_readmefirst.txt

zip contains tool for Antenna Modelling with examples

	l) Due to the DOS based nature of the original nec2 engine, filenames are
	   internally truncated to 8 characters. Normally this should work fine, however
	   if white-spaces are embedded in your file-name the truncation might fail, so
	   don't use white-spaces in your file-names.
	   Furthermore the maximum file-name length for *.gnd files is restricted to 8 
	   characters. When you run a lot of different (high)freq/cond/diel settings, it
	   is occasionally possible you get an "Error on groundfile" message. It this is
	   the case, remove all *.gnd files and try again.

	m) When no *.out output is generated by your Nec-2/4 engine (check the \OUT folder), 
	   please set the "Wait for DOS-box option" in 'Settings->Other settings' on the
	   "Main" form, to see what error message is logged. 
	   Furthermore you could temporary remove the "@echo off" line in the 4nec2.bat 
	   file in the \EXE folder, by adding the characters "rem" before it. This should 
	   deliver even more logging.

	n) If an "out of environment space" error is generated, please re-read item k) or
	   consult the '_Out_of_env_space.txt' file included in the package

	o) If you enjoy this software, you could send me a note and tell me how you did hear
	   about 4nec2. This way I can also inform you when new versions are available.

	p) If you should experience any problems installing and/or running the 4nec2 program,
	   or for suggestions, questions or remarks, please contact me at:     
									     [e-mail]

	   TO AVOID DELETING YOUR MAIL AS SPAM, PLEASE INCLUDE "4NEC2 MODELLER" AS THE
	   SUBJECT !!

*****************************************************************************************

For latest versions, changes and/or bugfixes see the ReleaseNotes on my website:

	http://home.ict.nl/~arivoors/

Changes for 5.6.2 (apr 2006)

- Some 300 extra categorized example files added.
- Under certain conditions, in Geometry Edit all wires were saved as single-segment 
  wires. This bug was fixed.
- Bugfix because both Ri and Xi values were extracted from the same Nec Ri data-value
  when optimizing/sweeping a model containing split voltage/current sources. 
- Bugfix when using variable names longer than 8 chars in Genetic Optimizer.
- Some other minor bugfixes.

Changes for 5.6.1 (feb 2006)

- GEOMETRY ERROR bug when using GS card and running the optimizer removed.
- Auto engine-selection bug solved for > 1500 seg's together with GM, GX and GR card.
- Open last used file at start-up and a recent files-list added.
- Timing problems for multiple area-coverage plots on slow(er) systems solved.
- Problems when inserting new records or creating new files in NEC-edit solved again.

Changes for 5.6.0 (jan 2006)

- Direct plotting of ItsHF (voacap/icepac/rec533) Time-, Distance and Graphical point-to-
  point plots added.
- Direct entry of most important ItsHF parameters and settings on Generate (F7) form.
- Picture-viewer integrated into 4nec2 program for scrolling through multiple ItsHF plots.
- ItsUtil.exe program added for easy modification of ItsHF Contour/Graph-colors and scaling
  and Time/Distance Y-axis scaling.  

Changes for 5.5.4 (sep 2005)

- Bugfix Nec4 when due to segment tapering using a GC card the nr of segments were changed.
- Optimizer bugfix for single step Gain values on 90 degree Theta using perfect-ground.
- BugFix (Field not found) when using both autosegmentation and radius-conversion in optim. 
- Creating structures for over 30000 segments does not crash geometry builder any more
- Number of decimal places increased for wire coordinates in Geometry-edit.

Changes for 5.5.3 (aug 2005)

- Multi-color display for Tilt/Phase, Axial-ratio and Sense on far-field added.
- List-boxes for ground-types and LD materials added for Nec-Edit.
- Optimizer makes no difference anymore between 'SY var = 123.4cm' and 'SY var = 123 cm'
- Bug (crash) when adding wire without frequency specication in Geometry-Edit fixed.
- Bugfix for GC card and MiniNec ground when used with Nec4 engine.
- Bug (crash) when opening second file in Geometry-Edit fixed.
- Wire-radius when converting AO files now correctly calculated.
 
