PCPaul wrote on 30/04/2009 :
I measured to be sure - yup, no continuity. So I scraped some of the
varnish off and got a 1 ohm connection.

The question (finally) is this: was it designed to pass the energy by RF
coupling? Isn't that a bit lossy on what is a weak signal anyway?

And have I ballsed it up by connecting it electrically? I guess it could
have been some sort of lightning protection, but I can't see it being all
that effective, and it's in a loft now anyway...

The signal will capacitively couple it through the insulation, but you
will get a slightly better signal with the insulation scraped away.
What you are looking at is a folded dipole, if it forms a flattened
loop.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk