On Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:12:41 -0700 (PDT), InfRes
wrote:

I dont understand the pro's and cons of using tube vs round
bar? Can you point me to
a book that may discuss this?

Hi Steven,

No book necessary. Walk into a store that sells any of this and you
will tell several things immediately:
1. what is available;
2. what is affordable;
3. which weighs more for no increase in performance.

Have studies been done re the effect of a layer of oxidation on the
performance of the antenna?

Oxidation is another form of insulation. Lots of antennas are
insulated. They have been studied galore. If the oxidation becomes
as thick as a vinyl jacket on your coax, then the antenna is going to
resonate at a lower frequency.

Finally, there is plenty of material about designing antennae for a
band, but every little about designing it at a particular impedence,
can you point me to a discussion on this too?

Those references are too numerous to recite in one place - that is
what google is for. To the nature of your question, there is no
reliable "formula" for all styles of antenna that can provide a
satisfactory answer. Even simple antennas have complex relationships.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC