I have wanted to try this for a while but never got around to it until today.
Rain gutter shortwave antenna.
After reading shortwave monitoring they were talking about stealth antennas.
Stealth gutter antenna for ham radio or shortwave.
Pic courtesy of n6cc website.
This is the antenna i have been relegated to use for my hf operating.
Mine was a mfj travel tuner.
Rain gutter antenna an end fed multiband antenna larry nelson k5ijb.
Also an effective hf performer.
They do not reach the ground but go into plastic pipe so they are not grounded but was wondering the best way to try this as an antenna.
Second article on the rain gutter antenna.
Unlike gregg s gutter antenna the spout and long horizontal section were made from plastic.
Well i live in a ranch style home that has wooden roof with shingles but has an aluminum flashing around the bottom as well as metal gutters and downspouts.
I got this idea about writing about my antenna because i had one once in the condo that worked very well down to about 40 meters.
First you have to use a tuner.
Very simple and the system worked for me.
A couple of years ago i had written an article on the use of my rain gutter on my home as my hf antenna.
I did a quick coax run to the outside gutter and grounded the braided side then connected the feedline to an old mfj tuner.
I was surprised that the gutter tuned up at a.
I have used just about every kind of material for an antenna for shortwave listening that would conduct a radio frequency including window frames bed springs rain gutters conduit aluminum tubing coffee cans soldered together old cb antennas tv antennas curtain rods copper tubing aluminum trim from kitchen counter tops and on and on.
In hopes of finding a low profile antenna for shortwave listening the rain gutter and downspout on the back porch were tried as a random length antenna.
These aluminum gutters are made of 0 032 inch thick material and have an equivalent cross sectional area about the same as size 00 awg wire.
The rain gutter antenna has a vertical component approximately 25 high and extends horizontally across the roof line for 35.
I built variations of this antenna when i lived in several rental homes on hawaii island shortly after getting my novice class amateur radio license back in 1977.
