Features of Antenna Magus 3.0 and 3.1

The latest evolution of Antenna Magus features significant improvements in all aspects of the software.  The following are a few of the highlights of the new release.  See the latest Newsletter 3.1 for more information about the latest release.

Expansion of antenna library

The core of the Antenna Magus offering remains the comprehensive library antennas that can be explored to find the perfect antenna for any application.  The library now boasts 154 antennas and 9 transitions.

Selection of the new antennas in Antenna Magus
	Printed log-periodic antennas typically have 2, 4 or 8 arms. This 2-arm version included in Antenna Magus is the forerunner of the well-known LPDA antenna. It is linearly polarized, contrary to its circularly polarized 4-arm counterpart.
	DRA antennas are popular due to high radiation efficiency, low weight and small size. This particular cross-T-shaped DRA is fed using a conformal inverted-trapezoidal patch etched on one side of the lower part of the dielectric. The antenna is excited by a microstrip feed line.

Knowledge Management System

Many people have a need to manage proprietary antenna information in such a way that it is well structured, easily accessible and can be shared amongst colleagues and working groups.  

Antenna Magus 3.0 provides engineers with a framework to store information like documents, sketches, design algorithms, measured data and models in a logical, accessible way.  The framework is consistent amongst all antennas in the Antenna Magus database, making it easy to find information and compare different antennas.  As more knowledge of a specific antenna is gained, or as specifications and requirements change, the information can easily be extended and improved.  Once information has been captured, it can easily (and securely) be shared amongst colleagues or friends.

Adding your own antennas to Antenna Magus

Chart Tracing Tool

The chart tracing tool started as an in-house application used by Antenna Magus engineers to read off design values and to digitise traces from scanned graphs for comparison with other data sets.  It proved so useful that it was included as a utility in Antenna Magus 3.0.

Using the chart tracing tool in Antenna Magus

Libraries

Substrate library 

The substrate library contains an extensive list of commercial substrates and allows for the easy addition of user specified substrates. This eliminates the need to search literature or the internet for suitable substrates for a given antenna element. The substrate library is one click away and it conveniently filters the whole database of substrates according to specified physical or electrical properties. 

Waveguide library 

This library is a collection of common designations and standardised waveguide types and sizes. It can be used to easily find the dimensions of a specific designation or to find the electrical characteristics of a standard guide. Cut-off frequencies, as well as usage frequency ranges are indicated in the library. Custom waveguides that may be in use in a company/industry can easily be added to the library for later reference.

Transitions

Often antenna design requires the use of a transition from one guiding structure to another (e.g. waveguide to coax or circular to rectangular guide) or from one impedance to another within the same guiding structure (an impedance transformer). While the main focus of Antenna Magus development is to expand our database of antennas, we have begun to include specific transitions that are useful when working with the antennas in the Antenna Magus database. For Antenna Magus version 3.0, 7 new transitions have been added to the database. Available transitions can be inspected as part of the Antenna Magus Database page on this website.