I have used this method before, and it works fine; but...

I would recommend, rather than a direct connection between *bare* wire
and antenna, that the OP use *insulated* wire to wrap around the
antenna, maybe 10 or 20 times in a coil...inductive signal rather than
direct. While the signal strength might be diminished a *little*, this
would prevent static during a poor connection, and discharges of same
through the guts of the radio. One can always increase the number of
wraps to increase the signal if necessary. This works well for me, and
prevents damage. It may also help prevent overloading of the receiver
on strong signals.

For what it's worth, there are commercial antennas that come with
little inductive coils that slip over the whip - but it's cheaper and
completely easy to do by hand with a plain insulated wire.

Bruce Jensen