[HCARC] Computer Programs

[John K5XA]

All of this software discussion is whetting my appetite. Although I haven't
ever even looked at VOCAP.

But I sure could use some tutoring in the EZNEC program. I see all of the
plots that have been made with it all of the time. And I have the CD. But
when I load it up, I'm kind of lost.

Anybody around who can "teach an old dog a new trick"?

K5XA John Guida

> -----Original Message-----
> From: hcarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:hcarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
> On Behalf Of Kerry Sandstrom
> Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 5:26 PM
> To: John Huecksteadt; hcarc at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [HCARC] Computer Programs
> 
> John,
> 
> I think some of the software is made to appear intimidating!  I actually
did
> a program on VOACAP for the club a couple years ago, but unfortunately I
had
> some hard drive problems between then and now and lost it.
> 
> VOACAP is not very difficult. Most of the parameters never change.  Once
you
> get the inputs set up for your station, you probably won't even notice
them.
> VOACAP actually has several very useful features.  First, the is a list of
a
> few thousand locations that includes lat and lon by degrees and
minutes(Try
> to find that list any place else!).  One portion is by state and for Texas
> it includes Harper.  It is quite complete.  It has lists by continent
also.
> Some of the lists are "interesting" such as a list of military
> installations, A DXCC list, an NCDXF list of beacons and a list of
locations
> that ITU uses for propagation analyses!  It also has quite a few antenna
> models whose parameters can be adjusted and new antenna patterns plotted.
> I'll bring my laptop to the next few meetings and we can play during the
> pre-meeting time if you like.  Bring a "thumb drive" in case you would
like
> some of the files.  After I did the VOACAP program at the meeting there
> wasn't much interest so I would hesitate to do another program on the
> subject.
> 
> I hope you realize that no propagation program does any good real-time.
> VOACAP is primarily useful to let you see what should be happening on a
> normal day.  If you see abnormal propagation you have a chance of
> recognizing it and going to a frequency and beam heading that will give
you
> the best chance of finding something interesting.  The "big boys" that use
> VOACAP are mainly using it for frequency and station planning for 2-3
years
> in the future.  When I was in the real-time HF business with an OTH-B
radar,
> we relied on ionospheric sounders as well as our own backscatter signal.
It
> is pretty clear that SW Broadcasters like Radio Moscow also used their own
> backscatter signal to adjust the elevation angle of their transmitting
> antennas.  I use VOACAP at work and I taught one of my coworkers to use it
> also.  He loves it.  I've tried to teach a couple others, but they just
> didn't have the interest.  Its really not difficult.
> 
> I haven't used or even seen ELNEC myself, however it does use NEC2 as the
> "engine".  The non-public domain part of ELNEC seems to be the GUI.  With
> 4NEC2, you can either use the GUI to develop the antenna model graphically
> or you can use the original NEC2 input format.  That format is
FORTRAN-style
> 80 column cards.  No, I don't use cards, but the input screen appears like
a
> 80 column line of data and spaces.  I find it easier than the graphical
> input.  It is just what you get used to.  I think once you understand what
> is going on it will be easy.
> 
> I dont know about ELNEC, but 4NEC2 gives you several hundred antennas and
> the ability to change the parameter on those antennas to modify the
design.
> Unless you're doing something weird, you may never have to enter an
antenna
> from scratch.  Naturally I've had to deal with some weird antennas where I
> couldn't trust the existing data so I've had to mess with doing an antenna
> from scratch.
> 
> Digital copies of the original Lawrence Livermore National Lab
documentation
> are available.  4NEC2 included some of the documentation in its files.
Talk
> about a software manual, it runs several volumes each over a hundred
pages.
> I have digital copies of a couple of the volumes including the User's
Manual
> which describes the input files in excruciating detail.  There are
probably
> 75 or so different card formats, but I only have had to use a dozen.  Yes,
> it goes out of its way to be intimidating!  The Users's Manual is only
about
> 500kb so if you need one soon, I can e-mail it to you.
> 
> In summary, its really not a big deal to run, it just takes a little time
to
> get started.
> 
> Kerry
> 
> 
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