Antenna Modeling For Radio Amateurs

Antenna Modeling for Radio Amateurs
Steve Stearns, K6OIK

Northrop Grumman
Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory
San Jose, California
stearns@ieee.org
k6oik@arrl.net
1 S.D. Stearns, K6OIK ARRL Pacificon Antenna Seminar, San Ramon, CA October 17-19, 2008
Outline
History of electromagnetics
Computational electromagnetics
¾ Method of Moments (MoM)
¾ BRACT, WIRA, AMP, NEC 1-4, IE3D, WIPL-D, FEKO
Four main programs for amateurs
¾ EZNEC
¾ 4nec2
¾ WIPL-D Lite
¾ FEKO LITE
Advanced applications
¾ Terrain analysis by MoM
References, books, and software
Question for 2008
Is the current the same everywhere along a wire?
Iin Iout
?
I in = I out
Answer: It Depends
“Yes” for steady-state d-c current
“Almost yes” for low-frequency a-c current or short wires
But “no” for high-frequency a-c current because electrons can
bunch up
J.C. Maxwell found a way to make the answer yes
∂D
Iin ∇× H = J + Iout
∂t
⎛ ∂D ⎞
0 = ∫∫⎜ J + ⎟ • dS
S ⎝
∂t ⎠
∂
Iin − Iout = ∫∫ DndS
∂t S
History
Who Does Not Belong in this Picture?
Answer: Leonardo Da Vinci and Isaac Newton
Leonardo Da Vinci Andre-Marie Ampere Michael Faraday

1452-1519 1775-1836 1791-1867
James Clerk Maxwell

1831-1879
Isaac Newton Carl Friedrich Gauss Georg Simon Ohm

1642-1727 1777-1855 1789-1854
The Maxwellians
George Francis FitzGerald Oliver Heaviside Oliver Joseph Lodge

1851-1901 1850-1925 1851-1940
Heinrich Rudolph Hertz John Henry Poynting

1857-1894 1851-1914
Heaviside’s Vector Equations for Maxwell’s Theory
∂B
∇ × E = −M −
∂t
∂D
∇×H = J +
∂t
∇ ⋅ D = ρe
∇ ⋅B = ρm
D=ε E J = σ eE
B=μH M = σ mH
“And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.” Genesis 1:3
Key Dates in Antennas
1842 Discovery of radiation – J. Henry
1873 Treatise on electrodynamics – J.C. Maxwell
1875-87 Early radiation demonstrations: Edison 1875;
A.E. Dolbear 1882; H. Hertz 1887
1889-06 Phased arrays – S.G. Brown, J.E. Murray, Artom
1895-01 Radio communication, fan dipole, polar plots
– G. Marconi
1897 Biconical dipole, loading coil, tunable LC matching
network, counterpoise, “impedance” – O.J. Lodge
1907 Goniometer, electrical steerable array, radio direction-
finding – Bellini & Tosi
1907 Ground losses, ground waves – Zenneck
1923 Wave-tilt antenna – H.H. Beverage
1928 Endfire array with parasitic elements – Yagi & Uda
1947 Polyrod antenna – G.E. Mueller and W.L. Tyrell
Key Dates in Antennas continued
1947-75 Small antennas – H. Wheeler
1948 Fundamental limit on antenna bandwidth – L.J. Chu
1950 Antennas – J.D. Kraus
1952 Advanced Antenna Theory – S.A. Schelkunoff
1956 Theory of Linear Cylindrical Antennas – R.W.P. King
1959 “Method of moments” – A.V. Kantorovich and G.P. Akilov
1961 Antenna Engineering Handbook – H. Jasik
1967 Matrix methods for fields problems – R.F. Harrington
1974 Vivaldi antenna – L.R. Lewis, M. Fasset, and M. Hunt
1976 Landstorfer antenna – F.M. Landstorfer
2003 Metamaterial radomes – R.W. Ziolkowski and A.D. Kipple
2005 Antenna Theory, 3rd ed. – C.A. Balanis
2006 Electrically Small, Superdirective, and Superconducting
Antennas – R.C. Hansen
Old Style Antenna Analysis
Step 1 – Get the current distribution
¾ Assume sinusoidal – induced EMF method
¾ Solve Hallen’s integral equation (1938)
¾ Solve Pocklington’s integral equation (1897)
How to do it – Mathematical solution
¾ Iterative and variational methods
– Approximation as a ratio of infinite series
– King-Harrison (Proc. IRE, 1943)
– Middleton-King (J. Appl. Phys., 1946)
¾ Hill’s radiation pattern integration method (Proc. IEE, 1967)
Limitations and complications
¾ Not all antennas are wire antennas
¾ Not all antennas are made just of metal
¾ Math is hard
Induced EMF Method
Assumes sinusoidal current distribution
Method gives pattern, radiation resistance, and reactance
Accurate for pattern and impedance of dipoles up to half-
wavelength and verticals up to quarter-wavelength
Inaccurate for impedance of dipoles longer than half-wavelength
and verticals longer than quarter-wavelength
Used widely for the design of AM broadcast vertical towers
Induced EMF Method continued
Radiation resistance
η ⎧ 1
Rin = ⎨C + ln( kl ) − Ci ( kl ) + sin( kl )[Si(2kl ) − 2Si(kl )]
⎛ kl ⎞ 2
2π sin 2 ⎜ ⎟ ⎩ Terms vanish when l/λ
2
⎝ ⎠ is a half integer
1 ⎡ ⎛ kl ⎞ ⎤⎫
+ cos(kl ) ⎢C + ln⎜ ⎟ + Ci(2kl ) − 2Ci(kl )⎥ ⎬
Reactance 2 ⎣ ⎝2⎠ ⎦⎭
Wire radius term
η ⎧⎪ 1 ⎡ ⎛ 2ka 2 ⎞⎤
X in = ⎨Si(kl ) + sin(kl ) ⎢Ci(2kl ) − 2Ci(kl ) + Ci⎜⎜ ⎟⎟⎥
2 ⎛ kl ⎞ ⎪ 2 ⎣ ⎝ l ⎠⎦
2π sin ⎜ ⎟ ⎩
⎝2⎠
1 ⎫
− cos(kl )[Si(2kl ) − 2Si(kl )]⎬
2 ⎭
Equations for Obtaining the Current Along a Wire
Pocklington’s equation (1897)
l/2
⎡⎛ ∂ 2 2⎞
⎤
∫ ′ ⎜ + ⎟ ′ ′ = − ωε z ( ρ = a)
i
I z ( z ) ⎢⎜ 2 k ⎟ G ( z , z ) ⎥ d z j E
−l / 2 ⎣⎝ ∂z ⎠ ⎦
Hallen’s equation (1938)

l/2
e − jkR ε
∫ I z ( z ′) d z′ = − j [ B1 cos(kz ) + C1 sin(k | z |)]
−l / 2
4π R μ
General form
L( f ) = g Driving function
Linear operator
Unknown function
Computational Electromagnetics
The Universe of Antenna Modeling Methods
Electrical Size
Complexity of Materials
Courtesy of EMSS
Computational Electromagnetics
Method of moments (MoM)
¾ A method for solving integro-differential equations such as Hallen’s or
Pocklington’s equation at a given frequency
¾ Earliest and longest legacy of software codes for antenna modeling
¾ BRACT, WIRA, AMP, NEC, NEC-2, NEC-3, NEC-4, MiniNEC, ELNEC,
EZNEC, winNECPlus, 4nec2, FEKO, WIPL-D, Zeland IE3D
Finite element method (FEM)
¾ Best for design of small antennas of complex structure
¾ Ansoft HFSS
Finite difference time-domain method (FDTD)
¾ Time-domain method
¾ Best for design of small antennas for broadband applications
¾ CST Microwave Studio, Zeland Fidelity, Faustus MEFiSTo
Geometric, physical, and uniform theories of diffraction
¾ Best for electrically large antennas
The Method of Moments
Originators
I.G. Bubnov Leonid Vitaliyevich Kantorovich Jack H. Richmond

1872-1919 1912-1986 1922-1990
Boris Grigoryevich Galerkin Gleb Pavlovich Akilov Roger F. Harrington

1871-1945 1924-1964 1925-
Method of Moments
Published by Kantorovich and Akilov in 1959 as a general
method for solving linear integro-differential equations
Introduced into electromagnetics by Roger Harrington in 1967
¾ Currents are weighted sum of basis functions
¾ Solve for the coefficients of the basis functions for all segments
¾ Calculate radiation pattern and feedpoint impedance from currents
Uses two kinds of mathematical functions: basis functions and
test functions
Basis and test functions can be global or local (sub-sectional)
Global basis functions expand the current on a wire in an infinite
series, e.g. Fourier series
Local basis functions break antenna into small conducting line
segments, surface patches, or volumes
Subsectional basis functions appear to give better results when
solving Hallen’s equation rather than Pocklington’s
Test functions are best thought of as projections
Integro-Differential Equations Made Simple
Start with an equation. The analysis problem is to find f
L( f ) = g
Assume f can be expanded as a weighted sum of basis functions

