RELEASE
NOTES
Changes
for 5.9.3 (May 2021) Changes
for 5.9.2 (Mar 2021) Changes
for 5.9.0 (oct 2020) Changes
for 5.8.17 (jan 2020) Changes
for 5.8.16 (dec 2015) Changes
for 5.8.15 (jan 2015) Changes
for 5.8.14 (mar 2014) Changes
for 5.8.13 (oct 2013) Changes
for 5.8.12 (sep 2013) Changes
for 5.8.11 (6 dec 2012) Changes
for 5.8.10 (2 aug 2012) Changes
for 5.8.9 (23 may 2012) Changes
for 5.8.8 (15 apr 2012) Changes
for 5.8.7 (12 sep 2011) Changes
for 5.8.6 (12 jul 2011) Changes
for 5.8.5 (22 mar 2011) Changes
for 5.8.4 (3 jan 2011) Changes
for 5.8.3 (4 nov 2010) Changes
for 5.8.2 (1 nov 2010) Changes
for 5.8.1 (26 apr 2010) Changes
for 5.8.0 (10 mar 2010) Changes
for 5.7.6 (1 dec 2009) Changes
for 5.7.5 (9 Jul 2009) Changes
for 5.7.4 (16 Oct 2008) Changes
for 5.7.3 (15 August 2008) Changes
for 5.7.2 (15 May 2008) Changes
for 5.7.1 (18 March 2008) Changes
for 5.7.0 (28 January 2008) Changes
for 5.6.10 (15 November 2007) Changes
for 5.6.9 (24 July 2007) Changes
for 5.6.8 (1 May 2007) Changes
for 5.6.7 (20 Mar 2007) Changes
for 5.6.6 (2 Jan 2007) Changes
for 5.6.5 (21 Dec 2006) Changes
for 5.6.4 (25 Sep 2006)
- Since version 5.6.1, Genetic optimizer suddenly stopped or didn't even start: Bug was fixed.
Changes
for 5.6.3 (15 Sep 2006)
- Resizable Main window and some other cosmetic changes.
- Bugfix when using multiple/split excitation sources.
- Bugfix related to frequency selection box on Optimizer form (F12).
- Bugfix related to optimizing Far-field data including surface-wave.
- Some bugfixes related to stub-matching form, however still in beta release
- Few other minor bugfixes.
Changes
for 5.6.2 (8 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.
Changes
for 5.6.1 (3 Mar 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.
- Tolerance in Geometry check for inter-segment connections multiplied by 2.
Changes
for 5.6.0 (14 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 (11 Nov 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 (August 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)
- Major bugfix related to GM card and European regional settings.
- Import/conversion of EZnec type input-files and EZnec style 'MiniNec' ground 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.
- Bugfix when selecting more than 32 var's to optimize.
Changes
for 5.5.1 (April 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
on 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 (mar 03)
- 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
- 'LC-trap' loading-type (LD 6) added.
- Auto-conversion of GN, LD cards for Average-Gain-Test
Changes
version 5.0-5.2 (Dec 01)
- 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 length 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
- Bug introduced with 5.9.0 (when calculating normalized gain) fixed.
- Bugfix related to regional settings on power level values.
- Very basic support added for visualizing Nec5 based output files.
- Note: EX, LD, etc cards at end of segments are not correctly displayed
- Due to the fact that Nec5 does not list segmentation data anymore,
visualization of geometry structure might be errorneous.
Especially when none GW cards are used for this.
- If you have such an output file, let me know. I'll see what i can do.
- (I do not own a Nec5 license, so i can't create/check Nec5 data myself).
- Fixed file problems when using both a freq-sweep file and autosegmentation.
- Changed website URL's for beginners guides modelling with Nec
- Added comments for unavailable websites.
- Fixed a problem in 4nec2.ini concerning EX6/GN3 preprocessing.
- Fix concerning decimal points in frequency sweep entry boxes.
- Changed ground conductivity preset data in ..\4nec2\data\grounds.txt
- Added Italian and Czech getting started guides.
- Allow frequencies 'from file' when generating far-field data.
- Second bugfix on the same below 3D issue.
- Bugfix in 3D viewer which under specific circumstances did not show a wire/element.
- Bugfix when using between 10000 and 32000 segments with Nec4.2
- Bugfix for X coordinate when parsing Nec4 based output data.
- Bugfix in Main (F2> data when using Nec4.2 engine.
- Increased overall max number of near-field points to 2 millions.
- Settting added to disable automatic EX6 and GN3 conversion when using Nec4.2 engine
- Increased max number of SY(mbols) from 999 to 5000
- Some minor issues when adding/removing additional plost in Ghnuplot.
- Moved website to www.qsl.net/4nec2
- Overflow bugfix when comparing two or more 1 degree or smaller resolution far field patterns.
- Bugfix in Gnuplot plot request for 3D far-field data using 1 degree or lower resolution.
- Bugfix when calculating and displaying near-field data using Nec4 engine.
- Axis reversal problem solved when importing 3D textual measurement data.
- Better/faster integration with command line based Nec4 eingines (Nec4CL*.exe files).
