[Milsurplus] Forest Service SPF radio detail (Windom)

[Hubert Miller]

That seems like a good point. But then, my question assumes "perfect ground". I would guess the high impedance antennas the F.S.
used for portable equipment was to overcome to some degree less than good ground situations. 
-Hue

>When I started out in this game some 60 years ago the 2-wire-fed Windom was fairly common among operators who wanted multi-band operation on a budget. The two wire feedlines in those days were 300-Ohm television twin-lead (or 300 Ohm open wire if you could find it) , and they were coupled to the transmitter with a Heathkit 75 Ohm to 300 Ohm balun coil and a length of RG-11 coax. This leads me to believe that the characteristic of the Windom antenna was somewhere around 300 Ohms. That was my Novice setup running a Heathkit DX-40.
Single wire feed would seem to be another matter entirely because it works against ground. As such, the actual impedance at the transmitter end not only depends on the antenna impedance but also on the impedance of the ground connection - i.e., length, number and size of the counterpoise wire(s) as well as the integrity of the connections. In other words, it's anybody's guess! 

Miles B. Anderson, K2CBY