⎛ ⎞
L ( f ) = L⎜ ∑ a n f n ⎟ = g
⎝ n ⎠
Set all projections (via test functions) of left and right sides equal
∑ a L( f
n
n n • φm ) = g • φm
Write as a matrix equation
⎡ L( f1 • φ1 ) L L( f N • φ1 ) ⎤ ⎡ a1 ⎤ ⎡ g • φ1 ⎤
⎢ M O M ⎥⎢ M ⎥=⎢ M ⎥
⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢⎣ L( f1 • φM ) L L( f N • φM )⎥⎦ ⎢⎣a N ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ g • φM ⎥⎦
The Solution
Solve for the vector of expansion coefficients
⎡ a1 ⎤ ⎡ L( f1 • φ1 ) L L( f N • φ1 ) ⎤
−1
⎡ g • φ1 ⎤
⎢ M ⎥=⎢ M O M ⎥ ⎢ M ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢⎣a N ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ L( f1 • φM ) L L( f N • φM )⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ g • φM ⎥⎦
Obtain f
⎡ L( f1 • φ1 ) L L( f N • φ1 ) ⎤
−1
⎡ g • φ1 ⎤
f = ∑ an f n = [ f1 L f N ] ⎢⎢ M O M ⎥
⎥
⎢ M ⎥
⎢ ⎥
n
⎢⎣ L( f1 • φM ) L L( f N • φM )⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ g • φM ⎥⎦
Principle MoM Computer Codes
BRACT & ANTBRACT – Developed late 1960’s at MBAssociates, San
Ramon
WIRA – Developed early 1970’s by M. Andreasen, F. Harris and R. Tanner
at TCI
AMP/AMP2 – Developed mid 1970’s by G. Burke at MBAssociates, San
Ramon
NEC-1 (1979) – Added more accurate current expansions; multiple wire
junctions; thick wires
NEC-2 (1981) – Sommerfield-Norton ground interaction for wire
structures above lossy ground; numerical Green's function allows
modifying without repeating whole calculation
NEC-3 (1985) – Buried wires
NEC-4 (1992) – Improved accuracy for stepped-radius wires and
electrically-small segments, end caps and insulated wires, catenary-
shaped wires, improved error detection
Zeland IE3D (1992) – Adaptive meshing, developed by Dr. Jian-Xiong
Zheng. Company in Fremont, CA
WIPL-D (ca 2000) – Advanced MoM for wires, plates, and dielectrics
based on work of A.R. Djordjevic, B.M. Kolundzija, U. Belgrade, Serbia
FEKO (ca 2000) – Hybrid method developed by U. Jakobus at EMSS,
Stellenbosch, South Africa
The Development of NEC
L.B. Cebik, W4RNL, 1939-2008
Brought the joy of antenna modeling to Amateur Radio
EZNEC
EZNEC http://www.eznec.com/
Developed by Roy Lewallen, W7EL
Now in version 5.0
Six products available
¾ EZNEC v.5 demo program $0 (free)
¾ EZNEC-ARRL v.3 & v.4 $45 (on ARRL Antenna Book CD-ROM)
¾ EZNEC v.5 $90
¾ EZNEC+ v.5 $140
¾ EZNEC Pro/2 v.5 $500
¾ EZNEC Pro/4 v.5 $650 (sold only to NEC-4 licensees)
EZNEC includes either the NEC-2 or NEC-4 engines
NEC-4 license for qualified US academic and noncommercial
users can be obtained from Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory for $300. This probably includes you!
¾ Form at: https://ipo.llnl.gov/technology/software/documents/NEC.pdf
Key Parts of EZNEC
Specifying the antenna model
¾ Wire geometry (including radials)
¾ Excitation sources
¾ Wire loads
¾ Transmission lines
¾ Ground type and parameters
¾ Frequency or sweep range
Specifying the desired outputs
¾ Radiation pattern crossection at a given frequency
¾ Gain in a specific direction
¾ Pattern beamwidth
¾ Front-to-back ratio
¾ Front-to-rear ratio
¾ Impedance
¾ SWR
¾ Output data files for other programs
EZNEC Main Screen and Control Panel
“Model contains loss” warning
Wires and Segments
Each wire in an antenna is defined by
¾ Location (coordinates) of both ends
¾ Diameter of wire
¾ Number of segments (all equal in length)
¾ Material or conductivity
(x1, y1, z1) (x2, y2, z2)

Diameter = AWG #12
No. segments = 7
Copper σ = 58 MS/m
Wire Table for UHF Discone Antenna
Steve Stearns, K6OIK, “All About the

Discone Antenna,” QEX, Jan/Feb 2007
View Antenna
Steve Stearns, K6OIK, “All About the

Discone Antenna,” QEX, Jan/Feb 2007
Discone SWR and Impedance Referenced to 75Ω
UHF TV band highlighted blue
470 to 710 MHz
Marker at 460 MHz
1. Setup a frequency sweep 100 MHz to 1 GHz

2. Write impedance data to MicroSmith .gam output file
3. Use Word to reformat .gam to Ansoft .flp file format
4. Import to Serenade SV project and design matching network
Improvement After Stub Matching Network
EZNEC Gain Patterns of Discone at 470 MHz
Tips for Getting Better Accuracy from NEC-2
Segment length to wavelength rule
¾ Segment length < λ / 20
Segment length to diameter rule
¾ Segment length > 2 × diameter
Equal segment length rule
¾ All segments in a model have
equal length
¾ Never connect long segments to
short segments
Acute angle junction rule
¾ Junction angles or segment
lengths large enough that middle
1/3 of joined segments don’t
interpenetrate
Segment alignment rule for parallel
wires
¾ Closely spaced parallel and near
parallel wires have their
segments aligned (paired)
Wires near ground
¾ All wires must be least two
diameters above ground
¾ Wires cannot touch ground
Excitation Sources
Ideal voltage and current sources can be inserted in any segment
Sources are used to excite a feedpoint
Most antennas have a single feedpoint
A unit current source of 1 + j0 amperes generally works well
Phased arrays with multiple antenna feedpoints can be driven
with a separate current sources at each feedpoint or with a single
source driving a feed network
If a segment contains both source and load, they are in series
A voltage sources and load can be assigned to a segment when
it is desired to simulate the Thevenin equivalent of a real
generator – needed for mutual impedance effects in phased array
feeds
A “split-feed” consists of putting two half-voltage sources in
adjacent segments to simulates a source at the junction between
the segments
Wire Loads
Ideal, non-radiating point loads can be inserted in any segment
If a segment contains both source and load, they are in series
Loads are used to model coils, traps, and internally to NEC, wire
conductivity (ohmic loss)
Load types available are:
¾ Constant impedance R + jX
¾ Series RLC network
¾ Parallel RLC network
¾ Trap network
¾ Laplace impedance
positive-real rational function
up to 5th degree
P( jω ) a5 ( jω ) 5 + a4 ( jω ) 4 + a3 ( jω )3 + a2 ( jω ) 2 + a1 ( jω ) + a0
Z( f ) = =
Q( jω ) b5 ( jω ) 5 + b4 ( jω ) 4 + b3 ( jω ) 3 + b2 ( jω ) 2 + b1 ( jω ) + b0
Dielectrics and Wire Insulation
Dielectrics occur in antennas in bulk form or insulated wires, e.g.
polyrod antennas, twin-lead folded dipoles, twin-lead J-poles,
Butternut radials, buried radials
NEC-2 has no capability for dielectrics
NEC-3 and NEC-4 handle dielectrics by accurate methods
¾ NEC-3 handles wires in semi-infinite dielectric media, e.g. buried radials
¾ NEC-4 handles insulated wires by accurate methods
¾ Newer professional codes such as IE3D, FEKO, and WIPL-D handle
dielectrics accurately by surface and volume equivalence principles
L.B. Cebik compared several ad hoc approximations for insulated
wire (Note 83)
EZNEC v.4 and above claim to do insulated wires but use NEC-2
EZNEC Pro/4 v.5 uses the accurate NEC-4 dielectric capability
Insulated Wires Done Right !
Rigorous theory
¾ J.H. Richmond and E.H. Newman, “Dielectric Coated Wire Antennas,”
Radio Science, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 13-20, Jan. 1976
¾ J.P.Y. Lee and K.G. Balmain, “Wire Antennas Coated with Magnetically
and Electrically Lossy Material,” Radio Science, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 437-
445, May-June 1979
Good quasistatic approximation
¾ B.D. Popovic and A. Nesic, “Generalisation of the Concept of
Equivalent Radius of Thin Cylindrical Antennas,” IEE Proc., vol. 131, pt.
H, no. 3, pp. 153-158, June 1984
¾ Larger effective radius with extra distributed inductance to offset
⎛ εr −1⎞
μ0 ⎛ a' ⎞ −7 ⎛ εr −1⎞ ⎛ b ⎞
⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎛b⎞ ε
a' = a × ⎜ ⎟ ⎝ r ⎠
<b L = ln⎜ ⎟ = 2×10 ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ln⎜ ⎟
⎝ a⎠ 2π ⎝ a ⎠ ⎝ εr ⎠ ⎝ a ⎠
¾ Equations are different from those of L.B. Cebik W4RNL, A. Yurkov
RA9MB, or D. Federov UA3AVR
Five Ground Types and Their Restrictions
Free space
Perfect ground
¾ A lossless perfect electrically conducting (PEC) ground plane, i.e. a flat mirror
¾ Wires may touch ground
¾ Good for turning off ground losses to evaluate the ground losses of real ground
Real grounds
¾ High-accuracy (Sommerfeld-Norton) ground
– Most accurate and computationally expensive ground type
– Best method for low horizontal wires down to λ/200 above ground
– Wires may not touch ground
¾ Fast ground
– Uses complex reflection coefficient method
– Horizontal wires should be at least λ/10 above ground
– Wires may not touch ground
¾ MININEC ground
– Hybrid (compromise) calculation designed for early PCs
– Assumes perfect ground for calculating currents, but switches to dielectric
ground for far-field pattern calculation – Hence no ground losses
– Horizontal wires should be at least λ/5 above ground
– Vertical wires may touch ground
Ground Parameters
Ground is specified by two numbers: conductivity σ and dielectric
constant εr
For “average” ground, σ = 5 mS/m and εr = 13
At HF frequencies, εr has more influence than σ; so don’t worry about the
precise value of σ (stations near salt water excepted). Concentrate on
getting a good estimate of εr
Ground Characteristics σ εr
Extremely poor: cities, high buildings 0.001 3
Very poor: cities, industrial 0.001 5
Sandy, dry 0.002 10
Poor: rocky, mountainous 0.002 13
Average: pastoral, heavy clay 0.005 13
Pastoral: medium hills and forest 0.006 13
Flat, marshy, densely wooded 0.0075 12
Pastoral, rich soil, US Midwest 0.010 14
Very good: pastoral, rich, central US 0.030 20
Fresh water 0.001 80
Salt water 5 80
General Caveats Regarding Antenna Modeling
NEC is “blind” to current modes – computes total current, not
resolved into common and differential current modes
¾ Current modes are “noumena;” total current is “phenomena”
Antennas that rely on interacting modes do not scale if λ/λg
or vf changes
¾ Insulation on wires affects common and differential current modes
differently. Such antenna designs do not frequency scale easily.
Antennas made of insulated wire cannot be analyzed by
NEC-2, but NEC-4 and EZNEC Pro/4 work okay
¾ Twin lead folded dipole
¾ Twin lead J-pole
¾ Butternut radials
4nec2
4nec2 http://home.ict.nl/~arivoors/
A free full-featured GUI for NEC-2 and NEC-4
Written and supported by Arie Voors, Netherlands
Runs under Windows 2000 and XP
Includes standard EZNEC models as .nec files
Comes with NEC-2 executables but can use NEC-4 executables
Comes configured for up to 11,000 segments but can be
increased by to any number by recompiling the NEC-2 or NEC-4
source codes
Two versions
¾ 4nec2 – limited to machine memory
¾ 4nec2X – uses virtual memory for bigger problems
Has 3D graphics and two optimizers
¾ Gradient descent optimizer
¾ Genetic optimizer
Permits writing NEC script, thereby giving access to all
NEC-2 and NEC-4 commands
4nec2 Wire-Grid Models of Boeing 747 and Automobile
4nec2 Screen Displays
Main screen Geometry screen
Edit screen
Wire tab
4nec2 3D Pattern of Antenna on 747 – Vert Pol
WIPL-D
Wires, Plates, and Dielectrics
WIPL-D http://www.wipl-d.com/
Originated at University of Belgrade, Serbia (former Yugoslavia)
Handles both 3D antennas and microwave circuits
Method is MoM/SIE, e.g. surface equivalence principle
Fast multipole method (FMM) added to new version 7.0
Capabilities include: lossy conductors, dielectric and magnetic
materials, near and farfield calculations, optimizer
Polynomial basis functions and curved bilinear quadrilateral
surface meshing give high accuracy with small computation
Meshed surfaces appear flat but are really curved
Lacks infinite Sommerfeld-Norton ground, but has work-around
Two limited versions of interest to Radio Amateurs
¾ WIPL-D Demo – Free download from http://www.wipl-d.com/
¾ WIPL-D Lite – More capable version from Artech House,
ISBN 1580539653 ($399). Contact WIPL-D for replacement “bug-free”
.exe file after installation
WIPL-D Models of Single and 4x4 Array of Polyrods
WIPL-D Model of Fighter Plane
FEKO
FEKO http://www.feko.info/
Developed and sold by EM Software & Systems (EMSS), South
Africa
Switches automatically among multiple “engines” like a Toyota
Prius
Main method is MoM/SIE, but has MoM/VIE, FEM, FMM, and
several optics approximations
Capabilities similar to WIPL-D: lossy conductors, dielectric and
magnetic materials, near and farfield calculations, optimizer
Curved surfaces are approximated by many flat triangles
Triangle surface meshing and low-order basis functions give
heavy computation burden, hence the need for multiple engines
Has infinite Sommerfeld-Norton ground
Limited LITE version of interest to Radio Amateurs
¾ FEKO LITE – Free download from http://www.feko.info/sales
FEKO Model of Global Hawk (RQ-4A)
FEKO Pattern of Horn Antenna in Wing Pod
Advanced Applications
Terrain Analysis by MoM