- Bugfix for Nec4 based GN 2 somnec filename specification.
- Bugfix when showing both horizontal- and vertical-pattern together with running a freq-sweep.
- Bugfix in creating FFtab far-field data for import into Tant.exe software.
- Bugfix when using multipe GM commands with both rotate and move params.
- Bugfix which allows using the 'to tag' GM command parameter for Nec4.
- Fixed title clipping for Print function of line charts on W7.
- EZnec style FFtab option added for interfacing with TANT software.
- Some minor bugfixes and modifications.
- Bugfix for Nec2 KH command.
- Compare/Add-pattern now also available for frequency/test-sweep data.
- GnuPlot plotting for multi-model (Compare mode) far-field data added.
- Import of Tab/space delimited multi-frequency far-field measurent data (*.txt file) added.
- Buggy import and export for 2D/3D OpenPF data (*.pf files) fixed somewhat (I hope).
- Some styling and resizing issues related to Windows-7 and 64 bit systems.
- Little more line-plot capabilities for the near-field data.
- Preserve geometry-view settings when editing or recalculate model file.
- More control for lin/log, shift and zoom functions on line-chart window.
- Double vertical- and horizontal plane far-field display now possible.
- Split V/I sources now treated as a single excitation source on line-chart.
- Automatic setting of EK card/command in Geometry-edit removed.
- Small hor/ver resolution size [< 0.1 degree] made possible.
- Added description about Total Near Field calculation.
- Improved calculation for the Total E or H field when requesting Near field data.
- Bugfix for not displaying Network losses when using Nec4 engine.
- Bugfix for displaying correct forward angle in Gain chart when using Nec4 engine.
- Min(a,b) and Max(a,b) fuctions added for SY, GW, LD, EX and other cards.
- Circular gain options listed in combox for optimizer.
- Setting of antenna input power levels below 1Watt made possible.
- Some few cosmetic text formatting issues.
- Bugfix when using SYmbol as scaling parameter in (new) Nec-editor.
- Loads can now be spread over multiple wires having the same tag.
- Whole/partly wire load now in accordance with move/copy/rotate/mirror commands.
- Now possible to visualize surface wave below ground using negative height (Nec4).
- Bug in Geometry editor with GE card using buried wires in Nec4 fixed.
- Separate 3D binary 4nec2.exe obsolete. Default 4nec2.exe now contains 3D viewer.
- Also added all the Nec2 engine files (up to 11K segments) in the default package.
- This because modern download-speeds and video-card capabilities are not an issue anymore.
- Bugfix in current display when specifying multiple strucures using GM card.
- Warning message removed when requesting ground-wave data using 'fast'-ground with radial ground-screen.
- Few example models added.
- Cosmetic changes when requesting/displaying far-field field strength.
- Added some tutorial links to the 4nec2 website.
- Few minor bugfixes.
- Changed behavour at startup, when 4nec2 was installed on none C: drive.
- Bugfix new Nec Editor so empty intermediate fields are not ignored anymore, leading to wrong entrys.
- Removed strange behavour which as default sometimes showed total- and other times vertical far-field.
- Char-impedance (Zo) from integer to decimal value.
- Still some problems with multiple current/voltage sources, another fix.
- Fix for bug(crash) introduced with v5.8.0 when multiple current/voltage sources were used.
- Running a frequency-sweep using a list of predefined frequencies added.
- Possibility added to Watch the change in current-distribution (using the arrow keys) after running a freq-sweep.
- Size of 'rear-segment' (normally +/- 90 degrees) included in user settings.
- Bugfix when creating Point-to-point propagation prediction charts using the REC533 model.
- When switching between RLC and stub matching the initial Z-in is not lost anymore.
- Some minor tooltip text changes.
- Fallback to original file after comparing/reading multiple far-field patterns.
- Fixed again a bug which was introduced 13-nov-09 concerning trap (LD6) modelling.
- Second bugfix in optimizer to let us again optimize for none integer frequencies.
- Bugfix in optimizer because in rare cases it did not optimize using the specified frequencies.
- Added setting to enable 'fixed dB scaling' for the far-field pattern (F4) in Settings-menu.
- Bugfix in display of current-source data which was accidentally introduced in the previous release.
- Upgrade from windows-help to Html-help to also enable F1 help on Windows-Vista systems.
- Bugfix when using (very) small structures at freqyencies bewow 100 khz.
- Bugfix when using % in the segment-number when adding/specifying sources, loads or transmission lines.
- Bugfix on the display of the imaginary part for current-sources in Geometry edit.
- Bugfix lattitude/longitude calculation when using propagation prediction.
- Added warning message when using both geometry scaling and mm/cm/in/ft suffixes.
- Bugfix in variable sweeper when having specified a freq-sweep in the Nec input-file.
- Bugfix in optimizer when using 'fast-ground'together with radial groundscreen.
- Bugfix for duplicate NT lines in 'new Nec editor' when only empty lines were entered.
- Problem fixed when starting Notepad/Wordpad programs on case-sensitieve Windows-95 systems.
- Bugfix when updating surface-patch continuation data (SC card) from withing new Nec-editor.
