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Topband: Software

To: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Topband: Software
From: Brian Beezley <k6sti@att.net>
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2022 08:36:22 -0800
List-post: <mailto:topband@contesting.com>
I've posted about my software on TowerTalk, but I completely forgot about Topband. 160m ops may find these Windows programs useful.

I've written a program that calculates ground permittivity, conductivity, and skin depth using impedance data from a soil probe and vector network analyzer, such as a NanoVNA. Realistic ground parameters are important when evaluating antenna models, especially on 160m. General terrain descriptions and ground conductivity maps are much too coarse. Ground parameters also vary with frequency. With a soil probe you can determine the parameters of your local ground at the frequency of interest. Skin depth can help you assess the limitation of a surface probe when the ground is inhomogeneous.

See README.TXT for instructions. It includes references on making and using a soil probe.

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/gnd.zip

I've recently updated my coil inductance and Q calculator. It's useful for designing antenna loading coils, amplifier tank circuits, and low-loss Litz receiving coils on 160m. The program calculates inductance and Q for solenoids made of solid or Litz wire. It accounts for wire alloy, form dielectric, dielectric ribs or ridges, coil leads, and polygonal coil shapes. The program can automatically maximize coil Q while keeping inductance constant. It can plot Q versus frequency. It can provide results as an RLC model for wideband circuit or antenna analysis.

To validate accuracy, the documentation compares calculated values with hundreds of inductance and Q measurements made with an HP 4342A Q meter on dozens of coils of widely varying size and shape. For the coils from my own junkbox, average error magnitude is 2% for inductance and 5% for Q.

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/coil.zip

False virus detection sometimes occurs. Whenever I have doubts, I submit the URL to VirusTotal. It will check it with nearly 100 different antivirus programs.

https://www.virustotal.com

Brian
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