Tracking help. ASatLogger can use it's own internal routines to track satellites or can work in conjunction with Nova or a Nova compatible DDE Server to track satellites. Either source provides the ability for ASatLogger to adjust D7 and D700 radios for doppler shift. Nova can be obtained from http://www.nlsa.com/ Either tracking interface provides sufficient information for ASatLogger to determine when a specific satellite is in view and the amount of doppler shift needed to acquire data using D7 and D700 radio's. The D710 radio does not provide the ability to change frequencies via the control head serial port. ASatLogger does provide an indication of the amount of doppler shift required and can be used to manually adjust the VFO frequency. Information regarding manual adjustment without using Nova or ASatLogger Internal tracking is at the end of this document. Selecting a tracking source: 1. Select the "Tracking Source" tab and select a source from the "Track Sats using" radio buttons. A. "None". No satellite tracking is performed. B. "Internal". ASatLogger routines track satellites. C. "NOVA DDE". A Nova compatible DDE application provides the tracking data. 2. If "Internal" is selected, ASatLogger will need Keppler Orbit information. A. The "Tracking Source" tab provides a button named "Download Keps". Pressing this button will cause ASatLogger to download the required file from http://www.celestrak.com and store the resulting file in the ASatLogger\Keps\ folder. B. ASatLogger will automatically attempt to download an updated file once every 3 days. C. ASatLogger requires the ground elevation of your station in feet or meters, and your antenna height in feet or meters. 3. If "NOVA DDE" is selected a Nova DDE compatible server must be running on this machine. ASatLogger internal Satellite Tracking requirements: 1. Up to date Keppler file. 2. Your station elevation above mean sea level. 3. Your antenna height above ground 4. Once a Keppler file is loaded, ASatLogger will show a list of satellites on the "Tracking Source" tab. 5. Double clicking on a satellite in the "Available Satellites" list box will place that satellite in the "Tracked Satellites" Combo box. These satellites will then be tracked automatically by ASatLogger. NOVA DDE Satellite Tracking requirements: 1. Nova or a Nova compatible application must be installed and running. Ham Radio Deluxe includes a Nova compatible DDE Server. HRD can be obtained from http://hrd.ham-radio.ch/ 2. The Nova DDE server must be on and supplying data via a Nova compatible DDE interface. A. Nova menu selection, "Setup", "Antenna Rotator" is used to enabled the DDE Server. Select "DDE ONLY" in "Rotator Interface" is you are not using Nova to control your rotator, otherwise select the proper rotator for your station. The "Force ',' Delimiter" check box must NOT be checked; B. If you are not using Nova, but are using a Nova compatible DDE server, such as HRD, please read the manual to determine how to activate the DDE Server. 3. The satellite or satellites of interest must be selected in Nova or compatible application. A. ASatLogger can automatically switch between satellites in view if Nova "Script Tracking" is on, Nova "Auto Tracking" is activated and the satellite is one of those selected. See Nova "Script Tracking" help for details. In Nova, to engage the Script to control autotracking, click in the upper-right cell of the text display in a View (List of satellites being tracked). See the Nova help file for details. B. If Nova "Script Tracking" is off then Nova will pass data only for the satellite currently selected in the Nova "Current View". C. Nova compatible DDE servers may not have "Script Tracking" and "Auto Tracking" capability. In this case, ASatLogger will likely only obtain data for the satellite selected in the Nova compatible application. D. NOTE! Nova compatible DDE servers may use different names for satellites than the satellite names Nova uses! A single satellite may be referred to by up to 4 different names! This can cause confusion for both newbies and software used to track satellites. ASatLogger uses the default (as installed) Nova satellite names where ever possible. Enabling Nova or Nova compatible DDE interface in ASatLogger: 1. The ASatLogger "Tracking Source" tab button "Connect to Nova" is used to connect to a Nova compatible DDE Server. 2. Once connected, ASatLogger will add satellites to the Satellite Grid automatically as they are supplied by Nova DDE servers. See the note in the above section regarding Satellite naming confusion. ASatLogger will add the name as supplied by the DDE server in use, be it Nova, a Nova compatible DDE server or the ASatLogger Internal server. 