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1994-02-08
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The
PC-TRACK VERSION 3.0
USER GUIDE
Simplified Satellite Tracking
For IBM Compatible Computers
Copyright 1989-1994
Thomas C. Johnson
Acme Workshops
Copyrights
PC-Track is NOT a public domain program. It is a
commercial product copyright 1989-1994 by Thomas C.
Johnson of Acme Workshops. All rights reserved.
The PC-Track software, data, reference manuals, and
other documentation may not be reproduced in whole or
in part without written permission from Acme Workshops,
except as described in the files LICENSE.DOC,
VENDOR.DOC, and SYSOP.DOC.
License Statement
The complete text of the license statement is provided
in the file LICENSE.DOC.
Disclaimer Of Warranty
Although this software, data, and documentation have
been thoroughly tested and reviewed, both are provided
solely "as is" and without warranty of any kind. Acme
Workshops specifically disclaims all warranties,
expressed or implied, including, but not limited to,
implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a
particular purpose with respect to defects in the
distribution media or method, documentation, software,
and the license granted herein.
In no event shall Acme Workshops or Thomas C. Johnson
be liable for any loss of profit or any other damage,
including but not limited to, special, incidental,
commercial, consequential or other damages of any kind
resulting from the use of this software, data or
documentation.
The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Typical Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Basic Concepts of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Graphics Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Active Satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Primary Satellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Active Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Primary & Secondary Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Program Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Main Menu Option Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Main Menu Option : System
(displayed as 3 parallel horizontal parallel
lines at the left end of the menu line) . 10
System | About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
System | Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Main Menu Option: File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
File | New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
File | Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
File | Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
File | Save As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
File | Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
File | Import | Satellites . . . . . . . . . 11
File | Import | Satellites | NORAD . . . . . 11
File | Import | Satellites | AMSAT . . . . . 11
File | Import | Satellites | PC-TRACK . . . . 11
File | Import | Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
File | Import | Sites | PC-TRACK . . . . . . 12
File | Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Main Menu Option : Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Edit | Satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Edit | Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Edit | Graphics Colors . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Edit | Text Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Main Menu Option : View . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
View | Graphics Track . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
View | Text Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
View | Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Main Menu Option : Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Options | System Config . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Options | Page Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Options | Select Printer . . . . . . . . . . 14
Options | Printer Codes . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Editing Satellite Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Edit Satellites Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Master Satellites List Box . . . . . . . . . 15
Primary Satellite Pickline: . . . . . . . . . 15
Edit Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Add Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Delete Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Active Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Edit Satellite Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Name Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Catalog Number Input Line . . . . . . . . . . 17
Epoch Year Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Epoch Day Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Decay Rate Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Inclination Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Rt Asc of Node Input Line . . . . . . . . . . 17
Eccentricity Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Arg Of Perigee Input Line . . . . . . . . . . 17
Mean Anomaly Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Mean Motion Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Revolution Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Frequency 1 Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Frequency 2 Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Cancel Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Select Active Satellites Dialog Box . . . . . . . 19
Master Satellites List Box . . . . . . . . . 19
Active Satellites List Box . . . . . . . . . 19
>> Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
<< Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
< All Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Importing New Satellite Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Editing Site Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Edit Sites Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Master Sites List Box . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Primary and Secondary Site Picklines . . . . . 21
Edit Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Add Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Delete Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Active Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Edit Site Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Name Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Latitude Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Longitude Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Height Input Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Minimum Elevation Input Line . . . . . . . . 23
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Cancel Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Select Active Sites Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . 23
Master Sites List Box . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Active Sites List Box . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
>> Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
<< Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
< All Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Importing New Site Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Graphics Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Graphics Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Main Track Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
F1 : Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
F2 : Realtime On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
F3 : Select Globe View . . . . . . . . . . . 27
F4 : Projection Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
F5 : Refresh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
F6 : Ground Site View Enable/Disable . . . . 28
F7 : Pause Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
F8 : Edit Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
F9 : Edit Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Ground Site Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
AER Data Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Date / Time Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Left and Right Arrow Keys . . . . . . . . . . 31
Up and Down Arrow Keys . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Text Mode Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Text Mode Tracking Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Track Date/Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Set Time Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Pause Checkbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Satellite Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Site Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Realtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Printer Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Track Time Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Interval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Cancel Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Mutual Visibility Pass Scan Window . . . . . . . . . . 37
Start Date and Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Stop Date and Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Reset Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Status Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Pass Summary List Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Scan Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Display Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Delete Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Print Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Pass Point Display Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Pass Point List Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Print Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
System Configuration Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Image Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Time Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Date Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Time Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Cancel Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Selecting Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Printer Selection List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Select Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
iv
The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Cancel Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Changing the Printer Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
About Printer Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Printer Code Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Line Spacing Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Printer Code for Normal Line Spacing . . . . . 47
Lines Per Inch (Normal) . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Printer Code for Narrow Line Spacing . . . . . 48
Lines Per Inch (Narrow) . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Character Width Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Printer Code for Normal Character Printing . . 48
Characters Per Inch (Normal) . . . . . . . . . 48
Printer Code for Narrow Printing . . . . . . . 48
Characters Per Inch (Narrow) . . . . . . . . . 49
Other Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Printer Code To Turn On Bold Characters . . . 49
Printer Code To Turn Off Bold Characters . . . 50
Printer Code For Form Feed . . . . . . . . . . 50
Select IBM Box Character Set . . . . . . . . . 50
Done Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Cancel Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Page Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Line Spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Character Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Page Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Page Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Top Margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Left Margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Bottom Margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Print To . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Form Advance Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
The User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Using The Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Double Clicking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Using the MENU system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
SHORTCUT KEYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
F10 KEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
MOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Working with windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
CLOSING WINDOWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
MOVING WINDOWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
RESIZING WINDOWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Working with Dialog Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
MOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
SHORTCUT KEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
TAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Input Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Static Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Scroll Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Pick Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
List Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Radio Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Check Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Other Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Message Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Program Status Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
File Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Name Input Box: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Files List Box: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
File Information Panel: . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Cancel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Path Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Directory Name Input Box . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Directory Tree List Box . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Chdir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Cancel Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Using the HELP system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Changing Screen Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Group List Box: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Item List Box: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Color Palettes: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Monochrome Palettes: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Sample Display: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Error Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Printed Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Online Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Usenet News Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
FTP Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Import File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
vi
The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
NORAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
AMSAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
PC-Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Comma Delimited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
PC-TRACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
vii
The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Introduction
History
Ever since creation men have stood in awe of the
vastness of space, the beauty of the stars, and the
complexity of the universe. They have struggled to
understand its operation and define the causes of its
phenomena. Up until the 17th century, while crude
predictions of some events were possible, efforts to
explain the nature of the operation of the heavenly
bodies proved futile and error prone at best.
The observations and analysis work of brilliant men
like Galileo, Copernicus, and Brahe opened the door to
a more accurate understanding. Building on these
observations, Johannes Kepler presented the first
accurate laws of planetary motion. Later, the brilliant
mind in Isaac Newton gave the world definitive
explanations of the movements of mass in space, with
precise mathematical formulas defining gravitation,
inertia, and motion.
Through the years, men have sought to refine these laws
and equations, and find ways to solve them quicker and
more efficiently. With the advent of the digital
computer, the tool for doing such complicated
mathematical analysis became available. As computer
technology progressed, the speed of performing these
calculations increased proportionately. As graphical
display systems became more developed, the capability
to not only compute the answers was present, but the
ability to present them in an understandable pictorial
form was also possible.
Today incredible computational and display power is
available on small desktop personal computers at very
affordable prices. And now with the developement of
PC-TRACK 3.0, inexpensive and easy-to-use software is
available to take advantage of that power to provide a
simple tool for the predicting and visualizing
earth-orbiting objects, matching the tried and true
1
The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
principals defined by Newton and Kepler with the power
of the modern personal computer...
Typical Uses
PC-TRACK 3.0 makes use of the computational power and
display capablities of late model personal computers to
make orbital mechanics simple, understandable, and
useful. This sophisticated but user-friendly package
has a wide range of features. Some applications for
which PC-TRACK is suitable are:
* Teach and demonstrate astrodynamic principals.
* Predict mutual visibility passes.
* Track satellite positions in real time.
* Display satellite visibility swaths.
* Visualize Satellite Coverage Areas
Capabilities
PC-TRACK is a powerful tool, utilizing the latest in
object-oriented technology and double-precision
calculations to accurately compute required data. PC-
TRACK is capable of computing:
* Fields of view for any of the earth sites provided
or any user-defined site.
* Positions and velocities any or all of the
satellites provided and any user-defined
satellites.
* Doppler shifted downlink frequencies
* Viewing angles
* Ranges and range rates.
* Future mutually visible passes and associated data
(including acquisition of signal time (AOS), loss
of signal time (LOS), time in range (TIR), maximum
elevation (MAX EL), and sun illumination.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Graphics
PC-TRACK takes advantage of the standard VGA 640x480
resolution mode for graphics displays. With any
available mode PC-TRACK is capable of displaying:
* Positions of any or all of the satellites provided
or any user defined satellites simultaneously.
* Positions of any or all of the sites provided or
any user defined site.
* Line of site lines from all active sites to all
active satellites.
* Altitude lines for all active satellites.
* Visibility footprints for all active satellites.
* Satellite space position (with or without trail)
for all active satellites
* Sub-satellite point position (with or without
trail) for all active satellites
* Earth Centered Fixed (ECF) 3D projections
* Geographic features of the earth
* Any combination of coasts, islands, countries,
states, rivers and lakes (with MAPGEN, provide to
registered users).
* Latitude and longitude lines.
* Mercator flat map projections.
* Ground Site viewing angles
* Current tracking date, time and interval as either
UTC or Local time with 3 different date formats
* Site and satellite names while tracking
* Metric or English distances
3
The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Features
With PC-TRACK you have the latest in satellite tracking
technology for your IBM compatible PC. PC-TRACK
provides:
* Runs in DOS protected mode to provide access to
all available system memory (up to 16 MB).
* Complete control over all display attributes
(including those described above), colors, site
and satellite selection to make displays as simple
or detailed as necessary.
* Simple update of orbital elements through direct
import of data from:
NASA/NORAD two-line element files
AMSAT keplerian element files
PC-TRACK 1.x & 2.x object data files
* Multiple "personalities" through the use of
user-defined parameter files which define display
attributes, colors, current globe view, active
sites, active satellites, etc.
* User friendly menu driven windowed interface.
System Requirements
In order to use PC-Track most effectively, you should
have a computer system that has the following features:
CPU: Any 80x86 processor.
(Math coprocessor is not required, but is
HIGHLY recommended)
RAM: 2 - 16 MB
DISK: Requires at least 3 MB of disk space for
program and data files.
VIDEO: VGA
DOS: MS-DOS 5.0 or later.
DR-DOS 5.0 or later.
MOUSE: A mouse will allow you to take advantage of
many convenient features of PC-Track, and is
4
The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
much easier to use if you have one, but you
can get by without one.
If you do wish to use a mouse, the following
is required for proper operation:
-Microsoft Mouse version 6.1 or later,
or any mouse compatible with this.
-Logitech Mouse version 3.4 or later.
-Mouse Systems PC Mouse version 6.22 or
later.
-IMSI mouse version 6.11 or later.
The mouse driver must be loaded before
running PC-Track.
KEYBOARD: A standard 101 key "AT" style keyboard
(sometimes referred to as an "Extended"
keyboard) is recommended.
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Basic Concepts of Operation
PC-TRACK 3.0 utilizes two databases (sites and
satellites) and a set of operational parameters to
control program operation. All of the parameters and
each of the databases are easily controlled and edited
by the user, making the program extremely flexible and
easily configured to operational needs. Each of the
databases are easily edited and updated from within
PC-TRACK using available main menu options and can be
updated by direct import of new data in several
different file formats.
Databases
PC-TRACK maintains two databases, one for satellites
and one for sites. These databases contain all of the
satellites and sites that PC-TRACK will work with. Each
of the databases has a limit of 200 items.
Satellites
The satellite database contains data for all of the
satellites that will be available to PC-TRACK. This
database holds the keplerian elements for each
satellite, as well as two downlink frequencies. The
database also holds other operational information for
each satellite, not visible to the user.
The satellite database may be edited using the F5 key
from the main menu (or selecting the Edit | Satellites
option). This opens up the Edit Satellites dialog box
which allows you to Add, Edit, and Delete individual
satellites. Each of these options are described later.
Sites
The site database contains data for all of the sites
that will be available to PC-TRACK. This database holds
location for each site. The database also holds other
operational information for each site, not visible to
the user.
The site database may be edited using the F6 key from
the main menu (or selecting the Edit | Sites option).
This opens up the Edit Sites dialog box which allows
you to Add, Edit and Delete individual sites. Each of
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these options are described later.
Parameters
"Parameters" is the term given to the collective group
of program attributes and colors that determine program
operation. Each parameter controls a specific aspect of
the program such as operational properties, display
characteristics, and colors. These parameters can be
saved to and loaded from disk as separate text based
data files using the Files option from the main menu.
This gives you the ability to have several different
"personality" files available for several different
operational profiles. Parameters can be changed from
various places within the program, depending on what
portion of the program is operational at the time.
There are two different categories of parameters used
in PC-TRACK; attributes and colors, described as
follows.
Attributes
Program attributes control how the program operates,
what is to be computed, and what is to be displayed.
Most of them in turn are grouped in several categories
depending on which aspect of the program they control.
Attributes associated with a particular graphics
display mode may be edited while within that mode by
pressing the F8 key.
Other attributes exist that are considered program-wide
attributes. These affect the time base (UTC or Local)
and distances (Meters or English), date format and time
zone. These may be edited in the Options | System
Config main menu option (F8).
Graphics Colors
The other category of parameters used in PC-TRACK
control the colors that will be used to display all of
the various items displayed in graphics mode. This
includes things like the color of the window frames,
satellite names, line colors, etc. These color
parameters are grouped in several categories. Most
colors associated with the graphics tracking mode may
also be edited while within that mode by pressing the
F9 key. Pressing the F7 key from the main menu (or
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
selecting the Edit | Graphics Colors option) opens the
Edit Graphics Colors dialog box which presents the
frame, help window, and the track window colors for
easy editing.
NOTE:
Text mode colors may be edited by pressing
SHIFT-F7 from the main menu (or selecting the
Edit | Text Colors option). These colors,
however, are NOT saved in the Parameters
file, but in a separate file on the disk.
Active Satellites
PC-TRACK maintains a list of what is considered "active
satellites" for use in various modes. These active
satellites are selected by the user from the satellite
database and determine which of the satellites in the
database will be used. These are the ones that will
appear on the screen when in the graphics track mode.
They are also used during the scan process, with each
active satellite being scanned for the designated
period of time to determine visibility times. Active
satellites are selected by the user using the F5 key
from the main menu (or selecting the Edit | Satellites
main menu option). The names of each of the active
satellites are stored in the parameter file along with
the attributes and colors, allowing you to save
complete operational packages under separate files for
studying different groups of satellites with different
display characteristics.
Primary Satellite
The text track process available with the F3 key (or by
selecting the View | Text Track option) uses one
satellite. This satellite is known as the Primary
Satellite. This satellite can be selected from the
satellite database by the user using the F5 key from
the main menu (or selecting the Edit | Satellites
option). The name of the primary satellite is stored in
the parameter file. The primary satellite is also
displayed in graphics track.
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Active Sites
PC-TRACK also maintains a list of what is considered
"active sites" for use in graphics tracking mode. These
active sites are selected from the site database and
determine which of the sites in the database will be
used for tracking purposes. Active sites are selected
by the user using the F6 key from the main screen (or
selecting the Edit | Sites main menu option). The names
of each of the active sites are stored in the parameter
file along with the attributes and colors.
Primary & Secondary Sites
The graphics tracking mode utilizes one or two
specially selected sites called the Primary and
Secondary Sites. They are used for the ground site
displays in graphics mode tracking, for text tracking,
and for mutual visibilty scanning. The primary and
secondary sites can be selected from the site database
by the user using the F6 key from the main screen (or
selecting the Edit | Sites main menu option). The names
of the primary and secondary sites are stored in the
parameter file.
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Program Organization
This section will introduce you to the menu options
available, how the main menu is organized, and briefly
explain what all of the options will do for you.
Main Menu Option Descriptions
In the descriptions shown below, each main menu option
will be given as "Main Menu Option: xxxxxxx", then each
of the sub options will be shown with the entire path
of option choices necessary to get to the option being
described. For example, the Edit option would be shown
as "Main Menu Option: Edit", followed by the
description of that option. Then each of the options
below that would be shown as "Edit | Satellites" or
"File | Open", followed by the description of that
option.
Main Menu Option : System
(displayed as 3 parallel horizontal
parallel lines at the left end of the
menu line)
This menu item provides you with some background
information on PC-Track, as well as a means to
conveniently fill out and print your registration form.
The options available from here are:
System | About
Shows PC-Track Title, version number, and copyright
info and memory available.
System | Register
Provides an online registration form that you can use
to fill out and print your registration.
Main Menu Option: File
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This main menu option provides menu options that allow
you to create a new parameter set, load an existing
one, save the current one, or save the current one with
a different file name. Also available is an option that
allows you to import site and satellite data from other
sources, such as NORAD, AMSAT, and PC-TRACK version 1.x
and 2.x format files.
File | New
This menu option allows you to reset all program
parameters to their default conditions. The new
parameter filename will be DEFAULT.PRM.
File | Open
This menu option allows you to open and load an
existing parameter set.
File | Save
This menu option allows you to save the current
parameter set with the current parameter filename.
File | Save As
This menu option allows you to save the current
parameter set as a new file with a new parameter
filename.
File | Import
This menu option allows you to import satellite and
site data from other sources.
File | Import | Satellites
This menu option allows you to import satellite data
from NORAD, AMSAT, and PC-TRACK files.
File | Import | Satellites | NORAD
This menu option allows you to import satellite data
from NORAD two-line element text files.
File | Import | Satellites | AMSAT
This menu option allows you to import satellite data
from element text files in the Amateur Satellite
(AMSAT) file format.
File | Import | Satellites | PC-TRACK
This menu option allows you to import satellite data
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from PC-TRACK data files. The OBJECTS.DAT files from
any version of PC-TRACK are useable.
File | Import | Sites
This menu option allows you to import site data from
other sources.
File | Import | Sites | PC-TRACK
This menu option allows you to import site data from
PC-TRACK data files. The OBSERVER.DAT files from any
version of PC-TRACK are useable.
File | Exit
This menu option terminates PC-Track and returns to
DOS. Pressing ALT-X will do the same thing.
Main Menu Option : Edit
This main menu option provides menu options that allow
you to edit satellite and site databases, change
colors, and modify program attributes.
Edit | Satellites
This menu option allows you to enter and edit keplerian
element data for individual satellites, select active
satellites, and select the primary satellite.
Edit | Sites
This menu option allows you to enter and edit location
and sensor data for individual sites, select active
sites, and select the primary and secondary sites to be
used in tracking and scanning.
Edit | Graphics Colors
This menu option allows you to edit some of the colors
used in the various graphical displays available in
PC-Track.
Edit | Text Colors
This menu option allows you to edit the colors used in
the displays available in PC-Track while in text mode.
Main Menu Option : View
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This main menu option provides menu options that allow
you to access the graphics track mode, text screen
numerical track mode and the mutual visibility pass
scan mode.
View | Graphics Track
This menu option activates the graphical tracking mode
available in PC-Track. While in tracking mode, most
program parameters are changeable to enable you to
customize the display to your need. This mode is
capable of displaying current satellite position for
all active satellites, the line of site angles from all
active sites, and ground site views for the primary and
secondary sites, and current track time. Earth views
are in a three dimensionally projected Earth Centered
Fixed view frame, with the viewpoint from space being
user selected, or in a mercator projection flat map of
the world. Both can show satellite footprints and line
of site lines for all active satellites and sites as
well as many other items.
View | Text Track
This menu option activates the text tracking mode. This
mode provides tracking capability without the use of
graphics presentation. This mode is provided for
situations where numerical presentations are desirable,
and where hard copy predictions and logs are needed.
The text tracking mode uses the primary and secondary
sites designated in the Edit Sites dialog box (F6), and
the primary satellite designated in the Edit Satellites
dialog box (F5).
Information available here includes satellite latitude,
longitude, altitude, and orbit phase. For both sites
the current view azimuth, elevation, and slant range
are presented, as well as current range rate and
doppler shifted downlink frequencies for the satellite.
View | Scan
This menu option activates the Mutual Visibility Scan
Window. This option allows you to scan a particular
time frame for satellite passes that are mutually
visible between the Primary and Secondary sites defined
in the Edit Sites dialog box. Every active satellite
will be checked and the mutually visible passes will be
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listed by date and time of AOS in the list box. When
completed, the computed pass summaries will be able to
be printed and displayed.
Main Menu Option : Options
This main menu option provides menu options that allow
you to change system configuration settings (such as
time base, distance units, date format, and timezone),
select the appropriate printer driver, set up page
layout, and customize specific printer codes for your
printer driver.
Options | System Config
This menu option allows you to change certain
parameters which affect the way time and distances are
displayed, time zone, and to configure where globe
views will be located.
Options | Page Setup
This menu option allows you to configure the layout of
the printed page for use in text tracking and mutual
visibility scan modes. Such items as margins, page
size, line spacing, character size, and page advance
method can be configured here.
Options | Select Printer
This menu option allows you to select from a list the
appropriate printer driver for your printer.
Options | Printer Codes
This menu option allows you to edit the printer control
codes used in the printer driver. This permits you to
customize the default driver for special print formats
you may have.
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Satellites
Editing Satellite Data
Edit Satellites Dialog Box
This dialog box (selected with the F5 key or the Edit |
Satellites main menu option) allows you to edit the
master satellite database, active satellite database,
and to select a primary Satellite. To facilitate this
there is one list box, a pickline, and a number of
buttons.
Master Satellites List Box
This list box contains the names of all of the
Satellites in the master Satellites database. Double
clicking on a satellite in the list box will bring up
the satellite edit dialog box, allowing you to
enter/change data for the satellite. This is the same
as pressing the Edit button described below.
Primary Satellite Pickline:
The primary satellite pickline is where you can enter
or select from the master satellite database a
satellites to be used as the primary Satellite for text
tracking purposes.
You may directly enter a satellite name (a name so
entered is NOT checked against the master satellite
database, and therefore could be a satellite that is
not [currently] in the database). You may also pick a
satellite from the master satellite database by
pressing the down arrow key while in the pickline, or
by clicking the mouse on the down arrow to the right of
the pickline. Doing this will bring up a satellite
selection dialog box from which you may select the
desired satellite.
Edit Button
Pressing this button will open the Edit satellite
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
dialog box which allow changing of satellite data for
the satellite currently highlighted in the master
satellite list box. See the section on the Edit
Satellite Dialog Box below.
NOTE: If an existing satellite's name is
changed, that newly named satellite will be
added to the database as a new satellite. The
original satellite will NOT be deleted.
Add Button
Pressing this button will bring up the Edit satellite
dialog box which allow entering satellite data for a
new satellite to be added to the master satellite
database.
Delete Button
Pressing the button will cause the currently
highlighted satellite in master satellite list box to
be removed from the master satellite database. You will
be prompted to verify this action.
Active Button
Pressing this button will bring up the Select Active
Satellites dialog box which will allow you to select
the active Satellites to be used for tracking. See the
section on the Select Active Satellites dialog box
below.
Done Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and returns
control to the main menu. Pressing the RETURN or ESC
key is the same as pressing this button.
Edit Satellite Dialog Box
This dialog allows you to enter or edit data specific
to a particular satellite. Here is where the name,
keplerian elements, and frequencies for the satellite
are defined. To facilitate this the dialog box contains
several input lines and buttons described as follows:
Name Input Line
This text input line allows you to enter/edit the name
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of the satellite. This is a text-only input line
allowing up to 30 characters for the name.
Catalog Number Input Line
This text input line allows you to enter/edit the
catalog number of the satellite. This is a text-only
input line allowing up to 5 characters of input.
Epoch Year Input Line
This input line allows you to enter the year of the
element set epoch. This should be an integer between 70
and 99.
Epoch Day Input Line
This input line allows you to enter the julian
day/fraction of day floating point number representing
the day of year and time of day of the element set
epoch. The valid range for this input line is 0.0 to
366.9999999999.
Decay Rate Input Line
This input line allows you to enter the rate of decay
of the orbital mean motion, which is the 2nd time
derivative of mean motion. The valid range for this is
- 99. 0 to 99. 0. The units of measure are Rev/Day/Day.
