Disclaimer: I’m going to start using Amazon affiliate links for books that I recommend.

I’ve prepared another video about how to use xnec2c.

Here’s the link to the video on blip.tv

This one begins to explain the input file format which is used to describe antennas for modeling. I only noticed one major mistake I made, toward the end, I say “vertical dipole”, when this is actually a model of a quarter-wavelength vertical antenna over a ground plane.

I also briefly touch on the fact that these models shouldn’t be taken as absolutely accurate for any specific installation. The types of modelling used accounts for some types of interactions with the ground, but does not model refraction effects, and has a very limited number of ways you can model the shape of the ground under an antenna.

As I mentioned in the video, the limitations of NEC modeling and the input file format are well described in the Arrl Antenna Book. If you’re interested in antennas, this is probably the best single book to have. The book comes with a bunch of windows software, and the text is in reference to that, but the section on NEC input files is also useful for using Linux modeling applications, including xnec2c.

If you’re using Ubuntu for amateur radio applications, be sure to check out Ubuntu Hams.

Let me know what you think and what you’d like to see next.