Hi Jim,
You are "in a pickle". You have a complex problem, and it is an area where
there is almost no data.
One thing is for sure, elevated radials are critical systems. They radiate
and couple quite well into their surroundings no matter how we tune or
adjust them.
Base impedance measurements are all but useless in determining system loss,
as are current measurements. Only a properly used field strength meter and
a lot of elbow grease will answer your questions.
My personal opinion is, if I were in a situation like yours, I'd just put
out as much wire as I could and construct a rather non-critical
non-resonant system. Keeping four resonant radials with very high energy
storage fields away from lossy media, like vines, lossy soil, or
vegetation, is a losing proposition at your QTH.
Elevated systems work well on computers, where they are in a perfectly
homogenized world. Even with hundreds of acres of flat clear open pasture,
they work poorly for me. I can't imagine they work better covered with
vines at their high voltage points!
73 Tom
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