Antenna Modeling and Analysis Programs
Find software tools and calculators for designing, simulating, and optimizing various antenna types for amateur radio use.
Designing and optimizing antennas is a core activity for many ham radio operators, whether for DXing, contesting, or local QSOs. Understanding antenna performance on different bands and frequencies is crucial for maximizing station efficiency and making reliable contacts. This often involves careful modeling and analysis before any physical construction begins.
Operators rely on various tools for antenna analysis, from simple calculators for common designs like dipoles and Yagis to advanced electromagnetic simulation software. Programs like MMANA-GAL and cocoaNEC allow hams to model complex arrays and predict their radiation patterns and impedance. There are also specialized utilities for transmission line analysis, Smith chart plotting with linSmith, and even specific calculators for magnetic loops or log-periodic antennas, helping operators fine-tune their antenna projects.
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4nec2 is a completely free Nec2, Nec4 and windows based tool for creating, viewing, optimizing and checking 2D and 3D style antenna geometry structures and generate, display and/or compare near/far-field radiation patterns for both the starting and experienced antenna modeler. Can be interfaced to HFwin32 propagation prediction software. -
Excel spreasheet that calculate virtually every transmission line parameter that one may need. Include Length conversions, Reactance and Length of Stubs -
MoxGen will show you the dimensions and generate an antenna model file for a 50 ohm Moxon Rectangle antenna, given the design frequency and wire size -
AEA Wireless Director Software Series turns PC's (running Windows 95/98/2000/ME or NT) into powerful tools that expand the use and power of SWR, Return Loss and Complex Impedance Analyzers. -
Log periodic antenna design excel sheet file download, in italian. -
provides much greater flexibility in the construction, analysis, and interpretation of radiating structures using a rewritten NEC module. -
Antenna Scatterers Analysis Program, is a Free general purpose antenna analysis software program for numerical electromagnetic antenna design, modeling and analysis. Source code and windows executables are available to download. -
A circular waveguide calculator for designing cantennas include source code and windows executable by lincomatic -
This small window application will calculate Coax Cable loss from SWR and SWR from Cable Loss -
An efficient program to calculate dimensions of coax dipoles, or bazooka antennas considering velocity length of different coax cables. Express dimensions in feet/inch and meters/cm. Freeware by VE3SQB -
cocoaNEC 2.0 is an opensource Mac OS X application intended primarily for the design and modeling of antennas by Kok Chen, W7AY -
An on-line javascript calculator and quite a few pictures to show how to make a helix antenna. -
Discone antenna deisgn program by K5DKZ -
This is an Excel spreadsheet template to design DL6WU Yagi antennas -
Calculate eh antenna components dimension with this online form -
MININEC for Windows 14 is antenna modeling tool for the novice, student and hobbyist. Download the mininec setup files. -
ERP Calculator is an Amateur Radio software utility designed to perform a side-by-side comparison of two Ham Radio antenna systems. ERP Calculator comes pre-programmed with data files including published data for several popular brands and types of coax cable as well as several popular antenna system brands and models. ERP Calculator displays values of ERP, Antenna Power Gain, Antenna Feed point Power, Antenna System Gain in dB, Antenna Gain in dBd, SWR Attenuation in dB, SWR Power Attenuation, Coax Loss in dB, and Coax Power Loss -
Calculate online, ERP in dB and dBi given PWR Frequency Coax lenght and type and antenna type -
EZNEC is an antenna modelling software based on NEC-2 for the amateur and professional. Run on MS windows platforms. Version PRO/2 V.6 and v.7 is free to use and donwload, while version PRO/4 requires a licence. -
HamCalc is a free collection of calculators for radio amateurs include Antenna ERP calculations, Attenuators, Audio Filter design, Coil Winding, Decibels, Great Circles map and calculator, HF Filters, HF Traps, Metric conversions OP Amps QRA Locator to Latitude/Longitude, Radio Horizon calculator, Resonance Satellite orbit calculator Timer calculations (555 timer)Zener Diode calculations Download zip By G4VWL -
Helix antenna calculator, to design and make helix antenna plans -
A javascipt online calculator for 2 and 3 element beam antennas. Just input frequency and will diplay element dimensions and spacing. Measurements in Feet and Meters by G4VWL -
Enter the operating frequency and calculate dimensions of your jpole antenna -
It consists of a group of JavaScript driven web pages that are intended for use as a quick reference for Ham Radio operators or just anyone interested in electronics. Offer calculators for Resistors, capacitors, inductors, power supplies, filters, attenuators and antennas -
A Smith charting program. You can enter either discrete components or transmission lines, see the results on screen and/or generate Postscript output. Component values can be changed numerically or using scrollbars. -
Free windows program to calculate magnetic loop antenna.This small loop antenna calculator allow to determine capacitance and voltage based on Loop circumference, desired resonant frequency, conductor diameter and the operating power -
Windows Magnetic Loop antenna design software by DG0KW in Detusch -
A magnetic loop antenna calculator made with an excel sheet that run also with open office, let you design mag loop antenna dimensions by AA5TB -
SWR Graphing Software for Amateur Radio by KD4UDY, shareware -
MM Antenna Analyzer by JE3HHT Makoto Mori based on the moment method, which was introduced in MININEC. Download MMANA Free from this page that offer download of basic version and link to the MMANA pro version. -
NanoVNA based on edy555, use the odd harmonic extension of si5351 to support the measurement frequency up to 900MHz. GitHub repository. -
The utility "NEC-2 for MMANA" is intended for calculation of antenna models made and optimized in program MMANA and for construction and simulation of antenna models using input language NEC-2 and based on MMANA models. -
Antenna Analysis software with the user in mind. -
Powerful antenna modeling tool using NEC 2 computing engine. Nec2 specifically provide users, either those experienced with the Nec2 processes, or for those who are neophytes but want to model their own antennas. Nec2Go uses a simplified process for defining the antenna structure and then providing view of the structure, plots (2D and 3D) and other significant data that is pertinent to the design. This simplified process uses an edit file with equations for all definitions. -
NEC4WIN is a 32 bits commercial antenna simulation software based on MININEC3 developed by the Naval Ocean Systems Center in the 70s and 80s. It runs under Windows and can be used to simulate, analyze and optimize wire antennas, beams, verticals, etc. NEC4WIN has limitations. They are the same as Mininec3 on which the engine is based. -
The Windows program for designing and analyzing PI and PI-L networks by Tonne Software -
Freeware antenna software that lets you see what the polar diagram of your rotatable beam actually looks like where it is operating. With PolarPlot you can measure the polar diagram of the antenna and check for abnormalities - compare plots taken before and after changes to the design or location - check the -3dB beamwidth - look at the front to back ratio - see the size and position of the sidelobes. -
Freeware antenna analyzer for linux -
Cubical quad antenna calculator in java script let you calculate elements size and spacing in inch and meters. -
Quagi antenna design, this little windows application let you calculate dimensions of elements and spacing of a quagi antenna. Freeware by VE3SQB -
S Meter Lite is a no-cost program that displays your receiver's S Meter signal strength in a window by W8WWV -
The Smith Chart program with its extensive Help files. Written in Visual C++ ver 1.5, it runs in Windows 3.1 and later by w9dmk -
Match & display imped of antennas, can graphically visualize and compare two sets of measured impedances simultaneously. -
SimSmith is a highly interactive, real time Smith chart graphing program. Circuits are constructed using drag-n-drop. Load files can be imported from the EZNEC and CocoaNEC antenna simulation software and from the AIM4170 and miniVNApro antenna analyzers. Circuits and load files can be of any size. Key Features: SimSmith is one of the few Smith chart packages which models transmission line losses. SimSmith also allows the description of circuit elements using algebraic equations. SimSmith has only one screen and allows the screen to be resized to increase workspace or readability. -
Computes the Standing Wave Ratio, given the power readings on a line. -
