As someone who is relatively inexperienced with the hobby, I am amazed
at the confusion and mysticism surrounding the "G5RV" antenna. It
appears to be nothing but a dipole, with a length of "balanced line" to
transform the impedance to a better match for coax at certain
frequencies.

A little consideration reveals that this antenna should suffer from
unwanted return currents unless a balun is used (like any coax-fed
dipole), and substantial loss in the coax at certain frequencies. So
why is this antenna better than two pieces of reasonably long wire
driven with balanced line and a tuner? What am I missing?

-JJ