The element editor is activated by pushing the Edit element button in the edit menu. It is very troublesome if you would design the elements of Uda-Yagi or loop antenna by inputting data of each element in the X-Y-Z coordinates. Using the editor, you can straightforwardly define the antenna with intuitive parameters, such as width, length, perimeter, and element space. To modify the shape (length, diameter, etc) of the element, right click the editor and follows the pop-up menu. First, MMANA-GAL scans how the wires are connected together. The wires that have the same XYZ value are supposed to be connected with each other. Next, MMANA-GAL analyzes the element dimension by seeing the vector of each element. At this step, MMANA-GAL takes different procedure in analyzing if one of the elements has two or more loops, such as hentenna and Twin-loop antenna. This affects the course of optimization action (described in the later section). It the optimization procedure works in a different way as you expected, change the order of element definition. It is a good idea to use Edit by text function in the Edit menu. It should be noted that the order of the elements could be changed if you delete or modify the element. In that case, you must adjust the position of a source and/or that of a load. To design the antenna from scratch, it is a good idea to start with defining the element length for the Uda-Yagi antenna, or with defining the perimeter for the loop antenna. The default shape for the loop antenna is a vertical square. If you want to change it, hit the return key at the shape box and choose your favorite from the pop-up menu. From now on, you put the values like space, width, and perimeter. To define a reflector, put the cursor at the reference point, right click, and choose Add. To add an element, MMANA-GAL copies the parameters of the front or back element. This is useful for defining a complicated element (e.g., an element with a capacity hat). When Change only the end points is selected, the element composed of two or more wires changes the positions of its ending points (default). On the other hand, when Change all coordinate proportionally is selected, all the associated wires are changed in the same ratio for X-, Y-, and Z-axes. The space is always defined with respect to the adjacent element. The element having a branch toward X-axis (e.g., a capacity hat) is defined with respect to the center of the element. For this reason, it is a good idea to extend the capacity hat symmetrically with respect to the element. When on- distance from the first element, off - space between wires at the bottom of the window is checked, MMANA-GAL shows the element spaces. When it is not checked, MMANA-GAL shows the distance to Element 1. When lambda is checked, the wires are displayed per wavelength. When it is not checked, the wire length is displayed in meter (radius is in millimeter). You can print the image by clicking with the right button of the mouse. You can save the data in the CSV format by selecting Save this table as file. This is useful for data transfer to a spreadsheet program, f. e. MS-Excel. |