On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:27:24 -0700, "Wayne"
wrote:

Thanks for the comments Richard. Indeed, the EZNEC model that I looked even
created a question of which direction was best for a 4:1 "balun". That
would require more examination of the data than I have yet done.

Hi Wayne,

The Hail Mary I spoke of also includes:
requirement to have a tuner at the driving end of the feedline
Kind of a belt and suspenders solution which in the long run makes
this purchase an expensive option to simply buying staged tubing. In
that respect, the only value added could be a decent mount....

My interest would be in a half sized version of the antenna (or less) for
20m and above.

Hmmm, sounds like you are a prospect for my suggestion of staged
tubing.

I have a pretty good ground available in the form of a metal
patio cover.

And I would presume this to mean an elevated vertical design - good.

The no-brainer approach is to use full sized 1/4 wave
radiators for various bands.

There's no obvious advantage there when you have to use a tuner
anyway. They would be helpful in taming the mismatch, so go ahead.

But a simple way of tuning a single radiator
for multiple bands is more appealing, since band changes are much simpler.

Look into the topic of "folded monopoles."

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC