Re: [A/S] Shortwave in the Trailer

["Randy Hoops" <Randy@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I've been a ham radio operator for 40 years or so.  What you want is
basically a piece of wire.

A multiband trap antenna designed for transmitting will not have any
advantage over a piece of wire.  The tuned circuits (coils) in ham mobile
antennas will only cut down on the received signal.

Radio Shack makes an inexpensive shortwave antenna kit that sells for around
$10.   It's basically a piece of wire, with some insulators and a feed
through strip which will work well with an Airstream window.

An amplified antenna would also work, and you could probably use the
amplifier with the radio antenna that was originally used with the
Airstream's radio.

Small airplanes use a wire antenna for their ADF (Automatic Direction
Finder) radios.   This is a usually a piece of wire running from the roof of
the cabin to the tail and some insulators.   If you want something you can
permanently install and that will stand up to travel, an ADF antenna kit
would work well.  If it works on an airplane it can handle 200 mph winds.

http://store.wagaero.com  and search for "ADF Sense Antenna".  (About $95).