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- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ │░
- │ TRAKSAT Version 4.0 │░
- │ Satellite Tracking Program │░
- │ For DOS │░
- │ │░
- │ │░
- │ Copyright (C) 1989-96, All Rights Reserved │░
- │ Paul E. Traufler │░
- │ 111 Emerald Drive │░
- │ Harvest, AL 35749 USA │░
- │ │░
- │ WK (256) 726-5511 or (256) 837-0084 │░
- │ e-mail: wintrak@traveller.com │░
- │ Home Page: http://www.hsv.tis.net/~wintrak │░
- │ │░
- │ │░
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘░
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- 4 November, 1996
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- TRAKSAT
- Copyright (C) 1989-96
- By Paul E. Traufler
- All Rights Reserved
-
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-
- 2
-
- ****************************************************************
-
- ALL VERSIONS OF TRAKSAT, INCLUDING VERSION 4.0, ARE NOT PUBLIC
- DOMAIN SOFTWARE, NOR ARE THEY FREE SOFTWARE.
-
- Non-registered users are granted a limited license to use TRAKSAT
- on a trial basis for the purpose of determining whether TRAKSAT
- is suitable for their needs. The term of the trial basis shall
- not exceed 30 days. Use of TRAKSAT, except for this limited
- purpose, requires registration.
-
- TRAKSAT and its companion files are being distributed as
- Shareware. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO SHARE THIS SOFTWARE WITH OTHERS
- PROVIDED THAT IT IS DISTRIBUTED COMPLETE WITH DOCUMENTATION AND
- IN UNMODIFIED FORM AND THAT NO FEE OR OTHER CONSIDERATION IS
- CHARGED OR ACCEPTED. (DISTRIBUTORS OF PUBLIC DOMAIN OR USER
- SUPPORTED SOFTWARE MAY DISTRIBUTE TRAKSAT FOR A COPY FEE, NOT TO
- EXCEED $5.00 (US)).
-
- ****************************************************************
-
- TRAKSAT makes no warranty of any kind, either express or implied,
- including but not limited to implied warranties of
- merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with
- respect to this software and accompanying documentation.
-
- Paul E. Traufler, author of TRAKSAT, SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY
- DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS
- INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL
- OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY
- TO USE TRAKSAT, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY. This
- agreement is governed by the laws of the state of Alabama.
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- 3
- What is Shareware? (Why ask why!)
-
-
- Shareware is copyrighted software that is distributed at minimal
- cost. Because you can "try before you buy", it's easy to find
- programs to fit your needs. Shareware authors release programs
- with an element of trust, expecting payment if a program is used
- regularly. You save when you buy Shareware since expensive
- marketing costs are eliminated, however it should be remembered
- that producing Shareware costs the author time, energy, and
- money. Remember that registering Shareware will help keep high
- quality low cost software available to all users.
-
-
- Why should I register?
-
- Well first off it is the right thing to do. If you use TRAKSAT
- for more than 30 days it is time to register. What you get by
- registering TRAKSAT is;
-
- 1. Support for Shareware so you can keep getting low-cost
- software in the future.
-
- 2. You will be E-mailed a notice when new versions become
- available. *** E-Mail Notice ONLY ***
-
- 3. Support will be provided to registered users only.
-
- 4. The option of getting you name placed on the About screen so
- everyone will know you registered the program.
-
- 5. The warm feeling that you are supporting me in this pursuit.
-
- 6. The latest version of the program and new satellite elements
- also.
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- 7. The registered version does NOT display the reminder screen at
- startup.
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- 8. Only the registered version has the Auto Tracker interface for
- automatic antenna pointing and radio tuning. (This is optional
- equipment and is not required to use TRAKSAT.)
-
- Your registration helps support me and my family also. I have
- spent a great deal of time and effort in this program and would
- hope that you will be honest and register. I have kept the cost
- of this program within the reach of almost anyone, just try to
- find another satellite tracking program with all the features of
- TRAKSAT for less money.
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- 4
-
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
- INTRODUCTION ........................................... 5
- HARDWARE REQUIRED TO RUN THE PROGRAM ................... 8
- CHAPTER 1 (GETTING STARTED) ........................... 8
- RUNNING THE PROGRAM .................................... 9
- CHAPTER 2 (USER OPTIONS) .............................. 11
- CHAPTER 3 (MAIN MENU FILE OPTIONS) .................... 16
- CHAPTER 4 (MAIN MENU SATELLITE OPTIONS) ............... 17
- CHAPTER 5 (MAIN MENU STATION OPTIONS) ................. 19
- CHAPTER 6 (MAIN MENU TIME OPTIONS) .................... 21
- CHAPTER 7 (MAIN MENU OPTIONS) ......................... 23
- CHAPTER 8 (MAIN MENU OUTPUT MODES) .................... 25
- CHAPTER 9 (MULTI-MODES) ............................... 34
- CHAPTER 10 (REGISTERING/UPDATES) ....................... 36
- CHAPTER 11 (OBTAINING ELEMENTS/FILE FORMAT) ............ 37
- CHAPTER 12 (SATELLITE MAGNITUDE/FREQUENCIES) ........... 40
- CHAPTER 13 (ODDS AND ENDS) ............................. 42
- AUTO TRACKER ........................................... 48
- CHAPTER 14 (PROBLEMS/HELP) ............................. 50
- BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 53
- ORDER FORMS (ORDER.FRM) ................................ 55
-
- Trademarks used in this document
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
- IBM, PS/2, and PC DOS are registered trademarks of International
- Business Machines Corporation.
-
- Microsoft, MS, MS-DOS, and QuickC are registered trademarks of
- Microsoft Corporation.
-
- Hercules is a registered trademark of Hercules Computer
- Technology.
-
- TRAKSAT uses the QuickWindows Advanced User Interface Library
- which is Copyrighted 1992 by Software Interphase, Inc..
-
- Auto Tracker is a Trademark of Endeavour Electronics 157
- Catamount Road, Tewksbury, MA 01876. (508) 851-5661
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- All others are owned by there respected companies.
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- 5
- Introduction
-
- TRAKSAT is a general purpose satellite tracking program, by that
- I mean any satellite that has a NORAD, NASA 2-Line element set
- can be used. The solution to the satellite motion which is used
- by TRAKSAT is completely analytic and therefore requires no
- numerical integration. This makes the program fast, even faster
- when a coprocessor is used, since the solutions can be evaluated
- at arbitrarily large, or small, time intervals.
-
- The purpose of this program is to provide the user with a means
- of propagating NORAD element sets in time to obtain tracking
- information of the space object.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- The NORAD satellite data set included with TRAKSAT contains the
- elements for over 800 satellites. HOWEVER this data will be
- several weeks old by the time MOST people obtain this program.
- The elements included can be used to run the program through its
- paces but updated elements will be required in order to make
- accurate predictions. For more information on satellite elements
- see Chapter 11.
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- To print out the document, TRAKSAT.DOC use the DOS copy command.
- The syntax to use would be "COPY TRAKSAT.DOC PRN", without the
- quotation marks.
-
- A complete development of the theory required to predict the
- position of an artificial satellite about the earth is not
- presented here because this is not proper place for it. Such a
- development would require a volume in itself and would be more of
- a distraction than an aid to the potential user. Only enough of
- the concepts required for a general understanding plus the final
- results are given. References to detailed works from which these
- results are derived are provided for the more than casually
- interested reader.
-
-
- A Brief Editorial
-
- TRAKSAT version 4.0 (4.0 because this is the fourth MAJOR
- revision of the program) is written in 100% C code. The program
- has some 40,000 lines of code in it and represents some 3500
- hours of work. I have enjoyed the work and have heard from many
- people all over the world.
-
- I'm an Aerospace Engineer working for a company in Huntsville,
- AL.. My job title is; Trajectory and Orbit Analysis Engineer. I
- work with NASA, mostly the shuttle program, "on-console" for
- several shuttle missions. I have done orbital lighting, TDRS
- coverage, Pass Planning, and many other things. I also have
- worked with a telemetry system that was used to determine the
- actual pointing of the Shuttle on the ATLAS-1 and ATLAS-2 shuttle
- missions. I was in charge of the real-time software development
- 6
- for these missions. I was one of the Orbit Analysis Engineers for
- the IML-2 Shuttle mission and the ASTRO 2 mission which flew in
- early 1995.
-
-
- ****************************************************************
- This is an ad For WinTrak, the Satellite Tracking Program for
- WINDOWS 3.1, (Win95 version also available).
-
- Is Windows your idea of the way software should be? Well I have
- produced the first and only Windows based satellite tracking
- program. It is called WinTrak. This program is the most advanced
- program of its kind. There are many features of this program that
- would make any DOS program green with envy.
-
- WinTrak is an easy-to-use program for tracking satellites in
- real-time on PC type personal computers running Windows. It
- provides a variety of features required by Amateur Radio
- Operators, Astronomers, and Satellite Watchers. Some of the key
- features include:
-
- Quick, simple clean operation
- Fast, accurate results
- Nearly unlimited number of satellites
- User configured multiple tracking stations
- Phase to mode conversions for the HAMSATS
- Multiple satellite tracking
- Satellite ground tracks
- Predict upcoming satellite passes
- Real-time satellite tracking
- 3-D satellite earth views
- Satellite tracks across a stars background
- Easy to use Windows program
- Doppler shift calculations
- Squint angle calculations
- Simple easy installation program included
- Supports any video mode used by Windows
- Special satellite groups available
- Fast tabular satellite rise/set options
- Optical tracking options
- Complete on-line help available
- Printed documentation provided
- Uses NASA/NORAD Two-Line Elements
- Satellite database of over 750 satellites included
- Free technical support via CompuServe
-
- What will WinTrak do for me? WinTrak tracks orbiting satellites
- including the Moon, Sun, and Stars. The program can continually
- update the screen with the current positions of multiple
- satellites and tracking stations. WinTrak provides the user with
- a wealth of options to suit the particular needs of a broad
- spectrum of users. WinTrak is high quality software but at an
- affordable price!
-
- WinTrak was designed to be easy-to-use for both the beginner and
- the expert alike. This program may be the best reason to switch
- to Windows! Computer Software/Hardware Requirements:
-
- WinTrak runs on IBM & compatible 386, 486 PC computers capable of
- running Windows in either Standard or Enhanced modes. Other
- 7
- system requirements include; 3 Meg of Ram, 1.44M floppy disk, 3
- Meg of disk space, DOS version 5.X or better, Windows version
- 3.1,. A coprocessor is strongly recommended. WinTrak is supplied
- on 3.5 inch 1.44M floppy disks, 5.25 inch 1.2M floppy disks can
- be ordered. High density disks only.
-
-
- Recommended Minimum System:
-
- 386-33MHz with 4 Meg Ram, 387 coprocessor, Super VGA color
- graphics, 130 Meg hard drive, 1.44M floppy, mouse, DOS 5.0 or
- 6.2, Windows 3.1.
-
-
- Price: $49.95 + $4.00 Shipping.
-
- For more information please contact;
-
- WinTrak
- c/o Paul E. Traufler
- 111 Emerald Drive
- Harvest, AL. 35749
-
- Phone (work) 256-726-5511
- Phone (home) 256-837-0084
-
- e-mail: wintrak@traveller.com
- ****************************************************************
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- 8
- Chapter 1 (Getting Started)
-
-
- New with this version is two fully rendered 3D earth views with
- full color Sun/Shadow. These views are breath taking! TRAKSAT is
- now a fully protected mode program with no DOS 640K limits! The
- program uses Extended or Expanded memory and requires only 250K
- of free RAM. This is the FOURTH major re-write of the program and
- is considered the best by all the trial users.
-
- The program has expaned on-line help along with better and
- additional error checking. Speed and features are what it is all
- about.
-
- Did you get a complete copy of the program? The following files
- SHOULD have been included in the archive file.
-
- TRAKSAT.EXE The program.
- TRAKSAT.INI The default data for TRAKSAT.
- TRAKSAT.CTY The city file for tracking stations.
- TRAKSAT.DOC TRAKSAT program documentation.
- TRAKSAT.HLP TRAKSAT help file.
- TRAKSAT.NDX TRAKSAT help file index.
- EARTH.DAT World map data file.
- EARTH.BIN World map data file.
- TLE.TXT This is the latest NORAD satellite data set,
- READ.ME Latest notes about the program.
- TRAK.NEW New features for this version.
- MODERN.FON This is a font file used for the graphics.
- FONT.VGA This is a font file used for the menus.
- ORDER.FRM This file contains TRAKSAT order forms.
- STAR6A.BIN This is a star data base that is NOT required
- to run TRAKSAT, it is optional. This data file
- can be used in the external star data
- option. It has all stars to magnitude 6.0
- in it.
-
- What do I need to run the program? In order to run the program
- the user will need the following hardware/software;
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- IBM or 100% compatible AT,PS/2,286,386,486, 2MB
- Ram (250K free ram is required), Floppy or Hard
- Disk (approximately 1Meg free), Text mode display
- (25x80), CGA, EGA, VGA, or SVGA graphics, DOS version
- 5.0 or better, HIMEM or some other memory manager
- installed.
-
- Math coprocessor is NOT required BUT RECOMMENDED,
- (IF A COPROCESSOR IS PRESENT IT WILL BE USED *),
- PC DOS or MS DOS VERSION 5.0 or above. This version of
- TRAKSAT WILL NOT RUN ON XT (8088) COMPUTERS, if you
- are still using a XT computer for satellite tracking
- you will need to use Version 3.03 or UPDATE the
- computer.
-
- * It should be noted that a coprocessor will be 3 to 4 times
- faster than the emulator version. If the user plans on using the
- real-time tracking mode, a coprocessor will "smooth out" the time
- steps to such a small delta as to appear instantaneously. At any
- rate the real-time mode runs as fast as the host computer can
- 9
- calculate the data and update the screen.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- This version of TRAKSAT will NOT run on XT (8088) computers, a
- 286 AT class computer is the minimum hardware supported.
-
-
- ==> INSTALLING TRAKSAT
-
- TRAKSAT is available from many BBS's and shareware firms and
- normally stored in a compressed format such as ZIP. The user will
- be required to uncompress the files by whatever means it was
- compressed with first. To install the program first create a
- directory on your hard disk. Type "C:" <Enter> then "md\trak400"
- <Enter> to create a directory named C:\TRAK400. (Do not type the
- quotes, the <Enter> means press the Enter or Return key.) Then
- type "cd\trak400" to go to this directory. If your hardware is
- different substitute the required changes as needed.
-
- Next copy ALL the files to the just created directory on your
- hard disk. That is all that is required to run the program. Read
- Chapter 2 (User Options) for additional details on user set
- options that you may want. IT IS STRONGLY SUGGESTED THAT YOU SET
- THE OUTPUT PATH IN THE TRAKSAT.INI FILE. If you do not set the
- path the program may over write output files.
-
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- Running The Program
-
- To start TRAKSAT you type "TRAKSAT", without the quotation marks,
- at the DOS prompt. Several command-line options are available to
- modify the start-up of the program. See Chapter 2 for details.
-
- If all is well the program will startup with a Tabular mode
- tracking the Mir satellite.
-
-
- *** Pressing F1 will bring up the online help. ***
-
-
- SUGGESTED additions to your CONFIG.SYS file (386,486 systems):
-
- DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS <====This is the mininum required
- DOS=HIGH,UMB
- FILES = 50
- BUFFERS=17
- STACKS=9,256
-
- If you do not know if you have expanded/extended memory type
- "MEM" at the DOS prompt. Below is an example output from MEM that
- displays the current memory conditions.
-
- C:\TRAKSAT>MEM
-
- 655360 bytes total conventional memory 655360
- bytes available to MS-DOS 632688 largest
- executable program size
- 10
- 6651904 bytes total EMS memory <== This is EXPANDED MEMORY
- 6062080 bytes free EMS memory
-
- 7602176 bytes total contiguous extended memory
- 0 bytes available contiguous extended memory 6062080
- bytes available XMS memory
- MS-DOS resident in High Memory Area <== DOS loaded HIGH
-
-
-
- After the opening screen is displayed the Main Menu will be
- displayed next. From the Main Menu the user can control the
- program. The Main Menu is the core of the program, i.e. from this
- menu the user can setup satellite data, tracking station data,
- and output selections.
-
- Here is an Main Menu example;
-
- File Satellite Stations Time Options Output Modes
- ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
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- TRAKSAT Version 4.0
-
- A full explanation of the options is included in this document
- but for the most part the user can figure out most of the options
- without additional help.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- All of the menu selections can be changed by either the arrow
- keys, mouse movement, or ALT+ the first hi-lited letter of the
- menu choice. (The left mouse button will select the hi-lighted
- menu option.) Some options have Hot-Key assignments that will go
- directly to the option without going through and menus. The Hot-
- Keys are always a Alt+Key options, i.e., Alt+E, this means
- pressing down the Alt key and the E key at the same time. (This
- combination will allow the user to change satellite element
- files.) If a Hot-Key option is available for a menu option it
- will be displayed on the right side of the menu options. If you
- do not have a mouse the Tab key will change the cursor setting on
- the menus and buttons. The mouse driver version used in the
- testing of TRAKSAT was Microsoft 7.03. Several other versions and
- other mice have been used with no problems also. (The mouse is
- disabled during any graphics output.)
-
- TRAKSAT uses these hot keys to jump to several program
- selections. (Press the Alt and the listed key at the same time)
-
- Alt+C = View/Edit current tracking station data Alt+D = Switch to
- Delta-Time mode Alt+E = Open a TLE file Alt+G = Ground Track
- Alt+N = Find a satellite from the list Alt+P = View/Change
- 11
- program defaults Alt+R = Switch to Real-Time mode Alt+X = Exit
- the program Alt+3 = Rendered 3D view at the satellite F1 =
- Online help
-
- During ANY graphics display pressing P key will cause the current
- screen to be saved to a PCX file.
-
-
-
- What's the Next Step?
-
- With the program up and running you will notice a tabular type
- output screen. The satellite will be Mir with Harvest, AL as the
- tracking station. (These are the factory set defaults.) Press the
- Esc (escape) key to stop the output. Select Station/Find from the
- Main Menu a menu box will appear while the city data is being
- loaded. If you want to cancel the reading of data press Esc.
- Scroll through the list of stations and find your city. (Relax if
- you do not find it as you can add to the TRAKSAT.CTY file or edit
- the changes later.) Be sure to set the UTC Offset for this
- station. Select Replace Station #1 and then Save. This will make
- your city the new station number 1. You can add other stations
- later if you wish. If you want another satellite or tracking mode
- at program startup select Options/Default from the Main Menu
- next. You can enter several defaults used by the program or make
- changes on the fly in some cases. Set the defaults as you
- requirements may need and select Save. Now TRAKSAT is configured
- for your needs! Please read Chapter 2, User Options for more
- details.
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- 12
- Chapter 2 (User Options)
-
-
- Command-Line options
-
- TRAKSAT has several command-line options available that may prove
- useful. To use any of these commands type "traksat /?", without
- the quotes. (Replace the ? with one or more of the following
- commands.) Valid options are;
-
- /auto = Run Analytical Solution Mode at start up,
- /m = Use Monochrome mode,
- /x = Do NOT try to load element data at start-up,
- /at = Use the Auto Tracker for antenna control,
- (This is optional support)
- /nofont = Do NOT load the VGA font file used for the
- menus.
-
- These commands are not upper/lower case specific.
-
-
- The TRAKSAT.INI File
-
- TRAKSAT has many options available to suit your particular needs.
- The program stores your options in a file called TRAKSAT.INI.
- This file is an ASCII text file that can be edited by any word
- processor that can save as ASCII text. (DOS utility program EDIT
- works fine) or from inside the program (File/Edit INI). The
- program will look for this file in the same place as the program
- EXE is located. ONE WILL NOT BE CREATED IF IT IS MISSING, however
- the program will use some defaults to get you started at least.
- Several options allow you to save your new defaults to the INI
- file, however the program will first make a backup of the current
- INI settings to a file called TRAKSAT.BAK.
-
- An example of the INI file is included below;
-
- ;
- ; TRAKSAT Version 4.00 INI, Copyright (C) 1996 By Paul E. Traufler
- ;
- ; *** A semi-colon in the FIRST column means a comment field ***
- ; ALL DATA MUST FOLLOW THE = SIGN, ** NO SPACES ** 79 columns MAX
- ; The section titles i.e., [Program Info] MUST start in column ONE
- ;
- ; Program Info, Automatic, and Groups can NOT be set inside the
- ; program, you must edit the TRAKSAT.INI file and make the desired
- ; changes.
- ;
- [Program Info]
- Element Filename=tle.txt
- ; DO NOT END THE OUTPUT PATH WITH A "\" CHARACTER
- ; Adding an output path is strongly recommended
- Output Path=
- ;
- ; *** CONSULT DOCUMENTATION FOR DETAILS *BEFORE* SETTING VIDEO MODES ***
- ; -4=EGA 640x350x16, -3=Herc, -2=CGA Mono, -1=VGA Mono, 0=Auto, 1=VGA
- ;
- ; If running in Win95 and you have more than 256 color video it is
- ; best to set the output to 16 color modes as they are faster, or at
- ; least set to VGA (-1) as this is the fastest display mode.
- 13
- ; *** THE MODES LISTED BELOW REQUIRE A SVGA CARD AND MONITOR ***
- ; *** DAMAGE MAY RESULT IF YOUR HARDWARE DOES NOT SUPPORT THESE MODES ***
- ; 2=800x600x16, 3=800x600x256, 4=1024x768x16, 5=1024x768x256
- ; 6=1280x1024x16, 7=1280x1024x256, 8=640x400x256
- Video Mode=1
- ; Land fill color for Ground Tracks, 0 none,2=green,6=red,8=gray
- Color Land=2
- ; 0 = no refresh of Ground Track
- Rev Update Interval=6
- ; *** CONSULT DOCUMENTATION FOR DETAILS *BEFORE* SETTING VIDEO MODES ***
- ;Render Output Video Mode, ** This REQUIRES a 256 color mode **
- ;1=640x400x256, 2=640x480x256, 3=800x600x256, 4=1024x768x256, 5=1280x1024x256
- Render Video Mode=2
-
- [Defaults]
- Satellite Name=Mir
- Run Mode=0
- Freq Up=145.750000
- Freq Down=440.150000
-
- [Automatic]
- ; ALL IN LOCAL TIMES I WILL USE STATION #1 UTC OFFSET
- Start Time=18.0
- Length Hours=24.0
- ;Days offset from current date
- Day Offset=1
- ; 0 = ALL, 1 = Group One, etc.
- Group=0
-
- [Options]
- Sensor=1
- Sun Terminator=1
- Grids=1
- Visible Only=0
- Star Direction=3
- Star Names=1
- Internal Stars=1
- External Stars=1
- Star Time Tags=1
- Star Update Interval=18.0000
- Star Mag Limit=5.0000
- Ra Dec Output=0
- UTC Output=0
-
- [Auto Tracker]
- ; ONLY WITH THE REGISTERED VERSION, optional
- Comm Port=2
- Home Azimuth=0
- Home Elevation=0
- Limit Azimuth=5
- Limit Elevation=3
- Max Elevation=90
- Mic Step=100
-
- [Station 1]
- Station 1 Name=Harvest,AL
- Station 1 Lat=34.7900
- Station 1 Lon=-86.6790
- Station 1 Alt=220.00
- Station 1 UTC Offset=-6.0
- 14
- Station 1 Min Elevation=0.0
- Station 1 Max Range=2000.0
- Station 1 Visibility=1
- Station 1 Twilight=-10.0
-
- [Station 2]
-
- [Station 3]
-
- [Group 1]
- ;25 Satellites Max. Per Group
- Group1 Satellite01=Mir
- Group1 Satellite02=HST
- Group1 Satellite03=HST Array
- Group1 Satellite04=ARSENE
-
- [Group 2]
- ;25 Satellites Max. Per Group
- Group2 Satellite01=NOAA 9
- Group2 Satellite02=NOAA 10
- Group2 Satellite03=NOAA 12
- Group2 Satellite04=Meteor 3-4
- Group2 Satellite05=Meteor 3-5
- Group2 Satellite06=Meteor 3-6
-
- [Group 3]
- ;25 Satellites Max. Per Group
- Group3 Satellite01=FO-27
- Group3 Satellite02=Mir
- Group3 Satellite03=OSCAR 10
-
- [Attitude]
- ;Six Satellites Max.
- Attitude Satellite1=AO-13
- ;NORAD ID Number
- Attitude ID1=19216
- ;Bahn lat/lon in Degrees
- Attitude BLAT1=0.0
- Attitude BLON1=180.0
-
- [Multi Satellites]
- ;Max. of SIX satellites
- Multi 1=ARSENE
- Multi 2=Mir
- Multi 3=NOAA 12
- Multi 4=
- Multi 5=
- Multi 6=
- ;Colors 0=black, 1=blue, 2=green, 3=cyan, 4=red, 5=magenta, 6=brown
- ;7=white, 8=dk gray, 9=lt blue, 10=lt green, 11=lt cyan, 12=lt red
- ;13=lt magenta, 14=yellow, 15=bright white
- Multi Color 1=14
- Multi Color 2=5
- Multi Color 3=4
- Multi Color 4=15
- Multi Color 5=13
- Multi Color 6=11
-
-
- The user can choose a color from the palette of;
- 15
- 1 = BLUE 0 = BLACK
- 2 = GREEN 9 = LIGHT BLUE
- 3 = CYAN 10 = LIGHT GREEN
- 4 = RED 11 = LIGHT CYAN
- 5 = MAGENTA 12 = LIGHT RED
- 6 = BROWN 13 = LIGHT MAGENTA
- 7 = WHITE 14 = LIGHT YELLOW
- 8 = GRAY 15 = BRIGHT WHITE
-
-
- It is important that you follow the this format or unexpected
- results may occur. Please note that any data after the = sign
- must be without any spaces. Most of the options have comments by
- them so you will not get into trouble and error checking is done
- on the data also.
-
- Some areas of the INI file can only be changed by editing the
- file and making the changes. The areas include Program Info,
- Automatic, and Groups can NOT be set inside the program, you must
- edit the TRAKSAT.INI file and make the desired changes. USE ONLY
- AN ASCII SAVING EDITOR, one such as the DOS EDIT program or
- inside the program using the built in editor (File/Edit INI).
-
- The Defaults Section of the INI file can be set inside the
- program. Below is a screen of the setting for this option.
-
- ╔═══════════╡ TRAKSAT Defaults ╞════════════╗
- ║ ║
- ║ Satellite Name: Mir ║
- ║ Freq Up (MHz): 145.000 ║
- ║ Freq Dn (MHz): 440.000 ║
- ║ ║
- ║ ┌─────┤ Default Run Modes ├─────┐ ║
- ║ │ (*) Tabular Screen Only │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) Ground Track │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) Star Background │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) Orthographic Mode │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) 3D Earth View │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) Multi-Sat Tabular Screen │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) Multi-Sat Ground Tracks │ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ └───────────────────────────────┘ ║
- ║ ║
- ║ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ║
- ║ │ Ok │ │Cancel│ │ Save │ ║
- ║ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ ║
- ║ ║
- ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- If the user selects any graphic output the program will test for
- a graphics adapter and based on the type of graphics hardware
- will select the "highest" standard graphics mode supported. You
- may override these options by setting the INI file with the
- desired video mode.
-
- ******************
- 16
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- Some of the higher resolution modes require special hardware to
- run. You may damage your hardware if you exceed its capabilities.
- do not attempt to set any graphic modes above 640x480 (VGA) or
- Video Modes over 1 without ensuring that you monitor can safely
- handle that resolution. Otherwise, you may risk damaging your
- display monitor. Consult your owner's manual for details.
-
- An example of the standard graphics modes would be;
-
- VGA mode 640x480 pixels,
- EGA mode 640x350 pixels,
- CGA mode 640x200 pixels,
-
- ******************
- * SPECIAL NOTE *
- ******************
-
- If the hardware does NOT support graphics an error message will
- be displayed and the program will return to the Main Menu. All of
- the text modes will still be available however.
