John Popelish wrote:
So waves can move in one or more directions while any bit of water moves
only locally. Same with charge.

My point exactly. I'm glad you agree.

There is energy heating the load resistor. The current does not come
through the source. It is created at the end of the line by the
traveling energy wave.

The H-field energy in the load originated in the source. Current
is directly proportional to the H-field in the EM wave. Let me
quote Ramo and Whinnery:

I = e^jwt/Z0[(V+)(e^-jwz/v) - (V-)(e^jwz/v)]

This is the *continuous* equation for source current at
z = 0 and load current at z = (distance). Essentially the
same equation is found in every reference on transmission
lines.

They don't say current is "created" at the load. They say
current is a *continuous single-valued function* between
source and load. Do you have a reference for your "creation"
of current?

That the H-field experiences a delay and transformation on its
way to the load doesn't mean that current is magically created
out of thin air at the load.

Hang some modulation on the current at the source. You will
measure that modulation arriving at the load in the form of
current exactly in accordance with the laws of physics
embodied in the distributed network model.

In a DC circuit, is the current also "created" at the load?

My denial is a recognition that current does not connect the source to
the load, ...

Then by all means, disconnect the source and keep the current.
Anything is possible in your mind. Just don't expect that to
work in reality.

How could
its unchanging phase be used to measure the electrical
length of the coax?

You measure the difference of the node positions, with and without the
coil. The shift in distance (in wavelengths) between the two nodes that
straddle the coil is the phase shift of the coil for each of the
traveling waves that make up the standing wave.

Someone needs to tell that to W7EL. I've tried to tell him but
instead of thanking me, he 'ploinked' me.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp