.... and will really try your suggestion...

.... but, I was looking for something I could also "McGuiver"(sp?) to work on the next cruise ship... longwires are great for camping... hard to find trees on those ships...

.... kinda afraid what the captain will say when he sees me on deck--slingshot in hand looking around at the booms and masts... dropping something down the porthole might work... and I do suppose sal****er is some sort of ground... grin

Warmest regards,
John
"Hal Rosser" wrote in message .. .
Try clipping the pull-out antenna to a ground rod.
For some reason, that seems to work better than a long slingshot.
I tried Slingshot -kiddie antennas once and found a ground wire works better
for portables.
;-)