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Old September 3rd 04, 12:58 AM
Thomas
 
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Default Antenna modeling software

Of the software that is available for purchase for a reasonable price
(less than $200):

1. EZNEC 4.0

2. NEC-Win Plus

3. Antenna Model

is there a general consensus of the best of these?

Is it worth paying more for some of the features, e.g., EZNEC/4 for $600?

Are there others that are preferred?

What about free versions of the NEC code?

I am interested in modeling a helically wound antenna and so need a lot
of segments.

Thanks.

Thomas
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Old September 3rd 04, 01:07 AM
Richard Clark
 
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On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 19:58:32 -0400, Thomas wrote:
is there a general consensus of the best of these?


Hi Thomas,

Do a Google Groups search of each of those packages with the search
confined to this group. Count the hits.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

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Old September 3rd 04, 05:33 AM
Ray Anderson
 
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Thomas wrote:


What about free versions of the NEC code?

I am interested in modeling a helically wound antenna and so need a lot
of segments.

Thanks.

Thomas


For free packages, I find the 4nec2 program amongst the most powerful
and easy to use. You can download it from the NEC Archives at
http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu/swindex.html

It has most, if not all, of the features of many of the commercial
packages plus a few that they don't have. I believe the NEC2 engine
underlying the gui is set up to handle up to 11,000 segments.


-Ray WB6TPU
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Old September 3rd 04, 12:24 PM
deryck lant
 
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The message m
from Ray Anderson contains these words:

Thomas wrote:



What about free versions of the NEC code?

I am interested in modeling a helically wound antenna and so need a lot
of segments.

Thanks.

Thomas


For free packages, I find the 4nec2 program amongst the most powerful
and easy to use. You can download it from the NEC Archives at
http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu/swindex.html


It has most, if not all, of the features of many of the commercial
packages plus a few that they don't have. I believe the NEC2 engine
underlying the gui is set up to handle up to 11,000 segments.



-Ray WB6TPU


Can confirm all that Ray says. 4nec2 is an outstanding program that is
constantly having new features added. The 3-D viewer is spectacular and
generates 21 shades of colour denoting gain in dBi superimposed over
antenna structure. Rotates in 3 dimentions.

Has Optimizer for SWR, Gain, F/B, F/R, input resistance and input reactance.

You can specify insulated wire. Arie supplies 25 different coatings.

Has standard .nec input and output file format so unlimited amount of
antenna designs can be studied. Entry level commercial programs have each
their own unique file format so tying you into their system.

Has Geometry Builder so if you wish you can graphically input your new
antenna.

And as Ray said 11,000 segments and patches.

Much, much more.

Download 4nec2X and you will get the realtime 3D viewer.

Arie is to be congratulated on making his program freely available.

Deryck G0KOR
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Old September 3rd 04, 09:27 PM
aunwin
 
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This thread is of interest to me in that I like many others have antenna
programs in DOS
Now all computors sare sold with Windows XP which has no provision for dos
Now many programs shown on the given page are also written in DOS and
loosely
describe that it is to be used with a 32 bit console program mode. But there
does not seem to be any specifics
about this or where it can be obtained ,which leads me to think of
discarding all the newer window programs
and backtrack to Windows 98.
So for a newcomer it is not all that simple as compatability is not ensured
when one has a computor
that is four years old or newer.
It also begs the question why, as processors become faster ,one backtracks
by using "32 bits".
Thus the thread initiator has to step carefully to ensure that the program
chosen is compatable
and useable with XP program which now appears to be the choice of today, and
not have to tread though a
range of additional interface additions.
Art




"Ray Anderson" wrote in message
. com...
Thomas wrote:


What about free versions of the NEC code?

I am interested in modeling a helically wound antenna and so need a lot
of segments.

Thanks.

Thomas


For free packages, I find the 4nec2 program amongst the most powerful
and easy to use. You can download it from the NEC Archives at
http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu/swindex.html

It has most, if not all, of the features of many of the commercial
packages plus a few that they don't have. I believe the NEC2 engine
underlying the gui is set up to handle up to 11,000 segments.


-Ray WB6TPU





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Old September 4th 04, 12:24 AM
Ray Anderson
 
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Default

aunwin wrote:
This thread is of interest to me in that I like many others have antenna
programs in DOS
Now all computors sare sold with Windows XP which has no provision for dos
Now many programs shown on the given page are also written in DOS and
loosely
describe that it is to be used with a 32 bit console program mode. But there
does not seem to be any specifics
about this or where it can be obtained ,which leads me to think of
discarding all the newer window programs
and backtrack to Windows 98.


