Thanks, I rerouted the twin-lead as you suggested. Works like a champ now.
We were in Fry's electronics to get something else today, and on impulse I bought a Philips Silver Sensor tabletop antenna, which someone had mentioned earlier.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._cp_ob_title_0
The performance is much poorer than this homebrew antenna. Receives only 9 channels, as opposed to 32. Orientation didn't seem to change anything. I'll return it tomorrow.
Phil Nelson