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Nova for Windows` User`s Manual

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1. Sky noise map Text only display Mus Rectangular map View s size Satellite Configure script View Nova for Windows floating ToolBar provides access to the most frequently used functions Configure View s map The bottom row of buttons formats the Views shape and the appearance of its maps You can also set up Satellite Script tracking and launch a new View easily Sound Alarms Pressing the El button in the Individual View Configuration screen opens a window where sound alarms are configured Sounds are configured separately for each View The Setup Sounds window right has three pages AOS TCA and LOS AOS sets the sound that will be played just before the satellite rises above the 1 Observer s horizon TCA sounds play immediately before the sound reaches it Time of Closest Approach and LOS occurs before the satellite passes below the horizon Select the sound that will be played from the drop down box Each box contains the names of sound files in the WAV format that Nova for Windows finds in the folder NovaWin Sounds Noises Other noises may be added by copying new WAV files to this folder Satellite names are stored in the Novawin Sounds Satellites folder They are arranged by the NORAD catalog number of the satellite For example Mir s catalog number is 16609 so its name file is 16609 WAV You can easily record new satellite names or replace those supplied
2. Clean button except that any satellites in your existing database that are absent from the new database will be removed In other words after a Clean operation there should be a one to one relationship between the main The Clean button acts the Update NfW Database and the satellites in the new Keplerian Element file pdates of The FTP button opens another window where you can configure and begin down loading of new Keplerian elements via the Internet This function uses FTP protocol You must have an internet connection for this function to operate Timed The Timed Update now Z Update function automatically reads a specified text file at a regular interval and attempts to update Nova for Windows Keplerian element database This function is useful if you have new Keplerian elements with this screen delivered automatically and if they are copied into the same file name each time Ignore checksums means that Keplerian elements will be accepted even if the checksum digit is incorrect Checksums are used to indicate errors in data sets so use this option with caution 14 Checking Preserve satellite names will tell Nova for Windows to keep any existing satellite names even if the new Keplerian element file contains different names For example if you like the name Oscar 10 but the new Keplerian element file calls it AO 10 then checking this box will let the name remain as
3. Minimum 7 Help Accurate and reliable AutoTracking depends on proper setup and calibration in the Setup Antenna rotator screen Setup Antenna rotator Nova for Windows is capable of working with a hardware interface to control azimuth elevation antennas rotators Currently Nova contains drivers for ten interfaces The SASI Sat Tracker and ST 1 communicate with the computer via a parallel printer port whereas the Kansas City Tracker is an internal card The RIF PC is an internal card with 10 bit precision Setup Antenna rotator contains four pages The Inter face page tells NfW what sort of hardware interface you have if any For the SASI Sat Tracker AEA ST 1 and RIF PC you should also select the appropriate port number 1 4 If your computer has the parallel port at a non standard base address enter it in the Base Address box interfaces with NfW s controller interface Important As supplied from their manufacturers some interfaces are accompanied by TSR software to establish communication between a DOS computer program and the interface Nova for Windows does not need and will not use these software drivers Instead NfW communicates directly to the interface and does not use the TSRs at all Therefore you should ignore the TSR software drivers that are supplied with the Do not install them and do not use them If TSR drivers are already installed on your system p
4. Setup Satellites The Setup Satellites display consists of two pages Keplerian Elements and Groups These will be described separately although they share a common NOTE Each satellite s Catalog Number is unique Main Database and is used to identify the satellite internally within Nova Ifthe Catalog Number is changed the satellite will be treated as a new satellite and added to the Nova database The Setup Satellites Keplerian Elements page in Nova for Windows provides a means to update Keplerian elements smoothly and easily The large list on the right of the screen contains all of the satellites in Nova s database There is no practical limit to the size of this database but a large number of satellites requires longer time to load and process Keplerian Element page contains edit boxes on the left side of the Setup Satellites page These boxes provide the option of manually changing individual Keplerian Elements Select the satellite whose elements are to be edited by clicking on the satellite s name in the main A very small number of satellites are positioned by ground controllers so that the satellite s antenna points in a particular direction relative to the satellite s orbital plane For these satellites values of ALat and ALon describe the attitude orientation of the satellite s antennas Alat and Alon are not provided in standard Keplerian Element sets so their values must be entered
5. Oscar 10 Setup Groups Groups are collections of satellites that have something in common You create and edit your groups in Setup Groups Nova s Groups are user defined associations of satellites They are provided as a convenience for accessing similar satellites together For example all weather related or amateur related satellites might be placed in a Group You may have as many Groups as desired and each group may contain an unlimited number of satellites For the sake of practicality however we recommend that groups contain fewer than 25 or 30 satellites This page shares its Main Database with the Keplerian elements page The Groups page of Setup Satellites creates and edits Groups Groups are collections of satellites that are defined by the user They have no direct connection with any View but are merely a convenient way to grab similar satellites at one time Clicking on a name in the Groups box will display the members of the Group in the box below Groups are created with the Add button The group is named and at first it contains no satellites Select the satellites of interest with the mouse and drag them to the Group members box Entries in the Group members box may be deleted or rearranged with the mouse as well To delete satellites from a Group select the satellite name with the mouse and then click the Delete button You may rearrange the members of a Group by dragging their names with
6. general profile can be entered in Horizon 220 740 0 the 80 180 slices see example Horizon 240 260 0 E l a I Where the horizon is flat enter 0 Horizon 260 280 0 It is also possible to enter negative NAPA A Walco e epsa The Horizon table permits visualization of Horizon table modeling is used in obstructions to the AutoTracking observer s horizon display of NASA style footprints and in the outer perimeter of the AOS LOS calculations which are based on a 0 Radar map The horizon table is not included in horizon assumption TD Satellite Script Tracking The Satellite Script editor consists of two pages Text Nova for Windows includes a powerful tool for and Graphics The Text display lists every pass of managing automated tracking of multiple satellites every satellite in the View s list in chronological order The Satellite Script is a time l one listo pases toral e Fein In order to use Script Tracking passes must be selected from this complete list If there are satellites in a View When Script View s clock meee eo ies cdas ds enabled Naw e Text display more than two or three satellites in the list it is automatically track multiple Map style i Map size passes of multiples satellites for an indefinite period of time a View to show this pop up menu likely that some of them will overlap in time with others Therefore the passes that you wish to include in Script Tracking must be
7. Azimuth Raw AND 23 0 255 Reading Full Counterclogkfise AID Reading 0 gt Step 5 Enter the raw A D reading at full counterclockwise Step 6 Enter the actual counterclockwise antenna azimuth Azimuth Step 7 Enter the raw A D reading at full clockwise fa Full Clockwise e AD Reading 255 Azimuth 180 gt Step 8 Enter the actual clockwise antenna azimuth Advanced Step 9 Click OK to save amp exit Calibration page of Setup Antenna rotator notebook is used for calibration of your rotator Follow the steps outlined above for simple and smooth calibration Calibration Page This page consists of two similar panels They will be described together for the sake of simplicity Almost all antenna interfaces determine the antenna s position by sensing a voltage across a potentiometer The potentiometer is coupled to the antenna boom either azimuth or elevation and as the boom turns the potentiometer s resistance changes Antenna interfaces Calibrating the Yaesu G 5400 series rotator e Using the rotator s control box turn the antenna fully counterclockwise and reduce elevation to the horizon e Note the raw A D reading for Azimuth and elevation and enter them in the appropriate boxes see above e Enter the actual antenna azimuth 180 and elevation O in the boxes e Turn the antennas to fully clockwise in azimuth If your antennas can physically manage flip mode u
8. success Potential between Dayton OH and London 100 o ID 5 N MEN MERA A Success Potential 4 Tz 130465 6 7 8 9 1011 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Wednesday April 16 199 UTC Declination a cy 7 en 1p Dista NCE Success potential A Spatial polarity Utilities Moon Graphs The Moon Graphs utilities are intended to assist amateur EME Earth Moon Earth communications This utility screen has a number of pages that work together Success potential above This is a daily graph of the estimated success potential of a specific EME link The two stations are set in the Setup screen Success potential is based on the assumption that both stations are horizontally linearly polarized Obviously success potential is zero if the Moon is below the horizon for one or the other station During times of mutual window success potential is dependent on the chances that Faraday rotation which is essentially unpredictable will be aligned in a manner that will counteract spatial polarity mis alignment of signals see below Paul Kelly NIBUG has shown that Faraday rotation can overcome the effects of spatial polarity offset As an example consider two stations that are currently experiencing 90 of spatial polarity offset This would normally result in extremely high loss via the EME path However if there is 45 of Faraday rotation then a transmitted signal will rotate 45 on the way to the Moo