Transmission Line Details. This utility program shows the impedance and SWR at both ends of a transmission line and the details of power loss in the line. It includes characteristics for over 40 built-in line types. You can modify these values to see how small changes affect the results or to specify custom lines. All program inputs may be changed directly or you can use spin buttons to make the changes. If you are using a moderately fast computer you can hold down a spinner and "watch the movie" on the charts as the results are recomputed. By AC6LA -
Transmission Line equations for Windows. Written in Visual C++. This program provides the most comprehensive analysis of a transmission line by w9dmk -
Windows program for analyzing vertical antennas. This program shows the resistance and reactance to be expected looking into a cylindrical metallic tower over a perfect ground. It gives a useful approximation of the values to be expected in a real-world situation. -
Programs for common antennas and some experimental, includes, dipoles, quad, Yagi, verticals, discone, jpole skyhoppers and parabolic antennas -
The Coax trap program computes design parameters for the construction of coaxial traps for HF usage. Typically these are constructed from PVC tube and RG58/59 coax -
Design your VHF UHF Yagi antenna online, a JavaScript enhanced web page that implements the design of an antenna for 2m and 70cm bands. This page offers a streamlined experience for Yagi antenna design enthusiasts. It assumes prior knowledge of Yagi design principles, minimizing distractions with a user-friendly interface. Equipped with essential equations, it provides instant design feedback. Red font warnings indicate design limitations, ensuring practical results. Constraints include Gain (11.8-21.6 dBd) and Boom Length (2.2-39 wavelengths), with additional frequency-dependent restrictions noted in input fields. -
Complex CAD and Optimization Software for Waveguide, Coax, Combline and Antenna components design and antenna modelling -
Yagi Calculator is a free Windows program that also runs well on Linux, Ubuntu 8.10 under Wine, to produce dimensions for a DL6WU style long Yagi antenna. Long yagis are commonly used from the 144MHz amateur band to the 2.4GHz band. -
Program that produces antenna radiation patterns and graphs for SWR, forward gain, and F/B ratios -
YO Yagi Optimizer by K6STI is an old MSDOS based antenna modelling software that has been very popular among ham radio community. YO.exe is still today used to optimize Yagi Antennas. -
Yagi-logper is a linux GPL program to model a Yagi or Log-periodic antennas with horizontal cylindrical dipoles. -
A freeware dos antenna design program, dedicated to yagi antenna design by K4VX -
AN-SOF is a professional comprehensive software tool for the modeling and simulation of antenna systems. AS-SOF allows to describe antenna geometry, Choose construction materials, Describe the environment and ground conditions, Describe the antenna height above ground, Analize radiation pattern and front-to-back ratio, Plot directivity and gain, Analize input impedance and VSWR,Predict antenna bandwidth -
The program consists of tabbed pages for various antenna and transmission line calculation. You can compute the values for an inverted L network that will allow you to match the 50 ohm output of the radio, or you can compute the necessary length in the units of choice for a 5/8 wave vertical for 10 meter band. -
Compare the efficiency of two HF (or VHF) antennas by simultaneously transmitting FT8 on nearly the same frequency and analyzing PSKReporter SNR data. Determine the effectiveness of your new antenna compared to the old one in dB, to several decimal places. Run FT8 on two transmitters with different call signs and equal power, connected to each antenna. AntennaCompare analyzes global signal reports, isolating antenna performance. -
Automated use of EZNEC. AutoEZ is an Excel application that works in conjunction with the EZNEC antenna modeling programs and allows you to use variables to control diverse aspects of the model. You can then run multiple EZNEC test cases while AutoEZ automatically changes one or more variables between runs. Commercial version and free demo available for download. -
