Last session we described IONCAP, the basis for several radiowave propagation programs. We also described the Voice of America suite of propagation programs, called VOACAP, based on IONCAP. This month we take a look at CAPMAN, another shell program based on IONCAP but written for the radio amateur. Like VOACAP, CAPMAN comes as part of a suite of programs. While IONCAP is in the public domain, the CAPMAN shell is a copyrighted commercial product and can be obtained from:

Lucas Radio/Kangaroo Tabor Software
552 Wewoka Dr., Boulder, CO 80303
Phone 303-494-4647
Fax 303-494-0937
ku5s@wtrt.net
70511.2570@compuserve.com
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/KU5S

Contact them directly for the latest pricing.

We are reviewing version 3.0 of CAPMAN which requires a 386 or higher processor and only a modest 3 or 4 MB of hard disk space. CAPMAN is definitely a DOS-based program but it will run under Windows 95, with some exceptions noted below. A mouse is optional and really not necessary. Installation is trivial. Included in the CAPMAN suite are six programs. CAPMAN is the basic program for point-to-point radiowave propagation analysis. CCONFIG is a program that allows you to establish your own default parameters for CAPMAN. ICMAN is a compressed version of the US government-issued mainframe computer IONCAP manual. MAKANT is a program for generating your own custom antenna files for CAPMAN. IONEC is an interface program that allows you to convert MiniNEC or ELNEC antenna files for use within CAPMAN. ANTPICS is a compressed pcx graphics file viewer program for examining antenna files. There is a seventh, optional program called CAPMAP which is not a stand alone program but an add-in for CAPMAN that creates contour maps of selected variables over a user-defined area of the world.

Before running CAPMAN for the first time, users should run the CCONFIG program to establish default parameters for use in CAPMAN. This program is a great convenience because it allows you to set up CAPMAN to automatically insert your user information and default IONCAP settings. It can be run later at any time to revise the configuration. Any of this information can be easily changed within CAPMAN but, since there is seldom a need to do so, CCONFIG streamlines routine use of CAPMAN. Launching CCONFIG and selecting User from the Configure menu gives the screen shown in Figure 1.

The information required here is pretty obvious. Figure 1 also serves to show the general CAPMAN environment. There is a menu bar across the top accessible by the mouse or with the ALT key plus the highlighted letter. Moving around can be done with the arrow keys. The bottom line contains minimal help information and indicates the main keystrokes necessary to complete the task. Context sensitive help is available with the F1 key. Generally throughout CAPMAN, the CTRL-ENTER key sequence completes a task and hitting ESC aborts it.

Selection of Defaults from the Configure menu gives the input screen shown in Figure 2. These are defaults for some of the IONCAP parameters we described last month. In many cases, selection of one of the input windows yields another nested input window for more detail. For example, after inserting a number for frequencies, hitting ENTER gives another window for you to enter those frequencies. These frequencies, which we will discuss a little later, are much more important than in VOACAP. I usually choose the cw edges of the ham bands since they are easy to remember and the differences in propagation might be large from band-to-band but are unlikely to vary much within a band. The menu items Location and SS Numbers allow you to export or import these databases for CAPMAN. It is not usually necessary to do so because the Location database that comes with CAPMAN is quite complete and, for near term predictions, the SS number data is usually selected from something like WWV rather than a different database.

Now we're ready to run CAPMAN. Launch the program by typing CAP at the DOS prompt or double clicking on the CAP.bat icon in Win95. The main CAPMAN screen is shown in Figure 3. Calendar in the menu bar is a month-view calendar that also gives sunrise and sunset in both local and GMT times. Generally to do some point-to-point propagation analysis, you start with the Circuits menu. The menu choice Location/Quick allows you to browse the Locations database and choose any of the locations to run a Quick propagation check. The Locations database screen is shown in Figure 4.

This database was written for hams and is very complete, already including P5, for example. There is also another column, not shown in Figure 4, that allows the user to add notes to any line. The latitude and longitude data are suppressed on this screen view but can be accessed by choosing a country and hitting the ENTER key. New countries are easily added by hitting the F2 key and inserting the new data.

Most of the time, you will be either creating a new circuit or revising one from under the Circuits menu. After choosing New Circuit from the menu, you will be prompted for a name for the circuit record such as the prefix of the country (5A for example in Figure 5) and then the Locations database appears for you to select the receiver location. When it has been chosen, you get the Circuit Record input window shown in Figure 5.

The upper box in Figure 5 already contains your user information from the CCONFIG program, the middle box contains information from the Locations database for the country you have chosen, and the lower two boxes contain the default information from CCONFIG. Now you only need to TAB through input window to change any parameters that you choose. You might want to change the date for a future DXpediton, the solar flux to reflect current WWV data, or the antennas to reflect your actual station or the kind of antennas you expect the Receive station to be using. When everything is correct, you hit CTRL-ENTER to accept the data. At this point you can revise or create another record or simply hit ESC to finish revising. CAPMAN then prompts you to write the input file and asks for a name for it. Since all of the files at various stages of CAPMAN execution have different extensions, you can use the same file name prefix (country prefix, for example) for all of them. So our file for Figure 5 will be 5A.INP.

The next step is to execute IONCAP for the input files you have created. You choose Circuit from the Execute menu and you are prompted for the input file of your choice and the solar flux, and K-index value if you selected that option earlier. Next you are prompted for an output file name. The input file name, with a different extension, is suggested (5A.OUT in our example). The CAPMAN screen is swapped out and IONCAP is executed. Calculations take only a few seconds on 486 or better machines.

To view the results, choose Create Graph from the View Results. At this point the drill is pretty much the same as for all of the earlier steps and a Graph file (called 5A.GRF in our example) is created and the results shown on the screen, as shown in Figure 6.

This is where CAPMAN truly shines. The graphics are awesome and the choices are nearly perfect for a ham operator. All of the graphics output screens are dual vertical axis graphs with two sets of simultaneous data. The first screen you see, shown in Figure 6, is something the authors call Best Frequency and the Percent Reliability at that frequency. This is designed for a novice to simply choose the optimum band for a given hour. In the example, 40 meters at 0300Z has the highest reliability and 20 meters at 2000Z looks pretty good.

Many other combinations of graphs are possible by simply pressing a number from 1 to 9 (see Table 1) and a letter key where A is the MUF and B through I are the individual bands you selected in CCONFIG. Simple hitting the "P" key changes the screen to black and white for dumping to a printer. CAPMAN Graph Selection Numbers are as follows:

Key#--Function
1--SNR
2--Reliability
3--Xmtr take-off angle
4--Xmtr antenna gain
5--Rcvr antenna gain
6--S-meter value
7--dB referenced to 1 µV
8--Signal in µV
9--Best frequency

Shown in Figure 7 is a graph of the MUF and the 14 MHz SNR. I usually choose the SNR graphs and step through the bands one at a time to get a feel for how good the signals on that band will be at any given time and how wide (in time) will the window be open.

The relatively new (to version 3) CAPMAP optional add-in program is accessed by choosing Map from the Execute menu. The basis for CAPMAP is similar to that of VOAAREA in that you select the part of the globe included in the screen image and then by moving around with the arrow keys, you can select contour map variables (selected from the list in Table 1) and frequencies of interest. The CAPMAP feature would have been interesting if I hadn't already seen VOAAREA. This is the weakest part of CAPMAN and I do not recommend purchasing it. The graphics are inferior to VOAAREA. Graph selection via the arrows is cumbersome. This part of the program will not run under Win95 without restarting in the DOS mode and gives a memory swapping error warning that can't even be seen without hitting the Pause key at exactly the right time. Of course, there may be solutions to this memory incompatibility, but I couldn't find one. CAPMAP aside, I think CAPMAN is one of the best commercial programs available for radiowave propagation analysis. The single band feature is unique and the circuit graphics are superb. The price is not unreasonable and was recently reduced. The manual is somewhat abrupt but certainly complete enough. The on-line help is very well done. Future generations of this program will hopefully be more fully integrated with Windows. The CAPMAP feature needs a great deal more development before it can compete with VOAAREA. As you read this, we are into the winter months. That means quieter bands, especially the low bands. It also means the contest season is upon us. Even though the time is short for contests, they offer an excellent opportunity to do some propagation lab work, whether you are participating in the contest or not. Run your favorite propagation analysis program and then listen to the stations spotted on your local Packetcluster node. Then compare the predicted and your observed SNRs, for example.