I appreciate your comments very much; clearly you have had a lot of
experience with antennas. There was one question in my mind about aluminum
siding in contrast to plain aluminum; it is my impression that aluminum
siding is anodized, and anodized aluminum is an insulator. If my impression
is correct, would that make any difference in the interaction between a loop
and the siding?

"Reg Edwards" wrote in message
...

Aluminium is a good conductor, nearly as good as copper. Negligible
loss will be induced in it. Most loss will be in the ground by virtue
of its very low height. The close proximity to ground will also cause
unoticeable detuning.