AutoEZ, Automated use of EZNEC, is an Excel workbook that works alongside EZNEC antenna modeling software version 5.0 or later. With AutoEZ, you can control different aspects of your model using variables and run multiple EZNEC test cases automatically. Formulas in Excel allow you to modify any part of the model. AutoEZ's interface resembles EZNEC's. Enabling macros in Excel might be necessary before using AutoEZ. The program opens various model file formats including EZNEC (.ez), NEC (.nec or .inp), AO and NEC/Wires (.ant), and MMANA-GAL (.maa). You can set the frequency and/or variable values for the test cases to be run through EZNEC. AutoEZ allows you to create animations showcasing how the pattern changes as the model configuration is modified. You can download a fully working, but limited demo copy from this site. -
This EXCEL Program Worksheet calculates the common-mode impedance of a 1:1 Guanella (current) balun which is placed at the feed point of a balanced antenna system fed via coax. -
The calculator designs the Yagi-Uda antenna based on the DL6WU model with boom correction, following the G3SEK-DL6WU method. It optimizes the antenna for maximum gain and allows adjustment of passive elements without affecting SWR. DL6WU antennas are known for their high gain, minimal sensitivity to nearby objects, and stable performance in various weather conditions. -
GAL-ANA is an Antenna-Analyzing Tool software, based on NEC2/MININEC3m engines currently available in demo mode for download -
Software for analysis of guyed and self-supporting towers & poles -
ICNIRPcalc allows you to calculate safety distances for many know amateur radio antennas with respect to ICNIRP limits by DL9KCE -
The interactive Smith chart enables users to navigate their way around a Smith chart, using simple discrete element impedance matching. This page allows users to try using the Smith chart, for education and interest purposes, without installing any software. Try changing the value in the load box to see the location of the impedance on the chart. -
This simple antenna modelling windows software by F5IMV wil calculate a dipole,extended double Zepp,G5RV, ZS6BKW and many other wire antennas by F5IMV -
This software connects to a NanoVNA and extracts the data for display on a computer, and for saving to Touchstone files. -
Developed for beginners, hobbyists, and field engineers. Includes polar plots, rectangular plots for input impedance and VSWR, tabular data, NEC-Win Synth Light and Necvu 3D. Includes NEC2. The program also offers stepped-diameter corrections, Gain Averaging Test, CAD (.DXF) file input, 2-D and 3-D plots and antenna views, and graphical outputs. Run on older Windows version and is out of support. -
A MacOSX antenna design and electronics/electrical tool package. It is a multipourpose application that allow antenna design and comomn calculations -
A windows program that scans the SARK-100 and plot the SWR Vs frequency. The data can also be stored as an Excel file. The min and max match frequency is calculated. Donationware -
A free Labview antenna calculator program. This interesting calculator for small loop antennas can be ran on most recent Windows versions using the Labview runtime. -
Smith is a professional Computer Smith-Chart Tool and S-Parameter Plot for windows, special price for hams and students by Fritz Dellsperger -
This utility program shows the impedance and reflection coefficient parameters (SWR, reflection coefficient magnitude Rho, or Return Loss RL in dB) at both ends of a transmission line and the details of power loss in the line. It includes built-in specifications for approximately 100 different line types. You can modify the specs to see how small changes affect the results or to specify custom lines. All program inputs may be changed directly or you can use spin buttons to make the changes. -
A freeware windows antenna design and modelling software developed by an amateur radio operators primarily intended for VHF yagi aerials. -
YAGio 1.01 is a Windows-based software for designing DL6WU long Yagi antennas on VHF and UHF frequencies. It supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, and likely 8. Using keyboard commands, users input specifications such as frequency, gain, and element diameters, and YAGio generates the design. You can download latest Yagio version from this page. Results can be saved in YIO, NEC, YAG, MMA, and YC6 formats, or printed directly. -
MS Excel document that allows you to plot SWR, resistance, reactance, impedance magnitude and angle and more from a variety of sources -
Zplots is an Excel application that allows you to plot impedance and related data obtained from a variety of sources. You can plot on both an XY chart and a Smith chart as well as view the data in tabular format. The XY chart can be customized with your choice of trace lines. Frequency (in MHz) is always shown on the X axis.