1. SDR-Radio | Main
  2. Topics

Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

Brian Howell
 

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310 MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html  that is not just a cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs. 


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult, not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10. 


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.  http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm  I couldn't find any reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it. At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell
doug
 

On 9/8/20 8:54 PM, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310
MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have
asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for
Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator
http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html that is not just a
cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but
I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs.


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because
it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but
it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the
optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have
little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online
tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the
variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I
guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it
use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to
be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult,
not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10.


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.
http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm I couldn't find any
reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the
software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it.
At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers
a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question
is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used
it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell

_._,_._,_
I should think that unless you are in an engineering lab, with a
corporation to pay for your software, it would be
ridiculous to buy PCAAD.  Buy a copy of the ARRL Antenna Book from the
ARRL. It probably has a 3 element
yagi for 6 meters in there--just shorten the elements a tiny bit to get
to 54.1MHz. What's there, anyway?

Doug, WA2SAY, retired RF Engineer.
David Hopkins
 

Brian,
Have a look at :-
https://www.vk5dj.com/yagi.html

The program is based on the work of DL6WU, The farther of amateur Yagi antennas.

David


On 2020-09-09 10:54 am, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310 MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html  that is not just a cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs. 


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult, not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10. 


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.  http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm  I couldn't find any reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it. At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell


-- 
Definitely not sent from an I-Phone

David G Hopkins (VK4ZF)

Virus-free. www.avg.com

jdow
 

If you want to pay try EXNEC. For most uses MANA-GAL has good support. And there is a free version.
{^_^}

On 20200908 21:53:29, David Hopkins wrote:

Brian,
Have a look at :-
https://www.vk5dj.com/yagi.html

The program is based on the work of DL6WU, The farther of amateur Yagi antennas.

David


On 2020-09-09 10:54 am, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310 MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html  that is not just a cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs. 


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult, not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10. 


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.  http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm  I couldn't find any reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it. At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell


-- 
Definitely not sent from an I-Phone

David G Hopkins (VK4ZF)

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Alan
 

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310 MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.
Brian,

If that is all you want then any design that suits you will work.
Simple Yagis are well understood, small variations in construction will have no practical effect on performance.
As Doug says, scale down a 6m design.

73 Alan G4ZFQ
Siegfried Jackstien
 

mmana is easy to use ... free ... and has a nice editor

if you ever used any "paint" software in windows then you can use that editor (click at start of line, hold mouse button to pull your line and release at end) ... very easy in my view

greetz sigi dg9bfc

Am 09.09.2020 um 02:44 schrieb doug:



On 9/8/20 8:54 PM, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310
MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have
asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for
Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator
http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html that is not just a
cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but
I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs.


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because
it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but
it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the
optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have
little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online
tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the
variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I
guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it
use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to
be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult,
not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10.


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.
http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm I couldn't find any
reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the
software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it.
At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers
a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question
is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used
it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell

_._,_._,_
I should think that unless you are in an engineering lab, with a
corporation to pay for your software, it would be
ridiculous to buy PCAAD.  Buy a copy of the ARRL Antenna Book from the
ARRL. It probably has a 3 element
yagi for 6 meters in there--just shorten the elements a tiny bit to get
to 54.1MHz. What's there, anyway?

Doug, WA2SAY, retired RF Engineer.
Brian Howell
 

I am wanting to put together a forward scatter meteor detection system.  I will attempt to pick up reflected TV pilot carrier signals from channels 2-6, particularity channel 2.  I will look up the antenna book.

Brian Howell
Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2020, 10:44 PM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software



On 9/8/20 8:54 PM, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310
MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have
asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for
Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator
http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html that is not just a
cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but
I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs.


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because
it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but
it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the
optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have
little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online
tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the
variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I
guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it
use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to
be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult,
not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10.


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.
http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm I couldn't find any
reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the
software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it.
At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers
a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question
is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used
it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell

_._,_._,_
I should think that unless you are in an engineering lab, with a
corporation to pay for your software, it would be
ridiculous to buy PCAAD.  Buy a copy of the ARRL Antenna Book from the
ARRL. It probably has a 3 element
yagi for 6 meters in there--just shorten the elements a tiny bit to get
to 54.1MHz. What's there, anyway?

Doug, WA2SAY, retired RF Engineer.



Brian Howell
 

Ahh!  Thank you for the link.  I will take a look at that.  I hadn't need that one before.

Thank you.

Brian Howell
From: David Hopkins [mailto:davhop@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 12:53 AM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

Brian,
Have a look at :-
https://www.vk5dj.com/yagi.html

The program is based on the work of DL6WU, The farther of amateur Yagi antennas.

David


On 2020-09-09 10:54 am, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310 MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html  that is not just a cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs. 


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult, not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10. 


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.  http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm  I couldn't find any reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it. At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell


-- 
Definitely not sent from an I-Phone

David G Hopkins (VK4ZF)

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Brian Howell
 

I will take a look.  I thought I had looked at MANA-GAL before, something didn't work out with it. . .   I will take a look again at it to refresh my memory.

Brian Howell

From: jdow [mailto:jdow@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 2:59 AM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

If you want to pay try EXNEC. For most uses MANA-GAL has good support. And there is a free version.
{^_^}

On 20200908 21:53:29, David Hopkins wrote:

Brian,
Have a look at :-
https://www.vk5dj.com/yagi.html

The program is based on the work of DL6WU, The farther of amateur Yagi antennas.

David


On 2020-09-09 10:54 am, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310 MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html  that is not just a cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs. 


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult, not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10. 


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.  http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm  I couldn't find any reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it. At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell


-- 
Definitely not sent from an I-Phone

David G Hopkins (VK4ZF)

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Brian Howell
 

That is good.  I have little experience with building antennas so I was expecting to have to be precise down to the micron.

Brian Howell

From: Alan via groups.io [mailto:alanzfq@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 1:17 AM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310 MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.

Brian,

If that is all you want then any design that suits you will work.
Simple Yagis are well understood, small variations in construction will have no practical effect on performance.
As Doug says, scale down a 6m design.

73 Alan G4ZFQ



Brian Howell
 

I will look at mmana again I think I looked at that program before but it either didn't work or something else happened, I will take a look again.  I do use Photoshop and Autocad so I should be able to handle the editor.

Thanks,
Brian Howell

From: Siegfried Jackstien [mailto:siegfried.jackstien@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 7:17 AM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

mmana is easy to use ... free ... and has a nice editor

if you ever used any "paint" software in windows then you can use that editor (click at start of line, hold mouse button to pull your line and release at end) ... very easy in my view

greetz sigi dg9bfc

Am 09.09.2020 um 02:44 schrieb doug:



On 9/8/20 8:54 PM, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310
MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have
asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for
Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator
http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html that is not just a
cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but
I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs.


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because
it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but
it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the
optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have
little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online
tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the
variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I
guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it
use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to
be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult,
not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10.


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.
http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm I couldn't find any
reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the
software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it.
At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers
a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question
is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used
it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell

_._,_._,_
I should think that unless you are in an engineering lab, with a
corporation to pay for your software, it would be
ridiculous to buy PCAAD.  Buy a copy of the ARRL Antenna Book from the
ARRL. It probably has a 3 element
yagi for 6 meters in there--just shorten the elements a tiny bit to get
to 54.1MHz. What's there, anyway?

Doug, WA2SAY, retired RF Engineer.






jdow
 

Typo alert that's EZNEC. Note that these programs can be rather addicting. And the quality of the output varies with the quality of the input, including complete description of the antenna and other metal objects in the area.

{^_^}

On 20200909 16:31:18, Brian Howell wrote:

I will take a look.  I thought I had looked at MANA-GAL before, something didn't work out with it. . .   I will take a look again at it to refresh my memory.

Brian Howell

From: jdow [mailto:jdow@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 2:59 AM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

If you want to pay try EXNEC. For most uses MANA-GAL has good support. And there is a free version.
{^_^}

On 20200908 21:53:29, David Hopkins wrote:
Brian,
Have a look at :-
https://www.vk5dj.com/yagi.html

The program is based on the work of DL6WU, The farther of amateur Yagi antennas.

David


On 2020-09-09 10:54 am, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310 MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html  that is not just a cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs. 


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult, not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10. 


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.  http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm  I couldn't find any reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it. At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell


-- 
Definitely not sent from an I-Phone

David G Hopkins (VK4ZF)

Virus-free. www.avg.com


jdow
 

The  [MMANA-GAL] groups.io list MIGHT be of interest.

But for a generic three element yagi the "ideal" radiation pattern is very well known and widely published. What you will get in reality is modified by your surroundings. And a complete description is "daunting" and can overload most simulation engines and computers. The easy way out is to take a standard design with the characteristics close to what you want and run with it. I doubt fractions of a dB differences are going to affect your results to any huge degree.

{^_^}

On 20200909 16:35:34, Brian Howell wrote:

I will look at mmana again I think I looked at that program before but it either didn't work or something else happened, I will take a look again.  I do use Photoshop and Autocad so I should be able to handle the editor.

