Hey sammy, I use a 31 foot vertical for shortwave but also for ham radio. Works fine, but not as well as when I had a 43 footer so bigger was better. Mine's just a series of telescoping fiberglass tubes with a wire running through it. Plus I have an extensive radial system but that is not necessary if you are just interested in shortwave. For me it works fine, use it for longwave up to 30 MHz. I like verticals because they're omni-directional and easy to erect.