9. For example if the smoothing factor is set to 5 then 5 readings are averaged for each displayed value This number should be set to the smallest value that gives smooth readings A D smoothing values that are too large will slow Nova s performance considerably The Tracking thread priority selection permits you to balance the time allocated to AutoTracking against CPU usage When set to a high priority value AutoTracking will operate more smoothly but will also tend to preempt other CPU activities and slow other applications Tracking thread priority should be set to the lowest value that provides satisfactory AutoTracking performance 21 Views Configure Current View The Individual View Configuration screen is shown below It is divided into three main regions Satellite selection on the left Observer selection on the right and the View s current configuration in the middle One of Nova for Windows main strengths is its ability to independently configure each View A View is a single window which may include a map tabular text tracking data or both Every View is You may select satellites from the Satellites list entirely independent from the others no matter how many Views are open simultaneously Views may have different satellites observers maps and even Current Configuration Satellites list box gt timekeeping Drag satellite names from this list to the Satellites may be added removed or rearran
10. Users of Low Earth Orbiting LEO satellites who need very accurate positions might need to update every two weeks whereas higher altitude satellites elements are usable for several months Maneuvering satellites such as the U S Space Shuttle or the Russian Mir space station might need daily updates of Keplerian elements Keplerian elements must be up to date if Nova for Windows calculations are to be the most accurate For LEO Low Earth Orbiting satellites elements should be updated every few weeks perhaps every week if the greatest accuracy is needed For higher altitude satellites frequent updates are less critical A convenient set of updating options is available from the Main Menu Kep Elements Disk file update selection are Kep Elements NovaFTP WNovaGPS Help Quick update frorn file Manual update from file Disk file update FTP Internet update Kep element help Timed update from file Nova for Windows offers several ways to update Keplerian elements Setup Satellites screen Timed update from disk file 11 Quick update from file updates NfW s internal database from an ASCII text file with the same name that was used in the last previous Manual update For example if you specified a file named c keps LatestKeps TXT when you last used Manual updating see below that same file name will be used with Quick Updating This feature is useful if you always download the latest Kepler
11. gt ALZA Northern Lights Software Associates Nova for Windows User s Manual by Michael R Owen Ph D draft 10 4 2 00 Nova for Windows User s Manual Table of Contents A A Senn See Se ne ee ene re me ee ene l O CAUSAN NENE NET ENE l e System regire mne NS na a E TE EEE l e TUS CATAS Nova TOWN O WS AAA eee ee eee l Nova Tor WINDOWS VIEWS pesen 2 chal RE a A E A te ean eter rant er A E nr ea E A N 2 MS os 2 SRO ect 24 TaT moce o e Pe e o Ba 2 A e A ee Naan an ene anae ne NIN NaN Nese NIN ame Meret enn 3 ERA amet intent trea ae tara e te renee et tte ewer ee nett cere att rer erat err E mer irnr ner ttr Tier Tt 4 e A a 0 e AEEA N A AN A AA N tN on nen nn nen en eR NS INT ERA 4 SC O NEN PA e E tren el E 5 Setup AS 6 Tine RAP CO OU CR CS RS A CR PU PP PP PE PES O E PER 8 e S TE a oe 9 e Mode sehe dul A A A ASAS 10 Updating KeplenanclementS AAA ee 11 e TOU e E E sensu ae seanenacansunsnenseneanepacanseet 14 wae e e et cre 14 SODIO E PEO OE RT OT EO TSU OZ TRO OE Tr OZ nT re OTe TT Ee Ua ne ene oat er eT et eR re ee 16 A A 0 emer at ceca aetna Me tea a It Me Tea AEST MIST a aT 17 E E L Ch ee P ne A O T OO IA 17 A A ore ea E NENA ENEE 18 AO oia A on 5 Inte nO nO nO E ne iene eee 19 SAWING antennae eee 20 e Aes na les ns sgn eee 20 Views Ari Curent View A A 21 A Ne E nn ne ne ne ne oe Peer oe Peer ne en Peer ne rer eee Tere en ree 23 s Map C ontio ura GO ennaa e 23 Re
12. manually Most satellites need no ALat ALon entries 10 It will prompt you for the file name read the file and add the satellites to Nova s database e TI Delete button removes selected satellites l i i l na from the database If the database is later Updated satellites achieves and perigee height is the minimum i E altitude from a file that contains the removed satellites they will i be added back to the database The Add button should be pressed after entering l The Timed button opens a setup screen where new Keplerian elements in the edit boxes above it you may configure NfW s The Sched Satellite Mode Schedule timed update function When button presents a 10 10 it is enabled NfW reads a l specified Keplerian Element A O disk file at a regular interval containing a database Mode name f e start MA I The button displays a pop up box containing values calculated from the selected satellite s Keplerian Elements Period is the time required for one orbit Apogee height is the maximum altitude that the Squint type f Mo squint ACISIPSD type C Low gain then If the file has been updated of the selected ae with new Keplerian elements satellite s operating mode schedule Most NfW automatically Geocentric a uk updates its internal database satellites remain in the without human intervention This feature is useful if the host computer has an same mode all the time so
13. s declination through a month Declination is the angle between the Earth s equatorial plane the imaginary plane that passes through the Earth s equator and extends in all directions out into space and the Moon This angle varies 20 each month Northern hemisphere stations have longer Moon access and generally lower sky temperatures when the Moon is at higher declination Degradation This graph displays the EME path degradation as computed from equations originally developed by Derwin King W5LUU Degradation is expressed as dB in comparison to the best case situation of lunar perigee against quiet sky In other words if the Moon is not at perigee and is in a region of sky that emits more noise than cold sky then EME signals will be degraded by some amount Degradation is dominated by sky noise on 144 432 MHz and by distance at higher frequencies This is because the sky is uniformly rather quiet above 432 MHz A spike in degradation is visible on the graph at times when the Moon is in front of regions of noisy sky in general EME operation is difficult at these times Moon Graphs 37 Sky Temperature is one way of expressing the RF noise emitted by the billions of stars in the sky Some places in the sky have relatively few close noisy stars so those regions are considered relatively quiet in the VHF UHF range On the other hand the center of our galaxy is extremely noisy because it is relatively
14. 16 11 3096 11 30 96 11 50 96 11 30 16 1241 96 1271 96 1271 96 12 196 12 1 96 12 296 er 00 15 13 15 16 OU Same as 1 observer but calculates times when both satellites can see each other and both observers can see one of the satellites Urbana I 2 Satellites Observer Start satellites can see each other and the first observer can see one of the satellites OB 2 ca eee Ss 16 l 00 25 38 00 41 00 00 15 21 00 25 38 00 02 08 05 02 23 33 00 15 28 02 08 05 02 33 visible if they are going to communicate with each other directly and not by means of a ground station This is the satellite that the Observer can see best during the period of 2 satellite mutual visibility ACCESS Satellite AD 21 AQ 21 Yo 22 ALI 1 ALI 21 AQ 21 AQ 21 AQ 21 D 2 2 Uo 2 2 Uo 22 AQ 21 AQ 21 AQ 21 AQ 21 Uo 2 2 AQ 21 AQ 1 Uo 2 AQ 21 Yo 22 AD 21 End Duration 13 50 16 00 05 42 12 15 32 45 00 04 52 25 16 53 46 00 00 10 59 00 55 30 00 14 dd 2B 54 4 33 Period of time when the two 50 51 43 1 49 af 05 fas 01 13 15 44 16 0d 15 17 14 Time when the satellites are within line of sight with each other Two Sat mutual vis A A0 21 Time when the 1 satellite AO 21 in this Time when all conditions are met Time when the 2 satellite UO 22 is line of sight
15. 30 31 April 1997 UTC ky Te Tip Distance Calendar setup B Print P Help Utilities Quick Visibility Check The Quick Visibility Check provides an overview of all the satellites in the main Nova database Blue check marks adjacent to satellite names indicate that they are currently above the AutoTracking observer s horizon Visibility is recalculated every five seconds Quick Visibility Display Time 01 45 02 38 Azimuth elevation data for one satellite are displayed in the lower right corner You may select a different satellite by mouse clicking on it Initially the selected satellite 1s the AutoTracking satellite If you select a different satellite in the Quick Visibility Display it can become the AutoTracking satellite if you also press the y Accept button INTELSAT 707 W INTELSAT 709 W INTELSAT 801 IRIDIUM 11A INTELSAT 802 Y INTELSAT 803 INTELSAT 804 W INTELSAT 805 W INTELSAT 806 W INTELSAT K W INTERBOL 1 INTER COSMOS IRAS IRIDH 02 IRIDIUM 03 IRIDIUM 04 IRF IOI 05 RICH 06 IRIDIUM 07 IRIDIUM Os IRIDIUM 0S IRIDIUM 10 IRIDIUM 11 IRIDIUM 27 IRIDIUM 28 IRIDIUM 48 IRIDIUM 49 IRIDIUM 69 IRIDIUM FO IRIDIUM 24 IR IOI 30 Satellites that are currently above the horizon are ckecked blue IRIDIUM 1 IRIDIUM 36 IR IDI 18 IRIDIUM 37 Click on a satellite to make it become the AutoTracking satellite w IRIDIUM 43 IRIDIUM 44 IRIDIUM 45 IRIDI
16. 6 ORB horizon Catalog number 16604 MIMISAT 01 OPACOhM FM 12 ee WF PR AC Oh Fh 13 Elemen coi Nossa 10 ORBCOMM Fh 15 ORBCOMM Flu 16 Click on a satellite name to select it Inclination 51 654 l ORBCOMM Fh 1 Then you may view or edit its ORBCOMM Eh 12 en E 193697 Keplerian elements manually ORBCOMM FM 10 MOAR 15 ORBCOMM Fh 2 Eccentricity U O00446e0 NOAA 9 ORBCONMM FM 20 ORBCOMM Fii 21 ORBCOMM Fii 22 Arg of perigee 344 4011 0000 JCS OPAL Mean anomaly 1568470000 ORBCOMM A ORBCOMM Fil 23 Y ORBCOMM B ORC Ohh End oy Mean motion IENETELLTE ORBCOMM C ORBCC Click here to Decay rate 0000047916 ORBCON hi O ORBEO update Keplerian ORBCOMM E ORBCO elements Epoch orbit 20114 ORBCOMM F ORBCOMM ORBCOMM FM 1 AROC Cd Fil 3 ALat I ALon fo 4 el A 2 Update Kep elements Ti X Cancel Va Derived sp Add ES Sched y Derived shows A information derived NY from the currently selected satellite s Right Ascensior and declination for the Extra satellite at the end of the list Sched opens an editing Click Add aft 1C ve window to enter change the manually entering a cats llie satellite s operating mode Keplerian elements schedule Setup Satellites is the place to update Keplerian Elements database list Be cautious when manually editing these values because some values may cause the satellite to crash or its calculations to make Nova unstable
17. Help Make AutoTracking Obs To add an unlisted Observer enter data in the Edit Location box then click on Add to If you want to make the new Observer become the autoTracking Observer Observers List to save the new location click on Make AutoTracking Obs Use Setup Observers to build your personalized short list of observer locations Each View s observers are set in the Individual View Configuration Screen by selecting from the short list Setup Observers The Setup Observers screen presents Nova s database of observer locations Nova s observer database is maintained in two parts the Main Database which contains thousands of cities hundreds of countries and hundreds of moonbounce entries and a short Observers list of observers that are user selected The short list is shown on the left of the Setup Observers screen The Observers List is used in configuring Views instead of presenting the entire Master Database Customize the Observers List to suit your needs Observers may be taken from any of the four Main Databases or you may manually enter latitude longitude data in the edit space in the lower left of the screen Add or delete Observers to from the Observers list by drag and drop Search for locations in the Main database by using the Find First and Find Next speed buttons with the flashlight icons To enter new locations mouse click on individual lines in the editing region lower left
