Horizontal wire dipole antennas are popular for use on the HF shortwave bands, both for transmitting and shortwave listening. They are usually constructed of two lengths of wire joined by a strain insulator in the center, which is the feedpoint. The ends can be attached to existing buildings, structures, or trees, taking advantage of their heights. If used for transmitting, it is essential that the ends of the antenna be attached to supports through strain insulators with a sufficiently high flashover voltage, since the antenna's high-voltage antinodes occur there. Being a balanced antenna, they are best fed with a balun between the (coax) transmission line and the feedpoint.
These are simple to put up for temporary or field use. But they are also widely used by radio amateurs and short wave listeners in fixed locations due to their simple (and inexpensive) construction, while still realizing a resonant antenna at frequencies where resonant antenna elements need to be of quite some size. They are an attractive solution for these frequencies when significant directionality is not desired, and the cost of several such resonant antennas for different frequency bands, built at home, may still be much less than a single commercially produced antenna.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipole_antenna#Shortwave_antenna
