Smith Charts

 
If you are just getting started with SimSmith, please (PLEASE?) watch at least two videos: SimSmithV7 (parts 1 and 2) and IntroToSmithChart. SimSmith is constantly being updated these days. I release things more or less as I figure they are stable enough for the benevolent user to use. Things change... rapidly. I try to maintain backward compatibility where it doesn’t get in the way... but I change things at will to make the sotfware better. SimSmith is written in Java. To run it you must install the Java Runtime Environment. Version 2.0 and onward REQUIRE JRE 1.6. See my page on “Java Runtime”. Here is the most recent release (show above): For windows: SimSmith-7.8.exe For OSX: SimSmith-7.8.app.zip Java JAR file: (Linux) SImSmith-7.8.jar Here are some previous releases in case the above has a fatal bug: SimSmith-7.4.jar SimSmith-6.4.jar SimSmith-5.7.jar SimSmith-4.14.jar SimSmith-5.4.jar I have chosen to release SimSmith under the “Modified BSD” license. The short form is, you can use my code in any way you might see fit but I don’t promise its worth using for anything. I expect to post the source code on Source Forge some time in the future... just haven’t the time right now. If you download SimSmith, please consider joining the Yahoo Group “SimSmith”. This will allow you to make suggestions, share techniques and be notified of bugs and releases. Here’s a Primer: SimSmith Primer.pdf Here’s the article in QRP Quarterly: QRParticle.pdf Here is the syntax of the F block and the ‘load file’ format: VenerableAppendix.pdf Here are some sample ‘load’ files: EZNECexample.txt AIMexample.txt miniVnaProFRX.txt cocoaNEC.txt RigExpert.aaplot Others are available and the list grows. Please contact me if you run into others. I try to write down some of the info on SImSmith but I find it difficult to convey the feel of an interactive program using text. Rather, I make short (10 to 20 minute) videos. Generally, if there is a new feature I make a video. As SimSmith evolves, I don’t go back and redo the videos. This makes the videos obsolete when it comes to tool layout. The videos are still worth watching because they show what features are available even if subsequent versions moved them around. PLEASE NOTE: I have changed SimSmith’s behavior when the mouse cursor is in the Smith Chart and the SWR Chart. You now have to hold the mouse button down in order to see the impedance and Power In information. This change was made in SimSmith-1.1. Note that tutorials 1-4 are out of date where this is concerned. These files have recently been recoded using H.264. Hopefully this makes them playable on the widest variety of platforms. If you can’t manage to play them, try playing the versions on youtube. Search for AE6TY. The order is wrong on youtube... they make it too hard to reorder the uploads there.... Many of these tutorials were made some time ago using an older version of SimSmith. You can use this version of SimSmith to work through the older tutorials: SimSmith-4.14.jar IntroToSmithCharts.mov Basic introduction to SimSmith. View this first. IntroToSimSmithV7part1.mov Expanded Intro to SimSmith Basics using Version 7. IntroToSimSmithV7part2.mov Expanded Intro to SimSmith Basics using Version 7. IntroToVersion7.1.mov Advanced Generators and the Function Block. SmithTutorial2.mov I look at impedance matching over a range of frequencies. (Here’s the load model I used in Tutorial2:80mDipole.txt) SmithTutorial3.mov I add a feed line and explore chapter 9 of the Antenna Handbook. SmithTutorial4.mov I use SimSmith to design a better Dummy Load. SmithTutorial5.mov I describe some features of SimSmith... and some idiosyncrasies. SmithTutorial6.mov A detailed look at SimSmith’s Function Block. See the Introduction to version 7.1 above for a more up to date information. SmithTutorial7.mov Transformers, reference traces, S blocks and Session Restore. (note that the ‘lastSimSmithCircuit.ss’ has been moved to the user’s home directory as of 4.13). SimSmithV5.mov Introduces features new to version 5: resizing menus, sweep control and plot signal selection. SimSmithV6.mov Explains changes made in version 6 and introduces new features. RELEASE NOTES: As of 7.0 I’m reversing these notes... 7.8 Cosmetic changes. Also added AC6LA transmission lines to F block. Component labels are no longer changed when you re-arrange the elements in the circuit. 7.7 Added support for AC6LA style transmission lines. Changed warning box to make it more readable. Fixed graphing problem in SWR plots. 7.6 Jan 8, ’13 Added support for ‘meters’ (at last). Changed the sweep menu to make its operation a little easier to explain. Added a ‘PATH/SWEEP’ button to the Smith chart. Please see SimSmith Primer.pdf for details. 7.4 Dec 5, ’12 Minor fixes in graphics display. Added ‘wrappers’ for windows, and OSX. No wrapper yet for Linux. 7.2: Nov 12, ’12 Fixed several bugs involved with equation editing. 7.1 Improved Function block support. Added equations to the ‘Generator’ block. See VenerableAppendix.pdf for equation Syntax. 