The Settings Panel

To access advanced simulation options, go to the Setup tab and select the Settings panel. Here, you can:

• Fine-tune the accuracy of the simulation,
• Set the reference impedance for VSWR calculations, and
• Adjust various options that affect the calculation engine.

These settings provide greater control over simulation precision and convergence behavior. See Fig. 1.

Controlling Numerical Precision

The Accuracy section in the Settings panel allows you to control the precision of the simulation and manage memory usage for large models.

• Quadrature Tolerance defines the acceptable numerical error in the evaluation of integrals between wire segments that are closer than the Interaction Distance. This parameter governs the precision of electromagnetic interaction calculations. The default value is 1%.

• Interaction Distance sets the maximum separation (in wavelengths) between segments for which the numerical integration guarantees an error below the Quadrature Tolerance. For segments farther apart than this distance, a third-degree polynomial approximation is used instead of the traditional Hertzian dipole approximation, offering improved accuracy for curved segments. The default value is 0.1λ.

• Matrix Size Threshold determines the maximum size of the impedance matrix (N × N, where N is the number of wire segments) that is computed in double precision. For models with more segments than the set threshold, single precision is used to reduce memory usage. While this may slightly reduce accuracy, it enables the simulation of larger models on systems with limited Windows on-board memory. The default threshold is 4,000.

• Exact Kernel enables the use of the exact formulation of the Electric Field Integral Equation (EFIE), significantly improving accuracy for antennas made with thicker wire segments. When this option is disabled, an extended thin-wire approximation is used. See The Exact Kernel for more information.

VSWR Reference Impedance Configuration

The reference impedance serves as the normalization value for VSWR calculations throughout the simulation. This parameter is particularly important when matching simulation conditions to real-world measurement setups.

Key features:

• Defaults to 50 Ω (standard for most RF systems)
• Commonly adjusted to 75 Ω for television/video applications
• Requires refreshing the results (Ctrl + R) to update all VSWR-dependent data

Simulation Control Options

These global toggles enable efficient comparison of different simulation scenarios without modifying individual element properties. They are especially valuable for parametric studies and troubleshooting.

Option	Technical Implementation	Practical Application
NGF	Stores LU-decomposed impedance matrix after first calculation	Accelerates repeated simulations with varying source excitations
Load Impedances	Master switch for all lumped load elements in the model	Quickly compare loaded vs. unloaded system performance
Wire Resistivity	Toggles Ohmic loss calculation for all conductors	Evaluate conductor loss impact on system efficiency
Wire Coating	Enables/disables dielectric coating effects	Analyze insulation impact on antenna performance

Implementation Note:

These options provide non-destructive alternatives to physically removing/readding model elements when running comparative analyses.