find_optim...trp_coupler(1)

📦 version 4.6.1, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 find_optim...trp_coupler 💖

okay bestie, so this is a page out of the General Commands Manual, and the title got squished down to find_optim...trp_coupler because man pages are like that sometimes 🙈. the real name is the whole long one, and she's part of atlc. let's get into it 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler — part of atlc. that's the whole name section, short and sweet, periodt ✨

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler [options... ] h t Er1 Er2 Z Zodd_req Zeve_reg outfile.bmp

that's the whole vibe check right there. options, then a whole pile of numbers, then a bitmap file at the end 🫶

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️

bestie, this man page is not a complete set of documentation. like, not even close.

the complexity of the atlc project means man pages are genuinely not the ideal way to document it — but out of completeness, man pages get produced anyway 😭. the best documentation that was current at the time this version was produced should be sitting on your hard drive, usually at:

/usr/local/share/atlc/docs/html-docs/index.html

although it might be elsewhere if your sysadmin chose to install the package somewhere else (they do that 🙄). sometimes errors get corrected in the documentation and dropped at http://atlc.sourceforge.net/ before a new release of atlc comes out. and please — if you notice a problem with the documentation, even spelling errors and typos, please let them know. they mean it. they want the typos. 💀

💫 DESCRIPTION 💫

find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler is part of atlc, the CAD package for the design and analysis of transmission lines and directional couplers. now — the executable program atlc (as opposed to the complete package atlc) can analyse the properties of directional couplers, telling you both the odd and even mode impedances Zodd and Zeven. what it cannot do is design a coupler to have specific odd and even mode impedances. and then the original page just says:

The only way to use the program program atlc

…and that's it. that's where the sentence lives now. we're keeping it exactly as it is because the facts are the facts and the sentence is iconic in its own chaotic way 🫠

the parameters 'W' and 'H' and the inner dimensions of the outer conductor. the inner conductor has a diameter of 'd' and is offset from the centre of the outer conductor by an amount 'x' horizontally and 'y' vertically. the space between the inner and outer conductors is a dielectric of relative permittivity 'Er'. if there's just a vacuum dielectric, then 'Er' should be set to 1.0 💛

here's how you actually call her:

find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler  d W H x y Er > filename.bmp

OR

find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler -f filename.bmp d W H x y Er

the bitmaps produced by find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler are 24-bit bit colour bitmaps, as are required by atlc. yes, the original says "24-bit bit colour bitmaps". we love her 🌈

the permittivities of the bitmap, set by 'Er', determine the colours in the bitmap. if Er1 is 1.0, 1.006, 2.1, 2.2, 2.33, 2.5, 3.3, 3.335, 3.7, 4.8, 10.2 or 100, then the colour corresponding to that permittivity gets set according to the colours defined in COLOURS below. if Er is not one of those permittivities, the region of permittivity Er gets set to the colour 0xCAFF00. and here's the thing — the program atlc does not know what these permittivities are, so atlc must be told with the -d command line option, as in example 4 below. no cap, she will not guess 🔥

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -b bitmapsize — sets the size of the bitmap, and therefore the accuracy to which atlc is able to calculate the transmission line's properties. the default value for 'bitmapsize' is normally 4, although this is set at compile time. the value can be set anywhere from 1 to 15, but more than 8 is probably not sensible, bestie. like, just don't 🫶
  • -f outfile — the original page literally just lists this and dips, zero description, so we're matching that energy 💅 (example 4 below shows her doing the same job as the > redirect, but with a filename instead.)
  • -v — causes find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler to print some data to stderr. note: nothing extra goes to standard output, because that's expected to be redirected to a bitmap file. keep your stdout clean, queen ✨

🌈 COLOURS 🌈

the 24-bit bitmaps that atlc expects have 8 bits assigned to represent the amount of red, 8 for blue and 8 for green. hence there are 256 levels of red, green and blue, making a total of 256*256*256=16777216 colours. every one of the possible 16777216 colours can be defined precisely by stating the exact amount of red, green and blue, as in:

red         = 255,000,000 or 0xff0000
green       = 000,255,000 or 0x00ff00
blue        = 000,000,255 or 0x0000ff
black       = 000,000,000 or 0x000000
white       = 255,255,255 or 0xffffff
Brown       = 255,000,255 or 0xff00ff
gray        = 142,142,142 or 0x8e8e8e

some colours, such as pink, turquoise, sandy, brown, gray etc may mean slightly different things to different people. not so with atlc, bestie — the program expects the colours below to be EXACTLY defined as given. whether you feel the colour is sandy or yellow is up to you, but if you use it in your bitmap, then it either needs to be a colour recognised by atlc, or you must define it with a command line option (see OPTIONS and example 5 below) 💅

the following conductors are recognised by atlc:

red    = 255,000,000 or 0xff0000 is the live conductor.
green  = 000,255,000 or 0x00ff00 is the grounded conductor.
black  = 000,000,000 or 0x000000 is the negative conductor

all bitmaps must have the live (red) and grounded (green) conductor. the black conductor is not currently supported, but it will be used to indicate a negative conductor, which will be needed if/when the program gets extended to analyse directional couplers. future plans, we love to see it 👑

the following dielectrics are recognised by atlc and so are produced by find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler:

white     255,255,255 or 0xFFFFFF as Er=1.0   (vacuum)
white     255,202,202 or 0xFFCACA as Er=1.0006 (air)
blue      000,000,255 or 0x0000FF as Er=2.1   (PTFE)
Mid gray  142,242,142 or 0x8E8E8E as Er=2.2   (duroid 5880)
mauve     255.000,255 or 0xFF00FF as Er=2.33  (polyethylene)
yellow    255,255,000 or 0xFFFF00 as Er=2.5   (polystyrene)
sandy     239,203,027 or 0xEFCC1A as Er=3.3   (PVC)
brown     188,127,096 or 0xBC7F60 as Er=3.335 (epoxy resin)
Turquoise 026,239,179 or 0x1AEFB3 as Er=4.8   (glass PCB)
Dark gray 142,142,142 or ox696969 as Er=6.15  (duroid 6006)
L. gray   240,240,240 or 0xDCDCDC as Er=10.2  (duroid 6010)
D. Orange 213,160,077 or 0xD5A04D as Er=100   (for testing)

if the permittivity is one not in the above list, then those parts of the image with Er1 will be set to 0xCAFF00, and those parts with Er2 to 0xAC82AC. write that down 🍓

🌸 EXAMPLES 🌸

here are a few examples of the use of find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler. again, see the html documentation in atlc-X.Y.Z/docs/html-docs for more examples 👑

example 1 — there's just an air dielectric, so Er1=Er2=1.0. the inner of 1x1 inches (or mm, miles etc) is placed centrally in an outer with dimensions 3 x 3 inches. the exact place where the dielectric starts (a) and its width (d) are unimportant, but they must still be entered.

% find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 > ex1.bmp
% atlc ex1.bmp

example 2 — an inner of 15.0 mm x 0.5 mm is surrounded by an outer with internal dimensions of 61.5 x 20.1 mm. there's a material with permittivity 2.1 (Er of PTFE) below the inner conductor. the output from find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler is sent to a file ex1.bmp, which is then processed by atlc.

% find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler 61.5 20.1 5 22 0.5 50 15 5 1.0 2.1 > ex2.bmp
% atlc ex2.bmp

example 3 — the bitmap is made larger, to increase accuracy, but otherwise this is identical to the second example.

% find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler -b7 61.5 20.1 5 22 0.5 50 15 5 1.0 2.1 > ex3.bmp
% atlc ex3.bmp

example 4 — instead of re-directing find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler's output to a file with the > sign, it's done using the -f option. this is the one where you must tell atlc your permittivities with -d, remember 😤

% find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler -f ex4.bmp 61.5 20.1 5 22 0.5 50 15 5 1.0 2.1
% atlc ex4.bmp

example 5 — materials with permittivites 2.78 and 7.89 are used. while there's no change in how to use find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler, since these permittivities are not known, we must tell atlc what they are.

% find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler 61 20 1 4 22 0.5 50 15 5 2.78 7.89 > ex5.bmp
% atlc -d CAFF00=2.78 -d AC82AC=7.89 ex5.bmp

example 6, the sixth and final one — the -v option is used to print some extra data to stderr from find_optimal_dimensions_for_microstrp_coupler. ✨

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

and the links, bestie 💜

and that's the whole page, no notes 💅 written by Dr. David Kirkby, atlc-4.5.0, dated 28th Sept 2003. go design something slay 🫶✨

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