Inclination Input Line
This input line allows you to enter the orbital
inclination in degrees. The valid range for this is 0.0
to 180.0.
Rt Asc of Node Input Line
This input line allows you to enter the right ascension
angle in degrees for the ascending node of the orbit.
The valid range for this is 0.0 to 360.0.
Eccentricity Input Line
This input line allows you to enter the eccentricity of
the orbit. The valid range for this is 0.0 to
0.9999999999999.
Arg Of Perigee Input Line
This input line allows you to enter the argument of
perigee which is the number of degrees in the orbital
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plane measured from the right ascension of ascending
node to periapsis. The valid range for this is 0.0 to
360.0.
Mean Anomaly Input Line
This input line allows you to enter the mean anomaly
value in degrees for the epoch time of the given
element set. The valid range for this is 0.0 to 360.0.
Mean Motion Input Line
This input line allows you to enter the mean motion
value in Rev/Day for the orbit. The valid range for
this is 0.1 to 22.0. ( Orbits with more than 16 rev/day
would be impractical, but are allowed for experimental
purposes).
Revolution Input Line
This input line allows you to enter the revolution
number at epoch. The valid range for this is 0 to
999999.
Frequency 1 Input Line
This input line allows you to enter a downlink
frequency value in MHZ for use in doppler shift
calculations. The valid range for this is 0.0 to
999999.0.
Frequency 2 Input Line
This input line allows you to enter a second downlink
frequency value in MHZ for use in doppler shift
calculations. The valid range for this is 0.0 to
999999.0.
Done Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and saves
all changes and entries made to the satellite. Pressing
the RETURN key is the same as pressing this button.
Cancel Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and ignores
all changes and entries made to the satellite. Pressing
the ESC key is the same as pressing this button.
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Select Active Satellites Dialog Box
This dialog box allows you to select and deselect
active Satellites for use in tracking and scanning. To
facilitate this, the dialog box contains two list boxes
with a number of buttons, described as follows:
Master Satellites List Box
This list box shows all of the Satellites in the master
Satellites database. Double clicking on a satellite in
the list will cause it to be added to the Active
Satellites List Box.
Active Satellites List Box
This list box shows all of the Satellites in the active
Satellites database. Double clicking on a satellite in
this list box will remove that satellite from the
active Satellites database.
>> Button
This button will place the currently highlighted
satellite in the master satellite list box into the
active satellite list box. This does the same thing as
double clicking on a satellite in the master satellite
list box, thus activating that satellite.
<< Button
This button removes the currently highlighted satellite
in the active satellite list box from the list, thus
deactivating that satellite.
< All Button
This button will remove all Satellites from the active
satellite list box, and deactivate all Satellites.
Done Button
This button closes the Select Active Satellites Dialog
Box and updates the active Satellites database.
Pressing the RETURN or ESC key is the same as pressing
this button.
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Importing New Satellite Data
Importing data from other sources into the PC-Track
simplifies the data update process when updating large
numbers of satellites at a time. The PC-TRACK has the
capability of importing satellite data directly from
three different sources. NASA/NORAD two-line orbital
element files, AMSAT keplerian element files, and
PC-TRACK Version 1.x and 2.x object data files can all
be directly read and inputted by the PC-TRACK. To
import data select the Files | Import option from the
main menu. This will open another list of menu options,
from which you may select either satellite or site data
to import. After selecting satellite to indicate
importing of satellite data, select the appropriate
option for the type of file you wish to import. All
three import options work the same.
Once the option is selected, the appropriate Import
dialog box will open, with a file input/select line in
it to enter or select the file desired. To select a
file, press the down arrow key or click on the down
arrow to the right of the input line. A file select
dialog box will open to allow selection of the file.
See the User Interface chapter for details on how to
use a file selection dialog box.
Once a file is selected or inputted, press the Done
button to begin the import process. To cancel the
import, press the Cancel button.
NOTE:
PC-TRACK attempts to determine if the file
selected is of the proper format. If it
determines that it is not, it will abort the
process and return you to the main menu.
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Sites
Editing Site Data
Edit Sites Dialog Box
This dialog box allows you to edit the master site
database, active site database, and to select primary
and secondary sites. To facilitate this there is one
list box, two picklines, and a number of buttons.
Master Sites List Box
This list box contains the names of all of the sites in
the master sites database. Double clicking on a site in
the list box will bring up the site edit dialog box,
allowing you to enter/change data for the site. This is
the same as pressing the Edit button described below.
Primary and Secondary Site Picklines
The primary and secondary site picklines are where you
can enter or select from the master site database sites
to be used as the primary and secondary sites for
tracking and scanning purposes.
You may directly enter site names (the names so entered
are NOT checked against the master site database, and
therefore could be a site that is not [currently] in
the database). You may also pick sites from the master
site database by pressing the down arrow key while in
the pickline, or by clicking the mouse on the down
arrow to the right of the pickline. Doing this will
bring up a site selector dialog box from which you may
select the desired site.
Edit Button
Pressing this button will bring up the Edit Site dialog
box which allow changing of site data for the site
currently highlighted in the master site list box. See
the section on the Edit Site dialog box below.
NOTE: If an existing site's name is changed,
that newly named site will be added to the
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database as a new site. The original site
will NOT be deleted.
Add Button
Pressing this button will bring up the Edit Site dialog
box which allow entering site data for a new site to be
added to the master site database. See the section on
the Edit Site dialog box below.
Delete Button
Pressing this button will cause the currently
highlighted site in master site list box to be removed
from the master site database. You will be prompted to
verify this action.
Active Button
Pressing this button will bring up the Select Active
Sites dialog box which will allow you to select the
active sites to be used for tracking. See the section
on the Select Active Site dialog box below.
Done Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and returns
control to the main menu. Pressing the RETURN or ESC
key is the same as pressing this button.
Edit Site Dialog Box
This dialog allows you to enter or edit data specific
to a particular site. Here is where the name, location,
height, and minimum elevation of the site are defined.
To facilitate this the dialog box contains several
input lines and buttons described as follows:
Name Input Line
This text input line allows you to enter/edit the name
of the site. This is a text-only input line allowing up
to 30 characters for the name.
Latitude Input Line
This input lines accepts the geodetic north latitude
value of the site. Valid entries range from -90.0 to
90.0. Positive is north.
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Longitude Input Line
This input line accepts the east longitude value of the
site. Valid entries range from -180.0 to 180.0.
Positive is east.
Height Input Line
This input line accepts the height above Mean Sea Level
value for the site. This may range between -500.0 and
30000.0. Depending on the system configuration, the
values entered/ shown here will be either in Meters or
Feet.
Minimum Elevation Input Line
This input line accepts the minimum elevation at which
the site is capable of viewing satellites. A minimum
elevation greater than 0.0 would be required if the
site were surrounded by mountains. Valid entries in
this field may be -10.0 to 90.0 degrees.
Done Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and saves
all changes and entries made to the site. Pressing the
RETURN key is the same as pressing this button.
Cancel Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and ignores
all changes and entries made to the site. Pressing the
ESC key is the same as pressing this button.
Select Active Sites Dialog Box
This dialog box allows you to select and deselect
active sites for use in tracking and scanning. To
facilitate this, the dialog box contains two list boxes
with a number of buttons, described as follows:
Master Sites List Box
This list box shows all of the sites in the master
sites database. Double clicking on a site in the list
will cause it to be added to the Active Sites List Box.
Active Sites List Box
This list box shows all of the sites in the active
sites database. Double clicking on a site in this list
box will remove that site from the active sites
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database.
>> Button
This button will place the currently highlighted site
in the master site list box into the active site list
box. This does the same thing as double clicking on a
site in the master site list box, thus activating that
site.
<< Button
This button removes the currently highlighted site in
the active site list box from the list, thus
deactivating that site.
< All Button
This button will remove all sites from the active site
list box, and deactivate all sites.
Done Button
This button closes the Select Active Sites Dialog Box
and updates the active sites database. Pressing the
RETURN or ESC key is the same as pressing this button.
Importing New Site Data
Importing data from other sources into PC-TRACK
simplifies the data update process when updating or
adding large numbers of sites at a time. PC-TRACK has
the capability of importing site data directly from two
different sources. A simple comma delimited text file,
and PC-TRACK object data files can be directly read and
inputted by PC-TRACK. To import data select the Files |
Import option from the main menu. This will open
another list of menu options, from which you may select
either site or site data to import. After selecting
site to indicate importing of site, select the
appropriate option for the type of file you wish to
import. Both import options work the same.
Once the option is selected, the appropriate Import
dialog box will open, with a file input/select line in
it to enter or select the file desired. To select a
file, press the down arrow key or click on the down
arrow to the right of the input line. A file select
dialog box will open to allow selection of the file.
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See the User Interface chapter for details on selecting
files with the file select dialog box.
Once a file is selected or inputted, press the Done
button to begin the import process. To cancel the
import, press the Cancel button.
NOTE:
PC-TRACK attempts to determine if the file
selected is of the proper format. If it
determines that it is not, it will abort the
process and return you to the main menu.
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Graphics Tracking
PC-Track offers two track modes Graphics and Text. Each
of these offer different capabilities, and are useful
for different purposes. The Graphics mode is good for
visually analyzing satellite positions and
relationships, while the text mode provides more
numerical data for definitive analysis. This chapter
will deal with the graphics mode.
Graphics Mode
The graphics tracking mode in PC-Track provides the
ability to track all active satellites in real time or
non-real time with either a 3 dimensional perspective
view from space or on a mercator projection world map.
Also available are two ground site displays for the
primary and secondary sites, and possibly an
Azimuth-Elevation-Range (AER) data window.
All items shown in the various graphics tracking mode
windows can be enabled or disabled and can be displayed
in any of 16 colors.The following is a description of
each of the major display windows available in graphics
tracking.
Main Track Window
This window takes up most of the screen, showing the
earth in either a 3D perspective view or a mercator
projection flat map view. Several Function keys provide
user access to control commands that allow changes to
be made to most of the visual aspects of the display.
F1 : Help
Pressing the F1 key opens a help window which shows all
of the functions available while tracking. To close
this window, press any key.
F2 : Realtime On/Off
Pressing the F2 key will toggle the tracking mode
between realtime and non-realtime. Realtime will be
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evident by the fact that most satellites will appear to
stand still, and the date/time window will not have an
Interval value showing.
F3 : Select Globe View
Pressing the F3 key will open the Globe Selection
window in the middle of the screen. Within this window
will be a list of available globe views. Press TAB and
SHIFT-TAB to move up or down in the list. When Pressing
RETURN will accept the new viewpoint and will redraw
the main track window view to reflect the new
viewpoint. Pressing ESC will ignore any changes to the
globe view.
F4 : Projection Mode
Pressing this key will toggle the main track window
projection mode between the 3D perspective and mercator
projection. The mercator projection displays the entire
world on a flat map. The 3D perspective shows the ECF
view according to the current globeview.
3D Projection
In 3D mode the earth is shown in an Earth Centered
Fixed (ECF) view from a user determined viewpoint in
space. The ECF view shows the earth as it would look
high over a particular point on the earth. With this
viewing method, the earth appears to remain fixed, with
all the satellites moving around the earth. Satellites
in orbit, while actually revolving through nearly the
same orbital path in space, appear to spiral around the
earth, due to the relative movement caused by the
rotation of the earth. As described above, new globe
views may be selected by pressing the F3 key.
Mercator Projection
In mercator projection mode the entire world (minus 5
degrees at the poles) is displayed on a flat map. This
mode allows you to view the entire world at a glance
and get an overall idea of satellite and site
positioning. In mercator projection mode the altitude
line display is not available. Space and ground points
appear as the same point on the map.
F5 : Refresh
Pressing the F5 key will cause the main tracking window
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
and the ground site windows to be redrawn.
F6 : Ground Site View Enable/Disable
Pressing the F6 key will either enable or disable the
ground site view windows. These windows display current
antenna pointing angles from the primary and secondary
sites. Disabling theses windows makes them disappear
and the Main Track Window expands to use that screen
space.
NOTE: If there is neither a primary or
secondary site selected, then this mode is
inoperative, since the ground site view
windows will be disabled.
F7 : Pause Tracking
Pressing the F7 key will pause tracking until the F7
key is again pressed. While paused, all functions are
available and the display is kept current. The only
thing that ceases is the updating of the track time. Of
course, during pause the track time can be manually
manipulated with the cursor keys as described below.
