In article q0u1c.24291$TT5.18137@lakeread06, says...
Hi,
I recently purchased my 1st SW receiver, a Sony 7600gr. Not knowing much
about the hobby I did not purchase a antenna. I was hoping the whip would be
... stuff deleted ...
a backyard tree as a could, about 40ft. In all honesty I must say I don't
think I have gained anything with this additional wire. Could it be a
problem going from the heavy wire into the smaller wire then to the whip?
Would I be better going to the whip with the heave wire and attaching the
lighter wire to the other end? Would I gain anything by building a
broomstick antenna with the wire I have instead of hanging it from the tree?
Or is it better to have the wire exposed to as much of the outside as
possible such as it is now?

The differences in wire gauge are unlikely to be of significance for
SWL. You would probably do better with an uninterrupted run of wire,
but as long as you make sure you have a solid connection between the
pieces it should be okay. For SWL, pretty much any gauge wire will work
just fine.

If you have the room to run the wire outside, leave the broomstick in
the closet. Run as much wire as you can outside and get it as high as
you can. A good stretch of wire hanging from a tree will almost
certainly outperform a broomstick antenna inside the house. The further
you can get the antenna from electrical fields or other sources of
unwanted RF, the better. Using shielded coax as a lead-in to the radio
is a good idea. Some pretty good general antenna info can be found he
http://www.qsl.net/k5eph/UnderstandingAntennas.htm

If you want to really hear what your radio can do, put in some fresh
batteries and take it to a quiet place away from electrical lines and
other sources of RF interference. The middle of a large park (or a
corn/wheat/soybean field) is usually a good place. (Take a couple
hundred feet of wire with you to the park if you want to really surprise
yourself.) Even during the daytime you should be able to get quite a few
very strong signals. I have a very cheap pocket-sized portable that
amazes me every time I take it to the park. I have so much RF noise near
my home that only the strongest signals make it through. In the park
even the $30 pocket radio pulls in good stuff. I regularly log 30 or
more signals during lunchtime.