Anya T. wrote:
Okay, trick question. Of course I'm crazy. :-)

But seriously... I've been thinking of antennas that would work (or at
least tune reasonably) on 80 and 160 meters that wouldn't require taking
over my neighbors' yards (small city plot) and would be acceptable to the
antenna restrictions of my non-ham partner. And I like to experiment.
So I was thinking, could I pull off using my house wiring (possibly up
to the pole pig) as a very random long wire antenna, using a high pass
filter network to isolate the 60Hz power but let the 1.8MHz+ signal pass?

Using house wiring? Bad. Of course, things like X10 do it.
So does power line IP. Both are low power and are designed
to minimize emissions, so they do not compare.

Using external wiring from the pole? OK in theory but just about
impossible in execution.

You would want an isolation network (high- or bandpass) at each
end. Good luck in getting anyone to install those; and good luck
in getting it all approved by the inspectors.

And then you have to think about how to drive it.

What happens to your transmitter if a high energy transient, such
as might be induced when lightning strikes nearby, shorts out an
isolation capacitor? What do you have to do to be truly safe?

It's just an idea whose time will likely never come.

George

P.S. I was wondering why my little tabletop log periodic TV
antenna seemed to be getting unexpectedly good reception on
certain channels in a 2nd story bedroom until I realized I
was pointing it along the path of the powerline from the
pole. For certain frequencies I suspect it was extending
the antenna length, or even serving as a waveguide. Somewhat
unreliable on those channels, though, and affected by cars
travelling on the street the powerline was running across.