Reg Edwards wrote:
What is the failure mode?
Is it a sudden catastropic failure?
Or does it fail very slowly, gradually and gently?

It fails gradually. It fails earlier for phase calculations
than it does for magnitude calculations. That's why the
phase shifts reported here are completely invalid. Here's
how it goes:

1. There is no phase shift through a lumped inductance.

2. The standing wave current with its unchanging phase
shows zero phase shift through a loading coil.

3. Therefore, a real world loading shows zero phase shift
just like a lumped inductance.

The proof was preassumed and invalid measurements support
the preassumed proof. Case closed!
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp