[aeonik]

I need to see a picture, but fyi some of components of an antenna are "electrically" disconnected, but still play a role, wave guides being one example.

Also note, if you are just receiving signals you have more freedom to experiment. Antenna tuning matters a lot more when transmitting (especially at larger powers). (Not implying that it doesn't matter with reception)

[hippich]

Just to clarify - I changed transmitters antenna.

[aeonik]

I'm pretty curious if you could sketch something up.

Sounds like you might have inadvertently created a wave guide.

If you are feeling adventurous you might want to try dropping your creation into an Antenna Simulation software like NEC or something similar.

https://www.xnec2c.org/

[hippich]

https://imgur.com/qelKWpL

Here is youtube video someone fixing broken unit to get an idea what it looks like inside - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k_6NsqFAdc

Not sized properly. Transmitter is sitting on a pretty tall pole right now and getting it off is a bit of a hassle. And I also already covered cap with a glued heatshrink to protect against elements, so accurate measurements are not possible without destroying it... But I hope it can give an idea what I came up with.

Thanks for the link to the simulation tool!