InstantTrack Classic 1.00 Features

Features carried forward from the original InstantTrack version 1.00 include:

• Instant visibility. Shows the position of your favorite satellites before your first key stroke.
• Real-Time displays. Includes azimuth, elevation, range, Doppler shift, path loss, squint angle, sub-satellite position (in latitude/longitude, grid square, and nearest city), Cartesian coordinates of observer and satellite, satellite rise/set time, satellite mode, Right Ascension, Declination, sky temperature, and more.
• Full color high resolution maps of the Earth, showing satellite and observer's position, two kinds of satellite footprint, gray-line, etc. User can also select either a diagram of the satellite's orbit showing its orientation, or a map of the sky, showing the satellite's position against a star field. Check out these screen images (from version 1.00) of the cylindrical map, the orthographic map, the star field map, and the plan view diagram. (These EGA screen images will probably have a distorted aspect ratio on your display.)
• Automated Keplerian element update using AMSAT and NASA format text files.
• You can be shown schedules such as the next three weeks for a satellite or one day for 20 satellites on one screen.
• A unique background mode allows you to track satellites and control antenna rotors in real-time while you run other programs.
• Tracks the Sun and Moon as well as the satellites in the data base.
• Automated time setting of your computer by accessing the NIST (formerly NBS) time service via your modem.
• Supports a database of 200 satellites and 50 observer locations.
• Includes a database of 1754 cities worldwide.
• Observing stations can be specified by entering as little as their city name or their grid square.
• Shows when satellites can see each other and when they are in eclipse in real-time.
• Squint (off pointing) angle shown to indicate how far off from you the satellite's antennas are pointed.
• Path loss between observers and the satellite is calculated.
• Computes the time at which a satellite will rise without the delay of stepping through small time increments between now and then.
• Can display the tracking parameters for both your perspective and that of another station, perhaps the one you are working.
• Extensive and tutorial documentation is included with the program.
• Online help can be obtained from almost any screen.

Last updated 22 October 2000. Comments to kb5mu@amsat.org

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