75 foot is the random number my son uses everytime. He does use an
external automatic antenna tuner for his radio, and has made some
incredible contacts.

Check out http://home.earthlink.net/~w0ipl/random-l.htm


On Sep 18, 6:05 pm, wrote:
Hello,

I have just gotten my radio license and someone gave me an old
hammarlund receiver that hadn't been used in over 25 years. I used a
variac to bring up the power slowly, because I was told that the
capacitors needed to be reconditioned. Everything seemed to work fine
and I was able to pull in some transmissions with a random wire
antenna. I don't have a transmitter yet, so I am hoping to just use a
longer random wire antenna, laid along the attic until I can get money
together etc. My question is probably dumb, but I was wondering if
there is an "optimal length" for a random wire antenna for hf?

THanks for any help you can provide,

Joel Hainleywww.hamtesting.com