I have done a fair amount of shortwave listening and would recommend
one of the following:

1) Run coax (58U) from the radio to the centre of the attic. String
up a wire dipole as long as practically possiable. (Average house
would allow for a 30-40ft total - two 20 ft pieces from centre) Raise
the centre if possiable, slopping down at the ends. Try to ground the
radio at the very least.

2) Try to get something outside. I know this means drilling and
perhaps something visiable to the eye, but belive me it is worth it.
I used a modified marconi for a while running along a fence and had
excellent results. A simple method is to run the coax outside and
ground the braid to a ground rod. The centre conductor is then
connected to your 125' piece of wire and run along a fence, rooftop or
from a homemade posts.

Keep in mind it sounds like you are looking for a simple installtion
so I will not go into the millions of other improvements you can make
to the above examples. These are just two I have used and pulled
stations from all over the world.

Homac







private wrote in message ...
I have an old shortwave radio and want a decent wire antenna
for it.
Would connecting a single insulated wire up through the wall,
through the attic and laid on the roof have a good chance of
working decently?
It will probably be about 125' from radio to the end of the
antenna.
I hope I don't need a ground at the radio.