[Elecraft] analyzer seeing near field effects- clarification

[jferg977 at aol.com]

Comrades,
what I was wondering was whether an analyzer would help me locate and 
tune an antenna on my boat.  I was hoping to find out whether it would 
"see" the capacitance and other effects of several of the large metal 
structures above deck. I was hoping that I would be able to move the 
antenna around, maybe tip it a bit, adjust its ground connections and 
try a lot of things and have some hint of progress show up on the 
analyzer. I was hoping I would be able to see whether grounding these 
other structures was worthwhile or indifferent.  I am not likely to 
have to deal with strong adjacent signals nor other structures.  All 
"near-fiield" effects will be caused by a large radar arch (aluminum), 
an aluminum jib crane (dinghy lift) and the other antennas.  As always, 
I'm astonished at the knowledge available on this reflector and am 
appreciative of the help I'm getting.

John Ferguson
M/V Arcadian