Meshing Silicon Valley
A Rigorous Alternative to Ray Tracing
Earth Terrain Looking Down Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road
Surface meshed terrain of Saratoga

Color indicates computed earth currents
Zoom to see current direction arrows
Computer Used For Antenna Design and
Electromagnetic Systems Analysis
Description 6 Xi NetRAIDer network servers
Processors 12 AMD Opteron 64-bit
Memory 96 Gbytes
Disk storage 12 Tbytes
Compute speed > 53 GFLOPs/sec
Required Computation
60
K triangle s, R un Tim e , M em ory U s ed

50
40
KiloTriangles
30 Hours
Memory GB
20
10
0
0 2 4 6 8
Frequency (MHz)
Frequency (kHz) Triangles Hours Memory (GB)
1,900 3,928 0.125 0.53
3,750 12,834 1.54 5.48
7,150 38,717 52.1 9.38
Ground Currents
7.15 MHz Antenna Height = 50 m, Polarization = Horizontal
North
South Earth’s
Contribution
3D Antenna Pattern
Frequency = 7.15 MHz
Antenna type = 3 element Yagi
Antenna height = 164 ft (50 m)
Antenna polarization = horizontal
Total field strength V+H shown North
South Courtesy of Keith Snyder, KI6BDR
The Next Step – Modeling the Landscape
Landscaping Details
Models of trees
Details of leaves and branches
Courtesy of WIPL-D
Other Useful Antenna Software
winSMITH 2.0 by Agilent (formerly Eagleware)
¾ ISBN 1884932908
¾ $127 from SciTech Publishing http://www.scitechpublishing.com/
¾ $149 from Amazon.com
¾ For interactive design of ladder networks for impedance matching
¾ Excellent tool for learning to use the Smith chart
¾ Grossly overpriced
MultiNEC by Dan Maguire, AC6LA, http://www.ac6la.com
¾ Excel/Visual Basic program; low cost but currently unavailable
¾ Puts NEC, EZNEC, and 4nec2 on autopilot for making a series of runs
¾ Inexpensive alternative to a real optimizer
¾ Doesn’t work with EZNEC-ARRL
¾ Temporarily unavailable
References
Current distribution in a wire
¾ H.C. Pocklington, “Electrical Oscillations in Wires,” Cambridge Phil. Soc. Proc.,
vol. 9, pp. 324-332, 1897.
¾ Erik Hallen, “Theoretical Investigations into the Transmitting and Receiving
Qualities of Antennae,” Nova Acta Regiae Soc. Sci, Upsaliensis, ser. IV, vol. 11,
no. 4, pp. 1-44, 1938.
¾ K.K. Mei, “On the Integral Equations of Thin Wire Antennas,” IEEE Trans.
Antennas Propagat., vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 374-378, May 1965.
Bubnov and Galerkin methods
¾ I.G. Bubnov, Stroitel’naia Mekhanika Korablia (Structural Mechanics of
Shipbuilding), Tech. Rept., 1914.
¾ B.G. Galerkin, “Series Solution of Some Problems of Elastic Equilibrium of Rods
and Plates,” Vestnik Inzhenerov i Tekhnikov, vol. 19, pp. 897-908, 1915.
(English translation: NTIS Rept. TT-63-18924)
Method of Moments
¾ L.V. Kantorovich and G.P. Akilov, Funktsional’nyj Analiz v Normirovannykh
Prostranstvakh (Functional Analysis in Normed Spaces), 1959. (English
translation: Pergamon, 1964)
¾ R.F. Harrington, “Matrix Methods for Field Problems,” Proc. IEEE, vol. 55, no. 2,
pp. 136-149, Feb. 1967.
¾ R.F. Harrington, Field Computation by Moment Methods, Macmillan, 1968.
References 2
Key papers in antenna modeling theory
¾ J.H. Richmond, “Digital Computer Solutions of the Rigorous Equations for
Scattering Problems,” Proc. IEEE, vol. 53, no. 8, pp. 796-804, Aug. 1965.
¾ G.A. Thiele, “Calculation of the Current Distribution on a Thin Linear Antenna,”
IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 648-649, Sept. 1966.
