Roy, you are, at least, on the right track.

To measure SWR on the feedline, it is necessary to climb up the mast
or a ladder and insert an SWR meter, of the correcct impedance,
between the antenna and the feedline?

Then you have to come down safely to ground level, switch on the
transmitter, and view the meter reading through an astronomical
telescope, bearing in mind that the field of view with an astronomical
telescope is inverted with respect to normal.

In its usual position the SWR meter does not measure SWR on any line.
It merely indicates whether or not the transmitter is correctly loaded
with a resistive 50 ohms. Which is all anyone may wish to know.

After 50 years or more of ignorance, it is about time this hoax was
exposed to the world.

Then, all that is necessary to prevent the instrument from telling
lies, is to leave it where it is and change its name to TLI
(Transmitter Loading Indicator).
----
Reg, G4FGQ.

To all and sundry,

The length and directions and off-shoots of this and other threads,
the resulting arguments, confusion and misunderstandings prove my
basic point -

The SWR meter is grossely mis-named.

It leads old-timers, novices, CB-ers and professional engineers
severely astray. It overstretches imaginations.

Dis-educational!
----
Reg.

Well, I think this thread went a bit beyond where I had intended
(expected?), but it looks like it's provided some useful discussions, as it
did me. Here's kind of a twist on all this.

I went back to my very old physics book to see what they had to say about
standing waves. Actually, I had more fun reading about waves created by a
string attached to various objects at the remote end. The authors considered
a case with an infinite mass at the end, and another with the end of the
string fastened to a ring, which was place on a pole. Finally, they
discussed what would happen if another string followed the first and the
second the string was denser or less dense than the string on which the wave
begin. Another time. :-)


Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

"He who laughs, lasts." -- Mary Pettibone Poole
--

Web Page: home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews

I forgot to mention the physics book even got into something called virtual
waves, which I believe are the mirror image of an incident wave. The mirror
is perpendicular to the travel, and one can look down it from the side.

Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

"He who laughs, lasts." -- Mary Pettibone Poole
--

Web Page: home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews