  We use a homogeneous sample of about 300, 0.3 <~ z <~ 3, radio-loud quasars
drawn from the FIRST and 2dF QSO surveys to investigate a possible dependence
of radio activity on black-hole mass. By analyzing composite spectra for the
populations of radio-quiet and radio-loud QSOs -- chosen to have the same
redshift and luminosity distribution -- we find with high statistical
significance that radio-loud quasars are on average associated with black holes
of masses ~10^{8.6} M_sun, about twice as large as those measured for
radio-quiet quasars (~10^{8.3} M_sun). We also find a clear dependence of black
hole mass on optical luminosity of the form log (M_BH/M_sun)_{RL}= 8.57(\pm
0.06) - 0.27(\pm 0.06) (M_B + 24.5) and log (M_BH/M_sun)_{RQ}= 8.43(\pm 0.05)
-0.32(\pm 0.06) (M_B + 24.5), respectively for the case of radio-loud and
radio-quiet quasars. It is intriguing to note that these two trends run roughly
parallel to each other, implying that radio-loud quasars are associated to
black holes more massive than those producing the radio-quiet case at all
sampled luminosities. On the other hand, in the case of radio-loud quasars, we
find evidence for only a weak (if any) dependence of the black hole mass on
radio power. The above findings seem to support the belief that there exists --
at a given optical luminosity -- a threshold black hole mass associated with
the onset of significant radio activity such as that of radio-loud QSOs;
however, once the activity is triggered, there appears to be very little
connection between black hole mass and level of radio output.