18. and Declination of a celestial object may be entered Note The extra sat is not appropriate for tracking artificial satellites The extra sat might be a comet or some other distant object that is not in Earth orbit How to Update Keplerian Elements Keplerian Elements are numbers that describe the position and velocity of a satellite at a single instant in time Keps as they are sometimes called are generated by ground based radar ranging stations operated by governments and the military Keplerian elements are used in satellite tracking calculations to predict the position of a satellite at some time in the future Nova for Windows combines Keplerian elements and the current From the Main Menu time date from the computer Disk file to determine the satellite s Internet ETP current position Nova then Drag and Drop uses the observer s location to compute the satellite s azimuth elevation and other values from that spot on the Earth s surface Keplerian elements may be acquired from a number of sources Current Keplerian elements are provided at many Internet sites One of the most widely used sites is http www celestrak com maintained by Dr T S Kelso How often do you need to acquire new Keplerian elements The answer depends on your requirements and your ground station characteristics For almost all applications updating Keplerian elements once a month is entirely sufficient
19. box in which Original configuration current 1s written 10 Click on the box next to Original configuration current to UN check it 11 Click OK 12 Click Close continued For Windows NT In the Main program group select Control Panel Inside Control Panel select Devices Scroll down through the list of devices until you come to ParPort Highlight ParPort Click StartUp Choose Disabled Click OK 41 Repeat Steps 5 7 for the Parallel entry Gust above ParPort Click on Close Nova s ToolBar The ToolBar provides fast access to the most commonly used functions in Nova for Windows Each View contains a ToolBar Clicking on ToolBar buttons avoids several steps of menus The function of each button is shown on the diagram below The top row of buttons affects the time within a View You may move forward or backward in time in either small or large steps The actual time assigned to each step may be set by right clicking on the View and selecting View s clock The time step buttons can be locked down by pressing the Shift key while muse clicking on one of the buttons The middle row of buttons control the appearance of the View and what kind of map is displayed if any You may quickly jump among map styles with these buttons Small and large time steps backward Small and large time steps forward Freeze View s time View from Space map
20. km MiA 246 6 AOS time 12 14 19 UTC LOS time 12 24 18 UTE Until 00 03 32 Duration 00 09 58 AOS Az 279 hax El 25 LOS AZ BS Squirt 0 0 Op Mode 1 Visual SUM AL Real time text data concerning the satellite You can show as many columns of data as there are satellites in the View see Individual View Configuration Text columns The View from Space presents the Earth in a 3 dimensional perspective You may configure the map to show ground tracks orbits and satellite footprints single continent rectangular map displays a resolution of about 10 km per pixel Land and water are accurately shaded to illustrate elevation and depth respectively The View from Space map shows a realistic perspective of the Earth from a position out in space The land surface is rendered to show topography and the oceans are shaded to indicate water depth The position is centered over one of the continents You may change the center continent is one of two ways o Left mouse click directly on the map on the continent that you want to turn to eIn the Map Configuration screen from the Configure Maps button on the ToolBar or the View s pop up which is activated from the right mouse button In addition you can easily change the distance from which the Earth is viewed by clicking the left mouse button out in space away from the Earth s image Information about any satellite visible on the View from Space maps ma
21. means that if it meets either the Eccentricity OR the Inclination criterion the pass will be selected Note If OR is used as the Relations operator then setting any rule to ANY will mean that all satellites in the list will qualify for selection It may require some experimentation to learn to use the Satellite Selection facility After you have become familiar with it you may want to use it to select satellites for a Group Pressing the New Group button will cause the selected satellites to become a new group just as if you had dragged each satellite from the master database list manually Select which rule to modify 15 Satellite Selector Summary 5 sats between 0 010000 and 0 040000 FLU 23 Eccentricity AND MALCSAT 2 Inclination Any aros ee E AND selection rules Period Any N tarlette AMD These satellites Next AUS Any fit the rules AMD Duration between 5 0 and 15 0 min AND Choose between Apogee Ary AND amp OR AND for relations Perigee Any between limits Set selection Relations rules and limits AND C Any ignore minutes E E Co More than 5 0 C OR Between C Less than 115 0 Duration A Apood gt 7 Help Rules Duration PEA A Period A Next ADS MA M Cancel A Create a new Group mt Mew Group Start the selection based on current rules amp limits from the satellites selected here Nova s Satellite Selector is
22. new file only contains elements for A and B then C s elements will remain unchanged On the other hand if the new file contains elements for additional satellites then they are automatically added to Nova s database In the preceding example if the new Keplerian element data file contained entries for A B and D then Nova s database would add D automatically This may be useful if you have access to a variety of elements in small files but it may lead to an accumulation of unneeded satellites after some time CJ Timed updates of Keplerian elements x Enable regularly timed u Keplerian elements from a disk file ooo Full file name Jean ovawinidatainasa dat Update interval fan g minutes gt If Update only if file date has changed Lastupdate J not initialized Prev file date not initialized 2 Cancel Help Automatic updates of Keplerian elements from a disk file are configured 13 ES Dont Add If the new database contains data for satellites that are not already in your NfW database the new satellites are NOT added automatically No satellites are removed from or added to your existing NfW database Update Keplerian elements and remove any non matching entries from Mis database Bj Clean Update Keplerian elements via the Internet usina FTP base setup regularly scheduled updates of Keplerian elements from a disk file Timed
23. not own them title to the programs and files is retained by Northern Lights Software Associates Northern Lights Software Associates License Agreement Nova for Windows the SOFTWARE including images and data included into or with the program is owned by Northern Lights Software Associates NLSA and is protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty provisions Therefore you must treat the SOFTWARE like any other copyrighted material e g a book or musical recording except that you may either a make one copy of the SOFTWARE for backup or archival purposes or b transfer the SOFTWARE to a single hard disk provided you keep the original solely for backup or archival purposes Any other reproduction or distribution of this program without written permission from Northern Lights Software Associates is prohibited Limited Warranty Northern Lights Software Associates warrants that the SOFTWARE will perform substantially in accordance with authorized written claims for a period of thirty 30 days from the date of receipt NLSA s entire liability and your exclusive remedy shall be at NLSA s option a return of the price paid or b repair or replacement of the SOFTWARE No Other Warranties To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law Northern Lights Software Associates disclaims all other warranties either expressed or implied but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purp
24. or 16 bit ISA slot and connect the cable to the G 5400 rotator control box M RC 2800P Plug the computer interface cable into an available serial COM port and connect the cable to the RC 2800P rotator control box Ifa second control box is used for elevation control daisy chain the control boxes together with a DP 9 serial cable All interfaces Start Windows and launch Nova for Windows Under Setup Antenna rotator select the appropriate interface from the pull down list If necessary change the port settings in the boxes below the pull down list Nova for Windows is ready to control antennas For greater pointing accuracy also fill in values in the Calibration Page Additional information for Nova for Windows 32 Windows 95 and Windows NT If you will be using a parallel printer port antenna control interface such as the SASI SAT Tracker with Nova for Windows 32 then you MUST disable the printer port from within Windows 95 or NT If you do not disable the printer port Nova for Windows 32 may not be able to communicate with the antenna control interface For Windows 95 Click Start Click Settings Click Control Panel Choose SYSTEM Choose Device Manager Click on the sign next to Ports this expands the list Single click to highlight the Printer Port to which the antenna control interface will be connected Click on the Properties button below the window Find the white
25. prefix Nova for Windows Views Nova for Windows displays satellite tracking information in Views A View consists of a map columnar text data or both together One or more Views may be visible simultaneously Each View is completely independent of the others different Views may contain different satellites observers and time date A View may include a map text data or both at once NfW may have as many Views active as you desire 3 03 08 98 12 10 38 UTC TP Satellite footprint fo TETS RESP 2 In normal use two or three Views is_ usually sufficient but there is no practical limit to the number of Views that may be open simultaneously Each View can track an unlimited number of satellites and observers Views are created by double clicking anywhere on the NfW desktop by choosing Views Create new View from the main menu or by clicking on the E New View button on the ToolBar 4 Sats Azimuth Elevation Range Height MA 205 time LOS time Until Duration AOS Az Max El A ES Mir 270 2 10 F 3 Fa km 375 2 km 216 5 121413 UTE 122410 UTE 00 03 35 00 09 56 279 25 64 Op Mode Visual a View s toolbar Nova for Windows Views may contain text map or both This View shows a Rectangular style map and one column of text data Text The text portion of Views displays each satellite s current position as well as a summary of
26. screen will command the rotators to move to that azimuth and elevation Sky Noise The sky is not entirely quiet at VHF UHF frequencies Some regions generate noise that can mask weak signals The Sky Noise map is useful for determining when the satellite will be located in front of noisy areas of sky The Sky Noise maps are drawn in a format that may not be familiar to some users The vertical axis 1s Declination which is measured above north and below south of the equatorial plane The equatorial plane is a projection of the Earth s equator out into space The horizontal axis of the Sky Temperature map is presented in Right Ascension R A 1s measured in hours 1 hour 15 with O hours being along a north south line at Greenwich England Lines on the Sky Temperature map are contours generally similar to contours on a topographic map Each contour connects points of equal noise temperature The Sky Noise map configuration page permits setting various options on the Sky Noise map Map Frequency sets which map is drawn on the screen Maps have been prepared by the IEEE for 50 MHz 136 MHz and 400 MHz The 136 and 400 MHz maps correspond to the amateur 144 and 432 MHz bands Rectangular lt A T x Approx antenna beamwidth 30 View from Space Show Horizon plots a curve on the map that represents the current horizon at the AutoTracking Observer s location Show satellite path displays a curve showing
