David - For Shortwave Listening up to 30 MHz.

Using a 'short' Vertical Dipole Antenna (sVDA) as a Shortwave
Listening (SWL) Antenna in Limited Space 'situations'.
CenterFire Base Scanner 'type' Antenna
{ Multi-Band Vertical Dipole Antenna : 5 MHz thru 1200 MHz }
sVDA = http://www.centerfireantenna.com/scan.html

A 5.5 Foot Long Tip-to-Tip Vertical Dipole like this
would be less than a Quarter Wave Length (1/4 WL) Long

1005 / 30 = 33.5' = Wave Length (WL)
33.5' / 4 = 8.4' = Quarter Wave Length (1/4 WL)
Anternna is Less Than 1/4 WL = 5.5' 8.4'

good lord and a quarter - iane ~ RHF