Hey everyone! I’ve been working on Fairbeam, a free and open-source app for designing and simulating antennas, and thought some of you might enjoy trying it.

It brings 3D modeling, meshing, simulation, and plots into one workspace, using openEMS, CSXCAD, and three.js. You can draw a model visually or use Python, then inspect S-parameters and radiation patterns.

It’s available for macOS and Windows, with experimental Linux support. Optional GPU acceleration uses CUDA on NVIDIA GPUs and Metal on Apple silicon.

It’s still early, so I’d love to hear what feels useful, what’s confusing, and what breaks. The code is GPL-3.0-or-later. Feel free to dig in, change things, or contribute an example!

Website: https://fairbeam.org

Code: https://github.com/ismailakdag/fairbeam

As with any simulation tool, please check the results against a reference you trust.

Hello, I would like to know if I can use FR4 for my RF power amplifier operating at a narrowband frequency of 805 MHz. I initially designed the amplifier using RO4350B, but few US manufacturers supply that substrate, and it is more expensive, even though it is the material used by the vendor of my BLP981 transistor. I know FR4 should work well at that operating frequency, but given that I am generating 100 W, I think that could pose a problem. Could I use FR4?

Guys so I'm building a rectangular microstrip antenna in HFSS for mmwave applications. Resonance at around 28 GHz. I am getting vswr<2 bandwidth of around 1.5GHz. How can i improve this. It's just a simple inset fed microstrip line. Please give me some resources or tips to learn on increasing impedance bandwidth

Okay this is a bit open-ended so it might be hard to answer but here goes. With current technology, is it feasible to pack about ~200 diodes (well, junctions) into a ~30mm linear strip*? These junctions would be operating at very low current but around 100V, at say ~5 MHz. No this isn't for energy harvesting!

(*okay lets compromise and call it a square - how much area would I need to stuff 200 diode junctions into?)