27. so it must be set accurately It is wise to check the clock at least once a week to make sure that it remains accurate some computer clocks drift many seconds per day The Current Settings display shows the current date and time as reported by the computer to the Windows operating system To change the displayed values first click on the Stop button to prevent continued updates Then enter new values in the appropriate boxes If you want to reset the computer s clock to the new values press the Set Computer Clock button To reset the Current Settings display to the computer clock after making changes but before setting the computer clock click on the Reset button The Local vs UTC box tells Nova how to interpret the time and date that it retrieves from Windows Check the appropriate boxes to tell Nova whether your computer clock is set to local time or UTC and whether you wish Nova s display to be in local time or UTC If Local is selected for either the computer clock or Nova s display a Local time offset from UTC value must be entered in the lower box This value represents the number of hours difference between your local time and UTC If your local time is behind UTC then the offset is negative Blue checked satellites are currently above the Satellite Editor Keplerian elements 303 available satellites Last up Furl main Obvserver s Satellite name MIR METEOR 3 5 ORAL METEOR 3
28. spacecraft crosses the fence it simultaneously rises above the horizon for the observer The radius of the NASA style footprint changes with the height of a satellite above the ground Filling footprints refers to the light shading that NfW can add to the footprint to make it more easily visible NfW provides the option of displaying filled footprints for only the first satellite on the View s satellite list for all satellites in the list or none of them Elevation contours may optionally be drawn within a footprint Elevation contours are concentric lines that show elevation angles of the satellite above the horizon Pressing the elevation contours button displays a set up screen for selecting parameters for the contours to be drawn Footprint elevation contours Contours every E degrees Contours from fo aj to f0 degrees Show contours for C First satellite only 24 Ground tracks are lines that trace the movement of the satellite over the Earth s surface Ground tracks are useful ways to visualize future positions of the satellite NfW permits you to display ground tracks for only the first satellite in the View s satellite list for all satellites or none enter O zero in the spin box In addition the spin box allows setting the number of orbits worth of ground track to be drawn Semi Tracks are short segments of ground track that show the general direction of the satellite s mo
29. that you have launched Views are configured separately from one another Changes made to one View do not affect others Initial configuration of Views may be challenging at first but 1t quickly becomes easy Configure View View s clock Text display Map style Map size Sound alarme for ey Experimental Set up script tracking Create new View Print View Capture View to disk Help 5 Text Display determines whether the View s text is normal one column of text data for each satellite placed to the right of the map Script tracking automatically changing as each satellite in the Script becomes visible or no text at all Map Style set the kind of map that will be displayed in the View s map section The map may be Rectangular View from Space Radar Sky Temperature or no map Map Size Nova for Windows accommodates several screen resolutions Views may be sized to fit the screen that you have Small is appropriate for once you are familiar with the View pop up menu To bring up the View pop up menu and configure a View position the mouse over the View and press the right mouse button For detailed configuration such as choosing satellites and observers select Configure View from the pop up This will display the Individual View Configuration Page 19 explains the Individual View screen Configuration screen View s Clock sets the time for the View This time can be the same as for the ove
30. the mouse Eri Select Sats opens the Satellite Selector shown on the following page This feature permits advanced users to sort through Nova s entire satellites database and extract satellites meeting certain criteria For pe particular application You may have may as Many pe sa re qu i re as you wish selection of all satellites with say certain Meteor 2 20 eccentricit MOAR 11 Meteor 2 19 y or mean MIAA 12 Meteor 2 18 NOAA 13 Meteor 2 17 motion NOAA 14 Meteor 2 16 Use the tabs across These are the satellite the bottom members of the of the page selected group to choose which rule to modify Eccentrici El ty i Inclination Fi Select gats Tf Delete i y Select satellites b Period aioe certain criteria based For each on orbital elements rule select for advanced users whether you want Any value to be all right or 1f the value must fall Between More than or Less than the limits that you set in the edit boxes To effectively ignore the value of any quantity select ANY as the rule For example choosing ANY inclination means that ANY is ignored in selection when inclination is evaluated Finally in the Relations box select whether you want all the rules to be met simultaneously AND or whether meeting any rule OR will be satisfactory For example saying Eccentricity Greater than 0 01 AND Inclination Greater than 50 means that a satellite must meet both criteria whereas OR
31. this function is not needed However p automatic means of acquiring some satellites such as Keplerian elements For TOE A nae example some systems iheir modes of The satellite mode schedule is used by only a ple y operation periodically Different modes are used at different points in the satellite orbit so they are specified in terms of MA or phase a form of Mean Anomaly that ranges from 0 255 Up to 12 different modes may be specified on separate pages in this dialog box This information is used by Nova to determine the Mode value in the text display in each View A graphical summary of the operating modes vs MA is also provided in this dialog box To update the Keplerian elements in Nova s satellite database Note The Sun Moon planets and celestial noise sources do not require Keplerian elements They are included in the Naturals group and cannot be edited or removed from Nova s database If you wish to add one or two satellites from a NASA 2 line format file you may use the w New button small number of satellites receive Keplerian elements in e mail if those data can be placed in a disk file automatically then NfW will update itself without assistance Who s Ip scans through the satellites in the main database and highlights all satellites that are currently above the AutoTracking Observer s horizon Config extra presents a form in which the Right Ascension
32. 8 4 the pass when the satellite is above 9 O 04 42 19 291 0 9 0 Observer s horizon 6 o 04 47 19 41 0 14 4 p 4 0 06 17 19 299 4 1 5 144 392 1 50 3 100 977 138 2 0 El me 717 10 17 17 LIE aF Sa Dad 1701 Co YET J 1C7 71 ne Observer AOS LOS times only for one satellite One satellite one observer and time step in Setup Set Satellite Observer One satellite two observers Set Satellite Observers and time step in Setup E Break Setup Visible Ey Print Help Summary of mutual windows between two observers Utilities Two Satellite Mutual Visibility The Two Satellite Mutual Visibility utility calculates times when two satellites will be in line of sight of each other Two satellites must be mutually 2 Satelite Mutual isibility Moda a ol 5atellite Visibility Date Start End Duration 11 2796 13 34 37 13 50 16 00 15 11 27 96 15 12 05 15 32 45 00 15 111 272 96 16 59 35 12 15 15 00 15 00 40 41 00 56 36 00 15 39 40 42 11 28 96 Cd 11 28 96 11 2896 11 2896 11728796 11728796 11729796 11729796 l Period of time when the two 1 satellites can see each other 2 LS 15 15 16 16 15 La ef D1 30 15 44 50 16 44 01 25 Oi D5 37 a4 17 59 18 03 05 ed 01 13 15 16 db OO eee a ee 19 01 16 44 46 31 29 0S De 2d 20 Le 11 29
33. Observers WOO tian centa landitide ii Mes eae are MENA jF i im Wo AutoCenter map 7 N i HiagFNaht satellite names Set the middle of the rectangular map Horizon table Rectangular Map The Rectangular map is familiar to most people It shows the entire Earth unrolled so that it is visible at a glance Nova s Rectangular map is based on a modified Miller projection that shows the major continents with relatively little distortion the north and south poles cannot be shown adequately on any rectangular map The Map area box permits selection of the map that will be displayed World means that the map will display the entire world whereas the various continent names allow zoom in views of each continent The individual continent maps provide resolution of approximately 10 km pixel at maximum size Ground display controls dynamic features added to the base map The normal footprint of a satellite represents the area of visibility of a satellite that is the area of the Earth that is visible from the satellite at any particular moment The normal footprint is drawn around the satellite s sub satellite point the point on the Earth directly underneath the satellite NASA style footprint on the other hand is drawn around the observer This is the format used by NASA when showing the Shuttle in orbit Each ground station has a fence drawn around it that represents its horizon for the Shuttle As the
34. T A A Select passes individually 5 a En 5 F m i x Da OS igo o A E Da a od e Gi e o Ce on 4 Passes In script list 33 Passes chosen from script list 24 E Setup B Print 7 Help Text Display A Graphics Display The Text page of the Satellite Script notebook shows all passes of all satellites in the View s satellite list You may select passes by mouse clicking on them or by letting NfW select them automatically using the rules set in the Configure Script Tracking screen above Satellite Script Monday March 31 1997 18 423 AQ I FO 20 13 57 E Odds Es 15 Readout of the time where the mouse cursor is pointed Tine gt 19 all al Cursor time 22 24 52 Day 22 13 45 a cod A 1 Selected passes those that will be used in Script Tracking have an arch over them The bottom axis is time CEET a 31 You can adjust the starting and ending times of the Script tracking pass by dragging the ends of the arch Zo 22 3442 R 22 51 21 00 41 36 CAN 005 This pass is not selected If you want to select it manually click above the pass line Use slider to scan through time ht Pr Text Display 4 Graphics Display i A OK Recale Select All unselect ll Auto Select Setup Print 7 Help Nova for Windows graphics display of Satellite Script pass data presents a clear summary of multiple passe