7.0: Drag tuning deserved its own major release number. Addition of preferences to set things like default Q values for inductors and capacitors. Had to play around (Again) to get international number formats to work. Please report any problems. Here are some cursory release notes: SimSmith 7 Release Notes.docx OLD RELEASE NOTES: 1.1 changed to ‘clicking’ in charts to show information 1.4 fixed problems with “Save” and “Load” for transmission line segments 1.6 added support for reading “cocoaNEC” nec2 output files for ‘loads’. added ‘db’ indicator for “powerIn” in SWR chart. fixed a few cosmetic things. 1.8 (and 1.7) fixed cosmetic things. The big ones were ‘scan frequency’.... the frequency didn’t always fit and the most significant digits were dropped. 1.9 A few cosmetic changes, fixed calculation of Q for inductors. 1.11 Just cosmetic again. 2.0 I had problems with Ubuntu performance (very sluggish editing) in early releases, this release should fix any such problems. My sincere thanks to Eldon Brown (WA0UWH) for providing testing for the rewrite. This effort required a complete rewrite of the “Smith chart” graphic. I added three features: a button to hyperlink you to this page, an ‘x’ at the ‘generator frequency’ on the SWR plot, and a vertical marker at the report frequency, also on the SWR plot. 3.3 Yes, lots of work in between. I added ‘standard values’ for resistors, capacitors, and inductors. There are built in ‘standard values’ and you can load your own standard value files as well. There are three new tuning buttons: “previous”, “closest”, and “next” which are immediately below the old tuning buttons. There are also three new buttons for loading your own ‘standard values’. The built-in standard values for resistors is a 5% chart I fond on the web. The SimSmith Primer document above has been updated to show the file format which is pretty obvious. Here’s an example: SimSmith.RES 3.4 A quick update to add a ‘Pin’ field to the schematic components. Assuming 1 watt is delivered by the generator, “Pin” indicates how much power makes it to the component. For a lossless network then, the Pin at the load should say “1”. Practical circuits will have a power at the load of less than 1. 3.5 Fixed version string... 3.4 said it was version 3.5 (sigh). 4.2 Added a ‘library’ function, added a few components (including a transformer), changed ‘save/load’ operation, and added a ‘print’ function. 4.3 Added support for W7AY’s AAPlot Mac OS-X application. SimSmith can now read the impedance data set from ‘Rig Expert’ antenna analyzers. 4.4 Fixed some cosmetic bugs. 4.8 Fixed various cosmetic and operational esthetics. Introduced the support for touchstone file formats for Scattering Parameters. You can specify the load using a touchstone “.s1p” file. (SimSmith looks at the extension and, seeing “.s1p” will attempt to read the file as a touchstone s1p file. I also introduced the “S” circuit element. You can specify the scattering parameters for the S block using touchstone “s2p” files. Only s2p “Scattering Parameter” formats are supported, no ABCD or Y or Z parameterization yet. This release took lots of editing so I won’t release it as main line for some time. 4.9 I cleaned up a couple of bugs in S blocks. I added the ability to reverse S blocks. I added the ability to change how transformer traces are drawn on the Smith Chart. 4.10 I put in the code to ‘tolerate’ Version 2 of the touchstone files. Basically, I simply confirm that the options are what would be supported by version 1.1. 4.12 April4-2012 This was a major undertaking and should probably have been 5.0! SimSmith can now read in load files and display them directly on the SWR and Smith charts. Any of the supported load files can be used. You can also write touchstone S1P files so that you can save a circuit analysis for future reference. I COMPLETELY CHANGED THE DISK FILE FORMAT. I believe I left in the ability to read old files but all files are saved in the new format. I changed transformers so there are two views, one for coupled inductors with variable coupling and one for a simple transform with k assumed to be 1. In this second transformer you can specify the turns ratio directly. SimSmith now keeps a copy of your circuit on the disk called “lastSimSmithcircuit.ss”. This file is updated whenever you make a circuit change. It is read in when SimSmith starts up so you can resume your session as it was when you exited. You can load a different file at startup if you invoke SimSmith from the command line. On OSX you would type java -jar SimSmith-4.12.jar filename I highly recommend you glance over the SimSmith Primer (near the top of this page) and look through the video “NewTo4.12” to get an overview. 4.13 April-7-2012 Moved ‘lastSimSmithCircuit.ss’ to the user’s home directory. 4.14 Fixed circuit load problem. 