-
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- 17
- Chapter 3 (Main Menu File Options)
-
- The File options from the Main Menu will allow the user to change
- satellite element files, shell to DOS, display a About screen,
- and Quit the program.
-
- Changing the satellite element file is the first File option, the
- user can press the Alt+E keys to jump to this option.
-
- The program will display a list of files for the user to select a
- element file from. The first place the listing starts is with the
- current default for element files as set in the INI file. If you
- want to use the same directory as TRAKSAT is installed to just
- leave the INI setting Element Filename= blank.
-
- To cancel this operation either select the Cancel button or press
- the Esc key.
-
- Below is an example of the Open File select screen.
-
-
- ┌───────┤ Open File ├──────────────┐
- │ │
- │ FileName: *.TXT │
- │ C:\TRAK310\ │
- │ │
- │ Files │
- │ ╔═════════════╗ │
- │ ║TLE.TXT ║ │
- │ ║ ║ │
- │ ║ ║ │
- │ ║ ║ ┌──────┐ │
- │ ║ ║ │ ok │ │
- │ ║ ║ └──────┘ │
- │ ║ ║ │
- │ ║ ║ ┌──────┐ │
- │ ║ ║ │Cancel│ │
- │ ║ ║ └──────┘ │
- │ ║ ║ │
- │ ╚═════════════╝ │
- └──────────────────────────────────┘
-
- The Shell to DOS File option will work with DOS version 3.0 and
- above ONLY. This option will allow you to run other DOS programs
- or commands. Typing "EXIT" will resume TRAKSAT.
-
- The third File Option will display the About screen, this will
- display the current version and support numbers and such. This
- screen will be displayed when starting the un-registered versions
- of the program. (The registered version does NOT display this
- reminder screen at all, another advantage to registering your
- program!)
-
- The last File option will quit the program. No warnings or
- messages will be displayed asking if you are sure about quitting.
-
-
-
-
-
- 18
- Chapter 4 (Main Menu Satellite Options)
-
-
- To select a particular satellite you will select the
- Satellite/Find option. A list of the current satellite names will
- be displayed for you to select a satellite name. (A maximum
- length of 20 characters is allowed in the satellite name). The
- list is not sorted but rather listed just as the satellites are
- listed in the element file. To find a satellite quickly use the
- Find option, enter the desired name and click Find to use this.
- Scroll through the satellite list until you find the desired name
- then either select Ok. Below is an example screen of the
- Satellite/Find option.
-
- ┌───────────┤ Satellites ├────────────┐
- │[ ] Find │
- │╔══════════════════════╗ │
- │║ 1994049A │
- │║ 1994046B ▒ │
- │║ 1994048D ░ │
- │║ 1994048C ░ │
- │║ 1994048B ░ │
- │║ 1994048A ░ ┌──────┐ │
- │║ 1994047B ░ │ ok │ │
- │║ DIRECTV ░ └──────┘ │
- │║ APEX ░ │
- │║ 1994045B ░ │
- │║ Cosmos 2285 ░ │
- │║ 1994044B ░ ┌──────┐ │
- │║ Cosmos 2284 ░ │Cancel│ │
- │║ 1994043B └──────┘ │
- │╚══════════════════════╝ │
- └─────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- For you keyboard users the Tab key will move the focus of all
- options, if a item such as a botton has focus the title will be
- all captial letters. Focus is important because if you press the
- Enter key while a control has focus that command will be
- processed. If the Ok or the Cancel button has the focus and you
- press Enter you will send either the Ok or the Cancel command to
- the program. To change the current focus press the Tab key.
-
- This program uses the NASA, or NORAD 2-line, satellite element
- data file format to read data into the program, (in this text the
- use of NORAD refers to NASA 2-Line or NORAD satellite element
- data sets). For a full explanation of the NASA 2-line satellite
- element data sets see Chapter 11.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- TRAKSAT is limited by available extended/expanded memory to the
- number of satellites it can load into memory. The number of
- satellites loaded will vary from computer to computer, however
- for the most part element files used by most will pose no
- problems. If you have a file with more satellites than can be
- loaded you will need to remove, using a text editor, satellite
- data sets or free up more memory. This may not prove to be a
- limitation for most people as most satellite data sets have less
- 19
- than 700 satellite data sets.
-
- The second Satellite option will display a list of the currently
- visible satellites from the current file. The program will use
- the currently selected tracking station and visibility tests for
- this option. The program will read the system date/time and than
- determine what satellites are visible. You can select a satellite
- from the list by selecting the satellite name first than
- selecting Ok.
-
- The next Satellite option, Info will display the orbital
- information on the currently loaded satellite. All data displayed
- will be in units of Km, Km/Sec and alike. An example of the
- Satellite/Info screen is below.
-
- ──────────────────────────┤ Satellite Infomation
- ├───────────────────────────
-
- AO-13
- NORAD ID 19216
-
- Epoch DOY 221.177509 Epoch Julian Date
- 2449573.677508851
- 1st Dot (R/Day^2)-1.67000000E-006 Epoch Date/Time 08/09/94
- 04:15:36
- 2nd Dot (R/Day^3) 0.00000000E+000 Period (Min) 686.5978
- Bstar (Drag) 1.00000000E-005 Semi Major (Km) 25780.732
- Inclination (Deg) 57.7592 Radius Apogee (Km) 44403.694
- RAAN (Deg) 237.5053 Radius Perigee (Km) 7157.770
- Eccentricity (Deg) 0.72235970 Velocity Min (Km/S) 9.794
- Arg. Perigee (Deg) 347.6665 Velocity Max (Km/S) 1.579
- Mean Anomaly (Deg) 1.4454 Ave Altitude (Km) 19402.597
- Mean Motion (R/Day) 2.097252 Long Asc Node (Deg) 216.171
- Rev Number 1562 ±Visible Lat (Deg) 90.000
- BLAT (Deg) 0.0000 BLON (Deg) 0.0000
-
- Press Esc to Quit
- ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
- BLat and BLon or stellite attitude is used for the squint angle
- calculations only. The OSCAR series of satellites use a antenna
- pointing system called Bahn coordinates. These coordinates are
- Bahn latitude and longitude and are used in the calculations. TO
- CHANGE THEM YOU WILL NEED TO EDIT THE INI FILE under the
- [Attitude] sections and make the changes. Below is an example of
- the [Attitude] section from the TRAKSAT.INI file.
-
- [Attitude]
- ;Six Satellites Max.
- Attitude Satellite1=AO-13
- ;NORAD ID Number
- Attitude ID1=19216
- ;Bahn lat/lon in Degrees
- Attitude BLAT1=0.0
- Attitude BLON1=180.0
-
-
-
-
-
- 20
- Chapter 5 (Main Menu Station Options)
-
-
- The first Station option, Find will display the tracking stations
- listed in the file TRAKSAT.CTY. The city data file has ~1970 of
- the larger U.S. cities latitude, longitudes, and altitudes in it.
- (Some world-wide cities also.) You will be asked to replace what
- tracking station number, 1, 2, or 3 with the new data first. The
- first time you run the program and you want to set your station
- you should select the number 1 option, from then on either number
- 2 or 3 would be recommended. The program can have up to 3
- tracking stations. The current station will have a check mark
- before its name. Once you have the desired tracking stations
- loaded and saved you can select one of them by just selecting the
- station name from the Main Menu.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- The latitudes used in TRAKSAT are ALL considered to be GEODETIC
- latitudes NOT GEOCENTRIC. It will be left up to the user to
- determine the conversion from geocentric to geodetic latitude.
- (For the most part this conversion should not be required as MOST
- maps and atlas coordinates are listed as geodetic.) The altitude
- measurement is the altitude above mean sea-level and is in
- meters.
-
- If you can not find a match to the city data then you will need
- to use a text editor to add the city data in the file TRAKSAT.CTY
- or use the closest city in the file.
-
- Below is an example from the TRAKSAT.CTY file. The format of the
- tracking station file is;
-
- City Name Long. Lat. Alt.
- (deg) (deg) (m)
- Harvest,AL,-86.6792,34.7972,220.
-
- The city name can be up to 20 characters long while the
- longitude, latitude, and altitude can be up to 10 characters
- long. Commas MUST separate the data fields and the program
- expects 4 commas per line of data.
-
- The TRAKSAT.CTY file can hold a MAXIMUM of 2100 tracking stations
- in it. The user can enter city data into the TRAKSAT.CTY file in
- any order but it would be wise to include the data in an
- alphabetical order.
-
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- 21
- Below is an example screen for the Station/Find option.
-
- ┌──────────────────┤ Tracking Stations ├──────────────────┐
- │╔══════════════════════╗ ┌─────┤ Visibility ├──────┐ │
- │║Aalborg,Denmark │(*) LOS │ │
- │║Abbotsford,BC ▒ │( ) Optical │ │
- │║Aberdeen Prv Gnd,MD ░ │( ) Optical/Max Range │ │
- │║Aberdeen,ID ░ │Max Range (Km): 2000 │ │
- │║Aberdeen,MD ░ └─────────────────────────┘ │
- │║Aberdeen,Scotland ░ UTC Offset (Hrs): -5.0 │
- │║Aberdeen,SD ░ Min. Elev. (Deg): 0.0 │
- │║Aberdeen,WA ░ Twilight (Deg): -10.0 │
- │║Abilene,KS ░ Station Name: │
- │║Abilene,TX ░ │
- │║Acapulco,Mexico ░ │
- │║Accra,Ghana ░ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ │
- │║Ada,MN ░ │ ok │ │ Save │ │Cancel│ │
- │║Adak,AK ░ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ │
- │║Adams,MA │
- │╚══════════════════════╝ # Stations: 1971 │
- │Replace (*) Station 1 ( ) Station 2 ( ) Station 3 │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- The city file has been sorted by city names and as such you may
- quickly jump to that section of the listed names by using the
- scroll bar. Edit the UTC Offset and Min Elev. setting to suit
- your needs also. After the tracking station has been chosen the
- Main Menu will appear waiting for the next user choice.
-
- Once you have setup your tracking stations you can change its
- settings by first selecting it as the current station. Next
- select the Station/Current option and may any changes you require
- "on-the-fly". If you select Ok the changes are not made to the
- INI settings but rather used only while the program is in
- operation. If your location is NOT in the included file you may
- select any close by city and use this option to make the required
- changes. Save this new data and you will be all set now.
-
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- 22
- Chapter 6 (Main Menu Time Options)
-
-
- TRAKSAT can operate in two different time modes, Real-time and
- Delta-time. (The delta-time mode is starting at some particular
- date and time using a user defined time increment until a ending
- time is reached.)
-
- To change time modes in TRAKSAT the user can select Time from the
- Main Menu. The two time mode options will be displayed with a
- check mark before the current mode name.
-
- The Real-time mode will update the screen at 1 second intervals
- if the hardware will allow. For an AT class machine with no
- coprocessor, the update time may be 5 to 10 seconds. An AT class
- computer with a coprocessor can do the 1 second per update with
- no trouble.
-
- If you would like to track a satellite from say today's date to
- some future date, the Delta-time mode is the choice to use. The
- basic idea is track from some starting date to some stopping
- date. If the user selects the Delta-time mode some additional
- information will be required. The starting date and time along
- with the length of the simulation. The time step will also need
- to be entered. The program will display "defaults" that can be
- accepted or edited to suit your needs.
-
- It is noted that the maximum length, that is from the starting
- date to some future time, of the simulation is 99 days 99 hours
- 99 minutes 99 seconds. The step size can be 1 second to a maximum
- of 2 days. (1 Minute is the default.)
-
- Below is an example of the delta-time mode data input screen.
-
-
- ╔═══╡ UTC Starting Date/Time Length ╞═══╗
- ║ ║
- ║ ║
- ║ Date (mm/dd/yy): 09/23/94 ║
- ║ Time (hh:mm:ss): 00:00:00 ║
- ║ Length (dd/hh:mm:ss): 01/00:00:00 ║
- ║ Step Size (Min): 1.000000 ║
- ║ ║
- ║ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ║
- ║ │ ok │ │cancel│ ║
- ║ └──────┘ └──────┘ ║
- ║ ║
- ║ ║
- ╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝
-
- An approach most people use with the Delta-time mode is to pick a
- 2-3 minute time step and check the output for any passes near the
- tracking station for that day. Then return back to the Delta-time
- mode and use a smaller time step to obtain a better estimate of
- the satellite visibility. Another method is to use the Analytical
- Solution option see Chapter 8.
-
-
-
- ******************
- 23
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- The time is read from the system clock, and as such is only as
- accurate as the setting of this clock. The date and time should
- be set before running TRAKSAT.
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- 24
- Chapter 7 (Main Menu Options)
-
- TRAKSAT has many options that you can change to suit your needs,
- such as plotting a lat/long grid or a satellite sensor coverage
- plot. All of the output options can be set from one screen saving
- you from digging into the program too deep.
-
- The first menu option, Defaults will allow you to change the
- basic startup values. These options include; what satellite to
- start with and what output mode to use. The frequency used for
- the Doppler shift calculations can be set here also. Below is an
- example of the Defaults that can be set inside the program.
-
-
- ╔═══════════╡ TRAKSAT Defaults ╞════════════╗
- ║ ║
- ║ Satellite Name: Mir ║
- ║ Freq Up (MHz): 145.000 ║
- ║ Freq Dn (MHz): 440.000 ║
- ║ ║
- ║ ┌─────┤ Default Run Modes ├─────┐ ║
- ║ │ (*) Tabular Screen Only │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) Ground Track │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) Star Background │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) Orthographic Mode │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) 3D Earth View │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) Multi-Sat Tabular Screen │ ║
- ║ │ ( ) Multi-Sat Ground Tracks │ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ └───────────────────────────────┘ ║
- ║ ║
- ║ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ║
- ║ │ Ok │ │Cancel│ │ Save │ ║
- ║ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ ║
- ║ ║
- ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
-
- The next menu option, Program will allow you to set output
- options. TRAKSAT can output date/times in either UTC or Local
- based on the options. The options are saved in the INI file so
- you should only have to set them once or so.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 25
- Below is an example screen of the Program options.