¾ M.G. Andreasen and R.L. Tanner, Investigation of General Wire Antennas, Final
Rept., DTIC AD0819198, TRG Division of CDC, Menlo Park, CA, August 1967.
¾ R.L. Tanner and M.G. Andreasen, “Numerical Solution of Electromagnetic
Problems,” IEEE Spectrum, vol. 4, no. 9, pp. 53-61, Sept. 1967.
¾ A.R. Neureuther, et al., “Comparison of Numerical Methods for Thin Wire
Antennas,” URSI meeting, Fall 1968.
¾ N.N. Wang and J.H. Richmond, and M.C. Gilreath, “Sinusoidal Reaction
Formulation For Radiation and Scattering from Conducting Surfaces,” IEEE
Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 376-382, May 1975.
¾ K.S.H. Lee, L. Marin and J.P. Castillo, “Limitations of Wire-Grid Modeling of a
Closed Surface,” IEEE Trans. Electromag. Compat., vol. 18, no. 3, pp 123-129,
Aug. 1976.
¾ E.H. Newman and P. Tulyathan, A Surface Patch Model for Polygonal Plates,
Tech Rept., DTIC ADA119682, Apr. 1981; also IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat.,
vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 588-593, July 1982.
¾ Moment Methods in Antennas and Scattering, R.C. Hansen (ed.), Artech House,
1990, ISBN 0890064660.
¾ Computational Electromagnetics: Frequency-Domain Method of Moments, E.K.
Miller, L. Medgyesi-Mitschang, and E.H. Newman (eds.), IEEE Press, 1992,
ISBN 0879422769.
¾ M.M. Weiner, Monopole Antennas, CRC, 2003, ISBN 0824704967.
References 3
NEC
¾ G.J. Burke and A.J. Poggio, Numerical Electromagnetics Code (NEC-
2), Part I: Program Description – Theory; Part II: Program Description
– Code; Part III: User’s Guide, Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, Jan. 1981.
¾ J.K. Breakall, G.J. Burke, and E.K. Miller, “The
Numerical/Electromagnetics Code (NEC-3),” EMC Symp., Zurich,
March 5-7, 1985.
¾ G.J. Burke, Numerical Electromagnetics Code – NEC-4; Method of
Moments; Part II: Program Description – Theory, Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, Jan. 1992.
EZNEC
¾ EZNEC User Manual, download current version from
http://www.eznec.com
¾ L.B. Cebik, W4RNL, “A Beginners Guide to Modeling with NEC,” 4-part
article, QST, pp. 34-38, Nov. 2000; pp. 40-44, Dec. 2000; pp. 44-48,
Jan. 2001; and pp. 31-35, Feb. 2001.
¾ L.B. Cebik, W4RNL, ARRL Antenna Modeling Course, ARRL, 2002,
ISBN 0872598721.
¾ ARRL Antenna Book, 21st ed., pp. 4-1 to 4-23, ARRL, 2007, ISBN
0872599876.
References 4
4nec2
¾ http://home.ict.nl/~arivoors/
Zeland IE3D
¾ J-X. Zheng, “A General Purpose 3D Electromagnetic Simulation and
Optimization Package – IE3D,” IEEE MTT-S Int’l Symp., vol.1, pp. 373-
376, May 23-27, 1994.
WIPL-D
¾ B.M. Kolundzija, J.S. Ognjanovic, and T.K. Sakar, WIPL-D Microwave:
Circuit And 3D EM Simulation For RF & Microwave Applications –
Software and User's Manual, Artech House, 2006, ISBN 1580539653.
¾ B.M. Kolundzija and A.R. Djordjevic, Electromagnetic Modeling of
Composite Metallic and Dielectric Structures, Artech House, 2002,
ISBN 0890063605.
FEKO
¾ U. Jakobus, “Review of Advanced Electromagnetic Modeling
Techniques in the Computer Code FEKO based on the Method of
Moments with Hybrid Extensions,” ACES Newsletter, vol. 18, no. 2, July
2003.
¾ D.B. Davidson, Computational Electromagnetics for RF and Microwave
Engineering, Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN 0521838592.
Good Reading
Bruce J. Hunt, The Maxwellians,