35. UM 46 IRIDIUM 22 IRIDIUM 23 IRIDIUM 24 IRIDIUM 25 IRIDIUM 26 IRF IOI 50 IRIDIUM 71 IRIDIUM 53 IRIDIUM 54 IRIDIUM 55 IRICIUM 56 IRIDIUM 57 IRIDIUM Ss IRIDIUM 59 IF IOIUM 60 IRIN 61 IRIDIUM 62 IRIDIUM 63 W IRIDIUM W IRIDIUM IRIDH IRIDIUM bs IRIDIUM Fe W IRIDIUM 73 IRIDIUM Pa IRIDIUM PS IRIDIUM PE IRIDIUM FF IRIDIUM 79 IRIDIUM 50 RIG 51 IRIDH W 52 IRIDIUM 6 IRIDIUM 84 IRIDIUM 65 Current AutoTracking a Some satellite s position Accept change in AutoTracking satellite AutoTracking Nova for Windows includes full control of azimuth elevation antennas using one of several commercial control interfaces When AutoTracking is engaged antennas will follow the AutoTracking satellite whenever it is above the horizon at the AutoTracking Observer s location Right clicking on the AutoTracking Status Box next section displays a pop up menu for configuring AutoTracking AutoTracking Observer selects the SUMMAN observer that will be Hide title bar used as the AutoT racking bzerver AutoTracking AutoT racking Satellite Configure Rotator Observer The list presented in this screen is the short list that is built in the Setup Observers screen In other words you select the AutoTracking Observer from a list that is itself taken from the large Cities EME Database and DXCC countries lists AutoTracking Satellite selects the satellite that will be followed by the a
36. W and other programs but it may result in a cluttered screen Contained views means that all Views are confined to the Nova screen which may be minimized if desired This option generally results in the most pleasing screen display if Nova is the only program being run Show hints in setups controls whether small pop up hints appear when the mouse rests on a button or other control for more than two seconds These hints are useful when you are first learning to use Nova but you may want to turn them off after you are familiar with the program Include refraction correction instructs Nova whether to correct satellite elevation angles for the effects of atmospheric refraction This effect is always small becoming entirely insignificant above about 5 elevation There is a slight speed penalty for including refraction correction Fast and accurate best for general purpose tracking zetup General Somewhat slower but extremely accurate lt l Show hints Pre position cursor Should NfW32 minimize to the taskbar or to the system tray 1211 Minimize to tray Include refraction correction Automatically update Configurations Update interval Check this box to correct positions for atmospheric refraction 150 j ms How often should Nova update satellite positions Tracking algorithm 4 p Listanca nits Pi G3RUH Plan 13 kilometers C miles SGP4 SDP4 C naut
37. a C Dynamic COV Asia f M America E Asia CoS America Oceania C Europe Co North pole gt Africa Select the area of the world for map center Ground tracks iM Show ground tracks Number of ground J tracks to plot Ground tracks for all sats Ground track color A hm Show sub satellite point No footprint e Mutual footprint we Footprints General Show political boundaries Show Latlon grid Normal footprint NASA footprint Show daynight Show observers Fill M Highlight satellite names Viewers e distance from W First Visible If Show zoom buttons 1 the Earth Bo me Zoom out factor O ae Orbit Display shows A Ea the satellite s orbit M Use elev mask O Show orbits MSpace Show elev contours Footprint only when visible a m Horizon table _ Rectangular View from Space oky Moise A Cancel 3 Reset 7 Help Show amp label the satellite s position in its orbit Map Configuration notebook s View from Space page The Orbit Display box contains settings that control plots of satellite orbits in space as opposed to on the ground You can set the number of orbits of each satellite to show by entering a number in the spin box In order to show the orbits of some satellites it is necessary to step back from the earth to get a useful perspective The Zoom level spin box controls the viewer s apparent distance from th
38. and enter the appropriate values When the entry is complete press the Add to Observer List button to place the new location in the Observers Box If you wish to make the newly entered Observer become the Observer used for AutoTracking calculations press the Make AutoTracking Observer button It is essential that the AutoTracking Observer accurately reflects your exact position Make sure that your location is entered carefully and then transferred to the AutoTracking Observer Setup Antenna Rotator Rotator Interface Select No interface if you have not installed one SASI Sat Tracker AEA ST 1 Orbit Elect RIF PC he REZBDOP TrakBox S RACEOS Easycomm FOOD Track MovatCoamim 1 Select the type of interface that you have installed Sasi Sat Tracker A ido interface gt Kansas City Tracker K c F r 4 Serial port J j 1 8 A Conca X Cancel Y ox 17 This means that the antenna goes from South through North to South Y aesu G 5400 Azimuth rotator Range 180 0 18 C Range 0 360 This means that the antenna goes from North through Maximum 350 3 South to North Emoto Minimum a gt i Select the elevation range that your antenna rotator can cover Selecting 0 180 enables flip mode A Elevation rotato Range 0 40 C Range O 180 PER Enter the highest and lowest elevation permitted by your antennas
39. arker before NfW consider it to be night This setting only affects calculations related to visual observation of satellites Footprint fill density selects the density of the fill pattern used for satellite footprints A high density is easier to see but it may obscure features on the map underneath A value of 25 is usually good Setup Time ant settings Local vs UTC Computer time Click here to stop updating the time shown in the boxes srar Stop Reset C Use Windows This it the time to SS settings _ ca S Click here to reset the Ea fc EROS time in the boxes to the Month Day ely A Ion r 5 p 5 This it the time that Lo Display time you want Nova for Click here to reset Minute second Local e UTC Windows to display the computer s clock to the time shown This change cannot be undone 9 Set computer clock wf OK p 5 13 7 Help Number of hours difference between UTC and your local iY 24 hour format time NOTE Western Hemisphere values are negative Local time offset from UTC hrs 12 hour Correct timekeeping is essential for accurate satellite predictions Make sure that Nova for Windows is correctly configured for your system Setup Time This selection provides access to your computer s date time clock Every computer has an internal clock that keeps track of the date and time This clock is the basis for all of NfW s satellite predictions
40. chosen a process called selecting Experimental ini Set up script trackir Minimum Pass Duration refers ate eee ern to the duration of a pass If the Create ne pass s duration is less that the Print View value set in this entry then the pass will not be included in the Script Clicking on the Default button before exiting the screen will set these rules as defaults to be used in all subsequent Script operations Help You may select passes manually or you may let NfW do the job automatically by using the AutoSelect button To manually select passes in the text screen simply click on them with the mouse In Each View maintains its own Script You may the Graphics screen click above the pass line this preview and edit the entries in the Script by using the will cause an arc to appear over the pass line Script Editor Access the Script Editor by right indicating that the pass 1S selected clicking the mouse on a View and selecting Set up Script Tracking from the pop up menu 30 In situations when two satellites are visible simultaneously select the one that is higher on the View s Configure Script Tracking satci list Start Dates script Rules Select passes that are passing from south to north Favor higher priority satellites Select passes that reach at least this Only Ascending passes elevation Only Descending passes Select passes that are passing from north to south Minimum e
41. close and contains a huge number of stars The Sky Temperature graph shows how the contribution of sky noise varies through the month as the Moon moves across the sky At some times the Moon is in front of quiet sky and EME operation is favored At other times the Moon is in front of noisy sky and EME signals are relatively weaker because they are partly or completely obscured by the noise from the rest of the universe The Distance graph shows how the Earth Moon distance varies through the month The Moon s orbit is elliptical meaning that is sometimes quite a bit closer than at other times This difference amounts to approximately 2 dB difference in EME signal strength between perigee closest and apogee farthest The Moon graphs utility also contains a pop up calendar It is useful for viewing the dates of weekends when most EME activity takes place You may click on days to move the graph s day quickly Moon Degradation at Dayton OH Sa UR MEN A 15 ae Time of least degradation when the Moon is in 14 co front of cold sky and relatively closer to the CN l 5 13 Earth m 12 A o IE m 10 At Mn MA AA MIND me m CE Hot anti al Sh z Peak in degradation is due mostly to increased sky temperature when the Moon is in front of the center of our galaxy MENE TOT T Ace SAT CANA AAN i 2 3 4 E 5 E f a g 1011121314151617 18192021 22 25 24 25 25 2 20 29
42. ctinsular Ma 0 panne rr rT ee Oe Oe eo rene eon revere ee entertain 23 s Footprint elevation COLO UE AAA ee 24 AN ASS en penne Penn Perr nner rrr 25 SN A AAA E eee ae 26 A er arc ss i ser tt ae ate Set Gest RS SLSR EO 23 SO On EaD ace Sees ee ee a a Oa 29 SUE O oia 29 iii Utilities OVAS E eee E A AA Aaa elas E E E E 32 Two satellite mutual VAST OI OY s ccecncoccesucteantoieivacieiuioieioiedosudeieieiededudadedadadedudaiadadadedadadaaiedsuiacauaadense 33 O aaa 34 A e e ei o oO 36 SOES DD AAA E AA 38 Auto l TAC lt lt NTETE E a a 39 A toTrackine o AAA Po E A 40 e Additional Auto Tracking Mondatori io Dr odie 4 NOVAS TOODO AAA 4 SEIU AVES si A A A iaa 42 DIOP DIP O sae nee anne 42 INTERES MIS ACUSA EEES EE EE OL OG AA ORO ie 43 Frequently Asked OQUEesti0WS oooonnoonnnnninnnonocncononannnnoconannnnnononnnnnnnnncnnnnn ano no conan aran n conan nn nnccnnnnnnnnnnos 44 ca A en ne ene en ne mee ee eee mene N 44 Nova for Windows Copyright Entire contents copyright 1997 1998 1999 2000 by Northern Lights Software Associates Nova for Windows and its accompanying programs and files are protected by copyright 1997 1998 1999 2000 Northern Lights Software Associates No portion of these programs or files may be sold given away reproduced or otherwise distributed without written permission from Northern Lights Software Associates Licensees have the non exclusive right to use these programs and files but you do
43. e Earth Large zoom levels make the Earth appear smaller and permit plotting of high altitude satellite orbits Finally you may select whether to show the satellite s position in its orbit as well as whether to label it Radar Map NtW s Radar map is an innovative means to display satellite positions relative to an observer The Radar Map is centered on the first observer in the View s observer list North is MW Satellite s path at the top of the map and concentric circles indicate elevation above the horizon The outer edge of the map is the observer s horizon The center of 27 West West East the Radar map is overhead E Overhead When AutoTracking is enabled the Radar Map antenna circle should remain approximately centered on the moving satellite m elevation marker throughout each pass This lets you visually observe your tracking system s performance Configuration for Radar map satellite paths Shaded background iM show satellite paths C Flip East West Number of ra paths to plot Label N S E WW i Show paths of all satellites Also show Show when optically visible Check here to iM Stars show passes of all satellites rather than only the first Minimurn ra satellite in the list Approx antenna 30 degrees magnitude beamwidth E lf Show star names Constellations he Use horizon table Horizon Table to outline areas Planets lll Show loca
