On Sun, 14 Aug 2011 23:27:33 +0200, Helmut Wabnig [email protected] ---
-.dotat wrote:

Want one?

Not really, since I can't do anything to fix the alleged problem.

4nec2 from time to time destroys it's saved antenna files.
Just lost another 2 hours of work.

Nobody does backups until after they have lost data. I've been using
4NEC2 for at least 7 years and have never lost a file. Well, I have
accidentally overwritten a file, but that was my fault. When I tinker
with antennas, I save multiple versions of the same design with the
version number appended as in file001.nec. This way, if I make a
horrible mistake, I can go back to a previous version and try again.

Now I understand why it's free.
Can't charge money for bugs.

Well, that why we have alternatives to 4NEC2 and why I don't charge
for my free advice:
http://www.smeter.net/antennas/mmana.php
http://www.eznec.com
http://www.nittany-scientific.com
http://www.hamradiosecrets.com/antenna-design-software.html
http://www.si-list.net/swindex.html (old but still useful)


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Sun, 14 Aug 2011 22:02:32 +0200, Helmut Wabnig [email protected] ---
-.dotat wrote:

On Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:15:22 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:
Sorry, bad mood again.

Like I said. One must suffer before enlightenment.

Watched the tutorials on Youtube.
Remarkably he starts loading an antenna and then deleting the elements
to get a blank builder screen.
The 4nec2 cannot start with a "new" file, it must load something from
before. Only then I may select NEW. This is a bug.

Well, there is no "new" button or choice under "File". Ask Arie Voors
for the feature. It seems easy enough to add to the program.

I copied the moves from the tutorial on my NEW antenna,
and I cannot place a source on the dipole. Does not work.
No error message, nothing.
So I will load some old antenna, delete everything and try again
as shown in the tutorial.

Well, I've never had that problem because I don't try to "paint" the
antenna using the isometric or 3D views. It's not accurate enough
unless you snap to a grid. I create the antenna either externally,
with a text editor, or using the spreadsheet style editor. I import
that into 4NEC2 and make any necessary changes (and fix any screwups).
For geometric shapes, I use the external shape generator, which will
do surfaces, parabolic dishes, etc. 4NEC2 is not a drawing program.

Within 5 minutes of work I have a list of 5 errors,
program errors, repectively bugs, mis-leading the user.

Impressive. You might want to search the 4NEC2 forums to see if any
of them have been previously reported.
http://fornectoo.freeforums.org
Note that there is a section specifically for requesting new features.

Can't type as fast as the bugs occur, I just described only one.
Of course I have no right to complain because it's free.

In my limited experience, people complain more about free software
than paid software. That's usually because the author(s) encourage
feedback in order to improve their product.

Yeah.

Thanks for ignoring my questions.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 8/13/2011 12:07 PM, Helmut Wabnig wrote:
Am trying to run an optimization on my 3 element yagi which I finally
got into the editor, which was difficult enough.
The optimizer says: no variables selected
but there are none to select.
Empty list field.

Oh, how I hate this.
Praise Bill Gates for his user-friendly WINDOWS
and to hell with all amateur softwares.

Nowhere in the helps and getting started they explain that.
I do not want to learn from examples, I rather work from the
basics upwards. Would anyone learn math from a calculus
formula without knowing the arabic numbers first?

Am in a baad mood tooday.


w.

Does your model have symbols defined (using the 4nec2 specific SY card?)
That's what it uses to populate the list.

Which editor are you using? If you already have a NEC input deck, it's
easiest to use the non-graphical editor.

What are you optimizing for.

Sure, you can whine about wanting better help files, but face it, Arie
is providing the product for free. If you are already proficient in
NEC, the help provided is fairly useful. If you are learning if from
scratch, yep, it's a pain.