Thanks for that insight, Rick. I guess I should keep experimenting. I discovered a new way to test TX, via
websdr.org. I tried tuning up a couple of stations yesterday and I could NOT hear myself in UT or DC. Yet, I was copying stations from Japan, Paraguay, Virgin Islands, etc. some at S9! (granted, they were running 1kW) And I believe the websdr was working because I could hear a station on my radio AND on a websdr station, at the same time. That was cool, but I didn't hear myself calling.
But the websdr might help me determine if TX is working, and I can try different setups without having to find a patient ham to listen for me and wait for me to make a change, listen again, etc.
What I'm thinking I'll do is first of all buy a short coax jumper then that'd get me the ~9' coax Glenn suggested and put my CMC right at the base of my feedpoint mast. I'll also buy some more toroids and make some additional CMCs to put in other places, and then I'll experiment with laying out counterpoises in combination with the above.
I know, I know, this is a lotta lotta work to avoid putting up a simple dipole. I even have a pair of trees for a dipole but then the feedline hangs down in the middle of the yard, and I'm trying to make my wife happy and make my antennas discrete. As it is, my radio is banished to the garage (which also puts the operating position a LONG way from those two trees). So the endfed over the house keeps the antenna and feedlines out of sight and puts the feedpoint right over the shack. Just trying to make the most of my situation.
Here's what my QTH looks like, if you're interested. So you can see, those two trees are just
begging for a N-S dipole, but then, not only does the feed point drop straight down in the middle of the yard (where she sits out daily!) the feed line is pretty long, has to go up over a retaining wall, and lay on concrete for awhile, to get to the shack.
Here's something new, an observation that I didn't notice before adding the CMC -- on TX now I get a buzz in my radio's internal speaker (or headphones) that I didn't used to have. I haven't done a direct in/out comparison to prove it's the CMC but it must be, since it wasn't there before. What does that tell you?