"Tom" wrote in message ...

# I thought of that but there are a bunch of other things on there like TV
# antennas, dishes, clothes lines, back yard lights, etc etc. Stunt it, just
# wanted to throw up a crazy idea, I know it is a very broad question. What
is
# the smallest thing I could use with a pretty good tuner? On top the
utility
# tower?

With an antenna that short, you will need a ground for it to work against.
If you can manage that with guy wires etc., let me relate my recent
experience.

I use a vertical mounted above a metal patio cover, which is about 15x30
feet, roughly 10 feet off the ground. The feedline is 15 feet of RG8 to a
tuner.

Initially, I installed a 9 foot CB whip antenna. It worked quite well on 12
and 10 meters. 17 and 15 meters were hard to match, and marginal contacts
were made on 20 meters.

I replaced that whip with a 14 foot whip. It worked quite well on 20 meters
through 10 meters. I was quite happy with it, but got the bug to experiment
some more.

lastly, I replaced the whip with a 17 foot whip. It works well on 30 meters
through 15 meters, and can be brute force loaded on 40 meters through 10
meters. I don't have much performance info, since the bands have been
stinko for a while.

Both the 9 foot whip and the 14 foot whip did a credible job during the last
set of DX contests, with the 14 foot clearly being better.

In summary, if the antenna is 8-10 feet, I wouldn't count on getting much
performance other than on the higher bands, say 15-10.