RFlect

Antenna measurement visualization and analysis for RF engineers.

Documentation · Quickstart · MCP

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RFlect turns antenna-chamber and VNA files into 2D/3D radiation-pattern plots, TRP and gain metrics, polarization analysis, UWB characterization, and DOCX reports. Use the desktop GUI for interactive review, or drive the same math over MCP from Claude Code, Cline, or any stdio MCP client.

It is analysis software, not a certified test laboratory. TRP uses the CTIA / IEEE-149 discrete solid-angle form; that is a calculation convention, not lab accreditation or product certification.

Entrypoints

How you work	Command
GUI	python run_rflect.py (or rflect after pip install -e .)
MCP server	python rflect-mcp/server.py (stdio; usually launched by your MCP client)
Tests	python -m pytest tests/

There is no separate analysis CLI. Batch work goes through the GUI Tools menu or MCP (process_folder, bulk_process_passive, bulk_process_active). See CLI reference.

Install

Windows: RFlect_Installer_vX.X.X.exe or portable RFlect_vX.X.X.exe from Releases.

Linux: RFlect_vX.X.X_linux from the same page; chmod +x and run. Pre-built macOS binaries are not published; build from source.

From source (Python 3.11+; Tk/tkinter required for the GUI):

git clone https://github.com/RFingAdam/RFlect.git
cd RFlect
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate  # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python run_rflect.py

Optional extras from pyproject.toml:

pip install -e ".[mcp]"          # MCP server (mcp SDK)
pip install -e ".[instruments]"  # live VNA/positioner (pyvisa, pyserial)
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

MCP also needs PyYAML (pip install -r rflect-mcp/requirements.txt if you are not using the mcp extra). Details: MCP installation.

Example data and plot outputs

This public repo does not ship customer chamber captures.

What	Where	What it is
GUI / plot screenshots	assets/	Representative outputs (scan selector, 1D/2D/3D patterns, VNA, group delay). Not a measurement dataset.
Synthetic cal-drift fixtures	tests/fixtures/cal_drift/	Small hand-written TRP-cal files for tests.
Optional local measurements	RFLECT_TEST_DATA_DIR	Point integration tests at your WTL/VNA files. Skipped in CI if unset.

Most unit tests use in-memory synthetic grids (tests/conftest.py). Golden-reference tests lock TRP math against analytic oracles (isotropic EIRP integrates back to itself), not against a certified lab report.

Example plot outputs (click to expand)

Passive

G&D comparison — efficiency, gain, and directivity across scans:

HPOL/VPOL 1D — efficiency and total gain vs frequency:

2D azimuth cuts:

Datasheet-style plots:

3D radiation pattern (turbo colormap):

Active TRP

VNA / S-parameters and group delay

What it handles

Scan type	Input	Output
Active TRP	WTL .txt (V5.02 / V5.03)	TRP, H/V power, 2D/3D patterns
Passive gain	WTL HPOL + VPOL .txt pairs	Total/H/V gain, efficiency, directivity
S-parameters	Copper Mountain / generic VNA .csv, Touchstone .s2p	S11, VSWR, return loss, impedance bandwidth
Group delay	2-port VNA .csv, .s2p	Group delay vs frequency, peak-to-peak, distance error
UWB	S2VNA .csv, .s2p	SFF, transfer function, impulse response
CST far-field	CST .txt exports	ECC, fidelity factor, group delay
Folder of the above	Directory	One-call MCP process_folder (passive / active / cal-drift / UWB)

Formats: file-formats. Measurement matrix: measurement types.

GUI usage

1. Select scan type: Active, Passive, or VNA (VSWR / S-parameters).
2. Adjust settings: cable loss, limit lines, frequency range, 3D scale.
3. Import files (Ctrl+O or Import). For passive, pick the HPOL file; RFlect matches VPOL by filename suffix.
4. View results: plots render automatically; Ctrl+R / F5 reprocess.

Also in the GUI: polarization (AR / tilt / XPD / LHCP-RHCP), batch folder processing, maritime/horizon plots, advanced RF dialogs (link budget, indoor, fading, MIMO, wearable), cal-drift, and DOCX export.

MCP (61 tools)

RFlect makes no outbound LLM calls and needs no API key. The MCP agent is the LLM: it calls RFlect for numbers and plots, and may pass narrative into generate_report.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rflect": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/RFlect/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/RFlect/rflect-mcp/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

On Windows use .venv/Scripts/python.exe and forward slashes. Then, for example:

Process every passive pair in /path/to/wifi_antenna and generate a report.

Area	Examples
Import & bulk	import_passive_pair, import_active_processed, process_folder
Pattern analysis	analyze_pattern, get_gain_statistics, compare_polarizations
Reports	generate_report, preview_report
UWB	analyze_uwb_channel, calculate_sff_from_files
Cal drift	cal_drift_ingest, cal_drift_compare
RF methods	synthesize_array, near_field_to_far_field, calculate_tis
VNA / S-params	analyze_s11, analyze_group_delay
Link / MIMO	estimate_link_budget, analyze_mimo_diversity
Compliance	check_spec_compliance, compute_uncertainty_budget
Instruments	vna_read_trace, positioner_scan_grid (in-memory mock unless hardware extras are installed)

Full inventory: MCP_STATUS.md and tools reference. Setup: rflect-mcp/README.md.

Current release (v6.1.0)

v6.1.0 is a 3D-rendering and Windows-packaging fix on top of the v6.0 analysis/MCP expansion (61 tools). Highlights of the current tree:

• Desktop GUI (dark ttk theme) plus MCP for headless/agent workflows
• 3D patterns with equal aspect ratio and a DUT orientation triad
• Maritime/horizon plots, cal-drift tracking, UWB SFF
• Optional SCPI VNA / positioner tools (mock without hardware)

Full notes: CHANGELOG.md, RELEASE_NOTES.md.

Project structure

RFlect/
  plot_antenna/              # Core library + GUI
    gui/                     # Tk window, dialogs, tools, callbacks
    analysis_engine.py       # Gain stats, pattern, polarization
    calculations.py          # TRP, passive gain, efficiency
    rf_methods.py            # Array factor, NF2FF, TIS, time-gating, …
    file_utils.py            # WTL / VNA / Touchstone parsers
    plotting.py              # 2D/3D matplotlib
    uwb_analysis.py          # SFF, transfer function, impulse response
    cal_drift.py             # Calibration-history tracker
    save.py                  # DOCX reports
  rflect-mcp/                # MCP server (61 tools)
  tests/                     # pytest (synthetic fixtures; optional local real files)
  assets/                    # Logo + example plot screenshots
  run_rflect.py              # GUI launcher

Development

pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
python -m pytest tests/
pyinstaller RFlect.spec

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

AGPL-3.0-or-later. There is no standing commercial-license offer.

The project name and logo files are not part of the licensed work. The licence grants no permission to use them except as needed to describe the origin of the work.

Vendor names (WTL, Copper Mountain, CST, CTIA, and similar) identify file formats and methods RFlect talks to. That is nominative use, not affiliation or endorsement.