3. The "Tracking source" tab, "Auto Start Tracking" check box, if checked will cause ASatLogger to automatically attempt to connect to a Nova DDE Server or a Nova Compatible DDE Server at start up and at regular intervals thereafter. Configuring radio for specific Satellites: 1. Your radio must be configured for use with individual satellites. A. Configuration includes: VFO selection, Frequencies for receive and transmit, Data carrier detect, Packet or APRS mode etc. B. Configuration is performed with .TNC files. Satellite specific .TNC files are usually needed, with the exception of ARISS compatible satellites which use identical frequencies and modes. 2. The .TNC configuration files are specific to each radio model. A. .TNC file names normally are comprised of the radio model (D7, D700, D710), satellite name (AO-51 etc) ,common name and operational mode (PKT, APRS). Examples: D7NO-44PCSATPKT.TNC D7AO-51ECHOPKT.TNC D7GO-32TECHSAT1-BPKT.TNC Exception: Satellites may use the same operating characteristics as ISS. The following is a generic file used with any ARISS compatible sat such as the ISS, ANDE and possibly PCSat: D7ARISSPKT.TNC B. When a new satellite is added, ASatLogger will try to automatically load an appropriate TNCFile if it exists on your system. C. .TNC files are stored in your ASatLogger\TNC\ directory. D. D710 radios cannot be adjusted for nominal frequency or doppler shift via the control head serial port. 3. The radio control commands differ between radio models. A. D7 model configuration files are the default. A few commands available on the D7 differ from the same commands on later models. The D7 files can usually be easily adapted to later D7xx models. B. D700 models have more commands, and a few differ from D7's. The differences are usually noted in D7 command files. C. D710's have very few commands available at the present time. These commands are generally differnet than the D7/D700 commands. D. TS2K commands are entirely different than D7/D700/D710's 4. Some TNC commands differ between models. This usually involves the addition of commands to the newer models. 5. Use extreme care when using or modifying TNC files! Test each new file with your radio before allowing ASatLogger to control your radio while unattended. ALWAYS perform tests with the transmitter set to the lowest power output setting available on your radio! 6. The author is not responsible for TNC files which do not perform to your expectations. If the file is not to your liking you can modify it at your own risk. Tracking satellites when in View: 1. Nova DDE or the ASatLogger internal routine tells ASatLogger when a satellite is in view (above the horizon) with an elevation equal to or greater than 0 degrees. 2. The "Track when Satellite is above" degrees setting can override this to cause ASatLogger to only consider a satellite to be in view when the satellite elevation is above this value. A. The default "Track when Satellite is above" setting is 0 degrees. B. Setting this to a value greater than 0 degrees will cause ASatLogger to consider all satellites to be out of view until the elevation angle exceeds the "Track when Satellite is above" value. C. The "Track when Satellite is above" setting cannot be changed whey any satellite is in view! 3. The "Track when Satellite is above" setting can be used to cause ASatLogger to ignore satellites which can only be received at your station when the elevation exceeds a certain value. This also has the effect of ignoring low elevation passes which would not likely yield any results. 4. The setting you choose can be set to 5 degrees less than the actual elevation where you can begin receiving data. This will allow ASatLogger time to load the designated TNC file needed to configure the radio before the satellite signal is available to you. The "Tracking" tab Satellite Grid contains the following fields: 1. "Satellite". This field will normally be automatically filled by data supplied by the Nova Server, but is is also possible to add or delete a Satellite manually by right clicking on the grid. When a satellite is first added to the grid, Ctrl will be off, Rx frequency, Tx frequency and step will display the current radio settings. 