Don't have time to address all the issues with all the programs
available in the archives, but 4nec2 works just fine with both Win98 and
WinXP. It is a true Windows application (the actual NEC2 engine does
come up in a DOS window, but all user interaction is via Windows).

-Ray
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Old September 4th 04, 12:39 AM
Kingfish
 
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I use several DOS programs that run perfectly in XP. XP is based on
the NT Kernel, therefore, the 'DOS' that you actually see, is merely
an emulation. By right clicking the .exe, selecting Properties and
selecting Compatibility Mode under the Compatibility tab, you can
probably run most anything you want. At lease I have found this to be
the case.
Kingfish

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 20:27:32 GMT, "aunwin"
wrote:

This thread is of interest to me in that I like many others have antenna
programs in DOS
Now all computors sare sold with Windows XP which has no provision for dos
Now many programs shown on the given page are also written in DOS and
loosely
describe that it is to be used with a 32 bit console program mode. But there
does not seem to be any specifics
about this or where it can be obtained ,which leads me to think of
discarding all the newer window programs
and backtrack to Windows 98.
So for a newcomer it is not all that simple as compatability is not ensured
when one has a computor
that is four years old or newer.
It also begs the question why, as processors become faster ,one backtracks
by using "32 bits".
Thus the thread initiator has to step carefully to ensure that the program
chosen is compatable
and useable with XP program which now appears to be the choice of today, and
not have to tread though a
range of additional interface additions.
Art




"Ray Anderson" wrote in message
.com...
Thomas wrote:


What about free versions of the NEC code?

I am interested in modeling a helically wound antenna and so need a lot
of segments.

Thanks.

Thomas


For free packages, I find the 4nec2 program amongst the most powerful
and easy to use. You can download it from the NEC Archives at
http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu/swindex.html

It has most, if not all, of the features of many of the commercial
packages plus a few that they don't have. I believe the NEC2 engine
underlying the gui is set up to handle up to 11,000 segments.


-Ray WB6TPU



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Old September 6th 04, 02:04 PM
 
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.....just noticed these messages....

Thanks for the nice words !

Furthermore I can say I just got some inspiration and nice ideas for
some new features. It could take a few weeks, but I would suggest to
look at Ray's site some now and than for new versions.

Arie.
  #9   Report Post  
Old September 6th 04, 09:48 PM
Bob (VE5AG)
 
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Hi...first post...I was taking a first run at 4nec2 last nite, and since
I am interested in modeling a short vert for the 5th wheel (I just
retired), I tried the "vehicle.nec" and the "grdplane?.nec". According
to the notes, these models were converted to nec2 by K6STI. But, at
least right out of the box, they both produced errors. By looking at
the Validation log, these errors were associated with adjacent segment
lengths, or length to radius in segments. My question...since I am new
to Nec2 (but not to Elnec or Mininec), did I miss something in the Nec2
program setup, or do these (2) models not normally run without tweaking
them? Thanks
Bob, VE5AG
  #10   Report Post  
Old September 7th 04, 09:52 AM
 
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"Bob (VE5AG)" wrote in message ...
I tried the "vehicle.nec" and the "grdplane?.nec". According
to the notes, these models were converted to nec2 by K6STI.


No, that's not quite true. The original models were created by K6STI.
These models then were converted by myself to (4)nec2 models already
some years ago, using the 4nec2 program.

least right out of the box, they both produced errors. By looking at
the Validation log, these errors were associated with adjacent segment
lengths, or length to radius in segments. My question...since I am new
to Nec2 (but not to Elnec or Mininec), did I miss something in the Nec2
program setup, or do these (2) models not normally run without tweaking
them?


No, you did not miss something. When converting Antenna-Optimizer
files to (4)nec2 input files, 4nec2 used a maximum of 10 segments per
half-wave. For the vehicle file, this produced big changes in segment
lengths for the elements at the backside of the car, which in turn
could produce Nec-2 inaccuracies. To avoid this problem, you could
manually tweak the segment count(s) or length(s).

I made a slight change in the new 3.4 version, so in the near future
one is also able to specify the nr of segments per haf wave when
converting AO files.

Another workaround for this drawback is to convert the *.ant file,
then open the corresponding *.nec file using the geometry editor,
select the whole structure and move it a short distance to the left or
right. This way the segment counts for all elements will be
recalculated according the segment density as specified in the
'segmentation' option.

Concerning the GndPlane file the vertical element was originally
specified as 1 inch in diameter, the sloping elements are specified as
#12. The change in radius for these connected elements can produce
error's when used with Nec2.

**

Furthermore, thanks for the message, because this also anbled me to
detect and solve a bug, related to the use of temporary files on
windows-XP.

Greetings from the Netherlands,
Arie.
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