Antenna Pattern Editor
To view/edit a transmitters antenna pattern click the "Edit Antenna Pattern" button on the transmitter properties window.
T3D is capable of handling antenna patterns of a resolution up to 0.5 degrees. The zero degree azimuth is true north. This is the "upward" direction on the graph. Antenna pattern values for any general radial are generated by interpolating between points which have been defined, so an antenna pattern can have anywhere from 1 to 720 points. Antenna patterns are stored as a list of values associated with azimuths and some "Rotation Angle ". This rotation angle is the amount (in degrees) that the pattern is to be rotated when used by the program (this rotation is in a clock-wise direction).
Antenna Pattern Editor Functions
Inserting a Point
To insert a point into the antenna pattern click the "Insert Point" button. This will bring up a window asking you for the azimuth and pattern value at that azimuth. Since the maximum antenna pattern resolution is 0.5 degrees, the value you enter for the azimuth will be rounded to the nearest 0.5 degree increment (for example, entering and azimuth of 10.2 degrees -- will be considered as 10.0 degrees, and entering and azimuth of 10.6 degrees will be considered as 10.5 degrees).
Deleting a Point
To delete a defined azimuth from the antenna pattern, highlight the azimuth you wish to remove and press the "Delete Point" button.
Editing Points
To edit the antenna pattern value for the point select the azimuth you wish to edit, then type in the new value for that azimuth in the edit box located below the antenna pattern list box. After typing in the value, press the ENTER key.
Changing the Edit Mode
The antenna pattern has two modes for editing. First is the "Pre-Rotation" mode. In this mode all antenna pattern azimuths will be referenced before the pattern is rotated by the specified rotation angle. The "Post-Rotation" mode is a mode where all antenna pattern azimuths will be referenced after being rotated through the specified rotation angle. The reason for having two modes is because you may wish to enter a standard antenna pattern with values from the antennas data sheet (these will be Pre-Rotated values), and then rotate it to suit your transmitters needs. Because T3ds antenna patterns have a fixed maximum resolution (of 0.5 degrees), there would be a loss of accuracy if only the "Post-Rotation " mode existed.
Rotating the Antenna Pattern
To rotate the antenna pattern in a clock-wise direction, enter the amount in degrees of rotation in the edit box located next to the “rotated” button (either by using the up/down arrows or manually entering it in the edit box), and then press the "Rotate" button.
Clearing the Antenna Pattern
Press the "Clear Pattern" button to reset the antenna pattern to an Omni-directional pattern. This is the default pattern that comes up for new stations.
Loading and Saving
T3d is capable of loading and saving antenna patterns in two different formats:Original V-Soft Pattern Format
Use this file format if you want your antenna pattern to be compatible with other V-Soft applications. Note however that this file format is capable of storing patterns at a maximum resolution of 1 degree, so if you have any azimuths defined at 0.5 degree increments there will be a small loss in precision.T3d's Enhanced Antenna Pattern Format
This is the recommended format for saving antenna patterns generated with T3d.
Printing
To print the antenna pattern press the "Print" button. This will print a page containing the pictorial representation of the antenna pattern and a table of azimuths/values. The antenna pattern editor prints using the default printer at the current setting.