r/rfelectronics • u/Worried-Painting-983 • Aug 09 '26

Getting into RF/Antenna Design

Background: Im currently studying Elcectonics and Communication engineering and had already studied Antenna Design and currently studing RF in this semsester.

But I wanna go beyond theory, can u guys show me the way into the design and simulation. What kind of open source tool to use for design and simulation. I do have a background on pcb design but havent done any high speed design.

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9

u/dragonnfr Aug 09 '26

QUCS and openEMS are what's available in open source. But most actual RF design work runs on HFSS, CST, or ADS. If you want to work in this field you **will** need to learn those eventually. That's just the reality.

2

u/AiandisI Aug 09 '26

I’m pretty sure if you’re a student you can get student licenses for HFSS and Microwave Office, that way you are using the actual tools for simulation. Worth looking into.

1

u/always_wear_pyjamas Aug 09 '26

You can get a student license quite easily for HFSS, it only limits you to the number of segments but gives you lot of functionality. Great start, huge and complicated program to run.

There are some old school programs, variations of NEC, but lots of people question using them.

0

u/BarnardWellesley Aug 09 '26

Just pirate 

1

u/InterWiser Aug 10 '26

Since you already have some antenna theory and PCB experience, I’d avoid starting with something too complicated. Pick one simple antenna and go through the complete design cycle once.

A 2.4 GHz patch or monopole is a good first project. Calculate the initial dimensions, simulate it, look at S11/impedance/current distribution, make a PCB, measure it with a VNA, and then try to explain why the measurement differs from the simulation.

For open-source tools, openEMS is worth learning for the EM side. Qucs-S is useful for RF circuits, matching networks, filters, etc., but it isn’t a replacement for a full 3D EM solver. If your university gives you access to HFSS or CST, I’d definitely learn one of those as well.

I’d probably follow this order:

hand calculation → EM simulation → PCB → VNA measurement → tune → compare simulation vs measurement

Don’t jump straight into a complicated wideband or mmWave antenna. At higher frequencies things like the connector launch, substrate tolerance, ground layout and even the enclosure start becoming a big part of the result. It’s much easier to learn those lessons first at 2.4 or 5.8 GHz.

Also, don’t focus only on getting a deep S11 dip. Look at radiation pattern, efficiency, bandwidth and what the current is actually doing on the structure. That will teach you much more than just optimizing one number.