Thanks,
Brian Howell

From: Siegfried Jackstien [mailto:siegfried.jackstien@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 7:17 AM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

mmana is easy to use ... free ... and has a nice editor

if you ever used any "paint" software in windows then you can use that editor (click at start of line, hold mouse button to pull your line and release at end) ... very easy in my view

greetz sigi dg9bfc

Am 09.09.2020 um 02:44 schrieb doug:


On 9/8/20 8:54 PM, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310
MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have
asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for
Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator
http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html that is not just a
cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but
I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs.


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because
it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but
it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the
optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have
little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online
tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the
variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I
guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it
use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to
be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult,
not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10.


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.
http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm I couldn't find any
reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the
software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it.
At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers
a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question
is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used
it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell

Brian Howell
 

Thanks!  I will take a look at the group.  I'm waiting on the updated version of NanoVNA V2 before I buy one of those, that will help a lot I believe, if I am able to build an antenna.  At least I'll be able to measure the impedance and SWR of what I make to see how close it is to what I am wanting.  I have no test equipment to speak of when it comes to antennas so whatever I make may inefficient in many ways.  I'll have to look into how the driven element is attached to the coax.  I've read that two strait rods are around 75 ohms or so but fold them and they are around 300, I remember that from the days of when I was wanting to build mu own TV antenna way back in my teens and twenty's.  With 50 ohm I've seen pictures of a dipole with a third short rod attached to one side under one of the dipoles and some with ferrite rings, ect. .    I'm just hoping all I need to two dipoles to make it simple.

Thanks,
Brian Howell

From: jdow [mailto:jdow@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 8:08 PM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

The  [MMANA-GAL] groups.io list MIGHT be of interest.

But for a generic three element yagi the "ideal" radiation pattern is very well known and widely published. What you will get in reality is modified by your surroundings. And a complete description is "daunting" and can overload most simulation engines and computers. The easy way out is to take a standard design with the characteristics close to what you want and run with it. I doubt fractions of a dB differences are going to affect your results to any huge degree.

{^_^}

On 20200909 16:35:34, Brian Howell wrote:

I will look at mmana again I think I looked at that program before but it either didn't work or something else happened, I will take a look again.  I do use Photoshop and Autocad so I should be able to handle the editor.

Thanks,
Brian Howell

From: Siegfried Jackstien [mailto:siegfried.jackstien@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 7:17 AM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

mmana is easy to use ... free ... and has a nice editor

if you ever used any "paint" software in windows then you can use that editor (click at start of line, hold mouse button to pull your line and release at end) ... very easy in my view

greetz sigi dg9bfc

Am 09.09.2020 um 02:44 schrieb doug:


On 9/8/20 8:54 PM, Brian Howell wrote:

I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310
MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have
asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for
Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator
http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html that is not just a
cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but
I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs.


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because
it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but
it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the
optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have
little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online
tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the
variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I
guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it
use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to
be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult,
not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10.


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.
http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm I couldn't find any
reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the
software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it.
At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers
a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question
is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used
it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell

Tom Crosbie G6PZZ
 

Also look up the Gamma Match Brian.

It’s how the best match was obtained with the old MET antennas in the 80’s.

Mechanically quite easy to do with the driven element connected to the boom electrically.

I can help more on describing this but I’m on another mission today.

 

Tom G6PZZ

 

From: main@SDR-Radio.groups.io <main@SDR-Radio.groups.io> On Behalf Of Brian Howell
Sent: 10 September 2020 10:03
To: main@SDR-Radio.groups.io
Subject: Re: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

 

Thanks!  I will take a look at the group.  I'm waiting on the updated version of NanoVNA V2 before I buy one of those, that will help a lot I believe, if I am able to build an antenna.  At least I'll be able to measure the impedance and SWR of what I make to see how close it is to what I am wanting.  I have no test equipment to speak of when it comes to antennas so whatever I make may inefficient in many ways.  I'll have to look into how the driven element is attached to the coax.  I've read that two strait rods are around 75 ohms or so but fold them and they are around 300, I remember that from the days of when I was wanting to build mu own TV antenna way back in my teens and twenty's.  With 50 ohm I've seen pictures of a dipole with a third short rod attached to one side under one of the dipoles and some with ferrite rings, ect. .    I'm just hoping all I need to two dipoles to make it simple.

 

Thanks,

Brian Howell

 

From: jdow [mailto:jdow@...]

Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 8:08 PM

Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

 

The  [MMANA-GAL] groups.io list MIGHT be of interest.