-
- ╔════════════╡ TRAKSAT Options ╞════════════╗
- ║┌──┤ Time Options ├──┐┌┤ Tabular Options ├┐║
- ║│ (*) UTC TIMES ││( ) Visible Only │║
- ║│ ( ) Local Times ││(*) All Passes │║
- ║└────────────────────┘└───────────────────┘║
- ║┌┤ Plotting Options ├┐┌┤ Star Direction ├─┐║
- ║│ [√] Grids ││( ) North │║
- ║│ [√] Sensor ││( ) East │║
- ║│ [√] Sun Terminator ││(*) South │║
- ║│ [√] Star Names ││( ) West │║
- ║│ [ ] User Stars │└───────────────────┘║
- ║│ [√] Internal Stars │┌─┤ Star Plotting ├─┐║
- ║│ [ ] Ra&Dec Output ││ Magn. 4.5000 │║
- ║│ ││ Refresh (Min) 15 │║
- ║└────────────────────┘└───────────────────┘║
- ║ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ║
- ║ │ Ok │ │Cancel│ │ Save │ ║
- ║ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ ║
- ║ ║
- ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
- The plotting options include settings for all of the graphic
- screens used in the program. Grids will turn on/off any grids or
- either lat/long or azimuth/elevation. The Sensor will plot the
- satellite footprint. You can adjust the size of the footprint by
- setting the minimum sensor angle setting under the Station
- options. You can use the internal stars or the external user
- stars as required also. The last plotting option Ra&Dec Output
- will only display the right ascension/declination of the
- satellite in the Tabular modes ONLY. (The Star background option
- will ALWAYS have it.)
-
- Star Update Interval will set the desired interval between star
- background updates. The recommended setting is 15 minutes. The
- INI file has the default value. You can set the magnitude limit
- for the Star Background plotting output from here also.
-
-
-
-
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- 26
- Chapter 8 (Main Menu Output Modes)
-
-
- The Main Menu Output options will control the output modes
- available in TRAKSAT. The output modes available are; Tabular,
- Analytical Solution, Batch mode, Ground Track, Orthographic,
- Tabular, 3D View, Star Background, Rendered Views, Multi-Satellite
- Tabular and Ground Track.
-
- From this menu screen you can select Tabular, Analytical, Batch
- Mode, Ground Track, Star Background, 3D View, and Orthographic
- modes. The first five options are text only and can be displayed
- on screen, send to a file, or both at the same time. All Tabular
- type output can go to screen, file, or both.
-
- Below is an example of the tabular file output. The header
- information in the file will help you remember what you ran.
-
- TRAKSAT Version 4.00
- Tabular Mode
-
- Local Date/Time Run: Sat Sep 24 12:00:53 1994
- Element File: TLE.TXT
- Tracking Station: Harvest,AL
- Visibility Mode: Line of Sight
- Satellite: Mir
-
- UTC
- Date Time Elev Azim Range Lat Long Alt Dopp Dopp Phz Sqt V
- MM/DD/YY HH:MM:SS Deg Deg Km Deg Deg Km Up Down 256 Ang
-
- -- Rev # 49147 --
- 09/24/94 10:44:00 2.0 216.3 2064 20.0 -97.8 395 -438 -1330 224 -1 Y
- 09/24/94 10:45:00 6.7 214.3 1653 22.9 -95.2 395 -664 -2015 227 -1 Y
- 09/24/94 10:46:00 13.1 210.9 1250 25.7 -92.6 395 -887 -2693 230 -1 Y
-
- The Lat and Long are the satellite latitude and longitude. The
- Azim and Elev are azimuth and elevation as seen from the tracking
- station, while the Range is the distance from the satellite to
- the tracking station. Alt is the satellite altitude above the
- earth.
-
- The azimuth is always between 0 and 360 degrees with north being
- 0, east 90 south 180 and so on. The elevation will be always be
- between -90 and +90 degrees. If the elevation is less than zero
- the satellite is below the horizon as seen from the tracking
- station.
-
- The doppler shift comes about from the simple fact that both the
- satellite and the ground station are in motion. The relative
- motion between the station and the satellite causes either a
- compression or expansion of a radio signal, this is called the
- doppler shift. TRAKSAT will calculate a doppler shift for two
- frequencies, uplink/downlink. The base frequency is listed in the
- INI file under the section labeled [Defaults]. The output units
- are in Hertz while the inputs are in MHz.
-
- The phase angle, Phz is used for the amateur radio satellites.
- The phase angle is based on the mean-anomaly, (the position in
- the orbital plane from the perigee). The mean-anomaly is normally
- 27
- measured from 0 to 360 degrees, however the phase angle is from 0
- to 256ths of a circle. The conversion of degrees mean-anomaly to
- phase angle is;
- Phase = (mean anomaly (deg))/(360/256).
- (256ths of circle)
-
- It has become common practice with radio amateur satellites to
- use Mean Anomaly to schedule satellite operations. Satellites
- commonly change modes or turn on or off at specific places in
- their orbits, specified by Mean Anomaly. Unfortunately, when
- used this way, it is common to specify the mean anomaly in units
- of 256ths of a circle instead of degrees. The phase angle is
- therefore displayed in units of 256ths of a circle.
-
- The Sqt is the squint angle, this is a measure of the angle from
- the satellite antenna to your tracking station. The smaller the
- angle means the antenna is pointing directly at you. A -1 output
- means that no attitude information for that satellite is
- available.
-
- The last item displayed is based on if the satellite is visible
- from the tracking station. See Chapter 13 for a complete
- description of the methods used by TRAKSAT to test for
- visibility.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- To stop the display the user can press the space bar and the
- screen will "freeze". The user will need to press any key again
- to continue the simulation. If the user presses Esc, escape key,
- the simulation will stop and the user will be returned to the
- Main Menu.
-
-
- Analytical Solution
-
- TRAKSAT version 2.00 and above has included a very powerful
- option, Analytical Rise & Set. Many people have asked "why use
- this analytical approach ?". Three reasons come to mind speed,
- speed, and speed! The analytical approach used is a closed form
- solution to the problem of determining when a satellite can be
- seen (either LOS or Optical) by a ground tracking station. In
- effect, this problem usually involves the calculation of the
- rise-and-set time (UTC) of a given satellite from a specific
- ground tracking station.
-
- In the past, it has been the custom to solve the problem by
- letting the satellite run through its ephemeris, and checking at
- each instant to see whether the elevation angle of the satellite
- was greater than some minimum value. However, by attacking the
- problem from a different point of view, that is, with the
- eccentric anomaly taken to be the independent variable, it is
- possible to obtain a closed-form solution to the satellite
- visibility problem. Specifically, the closed-form solution is a
- single transcendental equation in the eccentric anomalies
- corresponding to a rise-and-set time for a given orbital pass of
- a satellite. It is more difficult to solve the controlling
- equation than the standard Keplerian equation. However, the
- 28
- method offers the advantage that the controlling equation is
- solved only ONCE PER ORBIT PERIOD as contrasted with the hundreds
- of times the Keplerian equation must be solved with the standard
- step-by-step technique.
-
- "How much faster is the analytical solution ?" Several
- "benchmarks" were run using the same satellite data sets and
- starting times to determine the speed of each method. If the user
- selects the Delta Time Mode and then the Analytical Solution the
- speed difference will be obvious.
-
- On the machine used for testing (coprocessor installed) the
- analytical solution runs about 4 seconds per satellite per 24
- hours of simulation time vs. the 120 seconds per 24 hours in the
- delta time mode. (This was on a 386/16 with a 287/8 coprocessor
- and still produced a 3000% DECREASE in the time required.) (A
- 486/33 computer can crank out 20 satellites per second!) This
- mode can really be boosted by a coprocessor, 3-6 times faster!
-
- Use the analytical solution for "rough" estimates and the delta
- time mode for the detailed analysis. The term "rough" implies
- that the analytical solution is not as accurate as the Delta Time
- mode, and in fact that is true. The error (Delta Time mode vs.
- Analytical Solution) is usually LESS then 1 minute for predicted
- rise or set times. The error is the price to pay for the speed
- advantage.
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ****************** The analytical
- solution DOES INCLUDE THE DRAG EFFECTS in the calculations, (as
- of TRAKSAT version 2.30). By including the drag effects in the
- solution a long term prediction can be done without a great loss
- of accuracy.
-
- It has proved helpful for several TRAKSAT users to predict
- several weeks into the future any visible passes and make a note
- of the dates. As the date approaches and newer elements become
- available the user can "improve" the viewing times to finally
- obtain an accurate prediction of the satellites. Using this
- approach the user can mark "special" days when a particular
- satellite should be seen. The analytical solution will save the
- user from "looking" for satellites that will not be seen, or
- unfavorable passes.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- If the user selects the analytical solution AND any OPTICAL
- visibility tests then only satellites with a mean motion of
- greater than 2.5 revs per day will be calculated. That is any
- satellite that is "near geosync." will not be calculated. This
- should NOT be of to great importance to most users as seeing ANY
- near geosync. satellites is VERY DIFFICULT. The line of sight
- (LOS) method will still work for the near geosync. satellites. If
- the user needs to "see" a near geosync. satellite then the single
- satellite delta time mode OR Batch Mode will be required.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- 29
- ******************
-
- The analytical solution works by revs NOT so much time, by that I
- mean that the program calculates at rev to rev time steps and
- does NOT use the time step. This will also mean that if the user
- were to set a one hour simulation length the program will find
- some satellites outside this time interval because there are not
- any satellites that can have a period of 60 minutes. (Don't be
- alarmed by the longer than requested times in the output it is
- normal operation.)
-
- That is enough "horn blowing" let us look at an example. Below is
- and example output from the analytical solution using the file
- output option. The visibility method in this example was OPTICAL
- while the starting date was 12-23-1993 @ 0 UTC hours. The end
- time was 24 hours. The "header" at the top of the display will
- show some vital information to the user. The tracking station
- name and satellite data file name along with the visibility
- method will be displayed to remind the user of the current
- settings.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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-
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-
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-
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-
-
-
-
-
-
- 30
-
- (Screen Output Option)
- ┌────────────────────┤ Analytical Solution Output ├────────────────────┐
- │ │
- │Visibility Mode: Line of Sight, Visible ONLY │
- │ │
- │Total Satellites: 763 Record: 1 │
- │ UTC │
- │Satellite Date Time Max Azm Azm Range Duration │
- │Name MM/DD/YY HH:MM:SS Ele Rise Set Km HH:MM:SS │
- │HST 09/23/94 12:43:04 11 W SE 1836 00:10:13 │
- │ │
- │Mir 09/23/94 13:19:40 9 W NE 1474 00:08:13 │
- │Mir 09/23/94 14:58:52 3 NW NE 1979 00:05:20 │
- │Mir 09/23/94 16:35:54 6 NW NE 1708 00:07:05 │
- │Mir 09/23/94 18:11:40 28 NW E 771 00:09:56 │
- │Mir 09/23/94 19:49:39 21 W S 945 00:07:55 │
- │HST 09/23/94 05:54:27 11 SW E 1819 00:10:21 │
- │HST 09/23/94 07:35:28 27 SW E 1143 00:12:24 │
- │HST 09/23/94 09:17:31 36 W E 931 00:12:48 │
- │HST 09/23/94 11:04:33 26 SW SE 1151 00:07:47 │
- │ │
- │ Press Esc to Quit │
- └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- TRAKSAT Version 4.00
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- The user can NOT stop/start the screen as in the other modes,
- i.e., pressing Esc will STOP the display and terminate the
- analytical solution. This method was chosen to avoid
- inadvertently waiting for the screen to update while in a pause
- mode. The screen update can be slow on an Optical visibility test
- and a NON-coprocessor equipped machine. (There may not be any
- satellites optically visible at all!)
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- The default is to write output to the file TRAKSAT.000. If this
- file name exists the program will try TRAKSAT.001, TRAKSAT.002...
- and so on until a new file name is found. If the limit of 999 is
- reached then the program will use 000 as the extension AND OVER
- WRITE THE FILE. (All options will use this file naming method.)
-
-
- All/Group Satellites
-
- You have the choice with the analytical solution options to
- select all of the satellites in the data file or some user
- defined groups of satellites. The default will be to read ALL of
- the satellites for these options. You can define your "favorite"
- satellites, up to 25 satellites per group can be included. You
- will need to use a word processor to edit the TRAKSAT.INI file
- and add the satellites names to it. The word processor used will
- need to save the file in PLAIN ASCII format, i.e., NO SPECIAL
- CONTROL CHARACTERS EXCEPT THE END OF FILE MARKER. The DOS EDIT
- word processor will do the job nicely for the user. Batch Mode
- 31
- Output
-
- TRAKSAT version 2.55 and above has included a new option, called
- Batch Mode. This option is similar to the Tabular Output mode but
- can be used on all or a group of satellites. The method used in
- this option is; enter into the delta time mode and select the
- starting date/time and length of the simulation. The next step is
- to select Batch Mode from the Output options. The program will
- prompt the user for some additional information and then run each
- satellite through the delta tabular mode one at a time.
-
- The output from this option can go to the screen, file, or both.
- Below is an example of the file output created with this option.
- The starting date/time was 12-26-94 00:00:00 UTC to 00:04:00 UTC
- by one minute steps.
-
- The output parameters are same as the tabular output but without
- the rev. number. If no passes are visible just the satellite name
- will be printed.
-
- (Batch Mode File Output)
-
- TRAKSAT Version 4.00
- Batch Mode
-
- Local Date/Time Run: Sat Sep 24 17:40:34 1994
- Element File: TLE.TXT
- Tracking Station: Harvest,AL
- Visibility Mode: Line of Sight
- UTC
- Date Time Elev Azim Range Lat Long Alt Dopp Dopp Phz Sqt V
- MM/DD/YY HH:MM:SS Deg Deg Km Deg Deg Km Up Down 256 Ang
-
- 1994059B
- 09/24/94 00:00:00 -43.5 294.4 9147 20.3 169.4 255 2305 6995 46 93
- 09/24/94 00:02:00 -39.7 297.1 8540 26.8 174.1 256 2398 7277 51 94
- 09/24/94 00:04:00 -35.8 299.9 7899 33.1 179.5 258 2453 7444 57 95
- STS 64
- 09/24/94 00:00:00 -52.9 288.4 10504 4.2 158.4 257 1925 5841 55 89
- 09/24/94 00:02:00 -49.2 291.3 9998 11.0 162.4 258 2110 6404 61 91
-
- (Editors note)
-
- The idea for this new option was inspired from searching for a
- satellite trail left on a CCD captured graphics image file. The
- date, "rough" time, and position of the "exposure" were known but
- no idea on what the satellite was that passed through the image.
