Homer, I read kaosfm's comments to mean he was wondering if the A99 would fail to work if there was no return path (counterpoise) provided at the feed point. I had a similar thought several years ago, so I did a video on the subject to test the idea as I saw it at the time.
This video was just another test to again compare how my VA1 analyzer scanned the load with nothing conductive attached to the feed point...except the analyzer.
You can see by the VA1 meter results there is little to nothing wrong with the feed point match, so we see no failure even without considering the results from the dummy load.
I've explained already that I did the dummy load idea to test my VA1 to see how close it was when directly connected...compared to when using a feed line and a known load. I recorded the results the VA1 showed in order to have something to compare too when I connected the VA1 to the antenna.
I made no reference to the other issues kaosfm's noted including his performance results, I addressed that issue in my first post in his thread.
If you get all fire up to do a rebuttal please note that I was also wearing blue vinyl gloves. That no doubt had some bad effects on results too.
Homer, if I placed the antenna on a 10' foot wooden dowel pole do you really think the results would be different? Remember the analyzer is only producing a very small amount of power. Maybe if I put 500 watts into the setup, the mast would play a part.
Homer, maybe when the weather gets better you can try the idea with your 259b and check it for changes in match considering each way mentioned above? I don't believe you will see the A99 fail either.
