SatTrack V3.1 Release Announcement
========================================
SatTrack is a satellite orbit prediction and realtime tracking program with
an X Window System color graphics display. The program has been written in
C language and runs on Unix and Linux systems with X11R5. The program not
only displays where a number of satellites are but is also capable of
controlling suitable ground station equipment, like antennas or optical
telescopes, and radio communications hardware. A batch mode allows predictions
of passes of satellites over specified ground stations. For more details check
the documentation file 'sattrack.doc' in the 'doc' directory.
This release (V3.1) is basically the same as V3.0 plus the V3.0.1 patch,
except that a few other bugs have been fixed and a number of minor, mostly
cosmetic features have been added. Those of you who have installed V3.0 AND
the V3.0.1 patch and may have altered the code for whatever reason and are
basically happy with the present configuration of SatTrack might not bother
to replace V3.0.1 with V3.1. However, V3.1 is definitely improved and worth
the effort. This revision also contains a new C shell script to obtain
TLE sets for space shuttle missions from NASA directly.
To install SatTrack V3.1 in your Unix or Linux home directory, get the
distribution file 'sattrack-3.1.tar.gz' (or 'sattrack.V3.1.tar.gz') from:
ftp.amsat.org/amsat/software/Linux
or
ftp.jvnc.net/priv/kupiec/sattrack
Uncompress the distribution file with 'gunzip' and unpack it by typing
tar -xvf sattrack-3.1.tar
Note that the options for 'tar' (here '-xvf') may vary between machines.
Change into the directory 'SatTrack/src' and read the file 'README_MAKE'
for instructions how to compile the package.
The next public release of SatTrack, most likely V3.5, will have the following
new major features:
1. More features in world map graphics display, like different choices of
color schemes, for instance like the JSC wall chart, or entirely red for
observers of visible satellites, better Shuttle and Mir icons for docking
maneuvers, optimized X11 event handling, display of all cities in the data
base, better world maps, and more (view 'doc/worldmap_*.gif').
2. Second X11 color graphics display with view of the local sky with elevation
circles and track of the selected satellite (view 'doc/skyview_*.gif'),
showing all satellites that are above the local horizon, the direction of
their movement, as well as the Sun and the Moon (with lunar phases),
satellite and ground station names, local or universal time, mission
elapsed time (MET), time until AOS or LOS, and azimuth and elevation of
selected satellite.
3. Fast forward mode with variable speed in numerical live displays and both
graphics displays.
4. More precise calculations for deep-space objects with the SDP4 model.
5. Multi-user capabilities (central installation of SatTrack with resource
files in individual user's home directory).
6. Read names of secondary ground stations from resource file 'stations.dat'.
7. Read current weather parameters periodically from resource file
'weather.dat'.
8. Better control options for communications hardware (more radios, flip
option for elevation rotors).
9. Model of apparent visible brightness of satellites.
10. Calculation of hour angle and apparent declination in long-format orbit
prediction to facilitate observations of satellites with an optical
telescope.
11. Orbit prediction output optional in HTML format for WWW servers.
12. More user friendly handling of environment variables TERM and DISPLAY.
13. Extra C shell script to retrieve and process Ted Molczan's TLE sets.
14. Still fewer bugs!
15. Better documentation (more detailed and nicely type-set).
In other words: something to look forward to install! Stay tuned, the V3.5
release is expected for sometime in mid or late spring of 1995! If you would
like to get on the mailing list or if you encounter any bugs or have any other
type of suggestions, please send a note to
[email protected] (at least
the 'Registration via email').
Manfred Bester
W6/DL5KR
