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    Displaying Smith Charts

    Created On
    Updated On
    By:Tony Golden

    The Smith Chart is an essential tool for visualizing the input impedance of your antenna as it varies with frequency. It allows you to see how “matched” your antenna is to a reference system (typically $50\ \Omega$) at a glance.

    How to Generate the Chart

    1. Follow the procedure for Tabulating Input Impedances: Right-click source wire > Current vs. Freq… > Input List (Fig. 1).
    2. In the Input List dialog box, click the Smith button. This launches the AN-Smith application.

    Interactive Features in AN-Smith

    • Data Hints: Left-click anywhere on the impedance curve. A hint message will appear displaying the Frequency, Input Impedance (Zin), Reflection Coefficient (Rho), VSWR, and S11 for that specific point.
    • Admittance Plotting: To switch from impedance coordinates to admittance, go to the main menu and select Plot > Admittance.
    • Customization: Navigate to Edit > Preferences to adjust the visual appearance, such as line thickness and colors.
    Fig. 1: Accessing the “Current vs. Freq.” toolbar to tabulate the input impedance versus frequency and plot it in a Smith chart.

    💡 Tip

    To quickly display the Smith chart, select a source index from the drop-down menu in the Metrics tab, then click the Freq. column header (Fig. 2).

    Fig. 2: Displaying the Smith chart by clicking the Freq. column header in the Metrics table.
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