Indeed you are correct. The X did lead to the wire crossing itself so
- after smacking myself on the forehead - I rearranged it. I unfurled
the reel and simply ran it from the upper left corner of my window,
across the top and down the righthand side to my radio. The reception
on 3330 - my test at the time - did improve slightly, but it remained
nevertheless extremely static filled. Still none of the other time
signals were received.

I've reread the manual a million times, rechecked the radio just as
many and everything is absolutely as it should be.

-P