F8 : Edit Attributes
Pressing the F8 key will open the Attributes window
which displays the current status of all available
attributes. This window also allows you to change
desired attributes to new states. To select an
attribute press the TAB or SHIFT-TAB keys until the
desired one is highlighted. To change the status of an
attribute, press either the up or down arrow keys.
Press RETURN to keep changes and exit the Attributes
window. Press ESC to ignore any changes and exit.
Some attributes will be either ON or OFF. When they are
OFF, they will not appear on the screen. When they are
ON, they will appear on the screen.
Other attributes are a bit more sophisticated. They
will have the following options:
OFF : Attribute will not appear on the screen.
SINGLE : Attribute will move with satellite motion,
and will not leave a "trail."
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CONT : Attribute will move with satellite motion,and
will leave a "trail."
SVIS : Attribute will only appear on screen when
satellite is visible from primary or
secondary site. It will not leave a "trail."
CVIS : Attribute will only appear on screen when
satellite is visible from primary or
secondary site. It will leave a "trail."
NOTE:
The display of all attibutes in SVIS or CVIS
states will be controlled by visibility from the
primary and secondary sites, except for Line Of
Site (LOS) line. This will be controlled by
visibility from any active site.
NOTE:
Some attributes, when changed, will affect
the displays immediately, while others will
not take effect until the next screen
refresh, caused either by a globe view
change, or the press of the F5 key. The ones
that require a screen refresh are marked by
an asterisk (*).
F9 : Edit Colors
Pressing the F9 will open the Colors window which
displays the currently selected colors for all of the
available items displayed. To select a color item press
the TAB or SHIFT-TAB keys until the desired item is
highlighted. To change a color, press either the up or
down arrow keys. Press RETURN to keep changes and exit
the color window. Press ESC to ignore changes and exit.
NOTE:
Colors selected in the Edit Colors window are
pure colors. Some colors displayed in the
various tracking windows may be different due
to the fact that several colors may be
exclusive ored together. Exclusive oring
(XOR) is a boolean function applied to the
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
various items drawn on the screen and is used
to provide the animation effect. An
unfortunate side effect of XORing is that
colors get changed in the process. So some
colors may have to be adjusted several times
to get a satisfactory display.
Color changes to some items will be seen immediately,
while others will not be seen until the next screen
refresh, caused either by a viewpoint change, or the
press of the F5 key. The ones that require a screen
refresh are marked by an asterisk (*).
Ground Site Windows
These windows display the primary and/or secondary
sites, and display the relative viewing angles that are
needed to track satellite passes. The window is
comprised of a bullseye-like view circle in the middle
of the window. This circle represents the entire
viewing area from the site. The orientation of this
display is such that straight up from the site would be
the center of the circle. Azimuth (bearing) from the
site is represented by the clockwise angle with 0
degrees being straight up from the center. Elevation
from the horizon is represented by the distance from
the center of the circle, with the horizon being
represented by the outer edge of the circle.
Also shown in the window is the view area for the site.
This is represented by a filled circle that corresponds
to the minimum elevation for the site. This circle is
drawn in the color defined for the site, and will match
the color of the site name in the title bar of the
window, as well as the site name in the main tracking
window.
While tracking, the satellite pointing angle will be
displayed by a dot in the view circle (if space points
are enabled) and by the satellite name (if satellite
names are enabled). If the satellite is visible from
the site (meaning that it is above the minimum
elevation), a line will be drawn from the center of the
view circle to the satellite position dot (if LOS lines
are enabled).
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AER Data Window
When there is either a primary and not a secondary or a
secondary and not a primary site selected, the AER data
window appears below the ground site window. This
window displays the numeric values corresponding to the
current Azimuth, Elevation, and Range of each of the
satellites visible to the sensor of that site. Also
shown in the AER data window is whether each satellite
is rising or setting, denoted by a R or S.
Date / Time Window
This window displays the date and time with which all
displayed satellite positions are computed. The time
base used for the date and time is determined by the
settings in the System Configuration dialog box (either
UTC or LOCAL). The date format (order of the year,
month, and day values) is also determined there.
Also visible during non-realtime tracking is the
current Interval, which is used to compute each
succeeding track time. The interval is presented in
Hours:Minutes:Seconds format. The +/- sign allows you
to control whether tracking proceeds forward or
backward in time.
For example if the current track time is 12:04:34 and
the interval is -00:00:15 then the next track time will
be 12:04:19.
During realtime tracking, the computer clock is
accessed to obtain current track time. The computer
clock is always assumed to be set to local time and if
UTC time is used, it is computed by adding the time
zone set in the System Configuration dialog box to the
time read from the clock.
Anytime during non-realtime tracking any element of the
date, time, or interval may be changed by using the
arrow keys as follows:
Left and Right Arrow Keys
The currently changeable time or date element is
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
highlighted with a different color, and may be selected
by using the left and right arrow keys.
Up and Down Arrow Keys
The currently highlighted date or time element may be
increased or decreased by using the up and down arrow
keys. This allows you to change the date, time, and
interval to the desired values. The all items being
displayed in the main tracking window and the ground
site windows are updated continuously to accurately
reflect the positions for the current time.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Text Mode Tracking
Text Mode Tracking Window
Text mode tracking provides tracking capability without
the use of graphics presentation. This mode is provided
for situations where numerical presentations are
desirable, and where hard copy predictions and logs are
needed. The text tracking mode uses the primary and
secondary sites designated in the Edit Sites dialog box
(F6), and the primary satellite designated in the Edit
Satellites dialog box (F5). To facilitate tracking
there are several components in this window.
Track Date/Time
At the upper left of the window the current track date,
time, and interval are shown. The time base used
(either UTC or LOCAL) is determined by settings in the
System Configuration dialog box. The date format (year,
month, day order) is also set in the System
Configuration dialog box.
Set Time Button
Just to the right of the date/time/interval display is
the Set Time button. Pressing this button opens the
Track Time dialog box which allows you to set the date,
time, and interval (for non-realtime tracking). See the
section describing this dialog box below.
Pause Checkbox
To the right of the Set Time button are a check box and
two buttons which allow you to pause tracking and to
single-step through non-realtime tracking.
The Pause checkbox will, when activated, halt tracking
at the current time to allow analysis of data. Pressing
the P key or ALT-P keys, tabbing to it and pressing the
Space bar, or clicking with the mouse will active it.
Doing the same again will deactivate it. If the track
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
mode is non-realtime (determined by the Realtime
checkbox below) the -Step and +Step buttons allow you
to step either forward and backward in time in
increments equal to the current Interval value. This is
good for close analysis of activity at a particular
time. The + and - step buttons can be activated by
pressing the buttons with the mouse, or by pressing the
+ or - keys on the keyboard.
Satellite Data
The current satellite position data is displayed below
the track time and controls. Information displayed here
include the current latitude, longitude, altitude (in
KM or Miles depending on the settings in the System
Configuration dialog box), phase, and whether or not
the satellite is illuminated by the sun.
Phase shows the current position of the satellite in
terms of what portion of the current revolution the
satellite has traversed, measured from perigee,
normalized to 256. In other words, phase is mean
anomaly represented in a domain of 0 to 255.
Site Data
The next two portions show the satellite relationship
to both the Primary and Secondary sites. Shown for each
site are site name, latitude and longitude, azimuth,
elevation, slant range, and whether or not the site is
illuminated by the sun.
Slant range is shown in either KM or Miles depending on
the settings in the System Configuration dialog box.
Also shown for each site is the range rate (again, in
KM/SEC or MI/SEC depending on system settings) and the
doppler shifted satellite frequencies as received by
the site. Range rate is derived from the instantaneous
velocity computed for the current time. The frequencies
displayed are derived from the frequencies defined for
the satellite, adjusted for the doppler shift computed
using the range rate.
Realtime
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
In the lower left corner of the window is the Realtime
checkbox, which controls the track mode. When
activated, the program reads time from the computer
system clock and uses that to determine satellite
position.
Note: The program always assumes that the
computer clock is set to LOCAL time. If PC-
TRACK is setup to track in UTC time, it adds
the local timezone to the system time. For
example, if the computer clock says it is
5:23:04, and the timezone is 5 (EST), then
the computed UTC time will be 10:23:04, and
that will be the time used to compute
satellite position.
Printer Control
Printer control is provided by the Print Mode
radiobutton. The three print modes available are
Printer Off, Visible Only, and Continuous.
Printer Off mode turns the printer off and no output is
sent to the printer or disk file.
Visible Only mode turns the printer on or opens a text
file for output, and then outputs satellite positions
that are visible from BOTH primary and secondary sites.
This provides an automatic mutual visibility listing.
Visibility is defined as a satellite position being
above the minimum elevation defined for the sites.
Continuous mode does the same, but continuously outputs
satellite positions regardless of whether it is visible
or not.
If printing is currently off, then by pressing either
the Visible Only or Continuous buttons opens the
Printer Destination dialog box. Once the output
destination is selected (assuming it is not canceled)
printing begins, and continues until either the Text
Track mode is terminated, or the Printer Off button is
pressed.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Done Button
This button terminates Text Tracking mode and returns
Pressing this button terminates tracking and returns
control to the main menu.
Track Time Dialog Box
This dialog box allows you to set the current track
date, time and interval. To facilitate this, the dialog
box contains a number of input lines. To select the
desired time, date, or interval element, you may use
the TAB or SHIFT+TAB keys, or you may click on the
desired element.
Date
The order of the date elements (year, month, day) is
set in the System Configuration dialog box.
Time
The time shown will either be UTC or LOCAL depending on
the setting in the System Configuration dialog box.
Interval
The interval is used for non-realtime tracking. Each
successive track time is computed by adding the
interval to the current track time. Tracking may be
done either forward or backward in time, depending on
the +/- sign to the left of the interval.
Done Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and saves
all changes made. Pressing the RETURN key is the same
as pressing this button.
Cancel Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and ignores
all changes made. Pressing the ESC key is the same as
pressing this button.
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Scanning
Mutual Visibility Pass Scan Window
This window (available from the View | Scan(Text) main
menu option) allows you to scan a particular time frame
for satellite passes that are mutually visible between
the Primary and Secondary sites defined in the Edit
Sites dialog box. Every active satellite will be
checked and the mutually visible passes will be listed
by date and time of AOS in the list box. When
completed, the computed pass summaries will be able to
be printed, and displayed. To facilitate this, the
window includes the following items:
Start Date and Time
The upper left corner of the window contains a number
of input lines which allow you to input the date and
time the scanning will begin. The date format is
determined by the settings in the System Configuration
dialog box. The time base used will either be UTC or
LOCAL depending on other settings in the System
Configuration dialog box. Each element of the date and
time may be accessed by either using the TAB and
SHIFT-TAB keys, or by clicking on the desired element
with the mouse.
Stop Date and Time
Just below the Start date and time is the stop date and
time entry fields. These work just like the start, but
specify the end of the scan period.
Reset Button
Pressing this button will reset the start date and time
to the current computer clock time. If UTC time is
being used, UTC time will be computed from the system
time by adding the local time zone to it. The stop date
and time will be set to 1.0 day later than the start
date and time.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Resolution
These two input lines allow you to enter the time value
in minutes and seconds that is between each point
analyzed during a scan. The lower the resolution
(greater time value), the fewer points per pass that
will be recorded. This results in lower accuracy in
determining AOS and LOS times, but shorter scan times.
Higher resolutions (smaller time values) result in
slower scans, but higher accuracy in determining AOS
and LOS times.
Status Line
The status line shows the current status of the scan.
Displayed here is the name of the satellite, the
current date and time. If a particular point is
mutually visible then a check mark will be visible to
the right of the time. That point will be added to the
pass point list. When a complete pass has been computed
(from AOS to LOS or from start time to stop time) it
will appear in the pass summary list box below.
Pass Summary List Box
This list box shows a summary of all of the mutually
visible passes found during the scan. The items shown
in the list box are:
DIR : Shows the direction of the pass:
NB = Northbound pass
SB = Southbound pass
* : At least one point in pass:
-Has the vehicle in sunlight and
-Has either the primary or
secondary site in darkness.
Satellite Name : Name of satellite for which visible
pass was found.
AOS Date : Date of Acquisition of Signal. This
represents the date associated with
the time when the satellite becomes
visible to the sensors at BOTH the
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
primary and secondary site.
