RFlect

Antenna measurement visualization and analysis for RF engineers.

Documentation · Quickstart · MCP

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

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

rflect is not published on PyPI; install it from GitHub.

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.

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.

What it handles

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.

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.