- Using the Batch Mode and a satellite data set from that time
- period the satellite was found. The idea of going through the
- satellite file one satellite at a time was just too much! So out
- came the Batch Mode to help in this kind of search.
-
- Here is another use for the Batch Mode; one night I was tracking
- IRAS passing north to south over head when another satellite came
- into view heading almost opposite the path of IRAS. I actually
- saw two different satellites at the same time! I wish I had the
- Batch Mode at that time, it would have been easy to discover that
- unknown satellite.
-
-
- 32
- Ground Track Output
-
- If the ground track option is entered the program proceeds to
- draw a Mercator projection map of the world. The upper left
- corner is at latitude 90 degrees and longitude -180 degrees,
- while the lower right corner is latitude -90 degrees and
- longitude 180 degrees. The grid spacing is 10 degrees for
- latitude and longitude. A box will be plotted for the current
- tracking station.
-
- The plotting process may take a minute or two on a slow AT type
- computer, something under 1/3 second on the particular computer I
- use. (486-33 MHz.)
-
- You have the option of redrawing the ground track after "X"
- number of revs have been completed. The default is 0 = NONE,
- however the user can chose between 0 and 99 revs for the screen
- refresh rate. If the user picks 2 rev refresh rate then after two
- revs are completed the screen will be redrawn. This option will
- prove useful for those users who like to leave the ground track
- running for long periods of time and do not like all the screen
- clutter. The setting is in the INI file under the section
- [Program Defaults] and is called Rev Update Interval. Several
- plotting options are used with this output selection see Chapter
- 2 for a listing of the options.
-
- The sun terminator is not dependent on the satellite but rather
- the tracking station. The terminator is plotted based on a zero
- sun elevation angle. (That is to say the terminator is the line
- where the top edge of the sun is "just" below the local horizon.)
- The terminator is accurate to about 5-10 minutes of actual. The
- effects of the local horizon and atmospheric refraction can
- "shift" the terminator a few minutes anyway so great accuracy may
- not be achieved. The sun is plotted as an box in the center of
- the terminator. This will tell the user on what side of the
- terminator the tracking station is on. (Daylight or darkness.)
-
- The sun terminator will be refreshed every 4 minutes in either
- the real or delta time modes. The refresh may take several
- seconds on the slower machines.
-
- As of TRAKSAT version 2.70 and above an antenna/sensor coverage
- plot option is included with the ground track. The user can
- include the antenna/sensor coverage if desired along with a
- minimum elevation angle to be used in determining the coverage
- area.
-
-
- Star Background Output
-
- The star background is a view looking from the tracking site
- towards the stars. This plot will be useful for producing a "star
- map" to take outside with you to compare the night sky with the
- satellite path.
-
- Several Star Background plotting options are available such as,
- display the visible star names, what direction to look, i.e.,
- North, East, South, or West, or the star background screen
- refresh rate. (Only the internal star data names will be
- displayed, not the external star data.) The field of view of the
- 33
- star background is 180 degrees in azimuth and 0 through 90
- degrees in elevation. If you select North the visible range of
- the azimuth will be 270 degrees (west) to 90 degrees (east). If
- you select East the visible range of the azimuth will be 0
- degrees (north) to 180 degrees (south) with 90 degrees being the
- center of the screen (due east). The option South will display
- from 90 degrees (east) to 270 degrees (west). The option for West
- will display from 180 degrees to 360 degrees with 270 degrees
- (west) being the center of the screen (due west).
-
- An example could be to see a satellite rise out of the west the
- user would select W, that will display from due south through
- west to the north.
-
- The star background option will display visible stars from a
- database of 58 navigational stars, the Sun, the planets, and the
- moon. (Not including any external star data.)
-
- TRAKSAT has the data for 58 stars in memory at all times however
- you can read a external star data file (STAR6A.BIN). This file
- has all the stars up to magnitude 6.0, some 5100 stars in all. In
- order to use the external stars the file STAR6A.BIN MUST be in
- the same directory as the EXE file. You must also select the
- option to use the external stars. If you do NOT have a co-
- processor using the external stars will slow down the screen
- update.
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- The program can save the screen display to a PCX file by pressing
- the "P" key. The program will save to a new file the screen
- image. The PCX file can be used in other programs or printed with
- some paint-type programs.
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- It is noted that the star background will be refreshed (USER
- DEFINED) minutes, in either delta or real time modes. It is
- therefore wise to select a starting time about 1 minute PRIOR to
- the time of interest and run the program in the delta mode until
- PAST the time of interest. An example of this would be;
-
- Time of interest 11:30:00 UTC,
- Starting time 11:29:00 UTC,
- Time span 00:14:00.
-
- This will provide the user with the "sky map" from 11:29 to
- 11:43 UTC and avoid the screen refresh.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- To stop the display the user can press the space bar and the
- screen will "freeze". The user will need to press any key again
- to continue the simulation. If the user presses ESC, escape key,
- the simulation will stop and the user will be returned to the
- Main Menu.
- 34
- Output Orthographic View
-
- If the user selects the Orthographic View Main Menu a 3-D
- orthographic projection of the earth and the satellite will be
- drawn. The perspective will be centered on the satellite. A small
- "X" will mark the tracking station coordinates. The grid lines
- are drawn 10 degrees apart with the orthographic projections. The
- screen will be updated based on the satellite altitude and how
- much it has moved from the last update. The Sun terminator can be
- plotted on this view also.
-
- ****************************************************************
- THE 3-D PROJECTION WILL BE SLOW ON AT TYPE COMPUTERS WITHOUT A
- COPROCESSOR SO IF THE USER DOES NOT WANT TO WAIT FOR THE COMPLETE
- EARTH TO PLOT OUT PRESS ANY KEY AND THE EARTH LAND MASS PLOT WILL
- STOP AND THE SATELLITE VIEW WILL START. (Only the grid lines will
- be displayed.)
- ****************************************************************
-
- The screen can be stopped and started the same way as any other
- graphic modes, i.e., space bar to freeze and Esc to stop.
-
-
- 3D View
-
- New with this version is a 3D view. The output mode will center
- the screen over the current tracking station and hold the earth
- still while the satellite will pass around the earth. This view
- is the best output for the Delta-Time modes.
-
-
- Rendered Views
-
- These views are the most breath taking and the best quality or
- all output modes. It is also the most hardware required option in
- the program. ALL OF THESE RENDERED VIEWS REQUIRE A 256 COLOR
- DISPLAY AND VESA GRAPHICS MODES. The views are centered on the
- satellite or the current tracking station. These views have the
- Sun/Shadow in full color and are quite a improvement over past
- versions of the program.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 35
- Chapter 9 (Multi Modes)
-
-
- TRAKSAT has several multi-modes of operation besides the single
- satellite modes. The modes are Multi-Satellite Tabular or Ground
- Tracks, and Multi-Station modes. The program reads the INI file
- for the names of the satellites to look for or you can select the
- Load Multi-Sat option to make changes to the satellites. Below is
- an example of this screen.
-
- ╔═════════════════════╡ Load Multi-Satellites ╞══════════════════════╗
- ║╔══════════════════════╗ ║
- ║║ 1994049A 1-> Mir ║
- ║║ 1994046B ▒ ║
- ║║ 1994048D ▒ 2-> AO-13 ║
- ║║ 1994048C ▒ ║
- ║║ 1994048B ▒ 3-> NOAA 12 ║
- ║║ 1994048A ▒ ║
- ║║ 1994047B ▒ 4-> ║
- ║║ DIRECTV ▒ ║
- ║║ APEX ▒ 5-> ║
- ║║ 1994045B ▒ ║
- ║║ Cosmos 2285 ▒ 6-> ║
- ║║ 1994044B ▒ ║
- ║║ Cosmos 2284 ▒ ║
- ║║ 1994043B ▒ ║
- ║║ APSTAR A1 ▒ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ║
- ║║ Cosmos 2283 ▒ │ ok │ │ save │ │cancel│ ║
- ║║ 1994041B └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ ║
- ║╚══════════════════════╝ ║
- ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
- To make changes to the Multi-Satellite list select the desired
- satellite and then press one of the number buttons. The satellite
- name will be placed to the right of the button and this will be
- one of the multi-satellites now.
-
-
- Multi-Satellite Tabular Output
-
- As of TRAKSAT version 2.30 and above a tabular multi-tracking
- mode has been included. The output is in text rather than a
- graphic display mode. Below is an example of the multi-tracking
- tabular output mode. The different satellites will be displayed
- in different colors also, the colors are the same as the ground
- track options.
-
-
- Multi-Satellite Ground Track Output
-
- If the ground track option is chosen the program will proceed to
- plot the tracks on the world map. The plots are very similar to
- the single satellite plots, except that for every satellite a
- different colored line is drawn. The user can select a satellite
- to display the current data bye pressing the up/down arrows. The
- colors will change as will the satellite name on the bottom of
- the screen.
-
-
- Multi-Station Text Mode
- 36
- You may select a Multi-Station mode also. This mode will display
- the current tracking data for up to three different stations.
- This mode is useful for setting-up satellite communications for
- two different stations. The date/time are based on the first
- station, number 1, UTC Offset.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 37
- Chapter 10 (Registration/Updates)
-
-
- TRAKSAT is Shareware and your support is required. You would be
- amazed at the reasons people give for not registering the
- program. Some of the more funny ones are; (THESE ARE ACTUAL
- QUOTES FROM LETTERS OR TELEPHONE CALLS AND EVEN FACE-TO-FACE
- MEETINGS. The names have been removed to protect their identity.)
-
-
- "Your fee ($25.00) is too low and I think it is worth much more
- so until the price goes up I'm not going to register."
-
- "Your fee is too high, I can not afford to register and buy that
- new computer also."
-
- "I do not know how to register the program as I'm new to
- computers."
-
- "I only use TRAKSAT once or twice a week so I don't use it enough
- to register."
-
- "I have been using TRAKSAT for many years and think it is the
- best program I have used for satellite tracking but I don't get
- anything EXTRA for the registration fee."
-
- "I lost the registration form."
-
- "I'll send you a check soon."
-
- "The check is in the mail."
-
- "My brother/wife/son/friend registered so I'm using their copy."
-
- "I think the program will not do what I want but I use it because
- it is free."
-
- "The program has too many features that I do not need so I will
- send $5.00 to register."
-
- "Send me the registered copy and I'll see if it suit my needs
- then I'll register the program."
-
-
-
- The user can obtain the latest version (NON-registered) of
- TRAKSAT from several BBSs around the country. The BBSs listed in
- Chapter 11 list several places to obtain the current version.
- Compuserve has TRAKSAT and many other related files also. (Try
- the HAM or the ASTRONOMY file areas.) You may even register
- TRAKSAT on Compuserve.
-
- TRAKSAT will be updated 1-2 times a year with update notices
- going out to registered users only. Order forms are at the end of
- this document and in the file ORDER.FRM also.
-
-
-
-
-
- 38
- Chapter 11 (Obtaining NORAD Satellite Elements/Format)
-
-
- Format of NORAD/NASA 2-Line Satellite Data
-
- NORAD maintains general perturbation element sets on all resident
- space objects. These element sets are periodically refined so as
- to maintain a reasonable prediction capability on all space
- objects. In turn, these element sets are provided to users.
-
- The element data will be maintained in ASCII format in a file.
- Data for each satellite will consist of three lines in the
- following format:
-
- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 1 NNNNNU NNNNNAAA NNNNN.NNNNNNNN +.NNNNNNNN
- +NNNNN-N +NNNNN-N N NNNNN 2 NNNNN NNN.NNNN NNN.NNNN NNNNNNN
- NNN.NNNN NNN.NNNN NN.NNNNNNNNNNNNNN
-
- Line 1 is a 20-character name. Lines 2 and 3 are the standard
- Two-Line Orbital Element Set Format identical to that used by
- NASA and NORAD. The format description is:
-
- Line 2
- 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 (rev/day^2)
- or Ballistic Coefficient (Depending of ephemeris type)
- 45-52 Second Time Derivative of Mean Motion (Blank if N/A)
- 54-61 BSTAR drag term if GP4 general perturbation theory was
- used.
- Otherwise, radiation pressure coefficient.
- 63-63 Ephemeris type
- 65-68 Element number
- 69-69 Check Sum (Modulo 10)
- (Letters, blanks, periods=0; minus sign=1; plus
- sign=2)
-
- Line 3
- 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.
-
-
-
- 39
- Example:
- NOAA
- 6 1 11416U 86 50.28438588 0.00000140 67960-4 0
- 5293 2 11416 98.5105 69.3305 0012788 63.2828 296.9658 14.24899292346978
-
-
- The following locations have the current satellite data files;
-
-
- You can obtain elements by several different means, perhaps the
- best way is to download them from a BBS or the Internet using a
- modem. If you do not have Internet access get it NOW!
-
- The following BBS's have the current satellite data files;
-
- Canadian Space Society
- Canada
- SYSOP:
- 905-458-5907
- 24 hours, 9600/2400 baud,
- 8 bit NO parity 1 stop.
-
- Clear Skies
- Madison, WI
- SYSOP: David Mullenix
- 608-249-7130
- 24 hours, 14400/9600/2400/1200 baud,
- 8 bit NO parity 1 stop.
-
- CompuServe, (Astronomy and Hamnet forums)
- 800-848-8990 (Customer Service)
- 24 hours, 9600/2400/1200 baud,
- 7 bit Even parity 1 stop.
-
- Datalink RBBS System
- Dallas, Texas
- SYSOP: Dr. Jeff Wallach
- 214-394-7438
- 24 hours, 28800/14400/9600/2400/1200 baud,
- 8 bit NO parity 1 stop.