AOS Time : Time of Acquisition of Signal. The
accuracy of this time is a function
of the resolution selected with the
Resolution radio button.
LOS Time : Time of Loss of Signal. This occurs
at the first point that the
satellite is no longer visible to
the primary and secondary sites.
T.I.R : Time in Range. Time difference
between LOS and AOS.
PRI: ME : Maximum elevation at the primary
site.
SEC: ME : Maximum elevation at the secondary
site.
NOTE: Maximum elevations may, and probably
won't occur at the same times for both the
primary and secondary sites in a particular
pass. This can be seen when the pass is
displayed with the Display button below.
Maximum elevation accuracy is a function of
the resolution selected with the Resolution
radio button. The times of maximum elevation
as displayed with the Display button will be
within the time entered in the Resolution
entry fields. Smaller resolution times will
produce greater accuracy than larger ones.
Scan Button
Pressing this button begins the scanning process. The
scan process may be terminated at any time by pressing
the ESC key.
Display Button
Pressing this button opens the Pass Point display
window. This window displays a list of each point found
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
in the pass currently highlighted in the Pass Summary
List Box. The Pass Point display window is described
below.
Delete Button
Pressing this button will delete the currently
highlighted pass from the pass list.
Print Button
Pressing this button will cause the Pass Summary list
shown in the Pass Summary list box to be sent to the
device selected in the Output Destination dialog box
which appears when the button is pressed.
Done Button
Pressing this button closes the Mutual Visibility Pass
Scan window and returns to the main menu screen.
Pass Point Display Window
This window allows you to review the individual
satellite position points for a particular selected
pass from the Mutual Visibility Pass Scan window. The
date of the first point of the pass as well as the name
of the satellite is presented in the top title frame of
the window. Each point in the pass is displayed in a
list format for analysis. To facilitate this the
following items are provided.
Pass Point List Box
This list box lists each point in the pass, with the
following information presented for each point:
Time : The time of the point given in either
UTC or LOCAL time depending on the
settings in the System Configuration
dialog box.
Latitude : Geodetic latitude in degrees.
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Longitude : Longitude in degrees.
Altitude : Current satellite altitude given in
either KM or Miles depending on the
settings in the System Configuration
dialog box.
Illum : An asterisk (*) appears beside each
point where the satellite is illuminated
by the sun.
Primary Site View Angle
Azimuth : Current azimuth angle in degrees from
true north.
Elevation : Current elevation angle in degrees from
the horizon.
Distance : Current slant range to the satellite
from the site in either KM or Miles
depending on the settings in the System
Configuration dialog box.
Illum : An asterisk (*) appears beside each
point where the site is illuminated by
the sun.
Secondary Site View Angle
Same as Primary Site View Angle display.
Print Button
Pressing this button will cause the pass points to be
sent to the device selected in the Output Destination
dialog box which appears when the button is pressed.
Done Button
Pressing this button closes the pass point display
window and returns to the mutual visibility pass scan
window.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Options
System Configuration Dialog Box
This dialog box (available through Options | System
Config) allows you to configure the general system
parameters that affect general time, date, and distance
display, To facilitate this, there are several radio
buttons, an input line and two buttons.
Image Path
This is a path input line which defines where the
images used for graphics track are located. You may
either directly enter a path, or you can press the down
arrow key or click on the down arrow to the right of
the input line to bring up a path selection dialog box.
Any valid DOS path string is acceptable.
NOTE:
If no images can be found in the selected
path, you will be notified with a message
box.
Distances
This radio button allows you to select what measurement
system will be used to define distances. Selecting
"English" defines distances in Miles and Feet.
Selecting "Metric" defines distances in Kilometers and
Meters.
Time Base
This radio button allows you to select what time base
will be used to compute satellite positions. Selecting
"Local" defines time and date in local time. Selecting
"UTC" defines time and date in Coordinated Universal
Time.
NOTE: The time and date read from the system
clock in the computer is always interpreted
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
as LOCAL time. With Time Base set to "UTC"
the computer system time will be corrected by
the time zone figure below to arrive at the
appropriate UTC time.
Date Format
This radio button allows you to select what format the
date displays will use for presenting year, month, and
day of month. Three options are available.
Time Zone
This input line allows you to enter the number of hours
to ADD to your local time for the corresponding UTC
time. For west longitudes, this will be POSITIVE. For
East longitudes, this will be NEGATIVE. The valid range
for this number is -12 to 12.
Done Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and saves
all changes and entries made. Pressing the RETURN key
is the same as pressing this button.
Cancel Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and ignores
all changes and entries made. Pressing the ESC key is
the same as pressing this button.
Selecting Printers
Selecting the Options | Select Printer main menu option
will allow you to select the printer you wish to use
for the various printouts available in PC-TRACK.
Printer Selection List
With the printer selection list you can select your
printer. If you cannot find your printer in this list,
then look for a printer that yours emulates (works
like). If you can't find one of those, then select
Options | Printer Codes and enter the codes for your
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
printer directly. If you need to enter printer codes,
see the section below on how to do that.
All of the information for printers used in PC-Track is
contained in a file on the disk. When it is necessary
to select a printer, a dialog box is used. This dialog
box contains two buttons and a list box. The list box
will show a portion of the list of names of the pre-
defined printers in the file.
The buttons on the right of the dialog box show what
you can do with a highlighted common item. The two
buttons that appear are described below.
Select Button
This button will select the highlighted printer for use
in PC-Track. The proper printer codes will be loaded
for use in the various printouts.
Cancel Button
This button allows you to exit from the selection
dialog box without selecting a printer, and without
changing the existing printer information elsewhere in
the program.
NOTE:
If, when you select the Options | Select
Printer option and do not get the above
dialog box, but instead get a message saying
"No Printer List!", then that is because PC-
Track could not find the printer data file
needed. Make sure that the PRINTERS.DAT file
is in the PC-TRACK directory. If it isn't,
you have a corrupted distribution copy and
should contact Acme Workshops for a clean
copy.
Changing the Printer Codes
Selecting the Options | Printer Codes allows you to
change the printer codes that PC-Track uses to control
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
your printer. You should only need to make
changes/entries here if you wish to make PC-Track do
special things, or if you have a printer that cannot be
found in the list of printers supported by PC-Track.
This option brings up a dialog box with an input line
for each of the items necessary to properly set up the
printer. This dialog box is titled "Configure Printer
Codes."
This dialog box allows you to change a number of
features which are common to most of the various
reports available.
The features that you can configure are:
Normal Characters Code
Normal Characters Per Inch
Narrow Characters Code
Narrow Characters Per Inch
Normal Line Spacing Code
Normal Lines Per Inch
Narrow Line Spacing Code
Narrow Lines Per Inch
Initialization Code
Turn On Bold Characters Code
Turn Off Bold Characters Code
Form Feed Code
Reset Code
Enable IBM Box Characters
About Printer Codes
Before describing each of the items that require
printer codes, it is important to understand what
printer codes are and how they are entered into PC-
Track.
Printer codes are nothing more than characters that are
sent to a printer to cause it to change the way it
prints or to do something with the paper. Very often
these characters are unprintable, and will not show up
on the screen. Most of them cannot be directly typed in
from the keyboard. Because of this, we have to use a
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
somewhat roundabout way to enter them by using
characters which are printable and displayable and can
be entered in with the keyboard.
Each special character used as a print code is
represented in the computer as a number. For example,
the letter A is represented in the computer with the
number 65. The ESC key is represented in the computer
with the number 27.
Knowing this, we can enter the special characters by
typing in the number of the character, and let the
computer convert that number into the special character
required by the printer.
The various input lines used by the program understand
this relationship, and will accept as input the numbers
that represent the various special characters required
by the printer.
For example, most Epson compatible printers use the ESC
character followed by the @ character to reset. Since
the ESC character is used by the program to control the
windows and dialog boxes, it cannot be typed directly
into the input line. Therefore, since the number 27
represents the ESC character and since the number 64
represents the @ character, these two numbers can be
entered into the input line to tell the computer to
send ESC @ when it needs to reset the printer.
In addition to the numbers, we also need some type of
separator character to tell PC-Track where one number
ends and the other begins. This is done with the slash
character: (/).
This then would be the entry for the RESET code for
this sample printer:
/27/64
Where do you get the printer codes for your printer?
This is where you will have to dig into your printer
manuals and locate the "Printer Commands" or "Printer
Control Codes" table. It may have some other title but
it will be somewhere in your manual and will list all
the different code sequences needed for the various
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
features for your printer. Some printer manuals list
these both as decimal values or Hexadecimal values.
Make sure you use the DECIMAL values. The Hexadecimal
values can be recognized by the fact that they will, in
many cases, include one or more of the letters A-F in
the number. The printer code input lines will only
accept the letters 0-9 and the slash (/) character.
The input lines can accept up to 255 characters, so you
can enter quit a long sequence of printer codes if
necessary.
Printer Code Dialog Box
Notice that everything dealing with Line Spacing is
organized at the top of the box. The codes and number
of lines per inch for normal printing is on the left
side, and those for narrow printing is on the right
side. The printer code lines are the codes that are
actually sent to the printer to do what is necessary.
The Lines Per Inch input lines tell PC-Track what the
code actually does so that it knows how to use it. For
example, if you enter a code in the Normal Line Spacing
Printer Code line that will tell the printer to print
at 6 lines per inch, you need to tell PC-Track that by
entering a 6 in the Lines Per Inch input line.
Again, the printer code line is used to command the
printer to print a certain way, the Lines Per Inch line
tells PC-Track what that printer code means so it knows
how to use it. The section below it for Character Width
works the same way. Doing it this way makes it flexible
for you if you wish to customize PC-Track to print in a
special way.
Descriptions of each of the entry lines follow:
Line Spacing Setup
Printer Code for Normal Line Spacing
This input line allows you to enter the printer code
necessary to cause the printer to print normal spaced
lines. This is commonly 6 Lines Per Inch (LPI).
Lines Per Inch (Normal)
This input line allows you to enter a number which
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
defines the number of lines per inch that the code
above it represents.
For example, if you have entered the printer code for 6
LPI printing, then you would enter a 6 here. Think of
it this way. The "Printer Code" line tells the PRINTER
how many lines per inch to print, and the "Lines Per
Inch" line tells PC-Track how many lines per inch the
printer is printing. That way, PC-Track can know how to
control the printer.
Printer Code for Narrow Line Spacing
This input line allows you to enter the printer code
necessary to cause the printer to print narrow line
spacing. This is commonly 8 Lines Per Inch (LPI).
Lines Per Inch (Narrow)
This input line allows you to enter a number which
defines the number of characters per inch that the code
above it represents.
For example, if you have entered the printer code for 8
Lines Per Inch (LPI) printing, then you would enter an
8 here. Think of it this way. The "Printer Code" line
tells the PRINTER how many lines per inch to print, and
the "Lines Per Inch" line tells PC-Track how many lines
per inch the printer is printing. That way, PC-Track
can know how to control the printer.
Character Width Setup
Printer Code for Normal Character Printing
This input line allows you to enter the printer code
necessary to cause the printer to print normal sized
letters. This is commonly 10 or 12 Characters Per Inch
(CPI).
Characters Per Inch (Normal)
This input line allows you to enter a number which is
the number of characters per inch that the code above
it represents. For example, if you have entered the
printer code for 10 CPI printing, then you would enter
a 10 here.
Printer Code for Narrow Printing
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
This input line allows you to enter the printer code
necessary to cause the printer to print narrow letters,
many times referred to as compressed print. This is
commonly 16 or 17 CPI, but you may decide to enter a
code which causes your printer to print smaller
characters, such as 20 CPI. This would make your
printouts more narrow.
Characters Per Inch (Narrow)
This input line allows you to enter a number which
defines the number of characters per inch that the code
above it represents. For example, if you have entered
the printer code for 16 Characters Per Inch (CPI)
printing, then you would enter 16 here.
Other Codes
Initialization Code
This is a printer code which will initialize your
printer to whatever mode you wish it to be in to print
this form.
This initialization code could set the printer up for a
particular type style or perhaps set it to draft mode
or letter quality mode.
This is also where you could put the printer codes to
tell the printer what size paper you have in the
printer if it is not the standard 8 1/2" X 11" size.
