snip

I'm curious -- how did you determine from the SWR that the antenna
impedance would be resistive, and assuming it is, that it would be
less
than 50 ohms rather than greater? Perhaps you've measured a Hamstick
on
a typical mobile mount?

Roy Lewallen, W7EL





Roy spurred me to type:

I use a screwdriver matched with a simple toroidal autoformer.
I tuned the antenna for a purely resistive load using an analyzer.
Turns out it was 20 - 30 ohms on 40 meters, IIRC.
Then I wound 14 turns of copper wire around a toroid, connecting one end to
the coax center
and the other to coax shield and chassis ground.
Then I tapped the antenna on to the autoformer such that,
looking down the coax, the analyzer saw 50 ohms.
I use this matching configuration for 160 - 20.
I get the best VSWR and field strength of many variations I've tried over
the years.
On the higher bands I just hook up the coax and tune for minimum VSWR at the
transceiver.

73, H.,

H. Adam Stevens
NQ5H