[HBQRP] Opinions on a new antenna

[Dale Botkin]

Hi all,

I'm relocating my shack from the basement to a second-floor former
bedroom.  Along with this comes the opportunity to put some wire in the
back yard, woo-hoo!  I had plans to end-feed a 70-odd foot length of wire,
but another possibility has come to mind as I take some measurements.  It
seems I have enough room for a full-wave, 40 meter horizontal wire loop. 
The shape would be a truncated triangle, or a trapezoid.  The longest leg
would be along the back of the house, with a convenient feed point from
the window of the new "shack".  And lo and behold, this month's QST has an
article about how to use a 40 meter loop on 80 meters!!

I have a couple of options.  First, I can string wire on insulators just
under the eave, and feed it just outside the shack window.  The down side
is, there's a metal gutter just a few inches away.

Second, I could use the gutter as one leg, isolate the downspouts from it
and feed it at a corner.  There's one seam I will need to electrically
bond, no big deal.  I wonder, though, how snow and rain will affect this
when everything gets wet and dirty.

There's also a significant change we may end up with a steel roof on the
house...  ugh...  but at least I'd have 2/3 wavelength of wire in the
clear!!

Opinions/advice?  Anyone have experience with rain gutter antennas?

73,
Dale - N0XAS
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It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of karma to burn off.