44. erhaps inherited from a previous tracking program it they should be removed because they might conflict communication with The Azimuth rotator box contains selections of north breaking or south breaking antennas 0 360 means that the azimuth antenna travels from 0 360 degrees the antenna points north at either end of the rotator s travel 180 0 180 means that the antenna travels from south through north to south north 1s halfway through the antenna s travel Emoto and several other brands of rotators are north breaking whereas the Yaesu G 5400 5600 series antenna rotators are south breaking In the Elevation Rotator box select whether the elevation rotator and the antenna which it controls are capable of elevation angles greater than 90 If the antennas can elevate to 180 Nova will auto matically use flip mode during passes that require the antenna Flip mode means that the antennas will begin a pass upside down and will gradually right themselves as the pass proceeds Flip mode is useful for passes whose path crosses the break point for the antenna s azimuth rotator because flip mode avoids the 360 azimuth spin as the rotator hurries from one end stop to the other Also in the Elevation Rotator box you may set the minimum elevation for tracking This value is usually 0 but you may select another value if for example the antennas are limited to a higher minimum elevation for s
45. ers to the elevation above the observer s horizon that the satellite attains during a pass In other words if Minimum Elevation Attained is set to 25 then the satellite must achieve an elevation of at least 25 at some time during a pass for that pass to be selected If the satellite s maximum elevation during a particular pass is only 24 then that pass will not be included as part of the Script Utilities Listing Nova for Windows includes comprehensive capabilities for producing tabular listings of satellite positions Listings may be directed to the screen to a printer or to a disk file Listings are available in four main formats e One Observer presents information about one satellite as seen from one observer s location Position data are calculated at step intervals as set in the Setup screen see below e AOS LOS lists only AOS LOS times for the satellite and one observer this is convenient for assessing many upcoming passes of the satellite on one screen Operating mode set in Satellite Pass Data Setup Satellites Mode Sched A from 0 255 starting at perigee 32 e Two Observers lists one satellite s position from the points of view of two observers simultaneously This is similar to the One Observer page in that data are presented at a specified time interval chosen in Setup e Two Obs Mutual Window is a summary of the mutual windows of the satellite with two observers these are the times whe
46. f higher Ser Tracking thicad are commanded to move r l riority to the l l lower highest Pe and correct In other sama smallest value that c6 29 j iti de uate words this is the error Ea E C normal C time critical provides adeq AutoTrackin that your system can burning out tolerate in antenna against their pointing For example if Spp AID smoothing factor i Y Set Smoothing the satellite is located at Factor to the smallest number Azimuth 90 and elevation fr seconds 45 b h M Time outtimer 50 i that gives smooth but the antennas 1s minutes position readings pointed at 92 and 43 the antennas will SL with Interface General Calibration Calibration Advanced Display a dead band setting of 2 but they would turn 1f the B Reset 9 Reset entries to 3 Res factory defaults dead band had been set to 3 The dead band should be set to values that are Advanced page of Setup Antenna rotator The 16 bit version small enough to permit Of N W does not include the Tracking thread priority box full signal tracking but large enough to avoid hunting If the antennas rock back and forth as if they are trying to find the satellite then the dead band values should be increased Most antennas have 3 dB beamwidths of 15 30 so a deadband of 3 5 is acceptable A D smoothing factor represents the number of individual readings that are averaged for each displayed value
47. f the map it appears Like all maps the Radar Map is configured in the Map Configuration screen Upcoming passes can be displayed as arcs across the map The rise point of a pass is shown as a larger circle and the set point is a smaller circle this permits you to easily visualize the direction that the pass will travel across the sky You have control over its appearance display of upcoming passes antenna position as well as the size of the Radar Map itself This information is useful in situations where desired signals from space are extremely weak If the source of the signals for example an artificial satellite or moonbounce signal is in front of noisy areas then the signals are much more difficult to detect Nova for Windows includes Sky Temperature maps derived from IEEE measurements at three frequencies 50 137 and 400 MHz these correspond well to the amateur 6 meter 2 meter and 70 cm bands The axes of the Sky Temperature map are familiar to astronomers but perhaps not to satellite users The vertical axis is Declination which is the angle between the item of interest and the celestial equator the imaginary extension of the Earth s equator into space The horizontal axis is in Right Ascension This represents the angle measured in hours 1 hour 15 between the item of interest and 0 longitude at Greenwich England Configuring Views The appearance of Nova for Windows is determined by the Views
48. face Y Ground tracks Footprints satellite Fill M Show ground tracks i 3 _ W Tracks of all satellites Ground track color A Elevation contours can be added to normal and NASA footprints re Radar Wf OK X Cancel Y Reset Help Map Configuration Nova for Windows includes over 150 maps of various projections sizes and areas of coverage Further more you have almost complete control of the information displayed in the maps so that they always display the data that you need without clutter Map Configuration is available in five pages in the same notebook click on the bottom tabs to change pages The Rectangular and View from Space maps share several options and their setup screens appear similar Tip You may access the Map Configuration notebook by several routes e Right mouse click on a View and select Map Style then Configure Maps e Click on the Configure Maps button on the ToolBar e Open the Individual View Configuration screen and right click on the Maps box remember that right clicking on things lets you configure them Mo footprint Normal footprint MASA footprint NASA footprint is a centered on the observer Mutual tootprint W First F Visible M icked Use elev mask i Show elev contours El Footprint only when visible oky Moise 23 General M Show political boundaries how latilon grid i Show
49. ged within the Current Configuration Satellites list their order in the list determines their order of appearance in the tabular text display in the View The first satellite in the list will be the left most satellite in the Tip Enter the Individual View Configuration screen by e Right clicking the mouse on the View that you wish to configure causing the pop up menu to tabular text display appear e or selecting Views Configure Current View from The Current Configuration Observers list gt the Main Menu displays the observer s for which satellite position tor pressing ie El A WAY DUOMO IN information will be calculated A short list of ToolBar Individual View Configuration Satellites Current Configuration Observers 199R010E 12 Satellites 1 Observer Salt Lake City 19960626 Fl 20 Canton My 19950631 Ro 104 1 19960630 Choose the Observers that will be used in the View by dragging 19959606P Choose the satellites 199606 that will be tracked in loctiona 1393B0B the View by dragging 199606 their names 10060698 zi Montreal PO Rochester Wr T Delete All Ti Delete All bno VER Map displa Text displa ce a e c pees Select the View s AD 10 map and text pS C Rectangular io lie satellites up Space view C Scripttracking G C Radar roups C Sky noise fuimos visible 2 Naturals Wap size Harn
50. he Setup Observers screen by pressing OK Step 4 Click on the View that you wish to configure with your location Step 5 Right click the mouse within the View to reveal the pop up menu Select Configure View Step 6 In the Individual View Configuration screen find your town in the short Observers list on the far right side of the screen Drag the name toward the middle and drop it in the Observers box under Current Configuration Step 7 Click OK and you re finished Step 8 optional If other Views have already been launched repeat steps 4 6 as necessary Note If you want all new Views to have your location automatically used when the View is created click the Defaut Default button before leaving Individual View Configuration Getting Help Nova for Windows includes context sensitive Help on almost every Setup or configuration page In addition small pop up hints appear near buttons if they have been enabled in Setup General Northern Lights Software Associates welcomes your e mail comments suggestions and criticisms at nisa Onlsa com or nlsa northnet org If necessary you may telephone NLSA at 315 379 0161 Please have your serial number available NLSA s FAX number is the same as the voice number NESA s Web page is http www nlsa com Nova Net is a free reflector mailing list for e mail correspondence regarding Nova Check our Web page for subscription information
51. ian elements to exactly the same file name Manual update from file permits specifying the file name and several less used options Quick Update above uses these settings Timed update from file This selection 1s useful in situations where a network receives new Keplerian elements via e mail and automatically copies them to a disk file The same disk file name must be used every time NfW checks the date time stamp on the file and updates the satellite database whenever a new file 1s detected FTP Internet update Using this option you can download one or more new Keplerian element files from the internet and update Nova for Windows internal database in one step In order for FTP to operate an internet connection must be available This may be accomplished via a dial up Internet connection or through a hard wired LAN Kep Elements NovaFTP MowvaGPS Help Disk file update FTP Internet update Start download Confiqure FTP download Eep element help Start download begins FTP download immediately The files that will be downloaded are selected in the Configure FTP download screen Set up FTP download of Keplerian elements Last download 11 29 99 6 39 08 Phi FTP settings Remote host fp celestrak com Remote file s pubielementsiamat il EA User name anonymous Password i Remote Port 21 X Cancel Download 2 Remote Host is the FTP site which will supply files co
52. ical miles C radar miles View style C Free floating outside Nova form Contained inside Nova form Optical visibility limit 10 a degrees This choice affects all distances displayed in Nova for Windows 8 bit 256 color maps are quicker to load but their colors are not as diverse as 24 bit maps f g bit 256 color C 24 bit millions Select whether you want separate independent Footprint fill density 12 Views or all Nova s Views contained inside the main Nova form This selects the density of the pattern How far below the horizon must the Sun be for the sky to be considered dark default 10 that fills satellite footprints on maps Use Setup General for items that apply throughout Nova for Windows Update interval controls how often Nova updates its on screen display A small value results in faster updates but may consume more computer CPU time than desired A value of 150 which results in 4 6 updates second on a Pentium 120 MHz is a reasonable compromise between speed and CPU loading Use a larger number if other programs appear to run sluggishly Optical visibility Limit determines how far below the Observer s horizon the sun must be for conditions to be dark This adjustment is necessary because nightfall does not occur exactly at the moment of sunset A larger value for this setting means that the sky will be d
