[windows 7,8,10] If F1 key (Help) won't work anymore, please consult the 
		..\4nec2\exe\4nec2.rtf file as simple rich text format file.

		If someone would like to take the effort to port the 4nec2.chm format
		(based on the 4nec2.rtf file) to html, please do so and let me know.


[version 5.8.8] Short (ahum) explanation how to create/install the 4nec2 environment
	        (Windows-95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/W7)

IMPORTANT:	Starting with version 5.8.3. the none 3D style 4nec2.exe program has 
		become obsolete. The full featured 4nec2X.exe program is renamed to
		4nec2.exe (without the 'X') and is now the default program to use.
		
	        --> In case of problems be sure you red the sections next to the below
		    installation steps.


To install the 4nec2 package, follow the below steps.
---------------------------------------------------------------

1) Extract the setup_4nec2.exe program from the 4nec2.zip file and copy or move
   it into a temporary folder.

2) Double click the setup_4nec2.exe program. This wil automatically install 4nec2.exe
   and other required files used by the 4nec2 package.

3) Start the 4nec2 program. If 4nec2 was not installed in the default folder, the 
   'Open file' box could show up. Then browsw to you ..\4nec2\models folder and select
   one of the example files to open and load intio 4nec2.

4) When using 4nec2 together with a licensed Nec-4 engine instead of the default 
   public-domain Nec-2 engines, read below item d) first.

5) Te use GnuPlot for additional plotting, download GnuPlot version 4.0 from the
   4nec2 website and unpack the gp400win32.zip file into one or the other folder on
   your system. E.g. C:\gnuplot. After this use 'Settings->Folders->Gnuplot folder'
   and enter/check the folder name.

6) To use 4nec2 together with the ItsHF propagation prediction software, download the
   installer (inshfbc_yymmdd.exe) from http://www.voacap.com/ and (double)click the 
   exe after downloading. After installation use 'Settings->Folders->ItsHF folder'
   to set the folder name, e.g. C:\ItsHFbc
   When running Windows-7, see the below note about using this OS.

7) In case of difficulties running the 4nec2 program, please read the below notes.


*****************************************************************************************

Windows-7:
	When using 4nec2 in co-operation with ItsHF and you are experiencing problems
	running multi step propagation predictions the default windows-7 user security 
	level is too high to allow seamless interfacing between 4nec2 and ItsHF.
	To overcome this problem, use Start -> Control panel -> User accounts and select
	the current user. Then click 'Change user account control settings' and on the
	new window set the slider down to 'never notify'. After this restart your system. 

3D viewer:
	To be able to run the 4nec2 3D viewer, the Microsoft DirectX software available
	on your system (used for 3D rendering) must be Version 8.0 or later. 
	The check your current version, use 'DirectX-version' on the 4nec2 'Help' menu
	or run the GetDxVersion.exe program, located in the ..\4nec2\exe folder.

	If DirectX version 7.x or before is installed, please download the latest 
	DirectX version from www.microsoft.com and install this on your system. Most 
	modern computer-systems (2001 and up) should have an 8.0 or later version 
	already available.
	Note that, according the microsoft website, after installation of DirectX8.1
	or later this version can not be removed anymore, so read carefully what is 
	written about this on the microsoft DirectX download-page

	If you are still experiencing problems, be sure you are using the latest 
	drivers belonging to you graphics-card. Consult the manufacturers website 
	to check for this.

	The DirectX based 4nec2 version does not run on windows-NT, because windows-
	NT does not allow the installation of the DirectX package.

	You can get additional DirectX diagnostic information by running/opening the 
	DXDIAG tool from 'Start->Run' on the windows task-bar.


FURTHER IMPORTANT GENERAL NOTES:

	a) If the 4nec2 help file can not be found after pressing the <F1> key, browse
	   to the ...\4nec2\exe folder and select the 4nec2.chm file.

	b) In case this should not work on older systems, the old-version 4nec2.hlp
	   and for direct reading the 4nec2.rtf (help) files are available.
	   Double-click on these files to opan and read them.  

	c) When key's F6 (Edit input-file), F8 (View output file) and/or 'Help->Nec2 user-
	   manual'  won't work you probably have a different path to the Notepad, Wordpad
	   or Word text editor's. You may customize these by changing the folder settings
	   in the 'Settings->Folders->xxx editor' menu on the 'Main (F2)' window. 
	   To locate your Notepad, Wordpad or Word text editor executables: NOTEPAD.EXE, 
	   WORDPAD.EXE or WINWORD.EXE use: 'Start->find->files or folders' on your
	   windows task-bar.

	d) Somewhere around mid 2013 the nec4.2 version became available. If you have 
	   the command line based NEC42W32CL.exe (or NEC42W64CL.exe) versions available
	   in your Nec4 package and you would like to use this, please first specify that
	   you are using a Nec4 base engine by selecting 'Settings -> Nec engine -> 
	   Nec4d*.exe'. After this, manually specify the name for the (fixed) Nec4 engine
	   to use. You do this by selecting 'Settings -> Nec engine -> Manual select' and
	   specify the Nec4.2 engine name, e.g.'NEC42W32CL.EXE'. After OK fill in the 
	   max number of segments to use. Any number below 32000 is accepted. 

