet.

Speaking of which, I think this does it for this chassis.  Transitioning to the veneer repair and refinishing for this project.

Thanks everyone for the dedicated assistance with this one.  It's been a confidence-boosting process whereas the 37-620 was a trial by fire that I'm not sure is quite over.

Best wishes,
Roy