-
- NASA OIG RAID RBBS (Write to get account)
-
- Goddard Space Flight Center/Project Operations Branch/513
- ATTN: Orbital Information Group
- GreenBelt, MD 20771
-
- NASA Spacelink BBS
- Huntsville, AL
- SYSOP:
- 205-895-0028
- 24 hours, 14400/9600/2400/1200 baud,
- 8 bit NO parity 1 stop.
-
- RPV BBS
- Rancho Palos Verdes, Ca.
- SYSOP: Dave Ransom Jr.
- 310-541-7299 or 310-544-8977
- 24 hours, 28800/14400/9600/2400 baud,
- 8 bit NO parity 1 stop.
- 40
- Internet Systems:
-
- WinTrak Pro/TRAKSAT Home Pages
-
- http://www.hsv.tis.net/~wintrak
-
- This is the best spot to get satellite elements and any program
- information.
-
- NASA/Goddard Orbital Info Group
- Telnet: gsfcbbs.gsfc.nasa.gov
- Login: gsfc Password: goddard1
-
- Celestial Elements
- Anom FTP: archive.afit.af.mil OR 129.92.1.66
-
-
- Other FTP/WWW Sites With Elements:
- ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/sat/tle
- ftp://kilroy.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/space/elements/satelem
- http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Software/
- Tracking.Elements/Satellite.Tracking.Elements
-
- AMSAT Home Page
- http://www.amsat.org/amsat/AmsatHome.html
-
- Satellite Tracking Resources
- http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~iburrell/sat/sattrack.html
-
- Amateur Radio Operator
- http://www.amateurradio.com/index.html
-
- NASA Orbitel Information Group
- http://oigsysop.atsc.allied.com/
-
- The Amateur Satellite Observers of Southeast Virginia (USA)
- http://jebyrd.larc.nasa.gov/
-
- Jonathan's Space Report
- http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/jsr.html
-
- Expendable Launch Vehicles
- http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/elv/elvpage.htm
-
- Visual Satellite Observer's Home Page
- http://www.ipp-garching.mpg.de/~bdp/vsohp/satintro.html
-
- The Global Positioning System (GPS)
- http://wwwhost.cc.utexas.edu/ftp/pub/grg/gcraft/notes/gps/gps.html
-
- NASA Spacelink - An Electronic Information System for Educators
- http://spacelink.msc.nasa.gov
-
- NASA - JSC Digital Image Collection
- http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/html/home.htm
-
- NASA Shuttle Web
- http://shuttle.nasa.gov/
-
-
- 41
- The RPV BBS is one of the best systems for satellite tracking
- information particularly for the Shuttle flights. This BBS has
- more current Shuttle elements than any other BBS open to the
- public. TRAKSAT will always be available on the RPV BBS.
-
-
- Obtaining Elements From the NASA BBS
-
- The following is a partial extract from the notice sent out by
- the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Orbital Information Group.
- Interested users should write to the address given and request
- access to the RBBS; include your full name and address with your
- request.
-
- The NASA OIG RBBS has four lines operating in rotation. A modem
- and software is required to download data. The RBBS operates at
- 9600/2400/1200 baud. You MUST write for access and password; you
- cannot call and log on without having first received that
- information by mail from NASA OIG!
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- Note that the format used on RBBS for two-line orbital elements
- is slightly different from that required by programs like TRAKSAT
- and STSORBIT. One program that will "fix" the file format is
- called ORBITEL and can be found on the RPV BBS. The file is
- called OExxxx.ZIP. (The xxxx will be the version number such as
- 9352.)
-
- For some time the Orbital Information Group's Reports and
- Information Dissemination (RAID) section has been developing an
- electronic bulletin board as a way to reduce our cost of
- providing orbital elements to users worldwide, in addition to
- providing mail users with an around-the-clock way to obtain the
- latest two-line element set iteration.
-
- Development and enhancement of the electronic bulletin board is
- completed, and activation was on September 16, 1991. The official
- name of the RAID Bulletin Board System is RBBS. Effective
- immediately, ALL USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO USE THE RBBS INSTEAD OF
- THE MAIL SERVICE.
-
- Those who use the service and find it serves their needs or is an
- acceptable alternative to the slower and more costly mail
- service, should advise us to drop them from mail distribution.
- This may be done by advising the RBBS SYSOP or by sending a
- letter. Users may not continue to use the RBBS and to receive
- mail service.
-
- The RBBS permits users of our NASA Prediction Bulletins and Two-
- line Orbital Elements (TLE's) access to the latest element set
- provided to us, avoiding the mail delay, in addition to allowing
- a user the flexibility of accessing the two-line element set of
- choice. One may obtain the latest two-line element set iteration
- around-the-clock from anywhere in the world, via telephone modem.
-
-
-
- 42
- Correspondence regarding our service should be sent to:
-
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Project Operations Branch/513
- Attn: Orbital Information Group
- Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
-
- The RBBS is updated with revised TLE's on the following schedule:
-
- Monday TLE's revised between 12:00 GMT Friday and 12:00 GMT
- Monday.
-
- Wednesday TLE's revised between 12:00 GMT Monday and 12:00 GMT
- Wednesday.
-
- Friday TLE's revised between 12:00 GMT Monday and 12:00 GMT
- Friday.
-
- Should a holiday fall on a day that the RBBS is scheduled to be
- updated with the latest TLE's, updating will be done on the next
-
- Monday through Friday working day.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 43
- Chapter 12 (Satellite Magnitudes/Frequencies)
-
-
- Below is a list of some satellites that are "good hunting" for
- the optical users. (First timers should look for the smallest
- magnitude satellites, i.e., Mir, Kvant-1, HST.)
-
- Norad Vis Satellite Name
- ID# Mag*
- 00694 3.0 Atlas Centaur 2
- 01001 3.3 Transtage 3
- 01359 3.3 Transtage 4
- 03598 3.0 OAO 2 R/B
- 04597 3.3 Cosmos 374 R/B
- 04622 3.3 Cosmos 375 R/B
- 04786 1.9 Cosmos 382
- 04966 2.3 Cosmos 398
- 05994 .9 Pageos
- 06155 3.0 OAO 3 R/B (Copernicus R/B)
- 06212 2.7 1972-076A Radcat
- 06779 3.0 IntelSat 4 F-3 R/B
- 08074 1.6 Pageos 1 DEB (Pageos H)
- 10967 3.0 SeaSat 1
- 12054 2.4 Cosmos 1220
- 12069 3.0 FltSatCom 4 R/B
- 12363 3.0 Comstar 4 R/B
- 12445 3.0 IntelSat 5-2 R/B
- 12465 -1.6 Cosmos 1271 R/B
- 12497 3.0 IntelSat 5-1 R/B
- 13007 3.0 IntelSat 5-3 R/B
- 15423 2.5 KH 11-6
- 15772 2.9 Cosmos 1656 R/B(4)
- 16182 2.5 Cosmos 1697 R/B
- 16609 -.4 Mir Space Station
- 16615 3.2 Spot 1 R/B
- 16910 2.8 EGP/JAS-1 R/B
- 17358 2.9 Cosmos 1603 R/B(4)
- 17369 3.3 Cosmos 1818
- 17528 3.1 MOS-1 R/B
- 17590 2.5 Cosmos 1833 R/B
- 17845 -.4 Kvant-1 (part of Mir)
- 17974 2.5 Cosmos 1844 R/B
- 18187 3.3 Cosmos 1867
- 18441 2.5 KH 11-7
- 19120 2.5 Cosmos 1943 R/B
- 19274 3.3 Okean 1
- 19460 3.3 USA 32
- 19461 3.3 USA 32 R/B
- 19625 2.5 KH 11-8
- 19650 .7 Cosmos 1980 R/B
- 19671 1.8 Lacrosse
- 19911 2.7 Delta Star
- 20147 2.4 Cosmos 2033
- 20261 3.3 In-Cosmos 24
- 20322 1.8 Cosmic Background Explorer
- 20335 -.4 Kvant-2 (part of Mir)
- 20443 3.1 Spot 2 R/B
- 20491 3.1 MOS-1B R/B
- 20516 2.0 USA 53
- 20523 3.0 IntelSat 6-3
- 44
- 20525 2.4 Cosmos 2060
- 20580 -.8 Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
- 20625 2.5 Cosmos 2082 R/B
- 20635 -.4 Kristall Module (part of Mir)
- 20638 3.2 ROSAT
- 20683 3.2 Gamma
- 20765 2.4 Cosmos 2096
- 20963 2.0 USA 67 (STS-38 Payload)
- 20985 2.4 Cosmos 2107
- 21015 2.5 Cosmos 2112 R/B
- 21065 2.4 Cosmos 2122
- 21147 1.8 Lacrosse 2
- 21148 2.9 Lacrosse 2 R/B
- 21213 2.2 Almaz 1 radar spacecraft
- 21225 2.8 Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO)
- 21311 -.4 Soyuz TM-12 (part of Mir)
- 21610 3.1 ERS-1 R/B
- 21638 -1.1 STS-43 (landed)
- 21653 3.0 Intelsat-6
- 21662 -.4 Progress M9 (part of Mir)
- 21700 -1.1 STS-48 (landed)
-
- * This magnitude is an approximation, it assumes 75%
- illumination
- of the satellite and 900 Km slant range.
-
- Below are some frequencies used by satellites for different
- reasons.
-
- Freq. (MHz) Satellite Type Mode
- 29.357 RS-10 Amateur CW
- 29.360-400 RS-10 " SSB/CW
- 29.407 RS-11 " CW
- 29.410-450 RS-11 " SSB/CW
- 29.454 RS-12 " CW
- 29.458 RS-13 " CW
- 136.380 GOES 1/2/3 Weather APT
- 136.770 NOAA 11 " APT
- 137.050 Meteosat 1 " APT
- 137.500 NOAA 10/12 " APT
- 137.626 NOAA 9/11 " APT
- 143.625 Mir Manned FM/Voice
- 145.550 Shuttle " FM/Voice
- 145.825 OSCAR 13 Amateur CW
- 145.825-975 RS-14 " FM/PACSAT
- 435.651 OSCAR 13 " CW/PACKET
- 435.715-999 OSCAR 13 " CW/SSB
- 1227.6 GPS DOD Data
- 1614 GEOS Weather TLM
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 45
- Chapter 13 (Odds and Ends)
-
-
- A brief note about tracking satellites.
-
- The accuracy of the data is the most important part of the
- prediction process. NORAD does track some 8000+ objects in orbit
- around the earth, and maintains a data base of the objects. The
- earth modeling and perturbations are the most important factors
- in satellite tracking. This program uses the NORAD element sets
- mainly because they are available and have reasonably good
- accuracy.
-
- If the user would like to "see" a satellite in the night sky the
- precision of 1 or 2 seconds is not important, several minutes may
- not even be that important. This is not to say that the average
- person can not locate the satellite, it is going to pass over
- some site sooner or later, its the time of the passing that is of
- importance.
-
- It could be said that if you tell me where to look for the
- satellite and tell me about when I should be looking for it the
- chances are it will be spotted. The sky is a big place and it
- would be almost impossible to locate a satellite without any help
- from programs such as TRAKSAT.
-
- In order to observe satellites the user must do a certain amount
- of pre-observing work. The best way to determine an evening's
- viewing would be to run the Analytical Solution and use all of
- the satellites in a data file. Then exit the program and search
- the output for any satellites with minimum ranges about 1000 km
- or less. Most nights several satellites will be visible and meet
- the users requirements. (Some advanced users may use 2000 km as
- the minimum range but remember the brightness of these satellites
- can make them almost invisible.)
-
- The next step would be plot out star background maps for the
- selected satellites, or a tabular output. All the user needs now
- is to wait until the appointed time and go "hunting" for the
- satellites.
-
- This process only takes a few minutes and can greatly reduce the
- frustration levels new users may experience.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- The satellite attitude is a measure of how the satellite is
- oriented in space, for most satellites it is oriented so that its
- sensor/antennas point toward earth. TRAKSAT assumes that the
- satellite maintains a constant orientation with respect to the
- earth, i.e., that it's sensor/antennas point towards the center
- of the earth, (true of some, BUT NOT ALL satellites). Version
- 3.00 and above includes an option for calculating the squint
- angle. This angle is a measure of how far from the center of the
- satellite antenna you are pointed. If the squint angle is zero
- that means the satellite antenna is pointed directly at you. The
- OSCAR series of satellites uses the squint angle to determine if
- you can access the satellite for comm. links.
- 46
- If the user selects 10 degrees as the minimum elevation angle for
- the antenna/sensor a circle will be placed around the satellite
- surface point indicating when the elevation will be above 10
- degrees as seen from the ground site.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- If the user selects any graphic output the program will test for
- a graphics adapter and based on the type of graphics hardware
- will select the "highest" standard graphics mode supported. You
- may override these options by setting the INI file with the
- desired video mode. Some of the higher resolution modes require
- special hardware to run. You may damage your hardware if you
- exceed its capabilities. do not attempt to set any graphic modes
- above 640x480 (VGA) without ensuring that you monitor can safely
- handle that resolution. Otherwise, you may risk damaging your
- display monitor. Consult your owner's manual for details.
-
- An example of the standard graphics modes would be;
-
- VGA mode 640x480 pixels,
- EGA mode 640x350 pixels,
- CGA mode 640x200 pixels,
-
- If the hardware does NOT support graphics an error message will
- be displayed and the program will return to the Main Menu. All of
- the text modes will still be available however. In this program
- the Long is the satellites longitude, positive (+) means EAST
- longitude while negative (-) means WEST longitude.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- The Ra & Dec are based on the J2000 epoch, 1,1.5,2000 UTC date,
- and are NOT user selectable, perhaps in the next version of
- TRAKSAT. The J2000 epoch is the "current" epoch on most star
- charts.
-
- The option has been added to TRAKSAT version 1.5, and up, to
- display only the visible passes, based on the setting of the
- visibility options.
-
- The output, in the tabular modes, can display Ra & Dec of the
- satellite also. The coordinate used is based on J2000 epoch, this
- was chosen to be used with "current" star charts.
-
-
- Visibility Options Used in TRAKSAT
-
- There are three different methods used by TRAKSAT to determine
- visibility. The first method is simply when the elevation is
- greater than the tracking station minimum elevation angle. This
- method is called line of sight (LOS) in the program. This method
- would be suitable for monitoring satellite radio transmissions,
- interesting RF signals no doubt. It should be noted that at most
- tracking sites zero degrees elevation is not visible due to
- ground based obstructions, i.e. trees buildings, and other such
- 47
- objects. A rule of thumb is if you hold out your arm straight and
- stick out your thumb horizontal to the ground so it appears to
- touch the horizon the upper edge of your thumb is about two
- degrees elevation, while your closed fist is about ten degrees
- elevation.
-
- The second method, optical visibility, requires the satellite to
- be above the minimum elevation setting also, however the
- satellite must be sun-lit while the tracking station is in
- darkness. This method would be used for viewing satellites with
- the aid of say binoculars.
-
- Remember that three conditions must be meet for the satellite to
- be optically visible.
-
- 1. The elevation angle to the satellite must be above
- the minimum as seen from the tracking station.
-
- 2. The sun must be BELOW the twilight setting.
- The recommended twilight setting is -12°.
-
- 3. The satellite must "see" the sun or the satellite must
- be in the sun light not the earth shadow.
-
- The third method uses the same conditions as the second option
- (Optical) but adds a range test also. You can set the maximum
- range for each station and filter out un-wanted passes based on
- range.
-
- It is of interest to note that some satellites are NOT visible
- even if the elevation angle is above the horizon, because they
- are in the earth's shadow. It is difficult to observe a satellite
- "coming out" of the earth's shadow, it is easier to see the
- entrance into the shadow.
-
- If the lighting conditions are favorable a "bright" satellite can
- be seen with the naked eye also. The best time for these
- favorable lighting conditions usually occur an hour before sun
- rise or an hour after sun set, as seen at the tracking site. The
- best type of satellite is low, about 250 - 500 kilometer
- altitude, ones for naked eye observations. (Mir, Hubble, Shuttle
- are a good examples.)
-
-
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ****************** The recommended
- twilight setting is -12°, i.e., the sun is greater than or equal
- to -12 degrees BELOW the local horizon, to determine the lighting
- conditions. The user CAN change the type of twilight used in
- TRAKSAT, i.e., civil, nautical, or astrodynamic, when using the
- optical visibility options.
-
- The type of visibility can be set from the Station/Current
- option, the default is to use the LOS method.
-
- With either method the visual magnitude is NOT calculated. Such a
- calculation would require knowledge about the emissivity of the
- satellite, and atmospheric conditions, neither of which is readily
- 48
- available to the user.
-
- The Propagation Models
-
- Two mathematical models for prediction are used by TRAKSAT. The
- first of these, SGP4, was developed by Ken Cranford in 1970 (see
- Lane and Hoots 1979) and is used for near-Earth satellites. This
- model was obtained by simplification of the more extensive
- analytical theory of Lane and Cranford (1969) which uses the
- solution of Brouwer (1959) for its gravitational model and a
- power density function for its atmospheric model (see Lane,
- 1962).
-
- The next model, SDP4, is an extension of SGP4 to be used for
- deep-space satellites. The deep-space equations were developed
- by Hujsak (1979) and model the gravitational effects of the moon
- and sun as well as certain sectoral and tesseral Earth harmonics
- which are of particular importance for half-day and one-day
- period orbits.
-
-
- Compatibility With NORAD Element Sets
-
- The NORAD element sets are currently generated with either SGP4
- or SDP4 depending on whether the satellite is near-Earth or deep-
- space.
-
- For SGP4 and SDP4 users, the mean motion is first recovered from
- its altered form and the drag effect is obtained from the SGP4
- drag term (B*) with the pseudo-drag term being ignored. The
- value of the mean motion can be used to determine whether the
- satellite is near-Earth or deep-space (and hence whether SGP4 or
- SDP4 was used to generate the element set). From this
- information the program will decide whether to use SGP4 or SDP4
- for propagation and hence be assured of agreement with NORAD
- predictions.
-
-
- Program Limitations and Assumptions
-
- The ephemeris equations DO include the zonal harmonics, through
- 2nd order, of the gravitational potential. This implies a
- gravitational field produced by an oblate spheroidal earth
- unsymmetrical with respect to the equator, pear-shaped. In other
- words, the ephemeris equations contain J2, J3, and J4 terms. The
- currently accepted values of J2, J3, and J4, which are used in
- TRAKSAT, are;
- -3
- J2 = 1.082616 X 10
-
- -6
- J3 = -2.53881 X 10
-
- -6
- J4 = -1.65597 X 10.
-
-
- The earth equatorial radius used by TRAKSAT is; 6378.135 Km,
- while the flattening factor used is 1/298.257 (both are from the
- 1972 WGS models).
- 49
- The program TRAKSAT models only ELLIPTICAL orbital motion about
- the earth. That is, the orbital eccentricity MUST BE LESS THAN
- ONE and GREATER THAN ZERO. Very small eccentricities are
- acceptable, i.e., such as 0.0000001.
-
- TRAKSAT will propagate NORAD/NASA 2-line elements until the MEAN
- altitude above the earth reaches 160 Km. This is due to the fact
- that at 160 Km altitude the satellite will decay from orbit very
- soon. The prediction process is not as accurate for such a low
- satellite. (The remaining lifetime of a low satellite could be on
- the order of a day or less.) The mean altitude is based on the
- semi-major axis of both the earth and the satellite.
-
-
- Stars Used in TRAKSAT
-
- The star background option will use the following list of stars
- for the display. (Internal stars)
-
- Bayer Name Proper Name
- ---------- -----------
- Ursae Minoris Polaris
- Andromedae Alpheratz
- Phoenicis Ankaa
- Cassiopeiae Schedar
- Ceti Diphda/Deneb Kaito
- Eridani Achernar
- Arietis Hamal
- Eridani Acamar
- Ceti Menkar
- Persei Mirfak
- Tauri Aldebaran
- Orionis Rigel
- Aurigae Capella
- Orionis Bellatrix
- Tauri Elnath
- Orionis Alnilam
- Orionis Betelgeuse
- Carinae Canopus
- Canis Majoris Sirius
- Canis Majoris Adhara
- Canis Minoris Procyon
- Geminorum Pollux
- Carinae Avior
- Lambda Velae Suhail
- Carinae Miaplacidus
- Hydrae Alphard
- Leonis Regulus
- Ursae Majoris Dubhe
- Leonis Denebola
- Corvi Gienah
- Crucis ACrux
- Crucis GaCrux
- Ursae Majoris Alioth
- Virginis Spica
- Ursae Majoris Alkaid
- Centauri Hadar
- Centauri Menkent
- Boötes Arcturus
- Centauri A Rigil Kentaurus
- 50
- Librae Zubenelgenubi
- Ursae Minoris Kochab
- Coronae Borealis Alphecca
- Scorpii A Antares
- Triangulii Atria
- Ophiuchi Sabik
- Lambda Scorpii Shaula
- Ophiuchi Rasalhague
- Draconis Eltanin
- Sagittarii Kaus Australis
- Lyrae Vega
- Sagittarii Nunki
- Aqilae Altair
- Pavonis Peacock
- Cygni Deneb
- Pegasi Enif
- Gruis Al Na ir
- Piscis Austrini Fomalhaut
- Pegasi Markab
-
-
- Accuracy of TRAKSAT
-
- Several people have asked the question; " How accurate is TRAKSAT
- ?". To answer such a question one must define a set of limits.
- The real "acid test" is to have a prediction from TRAKSAT and
- then go outside and observe that satellite, taking note of the
- time and position of the satellite. A comparison between actual
- observed data and predicted can then be determined.
-
- Another approach is to compare the output from TRAKSAT against
- several other satellite tracking programs. Both the public domain
- and the commercial markets have several good tracking programs
- that the user could compare with.
-
- The later approach, that is the comparison between tracking
- programs, has been carried out by several people including
- myself. The output from TRAKSAT compares very well with many of
- the "current" tracking programs (both commercial and public
- domain). It could be concluded from a simple test of TRAKSAT that
- it agrees with several other tracking programs.
-
- The next step is one of comparing predicted output and observed
- data. The most popular use for TRAKSAT has been in the optical
- sighting options. The optical sighting of a satellite will be the
- "acid test" used for this accuracy test.
-
- First a note about NASA 2-line elements, low earth satellites
- (about 15 rev per day satellites) have larger disturbances from
- the atmosphere than higher satellites. The drag on a satellite
- can cause purtubations greater than the J2 terms therefore the
- drag term is of great importance. The very latest elements for
- the low earth satellite can greatly improve the prediction
- process, while the higher satellites do not require as current of
- elements. (The term low will be in the range of 250 - 375
- kilometers altitude.)
-
- Reports about TRAKSAT (and its predictions) have been made on the
- MIR satellite along with several other low earth satellites. The
- bottom line being LESS THAN 30 SECONDS ERROR (prediction vs.
- 51
- actual) for 10 day old satellite element sets. If the satellite
- elements are 20 days old the error is about 60 seconds. If the
- elements a only a day or two old, errors of less than 10 seconds
- are possible (several reports have been made about 2-10 seconds
- of error).
-
- The position data is on the money, it is the time at that
- position that usually drives the accuracy of the observation.
-
- The higher earth satellites generally have less than 30 seconds
- of error for 20 day old elements.
-
- A NOTE MUST BE MADE ABOUT THE ERROR ANALYSIS, THE ASSUMPTION IS
- MADE THAT NO ORBITAL MANEUVERING WAS DONE TO THE SATELLITE DURING
- THE "TEST" PERIOD.
-
- In general it can be said that the most current elements are the
- best ones for planning the evenings viewing. (Elements over 30
- days old can have a very large error to them). Element sets 7 -14
- days old will be acceptable for most users.
-
- NORAD/NASA updates the satellite elements for this very reason,
- to keep the prediction process accurate.
-
- The Hubble Telescope is a good example of a "high" satellite that
- is fairly easy to see because it is bright. Myself and others
- have reported actual vs. predicted times of shadow entry to
- within 10 SECONDS with 13 day old elements! That is less than one
- second per day error!
-
-
- Auto Tracker
-
- New with version 3.10 and up is a option to work with the
- Auto Tracker.
-
- What this device will do is control antenna rotators and also
- Doppler shift tuning of the radio. This option is ONLY available
- with the registered version and IS A EXTRA COST ITEM. The Auto
- Tracker is a very well made unit that connects to the computer
- serial port. This makes installation a snap with no cards or
- slots required and no interupts to fool with. TRAKSAT will work
- with the Auto Tracker but WinTrak can take advantage of all of
- the features of the Auto Tracker. Some of the features of the
- Auto Tracker are;
-
- Control of Yaesu G5400B/G5600B rotators
- "Mic-Click" Doppler tuning
- Serial port operation, works with laptops
- Easy installation and operation
-
- Auto Tracker is available from;
-
- Endeavour Electronics
- 157 Catamound Road
- Tewksbury, MA 01876
- (508) 851-5661
- e-mail: endeavur@usa1.com
-
- Price: $219.95
- 52
- Chapter 14 (Problems)
-
-
- TRAKSAT has been fully tested on MANY different types of
- computers, however due to the very nature of personal computers
- and different user configurations it is not possible to test the
- program with all possible configurations. It may be possible that
- some versions of DOS or some computers will not be 100%
- compatible and cause the program to stop. THE FIRST STEP TO SOLVE
- THE PROBLEM IS TO READ THE DOCUMENTATION INCLUDED WITH TRAKSAT.
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- A few users have reported TRAKSAT not running on one of their
- computers after installing Windows 3.x. A possible solution would
- be that some installations place the DOS command "STACKS 0,0" in
- the CONFIG.SYS file. This command should be changed to "STACKS
- 9,256", this MAY solve the problem. It is not all-together clear
- why some computers require this command but at least it is an
- easy fix!
-
- ******************
- * IMPORTANT NOTE *
- ******************
-
- TRAKSAT version 4.00 will NOT run on XT (8088) computers. The XT
- type computer is not really suited to satellite tracking and if
- you are serious about satellite tracking you will use better
- hardware. CGA displays are supported however.
-
-
- Please feel free to contact me to discuss TRAKSAT.
- e-mail: wintrak@traveller.com
-
-
-
- I can also be reached at work or home, please no calls after 9 PM
- Central Time. Please leave a phone number and the best time to
- call on any messages that require by personal attention. The
- last, and slowest method to reach me is with the U.S. mail
- service, IF YOU REQUIRE A ANSWER PLEASE INCLUDE A SELF-ADDRESSED
- AND STAMPED ENVELOPE.
-
- Paul E. Traufler
- 111 Emerald Drive
- Harvest, AL. 35749
-
- Phone (work) 256-726-5511
- Phone (home) 256-837-0084
-
-
- Questions and Comments
-
- I have retained any and all commercial rights to TRAKSAT and as
- such can only control its use by controlling the source code.
- Therefore the source code can only be licensed for use by the
- author, Paul E. Traufler.
-
- 53
- The time, money, and energy spent on the development of TRAKSAT
- has been both informative and interesting, however as with all
- shareware developers my resources are limited. Support for
- TRAKSAT, by registering, will be required to continue the
- improvements and new features. REMEMBER THAT IF YOU USE TRAKSAT
- ON A REGULAR BASIS YOU ARE REQUIRED TO REGISTER THE PROGRAM.
-
- TRAKSAT is still growing and improvements WILL BE MADE IF users
- provide feedback, report errors and REGISTER. The only way this
- can happen is if you, the user, takes the time to leave me
- messages or mail on problems or suggestions. I will try to answer
- your messages in a timely manner.
-
- One of the major goals of this project was to make the finest,
- easiest to use, satellite tracking program available. A PROGRAM
- THE AVERAGE PERSON CAN USE AND SUCCESSFULLY TRACK SATELLITES!
