[mikethedruid]

First, and nobody has asked it, on a regular pocket transistor radio, can you receive a lot of AM stations where you are ? If so, your problems probably go beyond the antenna and ground. Even with just about ten feet of wire attached to the antenna terminal, even with no ground, you should be able to pick up all the strong local stations. How long ago, if ever, was that radio last serviced ? I would do a thorough rebuild of it before I did anything further, rather than risk damaging the power transformer, or anything else difficult to replace.