But for a generic three element yagi the "ideal" radiation pattern is very well known and widely published. What you will get in reality is modified by your surroundings. And a complete description is "daunting" and can overload most simulation engines and computers. The easy way out is to take a standard design with the characteristics close to what you want and run with it. I doubt fractions of a dB differences are going to affect your results to any huge degree.

{^_^}

On 20200909 16:35:34, Brian Howell wrote:

I will look at mmana again I think I looked at that program before but it either didn't work or something else happened, I will take a look again.  I do use Photoshop and Autocad so I should be able to handle the editor.

 

Thanks,

Brian Howell

 

From: Siegfried Jackstien [mailto:siegfried.jackstien@...]

Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 7:17 AM

Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

 

mmana is easy to use ... free ... and has a nice editor

if you ever used any "paint" software in windows then you can use that editor (click at start of line, hold mouse button to pull your line and release at end) ... very easy in my view

greetz sigi dg9bfc

Am 09.09.2020 um 02:44 schrieb doug:



On 9/8/20 8:54 PM, Brian Howell wrote:


I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310
MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have
asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for
Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator
http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html that is not just a
cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but
I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs.


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because
it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but
it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the
optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have
little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online
tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the
variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I
guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it
use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to
be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult,
not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10.


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.
http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm I couldn't find any
reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the
software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it.
At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers
a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question
is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used
it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell

 
Brian Howell
 

Ahhh okay.  Thanks!  Yeah, that was what I was talking about. . .   I'll have to study up on that.

Brian Howell

From: Tom Crosbie G6PZZ [mailto:tom@...]
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2020, 5:17 AM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

Also look up the Gamma Match Brian.

It’s how the best match was obtained with the old MET antennas in the 80’s.

Mechanically quite easy to do with the driven element connected to the boom electrically.

I can help more on describing this but I’m on another mission today.

 

Tom G6PZZ

 

From: main@SDR-Radio.groups.io <main@SDR-Radio.groups.io> On Behalf Of Brian Howell
Sent: 10 September 2020 10:03
To: main@SDR-Radio.groups.io
Subject: Re: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

 

Thanks!  I will take a look at the group.  I'm waiting on the updated version of NanoVNA V2 before I buy one of those, that will help a lot I believe, if I am able to build an antenna.  At least I'll be able to measure the impedance and SWR of what I make to see how close it is to what I am wanting.  I have no test equipment to speak of when it comes to antennas so whatever I make may inefficient in many ways.  I'll have to look into how the driven element is attached to the coax.  I've read that two strait rods are around 75 ohms or so but fold them and they are around 300, I remember that from the days of when I was wanting to build mu own TV antenna way back in my teens and twenty's.  With 50 ohm I've seen pictures of a dipole with a third short rod attached to one side under one of the dipoles and some with ferrite rings, ect. .    I'm just hoping all I need to two dipoles to make it simple.

 

Thanks,

Brian Howell

 

From: jdow [mailto:jdow@...]

Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 8:08 PM

Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

 

The  [MMANA-GAL] groups.io list MIGHT be of interest.

But for a generic three element yagi the "ideal" radiation pattern is very well known and widely published. What you will get in reality is modified by your surroundings. And a complete description is "daunting" and can overload most simulation engines and computers. The easy way out is to take a standard design with the characteristics close to what you want and run with it. I doubt fractions of a dB differences are going to affect your results to any huge degree.

{^_^}

On 20200909 16:35:34, Brian Howell wrote:

I will look at mmana again I think I looked at that program before but it either didn't work or something else happened, I will take a look again.  I do use Photoshop and Autocad so I should be able to handle the editor.

 

Thanks,

Brian Howell

 

From: Siegfried Jackstien [mailto:siegfried.jackstien@...]

Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 7:17 AM

Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

 

mmana is easy to use ... free ... and has a nice editor

if you ever used any "paint" software in windows then you can use that editor (click at start of line, hold mouse button to pull your line and release at end) ... very easy in my view

greetz sigi dg9bfc

Am 09.09.2020 um 02:44 schrieb doug:



On 9/8/20 8:54 PM, Brian Howell wrote:


I am thinking about designing and building a Yagi antenna for 54.310
MHz, I don't need much gain, just a simple 3 element antenna.  I have
asked around and have been referred to a few online calculators for
Yagi design.  Today I found a pretty good Excel calculator
http://on5au.be/content/a10/trans/ant-design.html that is not just a
cookie cutter calculator like the online versions which is better but
I would also like to be able to see the radiation pattern and SWR graphs.