	   Below is the description for using 4nec2 with the older Nec4D*.exe engines...
	   When using 4nec2 with a Nec-4 engine it is required to copy a number of Nec4 
	   engine-files from your NEC4 CD into the ..\4nec2\exe folder, these are:
	   nec4dCL600.exe, nec4dCL1200.exe, nec4dCL2000.exe, nec4dCL3600.exe, nec4dCL7500.exe
	   and nec4dCL10600.exe

	   After this, click 'Settings -> NEC-engine -> Nec4d*.exe' on the 'Main' window
	   to let 4nec2 know it must use the Nec4d*.exe executable instead of the default
           nec2d(XS)*.exe files to calculate results.

	   Place your Nec4UsersMan.pdf file in the ..\4nec2 folder for easy access
	   through the 4nec2 Help function.

	   Note however that Nec-4 is a licensed product, so no Nec4 engines are included
	   in the 4nec2 package. A Nec-4 license and corresponding executable files can 
	   be purchased at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. (LLN)

	   Due to the fact that the Nec4d*.exe files as delivered on the LLN-CD are not built
	   with command-line argument and/or input(file) redirection support the starting and 
	   file-name interfacing between 4nec2 and the Nec4d*.exe engines is somewhat cumber-
	   some. You could contact Jerry Burke at LLN to see if he is willing to create a 
	   special Nec4d*.exe file including command-line support for you or you could compile
	   your own Nec4d*.exe file using the freeware G77 fortran-compiler. If so, let me
	   know and I will include the command-line support for the Nec-4 engine into 4nec2. 

	   Because of the above it's possible that after a system (re)boot, the first time
	   the Nec4d engine is called an exception is generated due to a time-out when loading
	   the Nec4d program file. You can avoid this by doing a single manual start of the 
	   Nec4d*.exe executable, so it's loaded in your system cache. 

	   When you woould like to create your own Nec4D*.exe engine files. Please create
	   files with 600, 1200, 2000, 2600 and 7500 segments and with corresponding names, 
	   such as Nec4dCL600.exe to Nec4dCL10600.exe and place them in the ..\4nec2\exe 
	   folder.

	   It's also possible to use a 'static' user-specified Nec4D.exe file if you check
	   the 'manual select' option in the settings menu (after having checked the Nec4 
	   option). Using this option you are able to specify a Nec4 executable file name,
	   together with the max number of segments (matrix size) this engine can handle.
	   This way, 4nec2 does not automatically select the 'smallest' enging depending on
	   the nr of segments used in the model, but always uses the specified engine.

	   This 'option' should also be selected when using Nec4 engine capable of running 
	   more than 10600 segments. (Up to a max of 32000 segments). Specify the name of
	   your Nec4d executable engine file and specify the maximum number of segments this
	   engine can handle.

	   For even more control select 'Settings -> Nec engine -> Wait in DOS box', while
	   Nec4 is enabled. This way the ..\4nec2\exe\Nec4.bat file is called. In this 
	   one can add special user specific actions.
	
	   Note also that the author of 4nec2 did not have the possibility to test all
	   differences between Nec2 and Nec4 himself because of above license issues, so
	   if you are using Nec4 and you think you found a Nec4 related problem, please
	   let me know. 

	   By default 4nec2 does convert 4nec2 specific EX 6 and GN 3 commands to standard
	   Nec2/4 based commands. However Nec4.2 does have such commands by itself.
	   If needed, one can disable this automatic conversion using the 'No EX6/GN3 conv'
	   setting in the 'Settings -> Nec engine' menu.


	e) Starting with version 5.8.3 all required Nec2 engines are included in the package.
	   These engine files are named Nec2dXS*.exe and are located in the ..\4nec2\exe folder.
	   In case of problems running Nec2, please check under 'Settings->Nec enging' on the
	   'Main (F2)' window if Nec2dXS*.exe is selected as the engine to use.
	   Although still included in the package (at least the 500 and 1500 segment engines)
	   Nec2 engines of the Nec2d*.exe type are old style Nec2 engines and should not be
	   used anymore.

