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Install and first simulation

Download RayRF Studio, sign in, and run the bundled 5.8 GHz patch antenna from the welcome picker to results. The walkthrough video covers the same steps.

Download and install

RayRF Studio runs on Windows and Linux. Sign in at rayrf.com/dashboard/downloads and download the build for your platform.

  • Windows. Run RayRF-Studio-<version>-Setup.exe. It installs the app and adds RayRF Studio to the Start menu.
  • Linux. Download the .AppImage, mark it executable (chmod +x), and run it. It is self-contained, so there is nothing else to install.

The desktop app carries a built-in update checker, so a later launch offers to update itself. Telemetry and updates are covered at the end of this page.

First launch

On the first launch with no license stored, the sign-in dialog opens over the window. It has two tabs and a viewer-mode escape.

You can sign in now or skip with Continue with viewer-only license. Without a license RayRF runs in viewer mode: you can open and explore projects and look at saved results, but the geometry editor is locked and simulations do not run. The viewer is free. You can sign in later from the account button in the title bar. Activation is covered in the next section.

After the sign-in dialog, the welcome picker opens. It also opens from File then New Project.

  • Blank Project starts an empty project with no layers, geometry, or settings.
  • Patch Antenna Example opens the bundled 5.8 GHz patch antenna.
  • Recent projects lists your recent .rfsim files, with Open Project for anything else.

Closing the picker with Escape or the corner button keeps whatever project was open, which at startup is a fresh blank one.

Activate a license

Activation binds this machine to your account. Two ways, from the sign-in dialog:

  • Sign in through RayRF opens your browser to approve this machine. Approve it and the dialog signs in on its own.
  • Enter license key takes a key from your dashboard. Paste it and click Activate.

The command line shares the same license state. rayrf auth --license-key KEY activates a key headlessly, rayrf auth --status shows the current state, and rayrf auth --deactivate releases the seat. Whichever you use, the desktop app and the CLI both read the result. See CLI overview.

A license enables editing and running simulations. What each tier includes is on the pricing page.

Run the patch antenna example

Pick Patch Antenna Example from the welcome picker. It opens a complete design: a 5.8 GHz patch on an FR-4 stackup, with a feed port, ready to run. The Edit tab shows the stackup and the 2D canvas.

Open the Simulate tab and click Run Simulation. The example needs to be saved first, because it opens detached from the bundled file to keep that file untouched. RayRF prompts with Save Project As: pick a folder and name the .rfsim. The run then starts. For any other project, Ctrl+S saves in place.

During the run the button reads Stop Early and the title bar shows a RUNNING badge with the elapsed time and throughput. The Energy Ringdown plot fills the tab: it tracks the residual field energy in the domain against the time step on a log axis, with a dashed line at the energy threshold the run stops at. The run is valid once the energy rings down to that line, covered on FDTD tips. When it reaches the threshold the plot reads Simulation Finished, RayRF extracts the results, and the badge reads COMPLETE. See Running simulations.

Open the S-Parameters tab for the return loss: it plots S11 and a Smith chart from the run, with the resonant dip near 5.8 GHz. See S-parameters. Open the Radiation Pattern tab for the far field as a 3D surface and a 2D polar cut. See Radiation pattern.

Telemetry and updates

RayRF sends anonymous usage telemetry: which features and dialogs you use, bucketed project-size classes, hardware specs, and run timing. It never sends your designs, results, frequencies, file names, or any text you type. It is on by default outside the EU and UK and off by default inside them, and your account setting overrides the local one. Settings then Anonymous Usage Telemetry shows the exact fields, your install ID, and a toggle.

The update checker runs once per launch against the current platform. When a newer release is available, the dialog offers Update now (download the installer, verify its checksum, launch it, and quit), Remind me later, or Skip this version. Later launches show an Update <version> available badge in the title bar instead of the dialog. Settings then Check for updates forces a fresh check.