While this works reasonably well for short-wave, mixed polarization, ionospheric signals, it represents just about the worst antenna for AM monitoring. When directly coupled to standard coaxial cable, a very reactive source produces terrific mismatch, with resultant high standing waves on the cable. The important difference becomes apparent when we analyze transmitting efficiency versus receive performance.
Physics dictate that in terms of transmitting efficiency, reduced size compromises performance.
At one mhz a 250 foot vertical represents the quarter wave efficiency standard against which all others are compared. The reciprocity theorem proves that this will be equally efficient for receive purposes as well. The antenna will have a large positive antenna factor, producing considerable output terminal voltage. VHF and UHF receive performance is closely related to transmit performance, due to system noise temperature being limited by preamplifier noise, requiring maximum antenna terminal output voltage. LF and MF receive system noise is dominated by the sky background temperature, or atmospheric noise.