When I first stated, I found an old roll of fence wire and ran it out the
window. It was probably 50 feet long and I brought it right into the shack.
I had an old crystal-controlled (7120 Khz and 3740 Khz) homebrew
transmitter my dad built and a Realistic DX-100 (bad bandspread). This was
in 1982 so better stuff was available, I just didn't have any money (I was
15). My dad had let his license lapse back in the 60's when he was a
General. This transmitter was all he had left and the receiver was a
Christmas gift. I used it for about two years and worked all around the
world (upgraded the receiver after about 6 months).

I have found that to an extent, patience and perseverance (and a good
receiver) more than make up for high dollars.

Patrick