Booty',
Is the grounding thingy going to make a difference in the antenna's performance? No, not really. There's certainly the possibility of one antenna model having the "direct grounding" feature not having the same performance as another model antenna, sure. But the 'ground' thingy isn't the reason for that.
Which should you have, one -with- or one -without-? I think that depends a lot on the antenna, how it performs compared to another one. If it's >only< a matter of safety, I'd pick the 'shorting' antenna. And when you get right down to it, when was the last time you knew of anyone picking an antenna strictly for safety's sake? Be the first on your block!! Might as well get a couple of them lip, nose, eyebrow studs while you're at it, right? How about a tattoo, too?
- 'Doc
(disregard all after the word "block".)