Yep - FEKO is one of several. Unless your hobby/job is modeling, though, I
believe most folks would come to the same conclusion.
(and still free, although I think it's a web based version now
https://web.altair.com/academic-hub-feko)
We developed some specialized codes at JPL to look at propagation of 3 GHz
signals through disaster rubble. My practical experience is that the
generalized tools - you spend a lot of time building the model and figuring out
what's important and what's not (e.g. taking a mechanical CAD model and turning
it into triangles) - You can make a specialized tool more quickly, but it's
very narrowly focused. You always have to step back and figure out whether the
juice is worth the squeeze.
Here's a couple papers on Vaughn Cable's FDTD model of rubble (Vaughn is
K6ZTA)
https://dataverse.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=hdl:2014/44201
https://dataverse.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=hdl:2014/44170
On Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:36:31 -0700, David Gilbert <ab7echo@gmail.com> wrote:
FEKO is supposedly a much more sophisticated modeling application
capable of handling complex terrain and even 3D objects like cars (or
tanks, for which I assume it was originally designed) and at one point
it offered a free download for students and experimenters if you
registered with them. I downloaded it and tried to use it, but
eventually decided that the effort it would take to learn it greatly
exceeded the practical benefit I would get from it.
Dave AB7E
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