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sat04aug
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SATELLIT.ENG
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1994-08-04
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Documentation for SATELLIT.EXE
-------------------------------
DISTRIBUTION/COPYRIGHT
-----------------------
The present program is designed for evaluation purposes only. It provides
full functionality until the date which is presented on the starting screen.
After this date the calculation procedure does not work correctly!!!
The software package with all necessary files is freely distributable. It is
not allowed to change this short documentation.
1. Program Parameters
* up to 255 different satellites
* using AMSAT and NORAD format
* optional calculation of AOS (Appearance Of Satellite) and maximum elevation
* optional acustic signal triggered by AOS/LOS
* prediction protocol to textfile
* prediction also for two sites
* locator-coordinate-distance computation
* worldmap with spotlight
* azimuth-/elevation graphic with optional presentation of horizon
* information system for particular satellites
* bi-lingual (English and German)
* all data files are text-type files
* selecticve update of element sets when using NORAD format
* display of the sun terminator
* minimum configuration:
* PC-AT 286 and above
* abt. 200kByte disc capacity
* abt. 400kByte free memory when using graphics
* EGA/VGA-graphic
* optional:
* Arithmeticprocessor
* Mouse
2. Program Description
The program allows to track up to 255 satellites. The tracking is done
eigther in real-time or in the delta-t mode. 16 satellites are presented
simultaneously in the real time table.
The program is controlled by means of the following keys:
<Esc>
The Escape-key is the most important key in the program, for it
helps (almost) every time to abort the working function.
<ENTER>
<ENTER> confirms the selected menu items and starts the corres-
ponding actions.
<CNTRL><ENTER>
This key combination starts the azimuth-/elevation-diagram for
the selected satellite.
<CNTRL>S
^s activates the satellite search function. Its quite useful if
a large number of satellites was loaded. It is not necessary to
use the full name.
Page up/down
Browses through the satellite list.
Cursor-Keys
Selects satellites or menu items, respectively.
The following keys help to control the graphic displays:
<TAB> Toggles between the world map and the horizon display.
Page up/down
Browses through the satellites.
Cursor-Keys
Control the mouse pointer.
It is possible to activate menu items with "hotkeys". Menu items which
require a satellite as parameter, refer to the selected satellite.
Nevertheless we have tried to design the program interface as easy as
possible so that you simply should test it out.
Files:
SATELLIT.EXE uses several data files. All these files can be changed by
the user.
SATELLIT.EXE
The program itself :-)
SATELLIT.INI
Setup file. It is self-explaining. If this file does not exist
it is automatically generated by the program.
One new feature was added - multi satellite tracking. If a
sequence of satellites is specified the program browses through
this sequence, if you are in world map mode.
ELEMENTE.DAT
This file contains the Keplerian data sets of the particular
satellites. If it contains more than 255 satellites it ignores
the remaining ones.
It is possible to use the NORAD-format as well as the
AMSAT-format. If you get your files from a BBS it is not
necessary to edit. The program ignores any stuff which does
not look like data.
IMPORTANT:
We added a new feature. It is now possible to update element sets
automatically. To do this use the following procedure:
- choose the 'Information' item for the particular satellite
- choose 'Update'
- type the name of the file which contains the new elment set
for the particular satellite
- hope that all is ok :-)
NOTE:
To use the above described feature it is necessary to use
NORAD/NASA format for element sets for the specified satellite.
It does NOT work with AMSAT-format.
You can only update but not add new ones. For an update of all
satellites it is more convinient to replace the whole file but
for tracking STS or MIR the selective update obviously has some
advantages.
WELT.MAP
This file contains data for the world map. Its not quite detailed
yet but everybody can improve it. (128 objects are allowed)
LAKES.MAP
Similiar to welt.map. It contains data of larger lakes.
SATMODE.DAT
This file is used for mode control. Please see the example.
UMGEBUNG.DAT
In this file everybody can put his horizon-shape. So you know
the reason why you do not hear the satellite although it has
a 50° elevation...
SATINFO.TXT/SATINFO.ENG
Here you can store all information about particular satellites.
The involved editor is Wordstar-compatible.
When using English output SATINFO.ENG is involved otherwise
SATINFO.TXT.
3. Additional advices - Forecast
If the program seems to be slow then try a Coprocessor. It improves the
performance quite a lot.
We did not implement a print-out function yet, although you have the
corresponding item in the program. If someone wants to print the results he
can do that be using the text file protocolling. The text file can be printed
out be the normal DOS print-command.
There are two several sounds to signal the appearance or the loose of a
satellit. Morse code "K" -.- means a satellite just appeared and Morse code
"SK" ...-.- that it disappeared.
On the graphics displays the doppler shift is computed. Thats the shift in
frequency caused by the relativ velocity between ground station and satellite.
Its useful to find your downlink signal quickly. But you have to take into
account whether you are using an inverting or a non inverting transponder.
noninverting: downlink frequency := downlink frequency (theoretical)
+ uplink shift
+ downlink shift
inverting : downlink frequency := downlink frequency (theoretical)
+ uplink shift
- downlink shift
Inverting transponders compensate the Doppler shift a bit. OSCAR 13 uses
an inverting transponder, RS-10 and RS-12 use non inverting transponders.
What brings the future?
Obviously it is necessary to implement a rotor control. Hopefully, this will
be done in the near future.
The AOS-computation will be done analytically in the next versions.
We spent a lot (some hundreds) of hours designing this program. Nevertheless
it certainly will contain some bugs. So if you fix any problems it would be
very kind of you to give us a message.
If you like the program and want to get a full version then simply contact
us for further information. The fastest way is e-mail...
Here are the ways to contact us:
1.) DL3HRT AX25: DL3HRT@DB0LPZ.#SAX.DEU.EU
Karsten Hansky e-mail: hansky@igel.physik.th-zwickau.de
August-Bebel-Str.14
06712 Kretzschau
GERMANY
2.) DL3HZM AX25: DL3HZM@DB0LPZ.#SAX.DEU.EU
Matthias Mitte e-mail: e3daq@mlucom.urz.uni-halle.de
Wiesenstraße 3
06712 Zeitz
GERMANY
The price for a full version is US $10 if you get the copy by internet. To
get it by mail additional US $5 are required.
The best way is to transfer the money to the following account:
DEUTSCHE BANK Filiale Zeitz
BLZ: (code of the bank) 86070000
Kto-Nr.: (code of account) 6715296
Have a lot of fun!!!
DL3HRT, DL3HZM & DE2HAW.
PS: The latest version is always available via Internet by anonymous ftp to:
igel.physik.th-zwickau.de