James Barrett wrote:

This thread has taken on a life of its own since I posted my first
question. I really don't understand any of this. 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. I need to learn all
about SWR and impedance in regards to Antennas, from start to finish. Is
there an easy-to-read tutorial out there for a beginner like me? Maybe
Ham Radio for Dummies has something about SWR and antennas?

You're not alone. SWR and transmission lines are widely misunderstood,
even, I'm sad to say, among many engineers working with RF. Because of
the widely held misconceptions about these topics, writers of some of
the tutorials and discussions which have made it to print have also
fallen victim to mistaken concepts. I'd be especially leery of
explanations found on the web. While surely there are some which are
entirely correct and very well done, I'm certain there are many others
which aren't.

I recommend the _ARRL Antenna Book_ as a good place to start.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL