karn@allegra.UUCP (12/06/83)
A number of you have written asking for information about orbital elements, tracking programs, etc. A description of the meaning of each orbital element appears in the current (December, 1983) issue of QST in Bernie Glassmeyer's Amateur Satellite Program News column. This is an excerpt from a longer article (with some explanatory diagrams) that I wrote which appears in the current issue of Orbit Magazine (the AMSAT publication). A wide variety of turnkey programs all adapted from W3IWI's BASIC tracking program (Orbit Magazine #6) are available for nominal donations (~$15/copy) from the AMSAT Software Exchange, PO Box 27, Washington, DC 20044. Be sure to include an SASE with your request for information. Versions are available for such small computers as the Timex Sinclair 1000, Commodore C64, CP/M, etc. I have a fairly comprehensive Unix software package for satellite tracking that maintains an updated display (using curses) of satellite position, tracking station az/el, AOS/LOS times, etc. This is available for a small magtape and SASE. Phil Karn, KA9Q