2. "Ctrl". This field specifies if ASatLogger control is "off" or "local". Right clicking on the satellite field in the grid will allow the toggling of "Ctrl" via the popup menu. A. When "Ctrl" is "off", ASatLogger will only display the acquired DDE data, and will not change radio frequency to account for doppler shift. B. When "Ctrl" is "Local" ASatLogger will excerise control of D7/D700/D710 radios when doppler shift requires a change in frequency. 3. "TNC File". This field, if supplied with a .TNC filename will cause this file to execute when this satellite comes in view. Right clicking on the satellite field will bring up a popup menu to allow selection of a "TNC File". .TNC files are used to set radio frequencies and modes of operation. 4. "Restore File". This field, if supplied with a .TNC filename will cause this file to execute when this satellite drops out of view. Right clicking on the satellite field will bring up a popup menu to allow selection of a "Restore File". 5. "AOS". This field will report the local time and date the satellite came into view. 6. "LOS". This field will report the local time and date the the satellite dropped out of view. 7. "Rx Freq". This field will display the receive frequency. Initially, this field will show the nominal frequency. When Doppler shift exceeds 3khz, this field will show the doppler shifted value. 8. "Tx Freq". This field will display the transmit frequency. Initially, this field will show the nominal frequency. When Doppler shift exceeds 3khz, this field will show the doppler shifted value. 9. "A/B" This field shows which band (VFO or memory) is selected for receive and transmit. If A/A, then receiver and transmitter are on the same band. If A/B, then the receiver is A and the transmitters is on B etc. 10. "Step". This field shows the "Step programmed into the radio. This should normally be 0.005 or 5khz. 11. "Doppler" This fields shows the amount of doppler shift presently needed. Frequency changes will only occur if the doppler value changes by + or - 2.5 Khz. Tracking Sequence with Ctrl set to local: 1. When a Satellite comes into view (as determined by the "Track when Satellite is above" setting), any file specified by "TNC File" will be executed. This .TNC file needs to setup the radio for this Satellite. .TNC files can be created or modified via menu selection "TNC_Files". 2. When Doppler shift exceeds the current VFO setting by + or - 2.45 khz, ASatLogger will change the frequency. The A and B VFO frequencies may be adjusted individually when not operating in simplex mode. 3. When the Satellite drops out of view (as determined by the "Track when Satellite is above" setting), or Nova changes the satellite being tracked, any file specified in "Restore file" will be executed followed by the file specified in "TNC file" for the newly tracked satellite. .TNC file and Restore file execution times: 1. The amount of time required to execute these files can vary considerably. depending on the contents of the files and the radio being used. 2. Nova may switch satellites when 2 are in view, depending on the priority of the satellites in Nova. 3. When switching to packet mode, the radio may restart the TNC. 4. If in packet converse mode when a file is executed, you will not be able to converse with the satellite. Try switching back to converse mode. 5. If in packet connected mode, you may lose your connection or have to manually restart or terminate it. Tracking Satellites manually without Nova DDE: 1. Initial setup: A. Add Satellites manually by right clicking on the tracking grid. B. Select a TNC file by right clicking on the grid. C. Set Control to "Local" by right clicking on the Grid. 2. When a selected satellite comes into view, right click on the grid to execute the associated TNC file to initialize the radio for that bird. 3. You must manually adjust the radio for doppler shift at this point. ASatLogger has VFO A, VFO B buttons to permit increasing or decreasing freq by 5khz with each press. Tracking Satellites manually with D710 radio: 1. The D710 .TNC files can only switch modes between packet and APRS, obtain the radio callsign, radio model and set all TNC parameters. It is not presently possible to set frequency via the control head serial port. Frequency can be set via the radio serial port, but it is not possible to receive data packets over this port. 2. Due to a D710 bug in APRS mode, ASatLogger will incorrectly report the radio is in PKT mode when it is actually in APRS mode. 3. The D710 .TNC file is used solely to switch modes and to configure the TNC when in PKT mode. It cannot be used to set frequencies. 4. The user must manually adjust the D710 for nominal frequency and doppler shift.