Printer Reset Code
This input line allows you to enter the printer code
used by the printer to reset itself to the initial
power-on condition. This should reset all aspects of
the printer, just as if you turned the printer off and
then back on.
Printer Code To Turn On Bold Characters
This input line allows you to enter the printer code
necessary to cause the printer to print bold
characters, sometimes called enhanced characters.
Although BOLD is specified, you could decide to enter
codes which causes the printer to use some other
feature, such as underlining.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Printer Code To Turn Off Bold Characters
This input line allows you to enter the printer code
necessary to turn off the printer mode that was turned
on with BOLD ON code.
Printer Code For Form Feed
This input line allows you to enter the printer code
used by the printer to advance to the next page. This
is typically called Formfeed.
Select IBM Box Character Set
This is a single Check Box which tells the program
whether or not to send the IBM Box Characters to the
printer. These are sometimes referred to as the
extended ASCII character set. These characters include
those that are used to form boxes and other items on
the screen. Some printers can print these characters,
some can not.
The two buttons that appear in this dialog box are:
Done Button
Press this button when you are done editing. The new
information will be saved in place of the old.
Cancel Button
Press this button when you are done editing, but you do
not wish to keep the changes you have made to this
item. The new information will NOT be saved in place of
the old.
Page Setup
The options available under Options | Page Setup allow
you to
Line Spacing
The line spacing radio button set allows you to select
which type of line spacing to use in this form.
Normal Line Spacing
This radio button allows you to select the normal
line spacing as defined in Lines Per Inch (Normal)
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
in the Options | Printer Codes.
Narrow Line Spacing
This radio button allows you to select the narrow
line spacing as defined in Lines Per Inch (Narrow)
in the Options | Printer Codes.
Character Width
The character width radio button set allows you to
select which character width to use in this form.
Normal Character Width
This radio button allows you to select the normal
character width as defined in Characters Per Inch
(Normal) in the Options | Printer Codes.
Narrow Character Width
This radio button allows you to select the narrow
character width as defined in Characters Per Inch
(Narrow) in the Options | Printer Codes.
Page Width
This is an input line which allows you to enter the
width of the page in inches. If you are using an 8
1/2" X 11" paper, then you would enter 8.5 here. Enter
this either in a fractional form (3 1/2) or a decimal
form (3.5) depending on how you have the system
configured using the Utilities | Configure | Special
Options main menu option.
Page Length
This is an input line which allows you to enter the
length of the page in inches. If you are using an 8
1/2" X 11" paper, then you would enter 11.0 here. Enter
this either in a fractional form (3 1/2) or a decimal
form (3.5) depending on how you have the system
configured using the Utilities | Configure | Special
Options main menu option.
Top Margin
This is an input line which allows you to enter the
number of inches that will be used for the top margin
of the page. Enter this either in a fractional form (3
1/2) or a decimal form (3.5) depending on how you have
the system configured using the Utilities | Configure |
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Special Options main menu option.
Left Margin
This is an input line which allows you to enter the
number of inches that will be used for the left margin
of the page. Enter this either in a fractional form (3
1/2) or a decimal form (3.5) depending on how you have
the system configured using the Utilities | Configure |
Special Options main menu option.
Bottom Margin
This is an input line which allows you to enter the
number of inches that will be used for the bottom
margin of the page. Enter this either in a fractional
form (3 1/2) or a decimal form (3.5) depending on how
you have the system configured using the Utilities |
Configure | Special Options main menu option.
Print To
This is used to select where this report is to be sent
(either to the printer itself or to a disk file).
Print To: Printer
Selecting this button will send the report
directly to the printer (at the time you tell PC-
Track to print).
Print To: Disk File
Selecting this button will send the report to the
disk file specified in Disk File To Print To (at
the time you tell PC-Track to print).
Form Advance Type
This radio button set allows you to tell PC-Track how
to handle advancing the printer to the next page. In
most cases, you will want to use the Form Feed Advance,
since this is quicker and more accurate. It is also
necessary if you have a page printer, such as a laser
or HP Deskjet printer. In some cases, it will be
necessary to move the paper to the next page with a
series of line feeds. This button determines which will
be used for this form.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Form Feed Advance
This tells PC-Track to send the Form Feed code to
the printer to advance the paper to the next page.
This will work for your printer if you have
defined the paper size to be exactly what you have
in the printer using the Initialization Code line.
Line Feed Advance
This tells PC-Track to compute and send a series
of Line Feed codes to the printer to advance the
paper to the next page. This is handy to use if
you do not know how to setup your printer to work
with a particular page size other than the
standard 8.5" X 11" size. PC-Track will use the
size defined in the Form Length lines above to
compute how many line feeds are necessary to
advance the paper to the next form.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
The User Interface
This program is built with many user features that make
using them simple. These features are part of what is
called the "user interface" because they work between
you the user, and the program. In other words, it
"interfaces" you with the program to allow information
to flow. Among these user friendly features are:
An uncomplicated pull down menuing system
A "windows" based screen display
Mouse Awareness
Dialog Boxes
Message Boxes
A program Status Line
A simple-to-use but informative HELP system
Each of these features provide the means to get the
information you need simply and to allow you to enter
information efficiently and effortlessly.
This part of the document will give you a brief
introduction to each of these features and get you
familiar with how to use them.
Using The Mouse
The user interface is made simple and powerful by the
use of a mouse. The mouse provides the mechanism to
rapidly point to something on the screen and tell the
program to perform certain operations.
When the mouse is available to use, (by having the
proper mouse driver installed and the mouse connected
properly) a rectangular square will be visible on the
screen. This rectangle is called the "mouse cursor" and
moves around on the screen as you move your mouse.
Moving this mouse cursor to the points of interest on
the screen is your way of telling the program what you
are interested in. Pressing the left button on the
mouse tells the program to do something, depending on
what is visible on the screen and where the mouse
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
cursor is when you press the button. Other areas of
the on-line help describe what will happen when you
use the mouse in particular ways with particular things
on the screen. (The middle and right mouse buttons are
not used.)
Throughout the program documentation and these help
screens you will see references to the use of the
mouse, but may not refer specifically to the mouse
cursor or the buttons on the mouse. Instead, you will
be told to " click on ...". This always means to
position the mouse cursor to the position (whatever it
is) on the screen by moving the mouse until it is on
top of the item of interest, then press the LEFT mouse
button. This is the major method of using the mouse to
interact with the program.
Double Clicking
This is a way of using the mouse to indicate to the
program that you wish to both select and activate
whatever item it is on (if that item understands double
clicks). This is done by rapidly pressing the left
mouse button twice. Just what "rapidly" means depends
on your computer and can be determined by
experimentation. Double clicking works on some data
entry lines (those that bring up selection list boxes
and in the list boxes themselves).
Using the MENU system.
The menu system provides a convenient and simple way to
get to each of the different options available. Please
note that the menu system is only available when
there's nothing else happening in the program. For
example, If you are in the middle of editing recipes,
the menu system won't work because there are no main
menu options available to use while you are editing a
recipe. You must be completed with any of the options
available before selecting another one.
There are a number of ways to access the options in the
menu system. Let's explore them:
SHORTCUT KEYS
First of all, notice that each of the options at the
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
top of the screen has one of its letters displayed in a
different color. That letter is known as the "shortcut"
letter. This letter is kind of a "hot" letter which
will access that particular option when you use the ALT
key along with that shortcut letter. For example, to
access the List option, you would press the ALT key at
the same time you press the L key. This will open up
the Edit sub-menu with all of its options.
F10 KEY
By pressing the F10 key, you gain access to all of the
menu options shown on the top line of the screen. One
of the options shown will become highlighted. To access
that option, just press the RETURN key. You will then
see the sub-menu options that are available from that
option.
If however, you desired to access one of the other
options, you may use the left or right arrow keys to
change the highlighted option. You may also press the
shortcut key as described above.
Once you have the sub-menu options displayed, you may
again press the appropriate shortcut key to select the
desired option. You may also use the up and down arrow
keys to highlight the option and then press the RETURN
key to select it.
MOUSE
Finally, you can simply click the left mouse button
while the mouse cursor is on top of the desired option.
Working with windows.
All of the work done in the program is done in one form
of "window" or another. Windows (not to be confused
with Microsoft Windows (R)) have a few features in
common which make them easy to work with. Most windows
have the ability to be moved around on the screen and
be closed. Some, such as the help window, are
resizable.
Windows are simply boxes on the screen which contain
groups of related information. They have a double line
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
frame around them and usually show a shadow over any
window or text beneath them. This gives a visual effect
which is pleasing to the eye and organizes information
into easy-to-use chunks.
A typical window looks like this:
Close Zoom
box box
│ │
V V
╔═[■]═════ Title Bar ════[|]═╗
║ ▒
║ ▒
║ ▒
║ ■
║ ▒
║ ▒<────┐
║ ▒ │
╚═▒▒■▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒══╝ │
^ │
└─────────────────┤
│
Scroll Bars
CLOSING WINDOWS
Closing a window means to stop whatever the window was
doing and make it disappear from the screen. Most
windows can be closed by clicking on the little block
positioned at the upper left corner of the window frame
(seen as the " close box" in the above diagram). A
window can also be closed by pressing the ESC key or
one of the other buttons in the window ( such as the
Done or Cancel buttons, as covered in more detail
below). Some windows are designed not to be closeable
since they have information which is important to
remain displayed (such as the Print Manager message
box). These will not have the close box displayed in
the upper left hand corner of the window frame.
MOVING WINDOWS
Most windows are designed so that you can move them
around on the screen. This is done with the mouse. To
move a window, just position the mouse cursor somewhere
along the top frame of the window (not on the close
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
block though) and press AND HOLD the left mouse button
down. While holding it down, move the mouse. The window
will move with the mouse. When it is in the desired
position, release the left button. In most cases moving
windows is not necessary, but there may be some
situations where you wish to see what was underneath
the window and this will enable you to do this.
RESIZING WINDOWS
Most of the windows used in this program are not
resizable, since it would not make sense to do so. But
at least in the case of the help window, resizing is
sometimes helpful, since the help system is basically a
text display system and some of the text displays are
wider than the standard help window. You can tell if a
window is resizable or not by looking for a little "up
arrow" in the upper right corner of the window frame
(seen as the "zoom box" in the above diagram). This is
your clue that the window can be resized. You can make
the window full screen size by clicking on that arrow.
If you desire to again make it the original smaller
size, just click on the double arrow which shows in the
same spot. You can also resize it by positioning the
mouse cursor on the very lower right corner of the
window (─┘) and then pressing AND HOLDING the left
mouse button. Then as you move the mouse, the window
size will follow. When the window is the desired size,
release the mouse button.
Working with Dialog Boxes
Dialog boxes are simply specialized types of windows
used to display and input information. A dialog box
consists of a variety of different parts(including
those described above in windows) which make this
possible. These parts include:
Buttons
Input lines
Date Lines
Pick Lines
Static Text
Labels
Text Editor
Scroll Bars
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List Boxes
Radio Buttons
Check Boxes
Each of these items, when used in a dialog box, can be
selected for use by one of several methods.
MOUSE
One method is to click on the item with the left mouse
button when the mouse cursor is positioned somewhere on
the item.
SHORTCUT KEY
Each item shown in a dialog box has a label associated
with it. You will notice that there is a different
colored letter within the label. This is the shortcut
letter. You can select a desired item by pressing
either ALT and the shortcut letter or the letter alone.
You will need to use the ALT key with a shortcut letter
if you have something that is expecting regular letters
to be input (such as an input line).
TAB
Finally, you can select different items in a dialog box
by pressing the TAB key or the SHIFT and TAB keys. This
will step the focus (item of interest) or the one that
will operate with the RETURN key, from one item to the
next in the dialog box.
Once the item desired is highlighted by using one of
these methods, you are ready to use that item.
NOTE:
You may be tempted to press the RETURN key
when you are done entering information into
an input line or using one of the other items
in a dialog box. This will probably result in
more than you expected. Not only will you be
indicating to the program that you are done
inputting this line, but you will also be
indicating that you wish to take the default
action defined by one of the buttons in the
dialog box (the next section talks about the
"default" button). In some cases, this may be
to Edit whatever is selected. In other cases,
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
it will be to indicate that you are done with
the dialog box and it will close on you
because the default button was the DONE
button.