I tried for many hours on Monday to design the Yagi in 4NEC2 because
it has a CAD type interface for creating the antenna, which I like but
it still leaves a lot to be desired.  I got hung up on running the
optimizer, it was asking for variables but they were blank and I have
little idea of what I should put in there.  I found a couple of online
tutorials but They did little explaining on the ins and outs of the
variables that is supposed to be entered into the program.


I did a lot of searching online today for an easy to use program, I
guess with my getting older, my brain is hardening a lot more than it
use to because I am having a lot of trouble to orient my thinking to
be able to use even 4NEC2.  All of the "free" programs are difficult,
not user friendly, or just won't run on Windows 10.


Today I found a program called PCAAD 7.0.
http://antennadesignassociates.com/pcaad7.htm I couldn't find any
reviews for it, The user manual has some explanation on how the
software works but I would have to buy it in order to really try it.
At $549 it is a bit steep, however it "appears" easy to use and covers
a lot of different antenna types, including Yagi type.  So my question
is: Does anyone have any knowledge of this program? or has anyone used
it before?  Is it really easy to use?  And does it do a really good job?


Thanks,

Brian Howell

 
Kriss Kliegle KA1GJU
 

This thread reminds me of a sticker on the helm of my Tiki Barge (next to the blender on the bar):



Since you are NOT transmitting, SWR really doesn't matter all that much. Why not use the tried and true method of a dipole cut for 54.310Mhz and the reflector 5% longer and director 5% shorter. The spacing set to .125 the wavelength on the director/reflector distance to driven element.

We use the above numbers for our 3 element 40M wire beam at Field Day every year with great success as both a TX and RX antenna.
Occam's Razor comes to mind here as well as the KISS method.
JMHO

73 Kriss KA1GJU
Brian Howell
 

You may be right.  Since I have never built an antenna like this before I'm also using it as an education tool for myself.  I'd like to know enough and learn enough so that if another project comes up in the future I'll be able to run a design program and spit out an accurate model that I know is correct to build a different antenna.  Since I have no personal reference for what works and what doesn't or what is good enough and what is overkill I am leaning toward overkill as a reference then backing off as I gain experience and knowledge.  If I am able to complete this project and learn more about antenna design and if I build other antennas in the future I may get to the point you are now and look back at this and say "I was going way overboard, I could have just plugged in some ratios and I could have saved myself a lot of time and trouble".  I guess I have to start somewhere, I just feel better about a project when I have an idea of what works and what the outcome will be.  I would hate to spend all this money on tools, metal stock, and hours of effort only to find out that a coat hanger does a better job than my antenna and not knowing why my antenna did so poorly.

Brian Howell

From: Kriss Kliegle KA1GJU [mailto:kliegle@...]
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2020, 8:11 AM
Subject: [SDR-Radio] Off Topic - Antenna Design Software

This thread reminds me of a sticker on the helm of my Tiki Barge (next to the blender on the bar):



Since you are NOT transmitting, SWR really doesn't matter all that much. Why not use the tried and true method of a dipole cut for 54.310Mhz and the reflector 5% longer and director 5% shorter. The spacing set to .125 the wavelength on the director/reflector distance to driven element.

We use the above numbers for our 3 element 40M wire beam at Field Day every year with great success as both a TX and RX antenna.
Occam's Razor comes to mind here as well as the KISS method.
JMHO

73 Kriss KA1GJU
Alan G4ZFQ
 

effort only to find out that a coat hanger does a better job than my antenna
Brian,

That's the way!
Use straightened coat hangers, I'd bet you would find it very difficult to prove a "proper" antenna was better.

73 Alan G4ZFQ

Since you are NOT transmitting, SWR really doesn't matter all that much. Why not use the tried and true method of a dipole cut for 54.310Mhz and the reflector 5% longer and director 5% shorter. The spacing set to .125 the wavelength on the director/reflector distance to driven element.
Chris Smolinski
 

On Sep 10, 2020, at 9:12 AM, Alan G4ZFQ <alan4alan@...> wrote:

effort only to find out that a coat hanger does a better job than my antenna
Brian,

That's the way!
Use straightened coat hangers, I'd bet you would find it very difficult to prove a "proper" antenna was better.

73 Alan G4ZFQ

Since you are NOT transmitting, SWR really doesn't matter all that much. Why not use the tried and true method of a dipole cut for 54.310Mhz and the reflector 5% longer and director 5% shorter. The spacing set to .125 the wavelength on the director/reflector distance to driven element.
Coincidentally I recently built this quick and dirty 8 element Yagi for 434 MHz. I used pieces of 14 gauge wire for the elements, coat hangers would have been better :)

https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,69753.0.html


Chris Smolinski
Black Cat Systems
Westminster, MD USA
https://www.blackcatsystems.com

1 - 20 of 35