[TowerTalk] antenna modeling software newbie

[Jeff Blaine]

Look into MMANA-GAL.  It's very popular in the EU where EZNEC is the 
common one in the US.  MMANA has a very easy to use interface and a 
built-in optimizer.  If you don't want to get into the weeds learning 
about modeling, this is the best way I have found to get into modeling 
and get something done.

73/jeff/ac0c
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie
www.ac0c.com


On 7/13/19 8:28 PM, jimlux wrote:
> On 7/13/19 6:02 PM, Jamie WW3S wrote:
>> Whats a good entry level modeling program, I'm interested in learning 
>> more about modeling, and running different models on a 2 element 
>> beam, comparing 2 different boom lengths.
>
> On Windows:
>
> 4nec2 and eznec are probably the two you should consider, both have a 
> variety of ways to enter the geometry, both have decent graphics, etc.
>
> 4nec2 is free
>
> there's a free starter edition of eznec with the ARRL antenna book
>
> Both run the NEC2 engine underneath.
>
> I've used 4nec2 for decades now, so I'm used to it. Folks who have 
> used EZNEC for decades are used to it.
>
> Both generate decent output.
>
> Both will run the NEC4 engine if you license it from Lawrence 
> Livermore National Lab.
>
> Both have features to make things like tapered elements, etc. easier.
>
>
>
> On Mac:
> CocoaNEC - free - runs the NEC2 engine, has appropriate editors and 
> display options - I have a Mac, but I'm so used to 4nec2, I run 
> parallels.  It has a lot of nifty features.
>
>
> ALL of the above have ways to have "calculations" in the model 
> description which is really, really useful.  For instance, maybe you 
> want a drooping dipole, and you want to fool with different support 
> heights and droop angles.. You can do it.
>
>
>
>
> On Linux:
>
> Cowboy/cowgirl up and use your favorite editor (vi, emacs, nano, cat ) 
> to build card image decks, and run it from the command line, like the 
> modeling gods intended. Read the line printer output with columns of 
> numbers to figure out what the pattern is.
>
> Write shell scripts or python or whatever to do optimizing.
>
> (There actually is a fair amount of stuff out there to run NEC on 
> Linux, some of which purports to have graphical interfaces, but I've 
> never contemplated it..
>
>
>
>
> Any of these is sufficient to fool with a 2 element beam, and all of 
> them come with samples to start with (which is invaluable!! - the NEC 
> input deck format is not exactly self explanatory, but after a while 
> everything makes sense.
>
> Virtually all versions of NEC (including commandline versions) do not 
> require strict adherence to the column formatting in the original 
> FORTRAN version.  White space serves as a delimiter.
>
>
>
> ---
>
> There's a lot of tricks that are non-obvious, but make sense once you 
> know them.  Ask...
>
> (I just figured out how to have it compute the pattern of the antenna 
> inside the ground under a low dipole, for instance.  )
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