	   The largest number of segments that can be run on your system with the recent 
	   Nec2dXS engine depends on the amount of time you have. When the amount of RAM is 
	   not enough to do the calculations additional disk storage (virtual-memory) is used
	   by the nec2dXS engine. However this is much, much slower than when using physical
	   RAM memory

	   For the old style Nec2d engine, The largest number of segments you can run on your
	   system depends on the 'biggest' engine that can be run on the system. This mainly
	   depends on the amount of physical/RAM memory available on your computer. 
	   If RAM is not enough a "not enough memory-error" is generated, and you will 
	   have to lower the number of segmetns in your modell. Note however, that when
	   a certain executable should just run, but there is too much memory in use by Windows
	   or other programs, more obscure errors like "Error opening input file" could be
	   generated.

	   for those who created themselves a user specific Nec2 executable engine file capa-
	   ble or running over 11000 segments (up to a max of 32000 segments) it is possible
	   to specify a static user specific Nec2 executable engine file. To do so, click
	   'Settings -> Nec engine -> Manual select' and specify the name of the executable
	   engine file together with the maximum number of segments this engine can handle.  


	f) On Windows-XP and -2000 systems it is possible following error is generated when
	   the Nec-2 engine is started: "The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS
	   and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application."
	   To solve this problem, please consult the '_Run_DOS_Problem.txt' file included
	   in the package

	g) Some windows-2000 and -XP users reported problems related to the Nec-2 engine
	   when the package is installed under C:\program files. If this is the case, it 
	   could be wise to select a folder-name and/or nec-file names without embedded
	   spaces. 

	h) When using none-default desktop (color) settings, it is possible that one or
	   more text-boxes and/or windows are not visible or correctly painted. When 
	   using a none-default setting, please temporary switch back to the default 
	   desktop (color) settings to check if, for both settings, the same information
	   is visible.
	   On windows-XP, with its large default Font-size it is possible lower part of the
	   window is cut-off. If required you can resize or re-position any 4nec2 window. 
	   These settings are automatically save and re-used the next time 4nec2 is started.
	   
	i) See 4nec2.chm for more information about 4nec2 functionality. 4nec2 help in 
	   printable form is included in the 4nec2.rtf file. You can print this file for
	   comfortable reading. Also the file _GetStarted.txt might help you find your
	   way through the 4nec2 package.
	
	j) The Nec-2 user manual can be found at "www.nec2.org". Select the word document 
	   and place this file as 'NEC2.DOC' in your '..\4nec2' folder for viewing with 
	   'Help -> nec-2 manual'.

	k) When you try to read-in an incomplete *.out output file (caused by nec2d errors
	   or because calculation was not yet finished), it is possible that a 4NEC2 program 
	   error is generated because of the incomplete data. To solve the problem, Remove 
	   the '*.out' file from the '\OUT' folder and try again.

	l) A suggestion from a user having difficulties: (see also item [m] below)

	   > Just an advice to all who are having problems with the 4NEC2 program.
	   > If, when you try to generate the output, the only thing you see is a
	   > flashing DOS window, then nothing else happens, this is the cure :
	   >
	   > - locate in the EXE folder of the program a DOS shortcut named 4NEC2 
	   > without extensions
	   > - open its properties (by clicking on it with right mouse-button)
	   > - select the "Memory" tab
	   > - in the "Initial Environment" combo box, make the choice "4096" instead of 
	   > the default "Auto"
	   > - click Apply, then Ok
	   >
	   > Try to execute the program again, now it should work ok.

	m) Due to the DOS based nature of the original nec2 engine, filenames are
	   internally truncated to 8 characters. Normally this should work fine, however
	   if white-spaces are embedded in your file-name the truncation might fail, so
	   don't use white-spaces in your file-names.
	   Furthermore the maximum file-name length for *.gnd files is restricted to 8 
	   characters. When you run a lot of different (high)freq/cond/diel settings, it
	   is occasionally possible you get an "Error on groundfile" message. It this is
	   the case, remove all *.gnd files and try again.

	n) When no *.out output is generated by your Nec-2/4 engine (check the \OUT folder), 
	   please set the "Wait for DOS-box option" in 'Settings->Other settings' on the
	   "Main" form, to see what error message is logged. 
	   Furthermore you could temporary remove the "@echo off" line in the 4nec2.bat 
	   file in the \EXE folder, by adding the characters "rem" before it. This should 
	   deliver even more logging.

	o) If an "out of environment space" error is generated, please re-read item k) or
	   consult the '_Out_of_env_space.txt' file included in the package

	p) If you enjoy this software, you could send me a note and tell me how you did hear
	   about 4nec2. This way I can also inform you when new versions are available.

	q) If you should experience any problems installing and/or running the 4nec2 program,
	   or for suggestions, questions or remarks, please contact me at:     
									     4nec2@gmx.net

	   TO AVOID DELETING YOUR MAIL AS SPAM, PLEASE INCLUDE "4NEC2 MODELLER" AS THE
	   SUBJECT !!

*****************************************************************************************

For latest versions, changes and/or bugfixes see the ReleaseNotes on my website:

	http://www.qsl.net/4nec2/


