@uhoh Even though the bounty has expired, this is still kind of intriguing.

@MikeWaters I've had more than one bounty on that question. Yep, it's quite a mystery!

Why don't you ask the question here on hamSE? There's a lot of experience here! @Glenn-W9IQ comes to mind as someone who might know.

There are others besides Glenn.

It is about the technology of radio, isn't it? Whatever.

Yes, it's an antenna design and on-topic in that way, but I think it's probably a little too space-specific.

hmm looking at the existing answer changes my hypothesis of What The Correct Answer Looks Like, but still, I also doubt it would get a better answer here.