On Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:05:15 -0800, Smitty Two

But just to humor you, I wiped a layer of dust off the 4" long
plastic-covered base antenna and rotated it to an upright position. I'm
sure it's completely unrelated, but my intermittent issues are currently
in remission. Can RF really not punch through a bit of dust?

I doubt the dust affects it, but rotating it to an upright position
will. And, if there is a loose connection, perhaps rotating it fixed
that, too.