larev wrote:
"I`ve heard the term 1/2 wave dipole with a balanced lead-in, but don`t
know what that would look like."

It might look like two equal length wires supported end to end with
insulators at each end and in the center between the two wires.
The balanced line connects in the center to the wires at each end of the
center insulator. one line wire to one antenna wire.

The overall length of the two wires totals about 1/2-wavelength only at
one particular frequency or wavelength. but it may receive well over a
wide range of frequencies though it is resonant only at specific
frequencies.

In 1938, GE sold a dipole antenna kit for its multiband home radios.
This aerial kit was called a V-doublet kit. The two equal-length wires
were to be cut to fit the user`s available space. The kit also included
two high to low impedance wideband r-f transformers, one to use between
the doublet and the transmission line and the other to use between the
transmission line and the radio`s input terminals. The transnission line
was a low-impedance twisted pair of insulated wires. The idea was that
such a balanced transmission line is immune from noise pick up. Neither
wire is grounded. Noise induced in both wires has the same magnitude but
cancels in the receiver`s transformer input as it is flowing in opposite
directions through the coil.

As I remember, it worked very well.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI