# ASCII File Formats for 2D Patterns

Describe a horizontal or vertical antenna pattern using an ASCII file format.

ASCII files describing either the horizontal or vertical antenna pattern can be read with any ASCII text editor and with AMan. These files are therefore ideally suited to exchange information about antenna patterns with any other software package.

Two file types are supported:

Table 1. File extensions for a 2D antenna pattern in ASCII format.
Extension Meaning
.aha Antenna pattern horizontal ASCII
.ava Antenna pattern vertical ASCII
Table 2. Example of a 2D antenna pattern in ASCII file format.
.ava .aha
* Comments
* The number of pairs
16
*  Theta 	Attenuation
0.00 	   -18.00
15.00	   -20.00
30.00	   -22.80
50.00	   -27.00
55.00	   -32.00
90.00	   -37.00
120.00 	 -32.00
150.00 	 -27.00
180.00 	 -30.00
190.00 	 -40.00
245.00 	 -30.00
255.00 	 -28.00
270.00 	 -24.50
285.00 	 -22.00
300.00 	 -20.50
330.00 	 -18.00

* Comments
* The number of pairs
16
*   Phi  	Attenuation
0.00  	  -18.00
15.00 	  -26.12
30.00 	  -32.72
45.00 	  -37.23
55.00 	  -39.12
90.00 	  -39.72
110.00 	  39.12
140.00 	 -37.23
180.00	  -38.48
210.00 	 -39.86
240.00 	 -38.61
250.00 	 -37.80
270.00 	 -35.07
285.00 	 -31.24
300.00 	 -27.63
330.00 	 -18.00


In .ava and .aha files, the first value after the comment lines, which may begin either with * or #, is the number of the following pairs of values.

The pairs must be in one line and always consist of an angle and a gain information. No information about phases is stored. A new pair must be in a new line.

The pairs must neither be ordered specially nor they must have a constant angle increment. All undefined angles are interpolated (if required during computation).

Angle information is stored in degrees and the gain/attenuation in dB. The gain/attenuation is relative to the isotropic radiator, and positive values indicate higher gain (compared to iso) and negative values indicate attenuation (compared to iso).