Shortwave Radio Antenna Help

I'm hoping to get some pointers on installing an antenna for a shortwave radio.

My parents are staying at my place during the winter and my father has asked me to install a shortwave radio antenna. I have ZERO knowledge about what is the best mix of length / gauge / ground / height ect. He is blind and will be little assistance. I've done quit a bit of reading on line and have visited a Radio Shack to get some info. Seems everyone has a different plan on what works. Radio Shack, at least locally, doesn't even sell wire for an outside antenna.

My house has a metal roof so I'm concerned installation in the attic would not work well.

Can anyone, who has or has knowledge of, point me in the right direction? Kinda from the ground up....

Thanks.

 

Bump

 

Joe,

If your dad is just listening to shortwave and not transmitting a random wire will work fine. Take a look at the links below. There is some good information about antennas and monitoring. One link is for a mobile antenna. I'm not sure how involved or temporary the set up needs to be for your dad to listen or operate as a ham.

In some instances, shortwave listeners while traveling just loop some wire around their hotel room or throw a length of wire out a window for their radio. Tuning and length really come into play while transmitting a signal.

If you are unable to get a good signal into his radio, there are also listening spots on the Internet where he can listen via computer. I know it is not the same as listening from a radio and his handicap may limit his computer use but any listening is better than none.

Another thought because you mentioned his handicap. Handi Hams. I have included a link, but you might also Google it. You might find some other information there about operating in general. http://handiham.blogspot.com/



Hope this helps so you can get your dad listening.

http://www.hamradiofun.com/yo-yo-tenna.htm

http://my.integritynet.com.au/purdic/antennas-rules.htm
http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/ant-1.html
http://www.hamradiofun.com/travel-tenna.htm

 

Thanks Ham, we're headed out to find some wire.