"James Barrett" wrote in message
news:WN6dnT9x6ZU6I7HanZ2dnUVZ_v-

snip

I thought that I wanted
an antenna with zero reflected energy or as close to that as possible.
Now it sounds like that is not always the case.

You were mostly right; this is the theoretical ideal, but reality forces
compromises on all of us.

To put it simply, yes, you want the most power to "jump off the antenna"
into space. Whatever doesn't jump off is dissipated (wasted) as heat
somewhere in the system. If too much is reflected back from the antenna and
dissipated within in your transmitter, the transmitter overheats ($$$) or it
reduces power to protect itself and nobody hears you.

A simple, inexpensive antenna that comes close to the ideal will probably
work on only one band. For multiband operation you'd need several of them
($$$) and maybe need multiple poles. ($$$) ... or you could buy a
multiband, combination antenna. ($$$)

The tuner is trickery to deal with the power that didn't jump off. It
allows a compromise antenna -- one not perfectly suited for the intended
purpose -- to be used without overheating the transmitter. (The transmitter
must see a 50-ohm load to stay happy.) Changing the length of the feedline
is another form of trickery to keep the transmitter happy, but it doesn't
improve the antenna, either.

Tuners are very useful and not terribly expensive, which is what makes them
so common in the shack.

I need to learn all
about SWR and impedance in regards to Antennas, from start to finish.

Maybe, but only if you want to know the _why_ of antennas. You can buy and
use lots of great ready-made ham things without understanding exactly how
they work. [Example: My car has fuel injection and electronic ignition; I
only sort of understand how they work and could NOT fix them if I had to. I
don't need to.]

Is there an easy-to-read tutorial out there for a beginner like me?

Somebody said The ARRL Antenna Manual. I agree. At first, you can pick and
choose what to read. As you read more of it, a coherent picture should
emerge. I hope you didn't ditch too much HS math.

"Sal"
(KD6VKW)