When I setup an antenna in EZNEC, I want to see the azimuth but the
program asks for an elevation angle. WHat angle should I use? I have
been randomly using 5 or 10 deg.

Thanks


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

Buck wrote:
When I setup an antenna in EZNEC, I want to see the azimuth but the
program asks for an elevation angle. WHat angle should I use? I have
been randomly using 5 or 10 deg.

Thanks


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

Hi Buck, Antennas have a 3-dimensional pattern. When you only want
to see the Azimuth, you are looking at a 2D pattern, with a fixed
elevation angle. The Azimuth plot must have an elevation angle to have
meaning. The elevation angle you use depends on a number of factors.
For instance, if you want to work dx, or want to hit a distant
repeater, you want the most gain at low elevation angles. You want the
Azimuth pattern to show the most gain at low elevation angles. I think
5-10 degrees qualifies as low angles.
EZNEC shows on the elevation plot the angle where the gain is
maximum. It also has a 3D plot that really gives a good indication of
where you are squirting the most signal.
Gary N4AST

On 15 Jun 2005 14:51:19 -0700, wrote:



Buck wrote:
When I setup an antenna in EZNEC, I want to see the azimuth but the
program asks for an elevation angle. WHat angle should I use? I have
been randomly using 5 or 10 deg.

Thanks


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

Hi Buck, Antennas have a 3-dimensional pattern. When you only want
to see the Azimuth, you are looking at a 2D pattern, with a fixed
elevation angle. The Azimuth plot must have an elevation angle to have
meaning. The elevation angle you use depends on a number of factors.
For instance, if you want to work dx, or want to hit a distant
repeater, you want the most gain at low elevation angles. You want the
Azimuth pattern to show the most gain at low elevation angles. I think
5-10 degrees qualifies as low angles.
EZNEC shows on the elevation plot the angle where the gain is
maximum. It also has a 3D plot that really gives a good indication of
where you are squirting the most signal.
Gary N4AST


Thank you Gary, I have been looking at it a bit. I decided the best
way to get an accurate reading for the highest gain is to look at the
elevation and then set the azimuth elevation to the TOA.

Thank you,

Buck
N4PGW

--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

Buck wrote:
. . .
Thank you Gary, I have been looking at it a bit. I decided the best
way to get an accurate reading for the highest gain is to look at the
elevation and then set the azimuth elevation to the TOA.

But what you're probably really interested in is the gain in the angle
you'll be using for communication. Who cares what the maximum gain of
the antenna is if that gain only occurs in directions (azimuth or
elevation) you're not using for communication?

First, decide what elevation angles will be used for communication. One
way to find that is by using a propagation program like W6ELProp (which
is free). Look at the gain at those angles with EZNEC. The elevation
angle at which the gain is maximum is of very little practical use --
EZNEC reports it only because a lot of people wanted it (for reasons
which remain mysterious to me).

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:27:55 -0400, Buck wrote:

When I setup an antenna in EZNEC, I want to see the azimuth but the
program asks for an elevation angle. WHat angle should I use? I have
been randomly using 5 or 10 deg.

Depends. If you want to see the whole picture, use a 3D plot.

You should know that you can grab this with the mouse and change the
angle of view. By turning on the "Highlights" you can get any cut you
want on the pattern. Experiment.

For a feature rich (and free) alternative that will give you these
plots in living color see:

http://www.si-list.org/swindex2.html#4nec2_

That said, and not taking anything away from Arie's masterful work, I
recommend that you stick with EZNEC until you are more skilled at
modeling.

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:19:58 -0700, Roy Lewallen
wrote:

Tsk tsk.


EZNEC reports it only because a lot of people wanted it (for reasons
which remain mysterious to me).

Don't you know that the customer is always right? [grin]

The elevation
angle at which the gain is maximum is of very little practical
use --
EZNEC reports it only because a lot of people wanted it (for reasons
which remain mysterious to me).

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

===========================

Roy, good to see, at last, you've got rid of this popular
misconception.
----
Reg.

Wouldn't this 'gain' be useful in figuring out just where you could dump
your maximum signal somewhere in the world? It might not be where you
want, but at least you might have an idea of where you would stick a loud
signal using max gain at some elevation angle? Or is this a totally useless
idea? I don't pretend to know what I'm talking about here, but it seems
logical that by using this type of data it would help you figure out where
you were going to put in a stronger signal.

Shields up!

Jer

"Reg Edwards" wrote in message
...
The elevation
angle at which the gain is maximum is of very little practical
use --
EZNEC reports it only because a lot of people wanted it (for reasons
which remain mysterious to me).

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

===========================

Roy, good to see, at last, you've got rid of this popular
misconception.
----
Reg.

On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 14:44:15 GMT, "Jer"
wrote:

Wouldn't this 'gain' be useful in figuring out just where you could dump
your maximum signal somewhere in the world? It might not be where you
want, but at least you might have an idea of where you would stick a loud
signal using max gain at some elevation angle? Or is this a totally useless
idea? I don't pretend to know what I'm talking about here, but it seems
logical that by using this type of data it would help you figure out where
you were going to put in a stronger signal.

Shields up!

Jer


From the remarks I see on this forum and others, there appears to be a
number of people who only consider how an antenna works for DX. There
are many of us who don't just chase DX. I hunt counties and need
antennas that will cover much smaller skip than someone trying to
operate with russia from here. On late night nets, I need signals
that drown out the 40 meter sw stations and so I can hear my regional
QSOs. Other times, I would love to be able to pick out that rare DX
in the midst of a pileup of multi-kw amps and beams that have more
acreage than the average home.

If someone needs 10-20 deg TOA for a signal, then they need to know
how to maximize their antenna for that angle, that is true. I want to
know the characteristics of the antennas to know how they will work
for various purposes.

No shield needed



--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

I'm another Ham that could care less about DX! I just want to use the
proper frequency depending on the time of day/night to communicate with some
friends located around the west coast. Very few DX stations will hold a rag
chew, just slam bam, thank you mam, i.e. 599 OM !... ugh..

At any rate, if I knew more about my antennas characteristics I might could
figure out the band/end location where it would be loudest at any given
time. Is this all wet, and TOA wouldn't help in that at all?

Jer


"Buck" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 14:44:15 GMT, "Jer"
wrote:

Wouldn't this 'gain' be useful in figuring out just where you could dump
your maximum signal somewhere in the world? It might not be where you
want, but at least you might have an idea of where you would stick a loud
signal using max gain at some elevation angle? Or is this a totally
useless
idea? I don't pretend to know what I'm talking about here, but it seems
logical that by using this type of data it would help you figure out where
you were going to put in a stronger signal.

Shields up!

Jer


From the remarks I see on this forum and others, there appears to be a
number of people who only consider how an antenna works for DX. There
are many of us who don't just chase DX. I hunt counties and need
antennas that will cover much smaller skip than someone trying to
operate with russia from here. On late night nets, I need signals
that drown out the 40 meter sw stations and so I can hear my regional
QSOs. Other times, I would love to be able to pick out that rare DX
in the midst of a pileup of multi-kw amps and beams that have more
acreage than the average home.

If someone needs 10-20 deg TOA for a signal, then they need to know
how to maximize their antenna for that angle, that is true. I want to
know the characteristics of the antennas to know how they will work
for various purposes.

No shield needed



--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW