Using Christmas Light Clips to Hang a Temporary Wire Antenna

I was licensed in February of 2026 and earned my Technician and General licenses. I upgraded to Amateur Extra in March, but that is not really part of this story.

After getting licensed, I wanted to get an HF radio on the air. I bought a Xiegu G90 and a 9:1 unun after watching videos and reading articles about long random wire antennas. I had a basic plan, but I was not sure how I was going to hang the antenna outside the house.

I knew I did not want to use screws, staples, or nails. I was concerned about damaging the house, and I also wanted something flexible enough that I could change things as I learned more about antennas.

That search led me to these: Christmas light clips.

I bought a bag of them on Amazon, and they worked amazingly well. They slip over the trim around the outside edge of the roof. I chose a wire color that would not stand out too much, then used the plastic clips to hold the wire in place.

Because I was using a long random wire antenna, it was fine following the roofline of the house south and then east around the corner. With the 9:1 unun and the internal tuner in the Xiegu G90, I was able to tune the antenna across multiple bands.

A few practical notes

This is not a permanent installation method, and I would not treat these clips as load-rated hardware. They are lightweight plastic clips meant for Christmas lights, not structural support.

For a temporary wire antenna, though, they were a very useful solution. They let me experiment without drilling holes, adding staples, or making the setup harder to change later.

If you live in an HOA, check your own rules and use good judgment. For me, this was a simple way to test and learn while keeping the setup low-impact and easy to remove.

It is summertime here in the desert, and if you can find these on Amazon right now, they may be discounted because it is the off-season. I do not know how long that will last, though. I am already seeing Christmas sections starting to pop up in stores.

Until next time, 73 from the lab.