OK, it greatly increases the impedance of the feedline in comparison to the radiating element.

A balun does something similar then. It increases the impedance of the shield braid only though. Does an unun increase the impedance of the center conductor and the shield braid then, or just the center conductor? Un Un is an acronym for UNbalanced to UNbalanced. It can be a 1:1 ratio or a million-to-one turns ratio. As a matter of fact, the technically correct term for what is usually called an unun is an autotransformer. A good properly working current balun serves perfectly as an unun and can be correctly called an unun. This is because any true current balun has no fixed voltage balance to ground at either end, and as such has no balance gender. From an article I am writing: "To understand how a balun operates and why a balun is needed, we must understand balance. We tend to think of balance only in the amount of current in each conductor of a transmission line, but that thinking can mislead or confuse us. Perfectly balanced lines and perfectly unbalanced lines alike have equal and opposite currents entering and leaving the conductors at each end! What then defines an unbalanced line, source, or load? The answer lies in the voltage or electrical potential between line conductors and the environment around the line. In the ideal balanced line, the electric potential of each conductor is equal and opposite in relationship to the environment surrounding the line including the chassis or cabinets of our equipment. In the ideal coaxial line, the outside of the shield has no electrical potential difference to the environment around the line, including the chassis or cabinets of our equipment. The shield of our coaxial cables, as we commonly accept and understand, is at ground potential. We say the shield is grounded. With real-world antennas, the coaxial shield connection point almost never has zero electrical potential to the environment around the shield or points further along the cables length. Being a less-than-ideal zero-potential-to-earth termination shields almost always have common mode current, even if a small percentage of differential (normal transmission line mode) current. For example, the four radials of a groundplane antenna, no matter how configured or tuned, are never truly at the same electrical potential as the environment around the antenna or shield potential further down the feedline. Experimenting with a groundplane antenna, we find the feedpoint is mostly but not perfectly unbalanced. The shield is not connected to an electrically zero point. Significant current can and often does excite the outside of the shield on a groundplane

antenna, with outside shield current 20% or more of antenna base current under some feedline grounding and lengths! We consider the groundplane antenna unbalanced and it is definitely not balanced, but it is not perfectly unbalanced." So you see, a perfect current balun can be used as an un-un. They are functionally the same. The term "unun" simply means unbalanced to unbalanced and requires no specific impedance ratio. On the other hand an autotransformer is an unun also, and can have an impedance transformation depending on tap point.