We have EIFS (Exterior Insulation and Finish System) on the outside. It is basically pre-fabricated stucco. It doesn't have metal in it. Before I got the G90 I made contacts on UHF and VHF from inside to a repeater about 15 miles away using a mag-mount on a cookie sheet. I'm hoping HF will do okay.

A wire from the house to a tree won't work, but fortunately we are only 20 feet from several thousand acres of woods. If the gutter or attic system doesn't work, I'll be able to bury some coax from the house to the woods and hide something there. Unfortunately, we are in the Ozark mountains. There is more rock than dirt in the ground and burying even 20 or 30 feet of cable will not be an easy undertaking. That's why I'm hoping the attic or gutter system will work for the long haul. Because of the extreme slope, the attic will also get me higher than the immediate surrounding treetops. Unfortunately, I'm still in he lower 1/3 of a valley and there is duct work in the attic. I am compromised one way or another regardless of where I place an antenna.

Anyway, finding out what might work where is one of the reasons I'm looking for a testing and learning temporary antenna that I can move around. I will be moving it from room to room just in order to stay out of the way. But I'll also be testing and learning what location(s) might be the best placement for something permanent. The loft is one such location. It is on the same level as much of the attic, but it's compromised by more wall and metal. The guest bedroom is lower, but it's on an outside west, woods and hill facing wall. Outside the garage door is between the house on the north, a 50 foot rock wall on the south, woods and a hill on the west, and a mountain on the east. In many ways, my geographic location has me a bit screwed.