AutoEZ:    What's New for v. 2.0


This is a complete list of all features added since the initial v. 1.0.1 release. The revision level which incorporated the feature is shown in parenthesis.

  • An optimizer is available. For details see Using the Optimizer. (2.0.1)

  • New "Create" dialogs make it easy to build Yagis and Quads as well as other common wire configurations. Buttons Stepped Dia, Loop, and Wire Grid have been added, along with the existing Radials. For details see Create Wires. (2.0.1)

  • Calculation speed has been improved, in some cases dramatically, due to a combination of AutoEZ and EZNEC changes. On a mid-level Windows XP machine with a 1.73 GHz Pentium processor, running 50 test cases on a model with 100 segments using EZNEC+ formerly took 19.2 seconds, now 11.5, an improvement of 40%. Same scenario using EZNEC Pro/4 formerly took 59.8 seconds, now 12.3, an improvement of 79%. (2.0.1)

  • Segs/wl (segments per wavelength) is shown in new "For Information Only" column N on the Wires sheet. In addition, a "Current number of segments = nnn" comment is shown in the header area of the Variables sheet so you can change the frequency (cell C11 on the Variables sheet) and see if the segment count changes without having to tab to the Wires sheet. Both these changes are intended to make it easier to keep track of the segmentation density for a model. See the next bullet as well. (2.0.1)

  • In the AutoSeg dialog a new "Freeze segment counts" option is available. For details see AutoSeg Explained. (2.0.1)

  • Numbers can be displayed with "0" decimals on the Wires sheet. This may be useful when XYZ coordinates have units of millimeters. (2.0.1)

  • If any rows are hidden on the Wires sheet the text of the Unhide Rows button will be red to act as a visual reminder. (2.0.1)

  • MMANA-GAL (.maa) type files, including a taper schedule if present, can be read with the Open Model File button. Some restrictions apply. For details see Read NEC, AO, and MMANA-GAL Files. (2.0.1)

  • The Rotate dialog has CW/CCW option buttons to explicitly set the rotation direction. (2.0.1)

  • All dialogs have been modified to display correctly with 125% fonts as well as normal size fonts. (2.0.1)

  • When changes are made to a model, a reminder that recalculation is required is shown on the Calculate sheet and on all chart sheets. This reminder is closed automatically when either Calculate button is clicked. It may also be closed manually if you want to do such things as copy calculation results to lower rows for comparison or study charts in more detail before recalculating. (2.0.1)

  • Bug fix in the Transmission Lines table of the Insr Objs sheet to avoid misinterpretation of comment rows when building a "Series Section" or "Shunt Stub" type transmission line matching network. (2.0.1)

  • Bug fix to show correct Trendline equation coefficients when regional settings use comma as the decimal separator. (2.0.1)

  • Some non-English language versions of Excel may show an "unreadable content" error when the AutoEZ workbook is first opened. A workaround is available to avoid this problem, please contact me directly for details. (1.0.6)

  • Allow choice of E-fld or H-fld with Cartesian Near Field plots. (1.0.6)

  • Full support for 64-bit versions of Excel 2010 and 2013. (1.0.5)

  • Minor font size changes to the Triple sheet charts. (1.0.4)

  • For consistency across all operating systems, all temporary files created by AutoEZ ($AutoEZ$.ez, $Freqs$.txt, $Sweep$.txt) are always written to the AutoEZ home folder. (1.0.3)

  • When opening an EZNEC (.ez) type file in which the plot type is explicitly set to "3D", the AutoEZ plot choice on the Calculate sheet will be set to "Elevation at 0° azimuth". (1.0.2)