53. is useful for 1090 35 01 31 37 94 0 O 0 predicting daily electrical performance 1 20 44 01 31 35 24 0 DO 0 0 20 39 01 31 33 23 8 o 0 a 16 97 09 31 51 09 52 36 00 20 44 01 31 33 23 8 0 0z 4 Eclipse Utility A E FO 20 Date Duration Fercent Longest Sun Angle Illumination 4715797 J5 0 0 4716797 0449 15 18 7 o 0 4 17 97 18 85 mu 4718797 19 0 Duration of the fj 4 1997 19 1 longest eclipse a 20 9 i i i pe i 7 af Ecltp B Percentage of the eee sg 4331 summarized for the 9 day that the he doy entire day Duration 4 satellite is in the 1 6 O 0 ar24rj Sthesumofall Hal Earth s shadow 11 0 0 0 Aeo5ed eclipses during the a gt 9 4 O 0 4264 24 hours UTC 9 4 00 22 11 e O 0 dr27ra ae 2 5 0 22 18 6 0 o 0 lt 4 78 97 04 50 44 20 2 00 22 26 4 3 O 0 4779 97 04 52 24 0 3 00 22 35 4 0 0 4 30 97 04 54 05 0 4 00 22 43 0 8 o 0 C197 04 46 57 19 04 00 22 50 1 0 0 0 C2697 04 34 37 19 1 00 22 56 Le oa 0 0 C397 04 59 21 0 8 00 23 05 4d 5 o 0 brdr E 05 01 08 0 9 00 23 14 B 37 o 0 o E 05 02 48 1 0 00 23 22 0 1 0 0 Abra 05 04 39 21 2 00 23 31 q 9 o 0 Crd rod Ud Cd ao IA at An Wa ao 11 a nn nt fl Close Every Orbit Daily MEA i facilitating a longer term perspective useful for predicting spacecraft power budgets Eclipse Daily summary combines eclipse data for each 24 hour period 36 Moon Graphs
54. levation attained degrees o Minimum pass duration minutes 0 S 2 Duration days Select passes i Default to current wW OK X Cancel Oy etault that last at least this long Set these rules as A defaults for all Scripts Configure Script Tracking screen sets the rules limits for use in selecting satellites for Script tracking Satellite Script x Satellite Date ADS LOS Duration Interval 405 Max LOS Time Time Between Z El AZ AQ 10 oe at le a0 15 la de A0 0 46 20 271 30 EH A A O o y A ee 0 tee a m RS 15 Sea ae 13 24 a 13 HH ote 63 RS 15 Plea A e 5 08 06 27 i 26 ab oe FO 20 231 97 EME l wee 00 14 13 00 39 38 RS 15 3 31 arol Blue highlighted FoO 70 Eee sy passes have been selected for use in EG 20 cee Kereta Script tracking FO 20 21 MA e IA A AN RS 15 3731 97 22 24 51 22 51 21 16 39 Rs 15 4 1497 00 gL 36 00 52 05 00 10 29 01 50 MEH Initial listing shows all PES 18 23 31 00 17 14 07 14 1 e Passes of all satellites Es 13 ne MIS 1 by mouse clicking on F z0 a rL J them or let NfW select av 1tl 471737 12 11 44 1 automatically RS 15 4 1 97 15 03 37 5 3 FO 20 4 1 97 17 05 23 17 21 19 00 15 55 01 33 4 ESs 15 4 1497 17 21 07 17 47 54 00 267 34 EG 20 4 1 97 18 50 01 la l2 S7 DO Se SS 0I oe 0 A0 10 471 97 19 22 22 23 09 17 03 4 55 00 09 24 A CO pig a oe ta a ES Do F O gt br lt O OO A e a a an ae mm E MA
55. lipse periods Daily Summary combines all eclipses in each 24 hour period and presents a summary Duration is the total number of minutes of eclipse for the day Percent is the portion of the day that the satellite spends in the Earth s shadow Longest is the length of the longest Eclipse of the day Sun angle is the angle between the orbital plane of the satellite and the Sun Illumination is the percent illumination that solar panels receive it is relevant only if ALAT and ALON information are available and have been entered in Setup Satellites 35 Solar panel 1llumination if the satellite s ALAT amp ALON are known Eclipse Utility FO 20 7 Interval sun Date Duration Between Angle Illumination 415 97 11 28 f 25 0 0 a 415 97 20 29 01 81 47 25 3 0 0 415 97 an Y 25 9 o 0 415 97 Time between the _ a 4715797 end of n eclipse Angle between the 4 1597 and beginning of satellite s orbital 41597 the next plane and the Sun 4715797 2 O mr ram ES 4 15 97 14 49 12 15 09 46 00 20 33 01 31 39 4d 7 0 0 4 15 97 16 41 26 17 02 06 00 20 39 01 31 39 24 77 o 0 14 153 3 ga he A Sd 00 20 35 01 31 37 24 6 o 0 e 1 20 37 01 31 40 24 4 0 0 The Every Orbit page of the Eclipse Utility 20 39 01 31 36 34 4 O 0 gt summarizes periods of time when the satellite is PP an 3 a e a z c i i _ l l ue in the Earth s shadow This
56. mple configurations satellites maps etc may be different between Weather satellites and amateur radio communications satellites You may record View configurations by using the Configurations drop down box After establishing an acceptable configuration press the We button You will be queried for a name for the configuration that will later be presented in the drop down box Other buttons permit you to update an existing configuration delete a configuration or rename it All stored configurations are available for use in other Views Views View Style Nova for Windows can operate in one of two modes Free Floating Views all Views are free to be located anywhere on the windows desktop They may overlap other Windows applications and other applications can show through between NfW s Views With free floating Views the NfW Main menu is unobtrusive but it can also be lost under other windows Contained Views All NfW Views are contained inside the main NfW screen If a View is moved beyond the edge of the main Nova screen it is trimmed Space between Views is solid desktop color With contained Views the Main Menu is always at the top and easy to find Furthermore new Views are launched by double clicking on the NfW screen Configuration Normal footprint Map area is centered on the e World C N America E Asia C 5 America Oceania Show paths of the satellite e over the Earth s sur
57. n and 45 on the way back resulting in excellent Calendar setup a Print 7 Help alignment offset as well as the range of possible Faraday rotation angles that would be necessary to produce low loss alignment of EME signals between the two stations The larger the range of good Faraday angles the NfW s graph calculates spatial polarity better the probability of success A small range of good Faraday angles means that Faraday must be just right and it seldom is so that the success potential 1s lower Spatial Polarity This graph displays the geometric spatial polarity offset between two stations for a 24 hour period The offset is converted to dB for ease of comparison Spatial polarity offset results from the fact that two horizontally polarized antennas are not co planar if the stations are located far apart from each other Specifically Northern hemisphere stations JA NA NA EU for example when viewed from the Moon are nearly perpendicular to each other On the other hand stations at the same longitude are always co planar and never suffer much spatial polarity offset The amount of spatial polarity offset changes as the Moon moves so the value of offset can be graphed each day If net Faraday rotation is low as it often 1s during times of low solar activity then spatial polarity offset provides a useful guide to signal strengths Declination This graph shows the cyclic changes of the Moon
58. n the satellite 1s above the horizon at both locations simultaneously To select a format for listing click on the notebook tabs across the bottom of the Listing screen Select a satellite and observer by using the Setup button Remember to click the ReCalc button to recalculate pass information after making changes in the Setup Phase of the satellite its position in its orbit Ranges Mi Time Az im Flew Range Height Mode SSPLat SSPLon Ph Squint Mir E 00 57 19 109 0 2 3 049 392 1 36 02 27 19 212 8 4 8 1813 39 02 32 19 100 5 26 5 Bla a 04 02 19 258 7 1 0 2190 Ey oda pl Squint angle also known 04 07 19 340 4 41 4 559 Iga do i N as offpointing Based 04 12 19 58 7 0 9 2216 391 1 51 6 H 48 on ALAT amp ALON set in 05 42 19 318 1 4 16 3 1131 aoe l F1 0 H 4 05 47 19 60 3 6 4 1702 341 1 Ela a 07 17 19 306 3 8 6 1541 391 1 51 5 H 91 4 149 1 0 07 22 19 73 5 419 9 491 390 1 d6 3 N 63 9 162 9 O 08 52 19 295 4 3 3 1964 391 1 49 S5 H 98 7 156 7 0 08 57 19 1581 9 40 0 594 389 1 40 7 H 75 1 170 5 O 10 32 19 229 1 5 5 1749 387 1 33 9 88 5 178 1 O Mir Wednesday April Uf 1997 01 32 19 152 6 4 16 1 1127 392 1 36 2 H SEE WN 115 4 0 01 37 19 73 6 1 87 Y 3 0 03 07 19 253 77 4278 6 Click here to highlight all portions of g Os L2s La 57 37
59. ntaining new Keplerian elements We recommend ftp celestrak com because the files are up to date accurate and reasonably sized Other sites are also available Nova for Windows can download multiple files from an FTP site and build a single local file from the separate FTP files Remote files contains a list of the files that will be downloaded These are the files whose names are checked in the Select remote files window below File names must contain the full directory path and complete file name for each file Case is important for FTP Clicking on the Select files button window where files may be selected for download Items that are checked will be downloaded You can add delete and edit file names in this list opens another To edit an entry click on it and make changes in the Remote file name box After making changes click the Replace button User name Password and Remote port are usually not needed and can safely be ignored A few sites may require you to enter your e mail address and a password but this is almost never required 12 Drag and Drop is an easy method of updating Keplerian elements if you have already acquired an ASCII text file containing new elements With Nova for Windows running simply drag the file from the Windows desktop or Windows Explorer onto the Nova screen Nova will automatically recognize the file and attempt to update its internal database Select remote files pub eleme
60. ntennas during AutoTracking Drag a satellite name from the list to the rectangular box labeled AutoTracking Satellite Satellites may be drawn from groups in the same manner as in the Individual View Configuration screen Configure Rotator accesses a screen for setting up and calibrating the antenna rotator and its interface This screen 1s also available through the Setup entry on the Main Menu please see its discussion for selecting the antenna control interface calibration etc 39 Autol racking Observer E Observers list nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnannnninnannnnunnannnnnnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Alcoa TH London England AutoTracking obs Albuquerque Mh Anderson ot Canton PY Calgary Alberta Bufalo Wy Drag an Observer to the onolulu HI AutoTracking Obs box dependence MO hiladelphia PA oulouse France Urbana IL Nhule Greenland Click Setup to change the locations that are listed Wf OK X Cancel Setup 7 Help AutoTracking Satellite xx Satellites AQ 10 STS 83 Wir AQ A AQ 16 FO 20 FO 23 LO 14 K 24 koO 25 0 2 Di Li 14 10 11 AJO 8 z Groups i Click on a Group name Complete ieee ene O view its contents Maturals Setup AutoTracking satellite tir A Drag a satellite to the AutoTracking satellite box Ham Sats GPS Meteor wi Russian El gt Help hli i Lins AutoTracking Status Box The AutoTracking Status Box is a compact display
61. nts iridium txt pub elements orbcom txt pub elements science txt pub elements qgecdetic txt pubelementsencineerina t gt pub elements other txt pub elements intelsat txt pub elements molinya txt pub elements globalstar txt pub selements military txt pub elements dmsp txt pub elements gqoes txt Remote file name pub elements amateur txt AD Replace Delete x conca 7 er Setup Satellites method This screen is presented when you press the Update wa Update If the Update Keplerian elements new database contains data for satellites that are not already in your NfW database the new satellites are added automatically A pop up dialog box will prompt you for the name of the computer file containing new elements This file may be in either the NASA 2 line or AMSAT format Nova will read the file and Update Keplerian elements adding new satellites to Mis database Update Keplerian elements but do not add new satellites to E Dont Add Ignore checksums Nhs data W Preserve satellite names ff Close FP Help automatically determine its format Header text which often accompanies files downloaded from the Internet is ignored Nova reads the new file and updates the Keplerian elements for all satellites in its database that match entries in the new file For example if Nova contains entries for fictitious satellite A B and C but the
