Jim Kelley wrote:
Kraus on the other hand ignores almost nothing about antennas. (for ref.
I'm looking at his 2nd edition.)

On the contrary, for the purposes of current analysis on
a standing-wave antenna, Kraus ignores everything except
the current in the standing wave. I don't have the 2nd
edition but the graphic I am referencing was in the 1st
and 3rd editions.

Chapter 14 in the 3rd edition is "The Cylindrical Antenna
and the Moment Method".

In the 3rd edition, it is Figure 14-2, Relative current
amplitude and phase along a center-fed 1/2WL antenna. He
gives the curves for length/diameters of infinity and 75.
Please take a look at that graph in your 2nd edition and
in particular, note the current phase plot. This is the
same current that Roy used for his coil delay "measurements".

Kraus shows that phase angle varying by about 3 degrees over
180 degrees of antenna. How can that phase possibly be used
to measure the delay in a wire? Since it cannot be used to
measure the delay in a wire, why would anyone attempt to
measure the delay in a loading coil using the same current?

Of those things, only maximum current would have any dependence at all
on the nature of the antenna. How does one know what value Imax to
plug-in for each segment?

Kraus normalizes the feedpoint current to 1.0 and that's
good enough for me. The actual value of Imax obviously depends
upon the power incident upon the antenna. If one assumes a
current of 1.0 at the feedpoint of the coil, then one can calculate
the Imax at the base of the stinger given the Z0 of the loading
coil and the Z0 of the stinger. I can lead you through a
qualitative analysis if you so desire.
--
73, Cecil, IEEE, OOTC, http://www.w5dxp.com