From the pictures it looks like only the very end of those cables are the actual antenna. The "wire" I suspect is a coax cable and therefore has no impact on reception of the actual signal.
The idea behind the dual antennas for 2.4 is this. The signal is so easily blocked by anything in the model that at least one of the antennas has a clear shot to the Tx at any given time. Antenna theory dictates the 90 degree orientation in order to maximize the radiation pattern. The best install for performance has the antennas at 90 degrees and the RX and antennas as far away as practical from metal (engine, pushrods) and carbon (pushrods, re-enforcement).
From the standpoint of radio function, the old 72MHz FM sets are better radios than the 2.4 sets. The 2.4 have more features. But when it comes to sending a signal from point A to point B, the 72 sets don't need all the fail safe features, dual antennas, satellite receivers, etc. etc.
But Americans do like their complex gadgetry!
Last edited by Appowner; 08-31-2018 at 05:48 AM.