Dave ...This morning I could hear very well the Ground controller handing over high leval stuff to Moncton Centre. Was this just good conditions ,...controller and transmitter twinning...or has the feed been improved? AKB
I've been away all week working down in Maryland. There has been a lot of ground fog here the last couple of mornings...sometimes that's an indication of tropospheric ducting, a radio propagation phenomena that allows VHF radio signals to travel further than normal. That's likely why, and those sorts of things usually go away by about 1300 or 1400Z.
No amount of antenna on my end will pick up those Center controllers.

Their transmitters are typically not high power and their antennas are mounted near the ground.