- Bugfix for accidentally introduced bug (to fix below TL-tag problem) in RLC-matching window (F10).
- Bugfix for percentual TL tag/segment number positioning.
- Few other minor fixes.
- NEC-edit: scattering for complex equations over multiple cells fixed.
- Near-field pattern: display for single dimension fields made possible.
- Added test on max planes of symmetry for GR card.
- NEC-edit: Header names changed when using wire-tapering.
- Line-chart: minor X-axis formatting issues.
- Default far-field plot upwards (north) again instead of downwards.
- Nec-editor LD5 bug introduced on 22-sep-08 version, fixed again.
- Major bugfix for crash on 64-bit Vista/XP-systems running over 4Gb of memory.
- Bugfix for Geometry-Check on overlapping wires which crept in during version 5.7.1.
- Solar data (to be used by VOAcap) for the years 2008-2016 added again.
- Bugfix for problems with RLC- and stub-matching networks introduced with 5.7.3.
- Bugfix when comparing far-field patterns for which resolution does not match
- None interactive command-line support added ("4nec2.exe file.nec -I")
- Accidentally re-introduced regional-settings bug (decimal separator) fixed again.
- Rounding problems for RLC matching (circuits) solved.
- Decimal separator problem in freq-entry on Generate (F7) fixed.
- Bugfix when generating radial-wire screen without perimeter wire in 'Geometry-edit'.
- Bugfix (crash) on adding new trans-line after having removed the last TL in 'Geometry-edit'.
- Bugfix in Genetic Evolver when specifying a number of zero chromo's to re-use.
- Bugfix for problem introduced with 5.7.1. concerning extra 990* wires added after each Geometry-edit session using current-sources.
- Increased text-box widths and number of decimals for radius entries.
- Increased fixed number of decimals in Q(uality) text boxes Pi/L/Tee-matching.
- Increased number of decimals in Touchstone export.
- Bugfix to overcome crash in new Nec-editor when using Ctrl-C or Ctrl-X
- Modification to reduce excessive error logging when SYmbols are not (yet) defined.
- Bugfix when using Mininec Ground [GN 3]
- OpenPF plot-file import and export.
- Percentile positioning of sources, loads and transmission-lines on a wire.
- Optional distance entry for E-field calculations in the far-field.
- Bugfix for Inch-Meter conversion in new Nec-editor
- Added a forum to the 4nec2 homepage.
- Some debug tooling slipped throug,placing a file named 'controls.txt' on the desktop.
- Managed to mess-up cutting/pasting of cells/rows in the old style Nec-editor.
- Comparison of circular polarized far-field patterns included/fixed.
- User specific RP card data is preserved in Geometry- and old-style Nec-editor.
- Default 3D far-field calculations now also lists radiation-efficiency and RDF value.
- Radiation efficiency included in Optimizer.
- Bugfix for user-specified RP cards when both AGT and full 3D pattern were requested.
- Bugfix when comparing two or more far-field output data files.
- Bugfix for 3D color-display on axial-ratio, phase and tilt.
- Bugfix concerning copy/cut/paste of multiple rows from/to clipboard in new Nec-editor.
- Major bugfix on TL/LD/EX placement on GM/GR/GX card created wires when autosegmentation is enabled.
- Bugfix in new Nec-Editor which showed old/previous geometry data after a file was correctly saved.
- Bugfix on Y12 and Y22 parameters in NT card when using Auto-segmentation.
- A rather annoying (re-introduced) bug related to using MiniNec ground was fixed.
- Increased time-out value for ItsHF area-coverage map plotting on slow(er) systems.
- Additional informational messages for ItsHF are/time/distance propagation prediction plots.
- Bugfix in LD7 (insulated wires) conversion in very special circumstances.
- Bugfix (crash, type conversion error) in Geometry-editor when running on Windows-XP.
- Bugfix in tag-number conversion when plane-wave voltage-source is used together with auto-segmentation.
- Two major bugfixes for traditional- and genetic-optimizer.
- These bugs were accidentally introduced in the 5.6.5. version dated 21-dec-2006.
- Bugfix when using odd population sizes in genetic-optimiser
- Bugfix for 'open' and 'short' transmission-line ends in new NEC-editor. (21-dec)
- Severe error solved in optimiser. This error resulted in loss of SYmbols when updating
the original nec-file with the optimised SYmbols. (20-dec)
- Program crash solved when multiple manual restarts of genetic evolver window were performed. (20 dec)
- Frequency specification bugfix when performing an Area Coverage variable Sweep (11-dec)
- Devide-by-zero bug removed from circular-polarization calculations (23-nov)
- Official Nec2 bugfix (related to the use of surface-patches) in Nec2dXS*.exe engine
files as proposed by J.Burke of LLNL (9-nov)
- Touchstone import addded on Smith-chart (7-nov)
- Initial freq-sweep setting changed so by default F/B data is generated.
- TabCtl.ocx was missing, added to Installer. (3-nov)
- Spreadsheet style NEC-editor added.
- Cosmetic changes Smith-chart; Touchstone exports (Z11, S11) added.
- Predefined ground-, wire- and coax-data added in text-files so user can extend it.