The bottom line is, don't press the RETURN
key unless you want to perform the default
action of the dialog box. This is probably
the biggest difference between the way the
windows and dialog boxes work and the way
older programs worked.
Below are descriptions of the major items used inside
dialog boxes to assist you in your work:
Buttons
Buttons are used primarily to allow you to tell the
program to do some preprogrammed action, such as Edit,
Delete, Convert, or some such thing. Each button
consists of a small box with a text label on it and a
shadow around it. In each dialog box, there is usually
one "default" button and other "normal" buttons. A
default button is one which is automatically selected
when you press the RETURN key if you have not selected
some other button.
Like the menu and other parts of the program, buttons
can be selected (highlighted) by any of the three
methods described above (shortcut key, TAB, or mouse).
To "press" a button, you can press the ALT key along
with the shortcut key shown on the button. You can
press RETURN with the appropriate button selected.
Finally, you can position the mouse cursor on the
button and press the left mouse button. Notice that
while using the mouse to press the button, if you press
and hold the mouse button down, the button "shadow"
goes away, along with the button position shifting to
the right, giving the effect of having depressed the
button. When the mouse button is released, the dialog
box button action will take effect. If you have pressed
a button and have not yet released the mouse button,
and for some reason do not wish to continue with that
action, you can move the mouse cursor off of the button
BEFORE RELEASING THE MOUSE BUTTON. This will cancel the
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
button press.
Input Lines
Input lines are used to allow you to enter information
directly from the keyboard. If an input line is
selected and there is existing information, it will be
displayed as "selected text". This means that if you
press any key except the HOME, END, left arrow, or
right arrow, the existing text will be deleted and you
will be able to reenter new information from scratch.
If, however, you wish to just edit what is there, just
move the cursor with the arrow keys to the point you
wish to edit. You will notice that the color changes to
the normal text color and you can now add to or delete
characters from what is there.
In some cases, the length of the information you can
enter into an input line will be longer than the box
displayed on the screen. When this occurs, a triangle
will appear at either end of the input box indicating
the information in the box is longer than what is
displayed. If you position the mouse cursor on that
triangle and press the left mouse button, the text will
scroll across the box. You may also use either the left
or right arrow keys to position the cursor to the
proper point in the text to continue editing.
When you are done using an input line, you can move to
the next item in the dialog box by one of the methods
described above (shortcut keys, TAB, mouse, etc.).
Static Text
Static Text is simply text that does not have any
"action" attached to it and is used to just display
information in the dialog box.
Labels
Labels are used to make it possible to select the
various items (except buttons) that may appear in a
dialog box for use. They are "attached" to these items
so that you can select them using the methods described
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in the Dialog Box section.
For example, Input Lines (described above) usually have
a label associated with them. Within the label is the
shortcut key which can be used to select the desired
input line for use. The label can also be used to
select the desired item with the other two selection
methods (TAB key and the mouse).
Scroll Bars
Scroll bars are devices used to allow you to select or
identify one item out of many. Sometimes it is used to
change a value of some piece of information. A scroll
bar is made up of three basic parts: the slider bar,
the slider, and the direction arrows.
They will look something like this:
▒▒▒■▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
│ │ │
Slider───┘ │ │
Slider Bar───────────┘ │
Direction Arrow─────────────────┘
The direction arrows are attached to each end of the
slider bar, and the slider moves along the slider bar.
There are several ways to move the slider (and thus
control the item the scroll bar is attached to).
One way is to use the arrow keys (up and down for
vertical scroll bars, and left and right for horizontal
scroll bars). Pressing either the PGUP or PGDN key will
make the slider move in larger increments.
You may also move the slider by positioning the mouse
cursor on one of the direction arrows at the ends of
the scroll bar and pressing the left mouse button. The
slider will move in the direction selected (and will
change the associated item). Release the mouse button
when the slider and information are in the desired
position.
If you position the mouse cursor on the slider bar
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
(between the slider and the direction arrow) and press
the left mouse button, the slider will move in greater
increments (the same as pressing the CTRL and arrow
keys).
You may manually position the slider by positioning the
mouse cursor on the slider and while PRESSING AND
HOLDING the left mouse button, moving the mouse (and
thus the slider) to the desired position.
Pick Lines
Pick lines are a special kind of input line. They look
somewhat like an input line in that they contain text
and have an associated label. Once selected and
activated, (by pressing any key) however, an additional
feature is revealed, which is a list box. (List Boxes
are described below.) This list box contains all of the
choices available to be placed into that associated
input line.
Instead of typing the information directly into the
input line, you select from the list box. The list box
closes when you select the desired item from the list
or press ESC or click on the close box ( ═[■]═ ).
List Boxes
A list box is a box that contains a list of items,
usually sorted, which are used to select one of the
items within the list. The list box is "smart" and has
several methods available to make it simple to select
one of the items in the list.
One of these methods is to use the scroll bar
associated with the list. Moving the slider will change
the selected item in the list.
Another method is to use the up and down arrow keys or
the HOME or END keys. HOME will select the top item in
the list. END will select the last item in the list.
You may also just type the letters in the item that you
wish to find. For example, suppose the list is a list
of food items, and contains the following items:
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Apples
Bread
Butter
Eggs
Milk
Yogurt
If you press the 'b' key (either upper or lower case,
it doesn't matter) the 'Bread' entry will be
highlighted. The cursor will be underneath the 'r' in
'Bread', indicating that it is waiting for the second
letter to be pressed. If you press the 'u' key, the
'Butter' entry will be highlighted. So you can see that
you can get to the desired item very quickly just by
pressing a few keys. Once the desired item is
highlighted, you can select it by pressing the Return
key (or the appropriate dialog box button). This
technique works for any item in the list, whether
visible or not.
Finally, you can select an item that is visible in the
list box by moving the mouse cursor somewhere on the
line that contains the desired item and double-clicking
with the mouse.
Radio Buttons
Radio Buttons are devices organized as short lists of
text items with parentheses () next to them. A group of
radio buttons is known as a "cluster." They act
together. Within one cluster of radio buttons, only one
of the buttons can (and will) be selected. For example,
suppose the following choices of ice cream were
available: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and cherry.
A radio button cluster with those choices would look
like this:
( ) Vanilla
( ) Chocolate
(∙) Strawberry
( ) Cherry
Your choice of ice cream would be one of those. Your
selection would be represented by a "∙" in one of the
boxes.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
If you change your mind, and select Chocolate, the (∙)
by Strawberry would be removed and the (∙) would appear
next to Chocolate.
( ) Vanilla
(∙) Chocolate
( ) Strawberry
( ) Cherry
To change selections, you can click on the desired
choice with the mouse, or press the appropriate
shortcut key.
Remember that radio button clusters have a label
associated with them which makes it possible to select
it before working on it. Pressing the ALT key along
with the shortcut key will also work.
Check Boxes
Check Boxes work exactly like radio buttons except that
you may select any, all, or none of the items in the
cluster. Check boxes look like this:
[ ] Vanilla
[X] Chocolate
[X] Strawberry
[ ] Cherry
Other Items
Other items you will see in this program will be:
Message Boxes
Message Boxes are used simply to advise you of some
condition which needs attention or to inform you of
some situation which has occurred and needs a decision
made. Usually, a message box will have several simple
buttons associated with it. Those buttons could be YES,
NO, OK, or Cancel. These buttons are usually provided
for your response to a question or "message" stated in
the box.
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Program Status Line.
The program status line is the bottom line of the
screen and presents brief help messages or a few
available hot keys. This is a method of providing just
a bit more information to you as you are working in
order to provide a good understanding of what is
happening or where you are in the program. Hot keys
may be used by either pressing the displayed key, or
clicking on the item with the mouse, or using the
shortcut key shown.
File Dialog Box
The file dialog box is used where it is necessary to
enter or select a DOS file for use in the program. The
File Select Box dialog box contains the following items
to assist you in selecting files:
■ an input box with a history list
■ a list box to browse the directory
■ the standard Cancel button
■ Open action button
■ an information panel that describes the
selected file
You may exit the File Open command by pressing the ESC
key or clicking the mouse on the CANCEL button.
Name Input Box:
┌─ Name ──────────────────────────┐
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────┘
The Name input box is where you enter the name of the
file to load, or the file-name mask to use as a filter
for the Files list box (for example, *.*).
If you are entering a filename, it must be entered as a
valid MSDOS filename. A valid filename has 8 characters
(case does not matter). The filename can be followed by
an optional part called an "extension" separated by a
period ".". Any letter or number may be used in
filenames and extensions..
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WARNING:
DO NOT USE THE FOLLOWING FILENAMES:
CON
AUX
COM1
COM2
COM3
COM4
PRN
LPT1
LPT2
LPT3
NUL
CLOCK$
DO NOT USE THE FOLLOWING EXTENSIONS:
.EXE
.$$$
.BAK
.BAS
.BAT
.COM
.CPI
.EXE
.SYS
DO NOT USE THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS IN
FILENAMES OR EXTENSIONS:
< > = , ; : . ? [ ] ( ) / \ + *
If you enter *.*, then all files in the current
directory will be shown in the Files List box.
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Files List Box:
┌ Files ──────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ FILENM01.DOC │ FILENM09.DOC │
│ FILENM02.DOC │ FILENM10.DOC │
│ FILENM03.DOC │ FILENM11.DOC │
│ FILENM04.DOC │ FILENM12.DOC │
│ FILENM05.DOC │ .. │
│ FILENM06.DOC │ \MOREFILE │
│ FILENM07.DOC │ \DATA │
│ FILENM08.DOC │ \DOCUMENT │
│ ▒▒▒■▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ │
└─────────────────────────────────┘
The Files List box lists the names of files in the
current directory that match the file-name mask in the
Name input box, plus the parent directory and all
subdirectories.
File Information Panel:
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ C:\SE\FILES\*.DOC │
│ HELLO.DOC 1432 Jan 11,1991 12:32pm │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘
The File information panel shows the path name, file
name, date, time, and size of the selected file. None
of the items on this information panel are selectable.
They are for information purposes only.
The buttons available are:
Open
The Open button picks the highlighted file and places
the full path and filename in the filename line.
Cancel
If you choose Cancel, nothing changes and no action
occurs, and the dialog box is put away. (ESC always
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
cancels a dialog box, even if a Cancel button does not
appear.)
Messages
Messages you may encounter when selecting and entering
filenames are:
"Too Many Files"
This message box is telling you that there simply are
too many files in the current directory to list in the
list box. This will not harm anything, it's just
telling you that the list box can't show you all the
files that there are.
"Invalid Drive or Directory"
You have entered the name of a disk drive or a
subdirectory that doesn't exist on the system. You will
have to go back and enter a correct one.
"Invalid File Name"
You have entered the name of a file using characters
that are not allowed in a file name or you have entered
a path that does not exist on your system. You will
have to go back and enter a correct one.
Characters that are not allowed in DOS files are:
; , = + < > | " [ ] \
The space character is also not allowed.
"Invalid Directory"
You have entered the name of a subdirectory that
doesn't exist on the system. You will have to go back
and enter a correct one.
Path Dialog Box
The Select Path dialog box consists of an input box, a
list box, the standard Select, Chdir, Revert, and
Cancel buttons. It is used whenever it is necessary to
select a DOS path for use in the program.
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Directory Name Input Box
┌ Directory Name ─────────────────────┐
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
The Directory Name input box is where you type in the
path of the new directory.
Directory Tree List Box
┌ Directory Tree ─────────────────────┐
│ Drives │
│ └─┬C:\ │
│ └─┬DOS │
│ └──UTILITIES │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
The Directory Tree list box enables you to navigate
directories by using the selection bar and pressing
Enter.
Buttons available in the Select Path dialog box:
Select
The Select button exits the dialog box with the new
path that is currently showing in the Directory Name
input box.
Chdir
The Chdir button puts the path that is highlighted in
the Directory Tree list box into the Directory Name
input box.
Cancel Button
The Cancel button exits the dialog box without making
any changes to the data path.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Using the HELP system.
The help system is designed to get you the help you
need on whatever topic you wish. The help system takes
you directly to the topic of interest just by pressing
the F1 key from wherever you are in the program. If
there are related topics which might be of interest to
you, the help system provides the means to easily jump
to that topic and see that information.
To get help, just press the F1 key. Appropriate
information will be given for the topic you are on. If
there is no specific topic to be addressed (such as
from the opening screen), the main Table of Contents
will be presented, from which you may select any of the
topics listed for further information.
