RF Software Please suggest any software that you feel is a great deal

[EternalStudent]

I am getting into RF as a hobby and am doing a little research into software to help model RF.


So far I have found

QUCS
OPENSOURCE
Cost  $0
which as far as I have found in my very limited search is like spice but for RF and has some additional functions.

Matlab HOME
COMMERCIAL
Cost $149 + $75 per year
Add on modules for Matlab cost $49 and $23 per year to stay current (which may not be necessary? but is a good idea)
My personal list of add ons I am considering in MatLab is ~$1500 so even at $49 a module it adds up.
There are free imitators but it seems the job market still only speaks MatLab.

Mathematica Home
COMMERCIAL
Cost ~$200
I live and breath Mathematica.  The main advantage is that its symbolic so you can do calculations at whatever resolution you need.
Mathematica has so many ways to solve a problem and it can follow your strategy instead of you translating into its strategy like other software.
Many problems can be solved in say 5 different ways and having the software work using way number 1 when that is how you want to think is much more beneficial than it sounds.

Labview
COMMERCIAL
Cost ~$150 if you buy from diligent and get their Maker Labview.  Its 100% authorized but its not something Labview makes very public.
Labview allows integration of GPIB instruments into a very easy factor integration or lab integration setup which is valuable if you run any form of hardware using GPIB or other interfaces.




Please give me your suggestions for modeling software that you think is worth the money or worth the time.

I am primarily interested in moving towards the full professional level even at single digit thousand dollar expense or below but list more expensive software if you feel it is required.

I am also interested in lower speed software as my day job is in switching power supplies =)

[ahbushnell]

LTspice or Tina from TI.  They will work at RF frequencies.

[hcglitte]

RFSim99

[dkozel]

Open EMS
Open Source

Electromagnetic field field solving software, powerful for doing antenna or circuit analysis.
http://openems.de/start/index.php

[Wirehead]

4nec2 - If antenna design is your thing

[dcarr]

Sonnet Lite

[hagster]

4nec2 - amazing tool for many antennas and really easy to use.

Octave - is nearly as good as Matlab for most things

Avago AppCAD - useful tool.

GNUradio Companion - can be used with or without hardware in the loop. A bit like Matlab simulink(but better)

Universal Radio Hacker - decode many digital modulations schemes.

AnTune - antenna matching circuit design(needs a VNA)

There must be a good Smith Chart program, but I havent found one.

OpenEMS - looks fairly powerful, but seems a bit tough to learn.

[ECEdesign]

It really depends on what your use case is.  Looking for emag simulators? Antenna? RFIC?

If I didn't have free licenses to Matlab through the university I would be using Python.  I need to learn it anyway since it is super powerful and it is used in the research/industrial sphere.