── 1.2.1. Dipole Array

The Dipole Array operation is a fast way for generating a higher number of dipole antennas when they are placed in array structures, where a set of closely located dipoles should be simulated. To create a Dipole Array, select a Source - Dipole - Dipole Array menu to display the Dipole Array panel, as shown in the figure:

Dipole Array panel

In this example, an array of 7x7 electrically short dipoles is created, and the dipoles are oriented the following x-axis and located in the z=0 plane.

So, the following settings are available for defining the appearance of the overall dipole structure.

Set dipoles: this setting specifies how many magnetic and electric dipoles have to be generated. This feature is covered later in this section.

Number of magnetic dipoles: set the number of magnetic dipoles that each one of the generated dipoles will have.
Number of electric dipoles: set the number of electric dipoles that each one of the generated dipoles will have. In this example, one electric dipole is selected.

Components: the amplitude and phase for the dipole moment for each generated antenna.
Orientation: dipole antenna rotation. There are multiple ways for setting the orientation.

Director Cosines: manually set the director cosines for the dipole.
Spherical: set the orientation using spherical system (theta, phi, alpha).
Rotation: specify X, Y, and Z angles as degrees.
Z-Axis: this option can be used for manually defining the local Z-axis of the dipole.

Array center: the cartesian center for the generated dipole array structure. For a more precise mode, the pick-point mode can be enabled. Select Pick then clicks anywhere in the 3D Panel. The position where the mouse clicked will be set as coordinates.
Array parameters: this setting lets the user specify the number of dipoles to be generated and the separation between each dipole. In this example, 7 dipoles in the x-axis and y-axis are setting.
Array orientation: similar to the dipole orientation, this control lets the user specify the array rotation.

When the number of magnetic dipoles is greater than 0, the position and orientation of magnetic dipoles can be selected by pressing the Position button.

When all the parameters have been set, press Create Array to create the dipoles. Note that generating the dipole generation will create separate dipoles. So, after generating the dipole array, you will be able to modify the values for each dipole separately.