Cornell University Press, 1991,
ISBN 0801482348
Favorite Antenna Books
Books for antenna engineers and students
¾ Antenna Engineering Handbook, 4th ed., J.L. Volakis editor,
McGraw-Hill, 2007, ISBN 0071475745. First published in 1961,
Henry Jasik editor.
¾ R.C. Hansen, Electrically Small, Superdirective, and
Superconducting Antennas, Wiley, 2006, ISBN 0471782556.
¾ C.A. Balanis, Antenna Theory, 3rd ed., Wiley, 2005, ISBN
047166782X. First published in 1982 by Harper & Row.
¾ J.D. Kraus and R.J. Marhefka, Antennas, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill,
2001, ISBN 0072321032. First published in 1950.
¾ S.J. Orfanidis, Electromagnetic Waves and Antennas, draft
textbook online at http://www.ece.rutgers.edu/~orfanidi/ewa/
¾ E.A. Laport, Radio Antenna Engineering, McGraw-Hill, 1952.
http://snulbug.mtview.ca.us/books/RadioAntennaEngineering
Antenna research papers
¾ IEEE AP-S Digital Archive, 1952-2000 (2 DVDs), JD0351.
¾ IEEE AP-S Digital Archive, 2001-2003 (1 DVD), JD0301.
¾ IEEE AP-S Digital Archive, 2001-2006 (1 DVD), JD0304.
Favorite Antenna Books continued
Books for radio amateurs
¾ ARRL Antenna Book, 21st ed., Dean Straw (N6BV) editor, American
Radio Relay League, 2007, ISBN 0872599876.
¾ Practical Wire Antennas 2, Ian Poole (G3YWX) editor, Radio
Society of Great Britain, 2005, ISBN 1905086040.
¾ J. Devoldere (ON4UN), ON4UN’s Low-Band Dxing, 4th ed.,
American Radio Relay League, 2005, ISBN 0872599140.
¾ J. Sevick (W2FMI), The Short Vertical Antenna and Ground Radial,
CQ Communications, 2003, ISBN 0943016223.
¾ L. Moxon (G6XN), HF Antennas for All Locations, 2nd ed., Radio
Society of Great Britain, 1983, ISBN 1872309151.
ARRL Antenna Compendium series – Volumes 1 through 7
ARRL Antenna Classics series – six titles
The End
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Antenna Modeling for Radio Amateurs

Steve Stearns, K6OIK

Leonardo Da Vinci Andre-Marie Ampere Michael Faraday

James Clerk Maxwell

Isaac Newton Carl Friedrich Gauss Georg Simon Ohm

George Francis FitzGerald Oliver Heaviside Oliver Joseph Lodge

Heinrich Rudolph Hertz John Henry Poynting

 Hallen’s equation (1938)

I.G. Bubnov Leonid Vitaliyevich Kantorovich Jack H. Richmond

Boris Grigoryevich Galerkin Gleb Pavlovich Akilov Roger F. Harrington

 Assume f can be expanded as a weighted sum of basis functions

Brought the joy of antenna modeling to Amateur Radio

“Model contains loss” warning

(x1, y1, z1) (x2, y2, z2)

Steve Stearns, K6OIK, “All About the

Steve Stearns, K6OIK, “All About the

Marker at 460 MHz

1. Setup a frequency sweep 100 MHz to 1 GHz

Main screen Geometry screen

Wires, Plates, and Dielectrics

Terrain Analysis by MoM

Surface meshed terrain of Saratoga

Description 6 Xi NetRAIDer network servers

Processors 12 AMD Opteron 64-bit

Disk storage 12 Tbytes

Compute speed > 53 GFLOPs/sec

K triangle s, R un Tim e , M em ory U s ed

South Courtesy of Keith Snyder, KI6BDR

Details of leaves and branches

 Bruce J. Hunt, The Maxwellians,

 ARRL Antenna Classics series – six titles

This presentation will be archived at

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Hallen’s equation (1938)

Assume f can be expanded as a weighted sum of basis functions

Bruce J. Hunt, The Maxwellians,

ARRL Antenna Classics series – six titles