The Source/Load/TL Toolbar

The Source/Load/TL toolbar is used to connect a source, load, or transmission line to a selected wire segment. This toolbar also provides the means to edit sources, loads, and transmission lines.

When you right-click on any part of a wire, a pop-up menu will appear. Click on the Source/Load/TL (Ctrl + Ins) command from the pop-up menu to open the Source/Load/TL toolbar, Fig. 1.

The Source/Load/TL command is also accessible from the main toolbar or by going to the main menu and selecting Edit > Source/Load/TL (Ctrl + Ins). To enable this command, first click on the Select Wire button (the arrow icon) on the main toolbar and then left-click on the wire where you want to place the source or load.

The Source/Load toolbar has the following components:

The Slider

Each position of the slider corresponds to the position of a segment in the selected wire. So, the slider allows us to select a particular segment on the wire. At the right corner of this toolbar, the position of the selected segment is shown. The segment’s position as a percentage of the wire length is also shown. It is measured from the starting point of the wire to the middle point of the selected segment and is defined as follows:

% position = 100 (position / wire length)

The 50% button

The 50% button is used to position the slider in the middle of the wire. Discrete sources and loads are often added at the center of wires, so you can click this button to quickly select the segment at the wire’s center. Please note that the wire must have an odd number of segments for it to have a segment at its center. 

The Add Source button

Click the Add Source button to display a dialog box for adding a source to the selected wire segment, as shown in Fig. 2. This dialog box allows you to set the type of source, its amplitude, phase, and internal impedance.

The Add Load button

Click the Add Load button to display a dialog box for adding a load to the selected wire segment, as shown in Fig. 3. A load can represent either a resistor in series with an inductor (RL), a resistor in series with a capacitor (RC), or a fixed impedance (R+jX) where the reactance X does not scale with frequency.

The Transmission Lines button

Click on the Transmission Lines button to display a dialog box for connecting a transmission line to the selected wire segment. Refer to Adding Transmission Lines for further details.

The Delete button

If the selected segment has a source or a load on it, you can click the Delete button to remove the source or load from the segment.

The Modify button

If the selected segment has a source or a load on it, you can click the Modify button to open the Modify dialog box, allowing you to edit the source or load.

The Exit button

Click the Exit button to close the Source/Load/TL toolbar.