by Chris P » Wed Oct 19, 2016 10:57 pm
efficient HF aerials can sometimes be relatively large but there are magnetic loop antennas such as those made by Wellbrook which are only about 1m in diameter however they are not cheap . Try a few searches on line to get a feel for the costs involved .
the main problem with HF reception these days Is the high levels of interference generated by all manner of electronic devices . If you are unfortunate to live in a high noise area it can be almost impossible to hear much above the local noise with any aerial . The best locations for HF listening are remote from other houses and overhead mains transmission lines and pylons . The aerial needs to be located as far away as possible from buildings whilst maintaining a short feed into the receiver
Cheaper antennas like longwires and dipoles are more prone to interference from things like wallwarts ( switch mode power supplies ) anything to do with computers ( monitors and routers ) and data links using the mains supply as a network .
vertical aerials can be made cheaply using fibreglass fishing poles and wire but are not as effective as dipoles and loop versions and need very good earth counterpoises .
Some experimenting with a simple longwire and aerial tuning unit connected to a fairly good receiver will be required to establish what levels of noise are to be found at your location before you splash out the cash . It is also beneficial to see if you can receive a fairly strong signal from a reliable source such as the RAF HF volmet transmissions on 5450Khz , If you struggle to hear those transmissions above the noise then you will struggle to hear much else I'm afraid .
If there are any amateur radio clubs in your vicinity it may be worth contacting them to see what the picture is like where you live
Regards Chris aka G8FFF nipper or tazmin88