-
- I would suggest the user to OBTAIN A COPROCESSOR if they do not
- have one already. A coprocessor speeds up math intensive
- programs, such as TRAKSAT, to a level that was only dreamed about
- a few years ago. Besides the cost of coprocessors has fallen to a
- level that most people can afford one with little struggle. As of
- December 1995, 287's cost $10-$20 while 387's cost $20-$30.
-
-
- Special Thanks
-
- I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people
- who helped me either directly or indirectly on this program.
-
- First of all my wife, Anita, who understands why I have a hobbie
- like computers and enjoy working with them. She has not
- complained about the many hours, in excess of 3500 hours, I have
- spent working on TRAKSAT. My children have learned to "share" my
- free time also.
-
- Dave Ransom Jr., of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. has kept me going
- when my interest in the program was slipping away. I did use the
- city data from his excellent program STSPLUS. I also used several
- of the references Dave listed in his program. I would highly
- recommend his program. My thanks to Dave and his wife Vicki.
-
- John Williams and Dr. Jeff Wallach, from the Dallas DataLink BBS,
- have been very helpful in this project also. They have offered
- data and a helping hand with TRAKSAT. The DataLink BBS has a
- vast amount of satellite information along with other interests.
- I would recommend it to others interested in satellite tracking.
- The DataLink BBS is THE place to learn about obtaining satellite
- images. My thanks to John and Jeff and their families.
-
- I would also like to thank Dr. T.S. Kelso, SYSOP of the Celestial
- BBS where current satellite data can be downloaded. Several
- satellite tracking programs are also available on his BBS along
- with a vast amount of satellite information. Its people like T.S.
- that make satellite tracking possible by providing the means to
- obtain current satellite data sets. Good work!
-
- Alan Bose has done a wonderful job sparking interest in the
- Chicago area with his radio "talk shows". He has made satellite
- watching a simple task even for the beginner. Tune in to WGN AM
- 54
- 720 radio sometime and hear for yourself.
-
- To the many other people who have helped with a steady stream of
- ideas and improvements, THANKS, and keep them coming!
-
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- 55
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
-
-
- The following sources were used to prepare and test TRAKSAT.
-
-
- Meeus, Jean, ASTRONOMICAL FORMULAE FOR CALCULATORS, 3rd Edition,
- Willmann-Bell, Inc., Richmond, VA. 1985.
-
- Duffett-Smith, Peter, PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY WITH YOUR PERSONAL
- COMPUTER, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. 1986.
-
- Danby, John, FUNDAMENTALS OF CELESTIAL MECHANICS, 2nd Edition,
- Willmann-Bell, Inc., Richmond, VA. 1988.
-
- Bate-Mueller-White, FUNDAMENTALS OF ASTRODYNAMICS, Dover
- Publications, Inc. New York, NY. 1971.
-
- Forsythe-Malcolm-Moler, COMPUTER METHODS FOR MATHEMATICAL
- COMPUTATIONS, Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1977.
-
- USAF-Ford Aerospace Corporation, ORBITAL MECHANICS, O&M Training
- Section, Sunnyvale, CA. 1982.
-
- Moulton, F. R., CELESTIAL MECHANICS, Macmillan Company, New York,
- NY. 1960.
-
- Brand, L., VECTOR ANALYSIS, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.
- 1957.
-
- Geyling-Westerman, INTRODUCTION TO ORBITAL MECHANICS, Addison
- Wesley, Whippany, NJ. 1971.
-
- Brouwer, D., "Solution of the Problem of Artificial Satellite
- Theory without Drag", Astronomical Journal 64, 378-397, November
- 1959.
-
- Hilton, C.G. and Kuhlman, J.R., "Mathematical Models for the
- Space Defense Center", Philco-Ford Publication No. U-3871, 17-28,
- November 1966.
-
- Hoots, F.R., "A Short, Efficient Analytical Satellite Theory".
- AIAA Paper No. 80-1659, August 1980.
-
- Hoots, F.R., "Theory of the Motion of an Artificial Earth
- Satellite", accepted for publication in Celestial Mechanics.
-
- Hujsak, R.S., "A Restricted Four Body Solution for Resonating
- Satellites with an Oblate Earth", AIAA Paper No. 79-136, June
- 1979.
-
- Hujsak, R.S. and Hoots, F.R., "Deep Space Perturbations Ephemeris
- Generation", Aerospace Defense Command Space Computational Center
- Program Documentation, DCD 8, Section 3, 82-104, September 1977.
-
- Kozai, Y., "The Motion of a Close Earth Satellite", Astronomical
- Journal 64, 367-377, November 1959.
-
-
-
- 56
- Lane, M.H. and Cranford, K.H., "An Improved Analytical Drag
- Theory for the Artificial Satellite Problem", AIAA Paper No. 69-
- 925, August 1969.
-
- Lane, M.H., Fitzpatrick, P.M., and Murphy, J.J., "On the
- Representation of Air Density in Satellite Deceleration Equations
- by Power Functions with Integral Exponents", Project Space Track
- Technical Report No. APGC-TDR-62-15, March 1962, Air Force
- Systems Command, Eglin AFB, FL.
-
- Lane, M.H. and Hoots, F.R., "General Perturbations Theories
- Derived from the 1965 Lane Drag Theory", Project Space Track
- Report No. 2, December 1979, Aerospace Defense Command, Peterson
- AFB, CO.
-
- Bellman, R. and Kalaba, R.E., "Modern Analytic Computational
- Methods in Science and Mathematics", American Elsevier Publishing
- Company, Inc. 1967.
-
- Escobal, P.R., "Methods of Orbit Determination", John Wiley and
- Sons, New York, NY. 1965.
-
- Craig, C. John, "Microsoft QuickC Programmer's Toolbox",
- Microsoft Press, Redmond Washington 1990.
-
- El'yasberg, P. E., "Theory of Flight of Artificial Earth
- Satellites", Israel Program for Scientific Translations Ltd.,
- 1967. (Translated from Russian)
-
- King-Hele, Desmond, "Observing Earth Satellites", Van Nostrand
- Reinhold Co. Inc., 1983.
-
- Jamsa, Kris A., "Microsoft C Run-Time Library", Mircosoft Press A
- division of Microsoft Corporation, Redmond Washington 1989.
-
- "THE ASTRONOMICAL ALMANAC 1989", U. S. Government Printing
- Office, Washington, DC, 1988.
-
- "THE ASTRONOMICAL ALMANAC 1990", U. S. Government Printing
- Office, Washington, DC, 1989.
-
- Duffett-Smith, Peter, "PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY WITH YOUR CALCULATOR",
- 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 1981.
-
- Lawrence, J. L., "BASIC ASTRONOMY WITH A PC". Willmann-Bell Inc.,
- Richmond, VA, 1989.
-
- Meeus, Jean, "ASTRONOMICAL FORMULAE FOR CALCULATORS", 4th
- Edition. Willmann-Bell, Inc., Richmond, VA, 1988.
-
- Adams, Lee, "High Performance Graphics In C", TAB Books Inc.,
- Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 1988.
-
- Davidoff, David, "The Satellite Experimenter's Handbook", ARRL,
- Newington, CT, 1990.
-
-
-
-
-
- 57
- TRAKSAT Order Forms
-
-
- TRAKSAT
- Satellite Tracking Program
-
-
- Why should I register ?
-
- Well first off it is the right thing to do. If you use TRAKSAT
- for more than 30 days it is time to register. What do I get by
- registering TRAKSAT ?
-
- 1. Support for Shareware so you can keep getting low-cost
- software in the future.
-
- 2. You will be E-mailed a notice when new versions become
- available.
-
- 3. Support will be provided to registered users only.
-
- 4. The option of getting your name placed on the About screen so
- everone will know you registered the program.
-
- 5. The warm feeling that you are supporting me in this persuit.
-
- 6. The latest version of the program and new satellite elements
- also.
-
- 7. The registered version does NOT display the reminder screen at
- startup.
-
- 8. Only registered versions support the Auto Tracker, this is a
- optional item and can control the antenna rotators and radio
- tuning for Doppler shifts. (Please consult the documentation for
- more details.)
-
- Your registration helps support me and my family also. I have
- spent a great deal of time and effort in this program and would
- hope that you will be honest and register. I have kept the cost
- of this program within the reach of almost anyone, just try to
- find another satellite tracking program with all the features of
- TRAKSAT for less money.
-
- Quantity discounts are available, contact the author for more
- information.
-
- Quantity discounts to schools are available also, contact the
- author for more information.
-
- TRAKSAT and its companion files are being distributed as
- Shareware. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO SHARE THIS SOFTWARE WITH OTHERS
- PROVIDED THAT IT IS DISTRIBUTED COMPLETE WITH DOCUMENTATION AND
- IN UNMODIFIED FORM AND THAT NO FEE OR OTHER CONSIDERATION IS
- CHARGED OR ACCEPTED. (DISTRIBUTORS OF PUBLIC DOMAIN OR USER
- SUPPORTED SOFTWARE MAY DISTRIBUTE TRAKSAT FOR A COPY FEE, NOT TO
- EXCEED $5.00 (US)).
-
-
-
- 58
-
- TRAKSAT
- Satellite Tracking Program
-
- TRAKSAT/WinTrak Order Form
- --------------------------------------------------------------
- Make checks payable to:
-
- Paul E. Traufler
- 111 Emerald Drive
- Harvest, AL 35749
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Qty
-
- ____ TRAKSAT REGISTERED Version @ $25.00 Each $_________
-
- ____ WinTrak Windows Satellite Tracking Program $_________
- (* NOT A SHAREWARE PROGRAM *) @ $49.95 Each
-
- ____ WinTrak Pro Win95 Satellite Tracking Program $_________
- (* NOT A SHAREWARE PROGRAM *) @ $69.95 Each
-
- ====> Shipping and Handling (USA $4.00 Per Unit) $_________
- (Outside USA $6.00 Per Unit)
- (UPS 2nd Day Shipping Charge (USA only) $10.00)
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- (THESE ITEMS ARE OPTIONAL FOR TRAKSAT)
-
- ____ Auto Tracker Control Option @ $30.00 Each $_________
-
- ____ Place your name in the program @ $5.00 $_________
-
-
- Total $_________
-
-
- ALL PROGRAMS ARE SHIPPED ON 1.44MB DISKS
-
- Payment: (check or circle one): [ ] Check [ ] Money Order
- [ ] Cash [ ] VISA [ ] MC [ ] Discover [ ] Other
-
- Checks and Money Orders must be drawn on U.S. banks in U.S. funds
-
- ** PLEASE PRINT **
-
- Name _______________________________________________________
-
- Address _______________________________________________________
-
- _______________________________________________________
-
- Phone __________________ E-Mail ____________________________
-
- Card Number_________________________________ Exp. ___________
-
- Comments ______________________________________________________
- 4.00
-
- 59
-
- TRAKSAT
- Satellite Tracking Program
-
-
- COMMERCIAL LICENSE DETAILS FOR TRAKSAT
-
- Information on Site Licenses and Custom Versions.
-
- In order to use TRAKSAT, or its output, in a commercial
- application the user must obtain a site license. This section
- explains the details and limitations of the site license
- agreements.
-
- The commercial version of TRAKSAT includes all of the features in
- the Shareware version plus a printed manual, additional end user
- support, and update notification my mail.
-
-
- Corporate and Governmental Site License
-
- This is a license for use of the software within your company or
- government agency, and is not transferable. This allows internal
- use and copying of the software for as many sites / computers as
- contracted for. An unlimited Site License allows unlimited
- copying of the software for internal use by your company or
- government agency. With the unlimited options the user will make
- all the required copies from one master disk. Distributing,
- repackaging, or reselling of the software to third parties is not
- allowed. All licenses are prepaid.
-
-
- Custom Versions of the Software
-
- If you require any modifications or changes to the software,
- please include detailed information describing all changes you
- are interested in. Customization fees will be based on the
- extent of the modifications required to the software and any time
- constraints.
-
- Price List
-
- Commercial License (Case 1) Single Copy
- $ 50.00
-
- Commercial License (Case 2) 2 - 10 Copies (2 Copies Supplied)
- $250.00
-
- Commercial License 11+ Copies, Unlimited (User to make copies)
- Call for Updates Pricing
-
- Commercial License (Case 4) SOURCE CODE, written agreement
- required Call for Pricing
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 60
- TRAKSAT/WinTrak Order Form (Commercial Use)
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO:
-
- Paul E. Traufler
- 111 Emerald Drive
- Harvest, AL. 35749
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- Qty
- 1 TRAKSAT COMMERCIAL Version (Case 1) $ 50.00 $_________
-
- 2-10 TRAKSAT COMMERCIAL Version (Case 2) $ 250.00 $_________
-
- 11+ TRAKSAT COMMERCIAL Version (Case 3) $_________
- (Please call for current price)
-
- ____ WinTrak Windows Satellite Tracking Program $_________
- (* NOT A SHAREWARE PROGRAM *) @ $49.95 Each
-
- ____ WinTrak Pro Win95 Satellite Tracking Program $_________
- (* NOT A SHAREWARE PROGRAM *) @ $69.95 Each
-
- =====>Shipping & Handling (Inside USA $6.00) $_________
- (Outside USA $8.00)
- (UPS 2nd Day Shipping Charge (USA only) $12.00) -----------
- -----------------------------------------------------
- (THESE ITEMS ARE OPTIONAL FOR TRAKSAT)
-
- ____ Support for the Auto Tracker @ $30.00 Each $_________
-
-
- Total $_________
-
- ALL PROGRAMS ARE SHIPPED ON 1.44MB DISKS
-
- Payment: (check or circle one): [ ] Check [ ] Money Order
- [ ] Approved P.O. [ ] VISA [ ] MC [ ] Discover [ ] Other
-
- Checks and Money Orders must be drawn on U.S. banks in U.S. funds
-
- ** PLEASE PRINT **
-
- Name _______________________________________________________
-
- Company _______________________________________________________
-
- Address _______________________________________________________
-
- _______________________________________________________
-
- Phone ___________________ E-Mail ___________________________
-
- Card Number_________________________________ Exp. ___________
-
- What would you like for a displayed registered message?
-
- Registered ID ________________________________________________
- (40 Characters MAX)
- 4.00
-
-