Changes for 5.5.2 (june 2005)

- Import/conversion of EZnec type input-files added.
- EZnec style 'Mininec' ground-type (GN 3) added.
- Selection between multiple V/I sources for line-chart display
- Display of dB value to correct with for Average Gain Test.
- Geometry builder (build.exe) now supports autosegmentation.
- Major bugfix related to GM card and european regional settings.
- Bugfix when selecting more than 32 var's to optimize.

Changes for 5.5.1 (apr 2005)

- Far-field plot, theta angles > 360 degrees are now displayed as minus values.
- Gnuplot 2D/3D display for azim/elavation angles and labeling corrected.
- Some Nec-4 specific height- and radius tests corrected.
- Print function did behave strange sometimes, now should be OK.

Changes for 5.5.0 (jan 2005)

- Now possible to use with both Nec-2 and Nec-4 (Nec4d*.exe)
- Problems resulting from XP service pack 2 discussed in this file.
- Segmentation-bug introduced with previous version 5.4.1 removed again.
- Same for bug related to GM cards in conjunction with surface patches.
- Same for zero segment/wire length bug.

Changes version 5.4.x 

- Extensive geometry checking added
- Batch processing for automatic calculation of multiple (4)Nec2 files.
- Automatic convergence-testing function with line-chart result display.
- User selectable traditional- or Eznec-style current/phase display.
- Screen grabber added for easy cut/paste or print parts of the screen/window/form.
- BugFix related to regional setting when generating gnuplot data-files.
- Automatic generation of L, Pi and T matching-networks (low- and high-pass)
- Plot 2D and 3D graphs/charts using gnuplot freeware package
- Show Circular Polarization components E(left) and E(right) for far-field.

Changes version 5.3.x

- Usage of average/minimum or maximum value when optimizing on freq-sweep.
- Radius/Diameter bug removed for wire-radius combo-box in Geometry-edit.
- Pattern direction bug removed when using multiple Current sources.
- Possibility to specify insulated wires. 
- Bugfix on saving a file without extension
- Help-/GettingStarted files updated.
- 'LC-trap' loading-type (LD 6) added.
- Auto-conversion of GN, LD cards for Average-Gain-Test

Changes version 5.0-5.2

- Drawing style 3D Geometry editor added.
- Display of (arbritrary shape) patches added.
- Additional checking on nec-2 output-file error's.
- Optimization for a range of frequencies now possible.
- Genetic Optimization Algorithms added.
- Real-Time DirectX based 3D-graphics viewer added.
- Overall max for far/near field points, LD, EX, NT/TL cards increased.

Version 4.x

- Switchable Theta/Phi or Azim/Elev display.
- Improved accuracy when using SOMNEC ground with freq-loop 
- Automatic evaluation of SWR, Gain, F/R, etc. trends.
- Current-Sources (EX 6) added.
- Auto-segmentation functionality added.
- Curve smoothing, Lin- or Log-scaling for graphs.
- Front-to-rear data included in optimizer/evaluator
- Support for windows-XP (max [for now] 5000 segments)
- Real-time geometry updating when using the 4nec2 editor
- Additional Power and SWR information for selected wire/segment
- Highlight selected 2D far-field trace in 3D view.
- Optimizer added to optimize geometry-, loading or phase configuration
- Use variables and constants to configure the nec-2 input data.
- Forms lay-out updated and executable changed to 32-bit.
- ItsHF plot-file viewer added.
- Geometry builder added

Version 3.x

- New and comprehensive help added.
- Near field 3D, 2D and 1D (linear graph) patterns added 
- Smith-chart plot added for feed-line lenght determination
- Automatic generation of far/near field, frequency loop and ItsHF files added.

Version 2.x

- Structure validation added
- Reflection coefficient and SWR graphs added
- Display 2D far field patterns for frequency-sweep.
- Menu command structure added.
- Comment possibilities for 4nec2 input-files.
- Auto start 4nec2.exe for *.nec files.

