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Category - Drawing Wires

These articles provide guidance on adding and editing wires, setting their attributes, and defining materials within AN-SOF.

Articles

Types of Wires
AN-SOF has different types of wires. Each wire type has its own geometrical parameters, attributes and materials that can be set in a specific Draw dialog box. This dialog box allows us...
Wire Attributes
The Attributes page belongs to the Draw dialog box of the chosen wire type, Fig. 1. In the Attributes page the following attributes can be specified...
Wire Materials
The Materials page belongs to the Draw dialog box of the chosen wire type, Fig. 1. In the Materials page the following attributes can be specified...
Enabling/Disabling Resistivity
If wires with non-zero resistivity have been drawn previously and the whole structure must now be considered as a perfect electric conductor, all resistivities can be disabled...
Enabling/Disabling Coating
If wires with a coating shield or insulation have been drawn previously and the whole structure must now be considered as composed of bare conductive wires, all coatings can be disabled...
Cross-Section Equivalent Radius
The wire cross-section can be chosen from a combo-box in the Attributes page of the Draw dialog box for the chosen wire type...
Exporting Wires
Linear wires can be exported from AN-SOF to a text file in NEC format (extension .nec) by going to File > Export Wires in the main menu. Linear wires will be stored as GW lines. FR (frequency), EX (excitation), LD (load impedances and wire conductivity), RP (radiation pattern)...

Sub Categories

These articles cover the various wire types available in AN-SOF and provide instructions on how to add and import wires into your project.
Line
Create lines in AN-SOF. Define geometry using 2 points or start point, direction, and length. Set attributes like segments and cross-section. Set material properties like resistivity and coating.
Arc
Create arcs in AN-SOF. Define geometry using 3 points or start, center, end points. Set attributes like segments and cross-section. Set material properties like resistivity and coating.
Circle
The Circle refers to a circular loop. Go to Draw > Circle in the main menu to display the Draw dialog box for the Circle...
Helix
Create helices in AN-SOF. Define geometry using start point, radius, pitch, turns or start-end points. Set orientation using angles or vectors. Specify attributes like segments and cross-section. Set material properties like resistivity and coating. Rotate helix around axis.
Quadratic
The Quadratic refers to a quadratic wire or parabola. Go to Draw > Quadratic in the main menu to display the Draw dialog box for the Quadratic...
Archimedean Spiral
The Archimedean Spiral refers to the Archimedes’ spiral with polar equation r(a) = r0 + p/(2p) a, where r0 is the starting radius and p is the pitch. For a spiral with an integer number of turns...
Logarithmic Spiral
The Logarithmic Spiral refers to a spiral with polar equation r(a) = r0 exp(ba), where r0 is the starting radius (r at a = 0), b = p/(2pr0) and p is the starting pitch...
Tapered Wires
A tapered wire is a wire with a variable radius along its length. The cross section of tapered wires is always circular. The radius is varied linearly along the wire and in defined steps, then a wire with a stepped radius is obtained...
Importing Wires
Wires in an external file can be imported into AN-SOF by going to File > Import Wires in the main menu. A sub-menu having four options will be displayed: AN-SOF, NEC, DXF, and MM formats. The DXF and MM formats must contain only...
Tabular Input of Linear Wires
Enter linear wires using the Tabular Input option in AN-SOF. For each wire, specify its number of segments, start and end points, wire radius, resistivity, and coating by entering the details in separate rows.
These articles provide guidance on editing wires in AN-SOF, including functions to transform wire coordinates and manipulate groups of wires in the AN-SOF workspace.
Selecting a Wire
Any wire in the workspace can be selected in three different ways: 1. By clicking on the Select Wire button (arrow icon) on the toolbar and then...
Modifying a Wire
Right-clicking on a wire brings up a menu. Choosing the Modify command from the pop-up menu shows the Modify dialog box, where the geometrical parameters and attributes of the selected wire can be modified...
Deleting a Wire
Right-clicking on a wire brings up a menu. Choosing the Delete command from the pop-up menu deletes the selected wire with all sources and loads placed on it...
Modifying a Group of Wires
AN-SOF allows us to select a group of wires to edit them all at once. Click on the Selection Box button on the main toolbar. By left clicking on the workspace and dragging a box with the mouse, multiple wires can be selected...
Deleting a Group of Wires
Click on the Selection Box button in the main toolbar. Then, left clicking on the workspace a box to select multiple wires can be expanded...
Wire Color
Right clicking on a wire shows a pop-up menu. Choose the Wire Color command to display a dialog box that allows us to select a color for the wire...
Wire Properties
Right clicking on a wire will display a pop-up menu, where the Wire Properties command can be selected...
Connecting Wires
A wire junction is automatically established whenever the coordinates of a wire end are identical to the end coordinates of a wire previously specified. However, two wires will be also connected automatically when their ends are spaced one tenth of the wire radius...
Moving, Rotating, and Scaling Wires
Modify wire positions and sizes in AN-SOF. Select wires using the selection box. Move, rotate, and scale wires using dedicated dialog boxes. Choose between single factor, line length, or advanced scaling options. Control wire positions and orientations precisely.
Copying and Stacking Wires
Copy and stack wires in AN-SOF. Select wires using the selection box. Copy wires with offsets and rotations. Stack wires along specified directions with customizable spacing. Create antenna arrays efficiently.