A simple ferrite rod antenna is the standard if you're in a covered zone. If you want to pick up distant signals you'll need something better. I've previously h

A simple ferrite rod antenna is the standard if you're in a covered zone. If you want to pick up distant signals you'll need something better. I've previously heard some amateur radio operators use many meters of random wires around one's backyard, that was what I imagined to be a "large antenna," so I didn't look further. But I just found an ARRL article [0], > A long wire sometimes works if directly connected to the antenna jack on the transceiver. In reality, a 500 foot long wire is a very short wire (less than 0.1 λ) on 2200 meters. A preferable option is to use a small loop antenna and a preamp. These loops are generally about 2 meters in diameter, and a number of designs can be found on the LF Web sites. Unlike any practical wire antenna an amateur can erect, a loop will not take up much real estate and can be made directional to reduce interference. Once you have your antenna up and can receive commercial longwave stations such as CFH and DCF39, you have sufficient receiver sensitivity and you are now well on your way to receiving amateur signals on LF. Looks like a small, 2-meter magnetic loop antenna paired with a preamp should work well. Perhaps I should give it a shot one day. Of course, to transmit a signal (2200 meter is 136 kHz, which is an amateur band), it's a completely different story. [0] http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/pdf/craig.pdf http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/pdf/craig.pdf