5.0 May 21, 2012.... This was a substantial rewrite of the whole user interface. Nearly everything is scaled correctly so things remain readable even when small. The menus can be resized to make room for bigger circuits or bigger charts. Version 5 provides much better control of what gets plotted and allows for sweeping of variables other than frequency. 5.1 May 22, 2012 Fixed SWR report in SWR Chart. 5.3 June 18, 2012 Added a ‘notes’ block. Click on “file>show Notes Block”. It should appear around the tuning buttons. If not, click “help>recover Notes Block”. Move the block by dragging the upper left corner, resize by dragging other corners. You can now use ‘load’ files to control sweeping. The frequencies specified in the load file are used exactly... no interpolation is performed. When you specify a load file, it is generally added to the sweep menu. The SWR and Smith charts are now both shown: one ‘large’ and one ‘small’. Clicking on the small one makes it large.... Added the ‘frequency’ to traps. Modifying the frequency or the capacitance will update the inductance. Updating the inductance will change the frequency only. Added ‘Z’ blocks. You can specify the value of Z explicitly or using a load file. Changed the precedence in the ‘F’ block a little to make it possible to write things like “10+10j” instead of “10+j10”. As usual, if you see unusual behavior, fully parenthesize your equation. 5.4 June 19, 2012 Added the “Generator” as a plotting option. Best to select it when plotting the final result. Fixed a bug in the ‘sweep generator’ menu editor. 5.5 June 26, 2012 Added transformer “interwinding” capacitance. Reworked code for transformer model. Please report an problems. Fixed “PGain” plotting and reporting problem. Fixed “Load Component” R and X reporting. 5.6 July 22, 2012 Fixed bug where SimSmith crashed if an ‘reference’ file was missing on startup. 5.7 Aug 12, 2012 Fixed problem reading nec2 files (which took forever), added support for nec4.1 and nec4.2. Fixed problem with “f” suffix in numbers (femto). The ‘f’ was ignored. 6.2 Sep 8, 2012 Fixed a variety of bugs with Q and transmission line losses. Show parameters being edited as ‘pink’ until edit is complete. Added user selected scales to Power Gain and SWR plots. Added magnification for Smith chart. Added ‘Q’ arcs in Smith chart. Added new generator models: ‘fixedV’ for power amps with no matching, ‘xMtch’ for power amps with a transmatch, and ‘useZo’ for filter design. Moved ‘load files’ from components to sweep menu only. Added more print options for generating documentation. Now everything is scaled to fit the print page. Useless parts of the screen are not printed (things like plot menus and hidden references). Added ‘z’ to the Function block so you can access the working impedance. Added a ‘Notes’ block... click on ‘file’ ‘show notes block’... 6.4: Sep 18, 2012 Fixed problem with commas as decimal separators. Improved sweeping speed. Added new ‘Z’ operator... lets you tune and compare multiple circuits at the same time. Fixed bug in transformer where SimSmith crashed if you switched to ‘simplified’. Smith_Charts_files/SimSmith-7.8.exeSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith-7.8.app.zipSmith_Charts_files/SImSmith-7.8.jarSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith-7.4.jarSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith-6.4.jarSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith-5.7.jarSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith-4.14.jarSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith-5.4.jarSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith%20Primer.pdfSmith_Charts_files/QRParticle.pdfSmith_Charts_files/VenerableAppendix.pdfSmith_Charts_files/EZNECexample.txtSmith_Charts_files/AIMexample.txtSmith_Charts_files/miniVnaProFRX.txtSmith_Charts_files/cocoaNEC.txtSmith_Charts_files/RigExpert.aaplotSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith-4.14_1.jarSmith_Charts_files/IntroToSmithCharts.movSmith_Charts_files/IntroToSimSmithV7part1.movSmith_Charts_files/IntroToSimSmithV7part2.movSmith_Charts_files/Verion7-1-AdvancedGenerators.movSmith_Charts_files/SmithTutorial2.movSmith_Charts_files/80mDipole.txtSmith_Charts_files/SmithTutorial3.movSmith_Charts_files/SmithTutorial4.movSmith_Charts_files/SmithTutorial5.movSmith_Charts_files/SmithTutorial6.movSmith_Charts_files/SmithTutorial7.movSmith_Charts_files/SimSmithV5.movSmith_Charts_files/SimSmithV6.movSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith%20Primer_1.pdfSmith_Charts_files/VenerableAppendix_1.pdfSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith%207%20Release%20Notes.docxSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith.RESSmith_Charts_files/SimSmith-7.4.exeshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19shapeimage_2_link_20shapeimage_2_link_21shapeimage_2_link_22shapeimage_2_link_23shapeimage_2_link_24shapeimage_2_link_25shapeimage_2_link_26shapeimage_2_link_27shapeimage_2_link_28shapeimage_2_link_29shapeimage_2_link_30shapeimage_2_link_31shapeimage_2_link_32shapeimage_2_link_33