VOACAP Quick Guide

by Jari Perkiömäki, OH6BG


WWW www.voacap.com

High-Frequency (HF) Ionospheric Communications Propagation Analysis and Prediction

Updated: 15 February 2008

This is a brief, a work in progress, guide to using VOACAP - a free professional HF propagation prediction program from NTIA/ITS, originally developed for Voice of America (VOA). This guide should get you well started with VOACAP. A more comprehensive discussion about the finer details of using the software can be found in George Lane's recently-published book Signal-to-Noise Predictions Using VOACAP. A User's Guide (Rockwell Collins).

Table of Contents

1. Downloading VOACAP

2. Space Weather & the Sun

3. VOACAP-related Papers

4. VOACAP - Backgrounds & Running the Prediction

General

The calculation engine, VOACAPW

Graphs & Colours

5. NTIA/ITS HF software HELP Topics

6. VOACAP - Understanding the Prediction

General

MUF, SNR and REL

Signal Power & Noise Power

Antennas & Radiation Angles

Conversions

7. VOACAP - Case Studies

8. HamCAP User's Guide

9. Articles of interest

English

Finnish

Swedish

Japanese

10. Tools & downloadable files for use with VOACAP

Find coordinates and Maidenhead grid locators just by pointing and clicking

Downloadables

Software

Coordinate files

Save the coordinate files (*.GEO) at C:\ITSHFBC\GEOCITY\

Antenna and configuration files

Special Thanks

I wish to thank Mr George Lane for his friendship, invaluable comments and guidance - and his patience in this project. A special thank-you to Greg Hand who still maintains the code.

© 2003-2007 Jari Perkiömäki, OH6BG.