Some of the 4nec2 (1.0) basic functionality:

- Read nec-2 input- and output-files and display geometry structure.
- Rotate, shift, zoom-in and zoom-out geometry structure
- Show, zoom in/out RF-currents/3D-far-field on geometry structure
- Select segment and show segment current amplitude and phase 
- Automatic generation of nec-2 output file and SOMNEC ground files,
- Polar or linear plot for far-field or ground wave radiation pattern.
- Show geometry inside polar plot.
- Load and compare other radiation patterns.
- Show impedance graphs for frequency range.
- Generate type 13 and 14 antenna files for HFWIN32 propagation software

Required files:

	ReadMeFirst.txt		This file.
	GettingStarted.txt	Text/help file for first usage.
	Out_of_env_space.txt	Description how to solve environment space error.

	\exe\4nec2.exe		4nec2 executable.
	\exe\4nec2X.exe		4nec2 DirectX based eXtended executable.
 	\exe\4nec2.ini		Initialization file.
 	\exe\constant.ini 	General constants file.
	\exe\4nec2.hlp		Help file.
	\exe\4nec2.rtf		Printable help-file.
	\exe\4nec2.bat		Batch file to start nec2d executables.
	\exe\4nec2.pif		Shortcut to 4nec2.bat (required for close on exit).

	\exe\default.pov	Default settings for povray file generation.
	\exe\gnd.bmp		Bitmap for 3D ground(plane) display.

	\exe\edit2.dat		Containing data for 4nec2 editor Nec2 engine.
	\exe\edit4.dat		Containing data for 4nec2 editor Nec4 engine.
 	\exe\color0.dat		Containing color data for 3D viewer
 	\exe\smith.dat		Containing display data for smith chart (fine).
 	\exe\smith1.dat		Containing display data for smith chart (course).

	\exe\view.*		ItsHF picture viewer executable-, ini- and help-files
	\exe\build.*		Geometry builder executable-, ini- and help-files
	\exe\itsutil.*		ItsHF color/scaling utility executable-, ini- and help-files
	\exe\xxx.gif		picture files used by build.exe

	\exe\sunspot.txt	Text file containing past and future sunspot numbers
	\ItsHF\colors.con	4nec2 style Area-coverage contour colors
	\ItsHF\colors.gph	4nec2 style Point-to-Point contour colors
	\ItsHF\4nec2a.*		VOACAP/ICEPAC/REC533 area-coverage template file
	\ItsHF\4nec2p.*		VOACAP/ICEPAC/REC533 point-to-point template file
	\ItsHF\IceDist.gph	ICEPAC Fixed Time/Distance Y-axis scaling
	\ItsHF\IcePac.gph	ICEPAC Fixed Graph contour scaling
	\ItsHF\VoaDist.gph	VOACAP fixed scaling files
	\ItsHF\VoaPac.gph	
	\ItsHF\RecDist.gph	REC533 fixed scaling files
	\ItsHF\Rec533.gph

	\exe\F77L3.eer		Used by nec2d.exe for error reporting
	\exe\nec2d.exe		Nec-2 calculation core for 256 segments
	\exe\somnec2d.exe	Nec2d extension for generating somnec ground files
	\exe\nec2d***.exe	Nec2d extensions for other number of segments
	\exe\nec2dXS***.exe	Nec-2 extended (somnec)calculation cores, see above

	C:\Windows\System\msvbvm60.dll		Visual basic run-time library
	C:\Windows\System\msflxgrd.ocx		Microsoft flexgrid control (optimizer)

	\exe\cop_run.bat	Batch file for copying required run-time files.

In/output files:

	*.nec			Main 4nec2 input file.
	build.nec		Input nec2-file created by geometry builder
	autoseg.log		Log file created with auto segmentation
	optimizer.log		Log file created when optimizer is running
	\out\*.inp		Pre-processed *.nec file used by nec2d.exe
	\out\*.out		Nec-2 output files generated by nec2d.exe
	\out\*.gnd		Saved Somnec2d ground file used as input by nec2d.
	\pov\*.pov		Generated povray input files.
	\exe\nec2.tmp		Input file for nec2dxxx.exe
	\exe\som2d.tmp		Input file for somnec2d.exe
	\out\som2d.nec		Last generated somnec2d output grond file