[BrendaAnnD]

Sounds like a possibility is an open IF input coil secondary, or its connections to the tube. Also check to make sure there is good contact between the grid cap and the wire where it goes into the tube, also the wire coming out of the IF can to the grid cap. It may not be your "antenna" at all, but a poor connection that you are affecting when you connect the "antenna". If it IS the "antenna", it would tend to indicate the open transformer theory, since you would then be picking up radiation from the 1st Det/Osc tube.