Moment Method thin-wire programs

Best for narrowband analysis of the fields of structures that are of moderate electrical size and are made of metal wires, rods, or tubes that have simple, smooth geometries, and for which currents are purely axial and proximity effect plays no role:

• ANSim, from Phoenix Antenna Systems in Perth, Ontario, Canada, uses the multi-radius bridge current (MBC) method of M.A. Tilston. Considered to be more accurate than NEC-2 and NEC-4, less accurate than AN-SOF or NEC-5. A command line program with a basic developmental GUI, lacks Sommerfeld ground, [free demo version download]
• AN-SOF, by Tony Golden. The most accurate and capable of thin-wire programs. Includes user interface similar to that of 4nec2 or EZNEC but lacks Sommerfeld ground and capability to sweep or optimize variables. Scripting is supported, [$350 to $500 depending on grade of support]
• NEC-5, developed by G.J. (Jerry) Burke at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the final and most accurate of the NEC programs and similar in accuracy to AN-SOF. The recommended EZNEC and AutoEZ user interfaces are separate additions, [$110 individual license]
• EZNEC Pro+ v7.0, by Roy Lewallen, W7EL, a user interface program that runs NEC-2, and NEC-4 and NEC-5 if you have them, [free download]
• AutoEZ, by Dan Maguire, AC6LA. A user interface program that runs EZNEC and adds capability for sweeping variables and optimization, [$79 or free demo version]
• 4nec2, by Arie Voors. A free user interface program that runs NEC-2 and NEC-4. Includes NEC-2. Can sweep variable and has optimizers, [free download]
• AWAS 2.0, by A. R. Dordjević, et al., based on work of B.D. Popović. Built into HOBBIES and WIPL-D. Fewer wire/segmentation rules and restrictions than NEC-2 and NEC-4. Has a basic user interface and an accurate Sommerfeld ground model but no parameter sweeps or optimizer, [free download, instructions available from K6OIK]
• MMANA-GAL Pro, pro version of MMANA-GAL, handles up to 10,000 wires and 45,000 segments, uses MiniNEC engine, [free download of basic version, or $38 for Pro version student license]
• MiniNEC Pro, by Chris Smolinski, N3JLY, based on original MiniNEC by John Rockway and James Logan, N6BRF, an antenna analysis program for Windows and Macintosh, different from NEC, [$29 from Black Cat Systems]
• Unofficial NEC Archives, Miscellaneous free NEC-type programs and resources, [free downloads]
• Cebik Archive 1, ON5AU archive of L.B. Cebik, W4RNL’s, articles on antennas and antenna modeling, [free downloads]
• Cebik Archive 2, RK3ZK archive of L.B. Cebik, W4RNL’s, articles on antennas and antenna modeling, [free downloads]
• Antentop, e-magazine archive of articles on antennas, edited and maintained by by Igor Grigorov, RK3ZK, [free downloads]

Yagi-Uda tutorial and programs

• Yagi-Uda Antennas, Kent Britain WA5VJB’s tutorial on Yagi-Uda antennas. Kent addresses questions about element attachment, matching, multi-banding, stacking, modeling, and determining boom corrections, with photos of many example antennas.
• YW (Yagi for Windows), by Dean Straw, N6BV, included with the ARRL Antenna Book Software.
• YO (Yagi Optimizer), by Brian Beezley, K6STI, a MiniNEC based Yagi antenna design program.

Moment Method surface programs

Best for narrowband analysis of the fields in structures that are of moderate electrical size and are made of discrete regions (domains) in which media properties are fixed (homogeneous):

• FEKO, a professional antenna modeling program, full functionality, [free trial]
• FEKO Student Edition, part of HyperWorks Student Edition, [free download]
• WIPL-D (Wires, Plates, and Dielectrics), full functionality [free trial]
• HOBBIES (Higher Order Basis Based Integral Equation Solver) is currently unavailable. HOBBIES Academic version came with the purchase of the instruction manual: Higher Order Basis Based Integral Equation Solver (HOBBIES), Wiley, 2012, ISBN 1118140656. HOBBIES, released in 2010, ceased in 2022 after the death of Prof. T.K. Sarkar. There is effort to make the program available again. HOBBIES and WIPL-D use the thin-wire method in AWAS. The surface code in HOBBIES and WIPL-D uses quadrilateral meshing and higher order polynomial basis functions for numerical efficiency and speed, [currently unavailable]

Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) programs

Best for wideband and transient analysis of the fields of structures that are electrically small and have complicated geometries and media properties including time-varying and nonlinear materials:

• GprMax, a command line program scriptable in Python [free download]
• Meep, scriptable in Python, Scheme or C++, [free download]
• openEMS, uses Matlab or Octave, [free download]

Finite Element Method (FEM) programs

Best for narrowband analysis of the fields of structures that are electrically small and have highly detailed geometries and complicated media properties:

• Ansys Electronics Desktop - Student, a suite of professional programs for electromagnetics, circuit, and multiphysics analysis and design, includes HFSS, 9 GB zip file download, 20 GB RAM required to operate [free 1-year student license]

HF Prediction based on statistical MUF estimation

• Ham CAP and DX Atlas, by Alex Shovkoplyas, VE3NEA. Suite of HF propagation prediction programs. Ham CAP and DX Atlas have COM/OLE automation interfaces that other programs can use to start Ham CAP, set prediction parameters, and run predictions, or display data on DX Atlas maps, [free downloads]
• ITURHFProp, software from ITU, [free download]
• Proppy (alternate RSGB Radcom link, by James Watson, HZ1JW, online propagation calculations and maps based on ITURHFprop, [free online calculator]
• VOACAP, NTIA-ITS, US government, [free download]
• VOAProp, by Julian Moss, G4ILO, [free download]
• W6ELProp, by Sheldon C. Shallon, W6EL. DOS based program with user interface last updated in 2002 to run under Windows 2000, [free download]

HF Prediction based on ray tracing IRI model ionosphere

• Proplab-Pro 3.2, by Solar Terrestrial Dispatch. 2D and 3D ray tracing program that uses the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model. More accurate than statistical MUF estimation programs like VOACAP. 3D ray tracing is accurate but slow, [$240]

VHF/UHF/Microwave propagation prediction

• Terrain Analysis Package (TAP), by Softwright. Free 7-day trial. Student licenses available.
• Propagation Software, by Mike Willis G0MJW for point to point microwave links considers several but not all path loss mechanisms: free-space loss, atmospheric attenuation, refraction, ducting, and troposcatter. Irregular terrain, viz. blockage by hills and mountains or knife edge diffraction, are not handled by physical modeling or calculation. This program supplements but does not replace Radio Mobile or SPLAT! for the calculation of repeater, cellular base station, and TV/FM broadcast service contours given irregular terrain.
• Radio Mobile, by Roger Coudé, VE2DBE, (alternate link) an implementation of the Longley-Rice model for propagation over irregular terrain. Supports point-to-point link analysis and area coverage analysis, great for determining service contours, [free download]
• Radio Mobile Online, uses STRM topographic data stored on a cloud server, requires no complicated installation by user, [free analysis via web portal]
• SPLAT! (Signal Propagation Loss and Terrain Analysis Tool), an implementation of the Longley-Rice model for propagation over irregular terrain. Great for repeater coverage analysis, [free download]
• SPLAT! Resources, by Doug Lung, information and links.
• The ITM Museum history of the 1968 Longley-Rice propagation model for irregular terrain; the story of the science behind Radio Mobile and SPLAT!