1. is this true? That the polarization of the BC-611 in your hand actually affects the opposite station reception ?
2. I guesstimate the 611 case to ground capacitance as 20 – 50 pF. That of course is my crude guesstimate. So yes,

this enters into the tuning of the antenna, which has a quite low overall capacitance to ground, and the high L low C

antenna tuning is critical. So i agree, the antenna tuning may be way off, operating the thing in space.

3. the incident i mentioned, improving operation by touching the 611 antenna to a metal flagpole: i think now, how good

could that electrical connection have been, really? I think more likely this brought a stronger signal in via capacitive

coupling to the flagpole. I don’t think now, this enhanced ERP at all. I remembered way back at the start of my radio

interest, as a child, listening to a portable radio, and grabbing the radio’s metal handle parts enhanced reception greatly.

-Hue Miller