The help will appear in a window in the middle of the
screen. Most of the text will wrap around in the window
so all of it is visible. Some specially formatted text
may be outside the window. In this case, just use the
scroll bars at the bottom or right side of the help
window to scroll the text until it is visible.
You may also make the help screen appear full size by
clicking the left mouse button while the mouse cursor
is on the little up arrow positioned on the frame in
the upper right hand corner of the help window.
When you are done with the help, it can be removed by
simply pressing the ESC key or clicking the mouse on
the little block (═[■]═) positioned at the upper left
of the window.
To view the next highlighted topic in a help window
(one that is a different color than the rest of the
text) just press the TAB key or the SHIFT and TAB keys
to make the desired topic highlighted. When it is, just
press the RETURN key. You may also select a desired
topic by double-clicking on it with the left mouse
button.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Changing Screen Colors
The Colors dialog box (found in the Edit | Text Colors)
consists of two list boxes, a text display area, the
standard OK, Cancel, and Help buttons, and one of the
following:
On color and black-and-white systems, it also
contains two color palettes.
On monochrome systems, it contains a set of radio
buttons instead of the palettes.
This dialog box is where you can change the colors of
different parts of this program.
Group List Box:
┌─ Group ─────────────┐
│ Background │
│ Menus ■│
│ Editor ▒│
│ Dialogs ▒│
│ Help Window ▒│
│ ▒│
│ │
└─────────────────────┘
The Group list box contains the names of the different
regions of the program that you can customize.
Item List Box:
┌─ Item ──────────────┐
│ Color │
│ ■│
When you select a group from the Group list, the Item
list box displays the names of the different views in
that region.
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Color Palettes:
┌ Foreground ┐ ┌ Background ┐
│ ░▒▓░▒▓░▒▓░ │ │ ▓░▒▓░▒▓░▒▓ │
│ ▓░▒▓░▒▓░▒▓ │ │ ░▒▓░▒▓░▒▓░ │
│ ▒▓░▒▓░▒▓░▒ │ └────────────┘
└────────────┘
On color and black-and-white systems, you use the
Foreground and Background palettes to modify colors.
Monochrome Palettes:
┌ Colors ──────────────┐
│ (∙) Mono low │
│ ( ) Mono high │
│ ( ) Mono underscore │
│ ( ) Mono inverse │
└──────────────────────┘
On monochrome systems, you use the Colors set of radio
buttons systems to modify the character attributes.
Sample Display:
┌────────────────┐
│ Text Text Text │
│ Text Text Text │
└────────────────┘
On all systems, the display text (above the Help
button) shows the current color or attribute settings.
Changes do not take effect on the desktop until you
close the Colors dialog box by choosing OK.
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Error Codes
The following are error codes you (hopefully will
never) see in PC-Track.
Code Meaning
==================================
2 COULDN'T FIND THE FILE
3 COULDN'T FIND THE PATH
4 TOO MANY OPEN FILES
5 FILE ACCESS DENIED
6 INVALID FILE HANDLE
12 INVALID FILE ACCESS MODE
15 INVALID DRIVE NUMBER
16 CANNOT REMOVE CURRENT DIRECTORY
17 CANNOT RENAME ACROSS DRIVES
100 DISK READ ERROR (READ PAST END OF FILE)
101 DISK WRITE ERROR (USUALLY DISK FULL)
102 FILE NOT ASSIGNED
103 FILE NOT OPEN
104 FILE NOT OPEN FOR INPUT
105 FILE NOT OPEN FOR OUTPUT
106 INVALID NUMERIC FORMAT
150 DISK IS WRITE PROTECTED
151 UNKNOWN UNIT
152 PRINTER IS NOT READY
153 UNKNOWN COMMAND
154 CRC ERROR IN DATA
155 BAD DRIVE REQUEST STRUCTURE LENGTH
156 DISK SEEK ERROR
157 UNKNOWN MEDIA TYPE
158 SECTOR NOT FOUND
159 PRINTER OUT OF PAPER
160 PRINTER PROBLEM...CAN'T PRINT
161 DEVICE READ FAULT
162 HARDWARE FAILURE (REAL PROBLEMS)
200 DIVISION BY ZERO
201 RANGE CHECK
202 STACK OVERFLOW
203 HEAP OVERFLOW
204 INVALID POINTER OPERATION
205 FLOATING POINT OVERFLOW
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206 FLOATING POINT UNDERFLOW
207 INVALID FLOATING POINT OPERATION
208 OVERLAY MANAGER NOT INSTALLED
209 OVERLAY FILE READ ERROR
210 OBJECT NOT INITIALIZED
211 CALL TO ABSTRACT METHOD
212 STREAM REGISTRATION ERROR
213 COLLECTION OUT OF RANGE
214 COLLECTION OVERFLOW ERROR
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Data Sources
PC-TRACK relies on up-to-date keplerian element data
for accurate calculations of satellite positions. There
are a number of sources from which to obtain this data.
Sources vary from BBSs, to NASA itself. Below are a
brief list of a few of these sources.
Printed Sources
The information required by PC-TRACK can be obtained by
requesting the "NASA PREDICTION BULLETIN" or the "TWO
LINE ORBITAL ELEMENTS" for each of the satellites
desired, referenced by CATALOG NUMBER from:
PROJECT OPERATIONS BRANCH
(CODE 513)
NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
GREENBELT, MD.
20771
You may also request a package of prediction bulletins
for certain categories of satellites such as weather or
amateur radio satellites rather than by individual
CATALOG NUMBERS. If you do not know the CATALOG NUMBER
of the satellites you wish to order data for, you can
request the current "SATELLITE SITUATION REPORT". To
the best of my knowledge, there is no charge for this
document and it can be obtained from the above address.
The Satellite Situation Report lists almost every
satellite currently in orbit. Each satellite is
cataloged by the International Designation and by
Catalog number. It also lists the name, launch date,
orbital period in minutes, inclination, apogee,
perigee, and transmitting frequency. By using this
document you can determine the catalog numbers of the
satellites you wish to track with PC-TRACK.
NOTE:
For on-line access to the same data, see the
information on the NASA RAID BBS below.
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Online Sources
Several on-line sources exist depending on your
connectivity and equipment available. For simple
telephone BBS access, below are two excellent sources
of satellite data:
BBS
Celestial BBS
513-253-9767
300-9600 BAUD
NASA RAID BBS
301-262-6784
300-2400 BAUD
NOTE:
This is a free access BBS. There is a 20 min
per day time limit. New users must first
write to NASA to request access to the BBS.
This may be done simply on a postcard,
requesting access to the RAID BBS. Upon
receipt of your request they will establish
an account for you on the BBS, and sent you a
package of materials including a BBS user
guide and your user ID and initial password.
You will then have access to the BBS and its
data. The address to write for access to the
RAID BBS is:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Project Operations Branch/513
Attn: Orbital Information Group
Greenbelt, MD. 20771
Internet
If you have access to the internet network, you have
access to several sources of up-to-date satellite
orbital elements. Several usenet news groups and
several FTP sites maintain current orbital elements on
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
the internet network. They are listed below.
Usenet News Groups
Two-line orbital elements and AMSAT keplerian elements
are frequently posted to the following usenet
newsgroups:
rec.radio.amateur.space
rec.radio.amateur.misc
sci.space
sci.space.news
sci.astro
FTP Sites
The following FTP sites maintain current two-line
elements:
archive.afit.af.mil (129.92.1.66)
/pub/space
ftp.funet.fi (128.214.61.100)
/pub/astro/pc/satel
kilroy.jpl.nasa.gov (128.149.1.165)
/pub/space/elements/nasa
These sites allow anonymous logins. Just enter
"anonymous" as the user name, and your valid home user
ID (with host name) as the password.
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The PC-Track Ver 3.0 User Guide
Import File Formats
Satellites
NORAD
A sample of the NORAD/NASA two-line orbital element
files is shown below:
- Current Two-Line Element Sets #193 -
Alouette 1
1 00424U 62 49 A 93133.51527345 .00000082 00000-0 92576-4 0 7184
2 00424 80.4641 319.3178 0024067 64.0697 296.2925 13.67767789527761
ATS 3
1 03029U 67111 A 93132.68443362 -.00000079 00000-0 99999-4 0 9439
2 03029 14.3601 11.5137 0010410 253.2872 106.5543 1.00272859 93420
Lines 1 and 2 are the standard Two-Line Orbital Element Set
Format identical to that used by NORAD and NASA. The format
description is:
Line 1
Column Description
01-01 Line Number of Element Data
03-07 Satellite Number
10-11 International Designator (Last two digits of launch year)
12-14 International Designator (Launch number of the year)
15-17 International Designator (Piece of launch)
19-20 Epoch Year (Last two digits of year)
21-32 Epoch (Julian Day and fractional portion of the day)
34-43 First Time Derivative of the Mean Motion
or Ballistic Coefficient (Depending on ephemeris type)
45-52 Second Time Derivative of Mean Motion (decimal point
assumed; blank if N/A)
54-61 BSTAR drag term if GP4 general perturbation theory was
used. Otherwise, radiation pressure coefficient.
(Decimal point assumed)
63-63 Ephemeris type
65-68 Element number
69-69 Check Sum (Modulo 10)
(Letters, blanks, periods, plus signs = 0;
minus signs = 1)
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Line 2
Column Description
01-01 Line Number of Element Data
03-07 Satellite Number
09-16 Inclination [Degrees]
18-25 Right Ascension of the Ascending Node [Degrees]
27-33 Eccentricity (decimal point assumed)
35-42 Argument of Perigee [Degrees]
44-51 Mean Anomaly [Degrees]
53-63 Mean Motion [Revs per day]
64-68 Revolution number at epoch [Revs]
69-69 Check Sum (Modulo 10)
All other columns are blank or fixed.
Notice that there is no decimal point printed for eccentricity.
The decimal point goes in front of the number. For example, the
eccentricity shown above for ATS 3 would be entered as .0010410.
Two line element files received from the NASA RAID BBS are a bit
different in format for the satellite names, and may contain
other satellite information:
SAT ID = 22314
Latest set =
1 22314U 93 3 B 93150.62186897 .00000155 00000-0 99999-4 0 533
2 22314 0.2649 64.9019 0001253 41.6048 215.1702 1.00266849 1496
SAT ID = 22319
Latest set =
1 22319U 93 5 A 93151.76998594 .00012358 00000-0 16051-3 0 1076
2 22319 51.6205 301.9186 0001168 13.8310 346.2595 15.59227960 19907
SAT ID not found . . .
SAT ID not found . . .
Either of these formats may be used for the NORAD data import
option in the SVT.
AMSAT
The Amateur Satellite (AMSAT) format is very different from that
of the NORAD files. The files is self documenting, as you can
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see...
SB KEPS @ AMSAT $ORBS-094.O
Orbital Elements 094.OSCAR
HR AMSAT ORBITAL ELEMENTS FOR OSCAR SATELLITES
FROM N3FKV HEWITT, TX April 4, 1993
BID:$ORBS-094.O
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
Satellite: AO-10
Catalog number: 14129
Epoch time: 93086.54729714
Element set: 980
Inclination: 27.0769 deg
RA of node: 33.3255 deg
Eccentricity: 0.6013784
Arg of perigee: 68.5627 deg
Mean anomaly: 343.3267 deg
Mean motion: 2.05875703 rev/day
Decay rate: 3.0e-07 rev/day^2
Epoch rev: 7358
Checksum: 317
PC-Track
The PC-Track objects.dat file used by PC-Track ver 1.x - 2.x is
an internal binary formatted file.
Sites
Comma Delimited
The SVT has the capability of importing comma delimited files
which contain data for updating site location and name data. A
sample of such a file is:
Moscow CIS ,55.750, 37.583
Mosul IRAQ,36.333, 43.133
Moulins FRANCE,46.566, 3.333
Moyale KENYA,3.516, 39.049
Mudanjiang CHINA,44.566, 129.599
Mukachevo CIS,48.449, 22.716
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The format required is:
Name : No more than 30 characters
Latitude : Degrees -90.0 to 90.0 (+ North)
Longitude : Degrees -180.0 to 180.0 (+ East)
PC-TRACK
The PC-Track observer.dat file used by PC-Track ver 1.x - 2.x is
a internal binary formatted file.
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