62. of the AutoTracking satellite s current position as well as the orientation of the antennas It also provides the capability to turn AutoTracking on off by mouse clicking the upper left corner cell Right click the mouse on the AutoTracking Status Box to view a summary of the AutoTracking Satellite s current conditions Click here to turn AutoTracking on off Current position of the AutoTracking satellite 40 PME E Current antenna position Time slider for small adjustments of AutoTracking time C AutoT racking 03 09 20 The Status Bar is visible on screen if an antenna control interface has been selected in Setup Antenna Rotator Additional AutoTracking Information Nova for Windows is different from other satellite tracking programs It does not require memory resident DOS drivers TSRs in order to control antennas through hardware interfaces such as the SASI Sat Tracker Most antenna control interfaces are supplied with a diskette containing programs for calibrating and driving the interface under DOS These programs are not needed for Nova for Windows You do not need to install or run any of these programs Installing AutoTracking Interfaces SASI Sat Tracker and AEA ST 1 Plug the interface into an available parallel printer LPT port and connect the cable to the G 5400 rotator control box Kansas City Tracker and RIF PC Plug the interface card into an available 8
63. ome reason General Page Antenna azimuth amp elevation offset these values compensate for mis aligned antennas The values are added to the reported azimuth or elevation in order to correct them for the antenna s true position for example if the antenna controller reports that the azimuth antenna is pointed at 90 but the antennas is actually pointed at 93 then an offset of 3 should be entered as the azimuth offset Note that the offset values will not compensate for non linear potentiometers or inadequately calibrated antenna rotators Setup Antenna Rotator Antenna Azimuth offset Preset move antennas to the satellite s next AOS azimuth Preset time Preset elevation Park azimuth Move antennas to the Park elevation Park Azimuth amp Elevation when exiting Nova for Windows E degrees Antenna Elevation offset jo degrees Preset Antenna before AQS Park antenna when exiting Show Status Bar keypad 18 Checking the Preset Antennas before AOS box will cause the antennas to move to the satellite s expected AOS azimuth at the specified time before the pass begins If antennas are preset then they are ready for tracking just as the satellite rises above the horizon and there is no delay in beginning AutoTracking The time is selected in the spin box and the elevation may also be set Most situations use 2 minutes and 0 elevation Park Antenna when exiting Checking this bo
64. omputer file of new Keplerian elements There are many sources of these files We prefer the internet site maintained by Col T S Kelso Ph D of the U S Air Force http www celestrak com Other sites are maintained by AMSAT and other organizations Step 2 In Nova s Main Menu go to Setup then Satellites Step 3 In the Setup Satellites screen click on the 25 Update Update button Step 4 In the pop up box that appears select Update again Step 5 At the next prompt tell NfW the name of the file that you downloaded in step 1 Step 6 Click OK and NfW reads the file and updates all Keplerian elements in a few seconds O How do I hook up my antenna interface See page 15 Setup Antenna rotator O How do I tell the program about my location Step 1 Go to the Main Menu Setup then Observers Step 2 In Setup Observers see if your town is listed in the Main Database the one on the right side of the page If it is there then drag it to the short list on the left If it is not in the Main Database do the following e Fill in the blanks in the Edit Location in the lower left corner of Setup Observers Enter your town s name its latitude and its longitude e When all Add to Observers List entries are completed press the button to add this new location to the short list You may also want to 44 press the Make AutoTracking obs button if you wish to AutoTrack from this location Step 3 Exit t
65. ose with regard to the SOFTWARE U S Government Restricted Rights The SOFTWARE and documentation are provided with RESTRICTED RIGHTS Use duplication or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph c 11 of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252 227 7013 or subparagraphs c 1 and 2 of the Commercial Computer Software Restricted Rights at 48 CFR 52 227 19 as applicable Manufacturer is Northern Lights Software Associates P O Box 321 Canton NY 13617 If you acquired this product in the United States this Agreement is governed by the State of New York 1997 1998 1999 2000 Northern Lights Software Associates Introduction Nova for Windows is an innovative map based satellite tracking system It features over 150 realistic 256 color and 16 bit color maps unlimited numbers of satellites observers and views as well as real time control of antennas through several popular hardware interfaces Features e Visually stunning maps multiple sizes e Unlimited numbers of satellites observers and views simultaneously e Tracks all artificial satellites Moon Sun planets and celestial noise sources e Fast accurate clear satellite positions e Built in AutoTracking support for all popular antenna control interfaces including Kansas City Tracker SASI Sat Tracker AEA ST 1 Orbit Electronic RIF PC Uni Trac and the M RC 2800P e Floa
66. pside down then turn them to that orientation otherwise elevate them to vertical e Enter the raw A D readings in the appropriate boxes e Enter the actual azimuth 180 and elevation 90 or 180 in the boxes convert the analog voltage to a digital signals hence they are called A D converters Most commonly available interfaces are 8 bit devices meaning that the voltage representing position 1s converted into numbers ranging between 0 255 Note the smallest detectable change in position is 360 255 1 4 In order for Nova for Windows to determine the antenna s true position it must know how to convert between the 0 255 numbers and degrees this is the purpose of calibration You must tell NfW the relationship between the Raw A D readings reported from the interface to actual antenna headings This is done by using the antenna rotator s control box to move the antenna to various positions and entering the raw A D readings in appropriate boxes on the Calibration page The RIF PC is a 10 bit device 20 Advanced page Azimuth dead band and elevation dead band these values represent the number of degrees away from the desired target position that the antenna 1s permitted to Setup Antenna Rotator Set dead bands to the largest values that give satisfactory AutoTracking Azimuth E Elevation E al Dead band Tracking thread priority point before the rotators C lowest
67. rall Nova for Windows program or it can be entirely different By default View time is the same as Nova s time To set the View s time to a different value click the Stop button and enter the desired values in the spin boxes To set the View s time to Nova s time click Reset Small steps and Large Steps indicate the time jumps when the time stepping arrows on the View s toolbar are pushed Open the pop up by right clicking anywhere on a 640 480 pixel screens medium for 800 600 and large for 1024 768 7 Sound alarms for View are explained on page 40 iew Experimental is explained on the following page Set up script tracking is described on page 27 Nova for Windows quick time step buttons appear on each View Their step size is set in the View s Clock screen Set Date and Time for View Current settings a Stop 5 Reset step Time ra seconds Year Month Day 1998 g 3 E Large steps Hour Minute Second minutes y TE T 1 minutes 2 Set computer clock X Cancel Help Each View s internal time can be set independently from that of other Views Note The Set Date and Time for View screen shown here is not the place to set Nova s time or typically the computer clock To set Nova s overall time use Setup Time from the Main Menu Experimental mode is a tool for examining the effects of changes in Keplerian elements on satellite orbits U
68. rom updating its Keplerian elements from an external file Entries in the Element set and epoch orbit fields have no effect on a satellite s orbit calculations 7 Help S etup General picture on following page The General setup screen provides access to settings that concern all of the Nova program These settings will affect the overall Nova screen display as well as performance Settings are retained between sessions Tracking Algorithm The Plan 13 algorithm by James Miller is a simplified version of SGP4 which is very fast and sufficiently accurate for most applications SGP4 SDP4 uses the two part near Earth and deep space model presented in SpaceTrack Report 3 and re coded from the original FORTRAN by Lt Col T S Kelso Ph D of the U S Air Force SGP4 SDP4 employs general perturbation theory to provide highly accurate prediction of orbital positions SGP4 SDP4 is more time consuming and should be used only if high accuracy is needed SGP4 SDP4 is also useful if Keplerian elements are old because it more accurately accounts for long term effects of gravitational and drag forces Distance units select between English metric or Nautical units These units will be used throughout Nova for Windows View style Free floating views may be placed anywhere on the Windows desktop A thin Main Menu bar for NfW will remain providing access to control functions This option permits fast switching of focus between Nf
69. s First select a pass by clicking on it Then press the Graphics button Three horizontal lines are presented representing times of visibility of the two satellites The lower two lines show when the satellites are visible to the observer the top line shows when the satellites are mutually visible i e visible to each other The vertical dotted line shows the time period of overlap when the satellites re visible to each other and one of them is visible to the observer Utilities Eclipses Nova for Windows Eclipse Utility permits prediction of time periods during which a satellite will pass into the Earth s shadow Almost all Earth orbiting satellites are solar powered eclipse periods drain their batteries If a satellite remains in eclipse for too long its ability to function may be seriously impaired In some cases such as OSCAR 10 onboard battery failure has left the satellite totally dependent on exposure to direct sunlight The satellite cannot function while it is in eclipse The Eclipse utility contains two pages one that displays Eclipse periods on an orbit by orbit basis and another that summarizes entire days at a time The Every Orbit page shows the starting and ending times of each period of eclipse for the selected satellite As with the other utilities you may select the satellite by using the Setup button Start End and Duration are self explanatory Interval between represents the time between successive ec
70. s have large footprints whereas low altitude satellites have small ones NASA footprint is centered on the first observer and represents the horizon for the first satellite on the list In other words when the sub satellite point the spot on the Earth immediately underneath the satellite in space of first satellite on the list crosses the NASA footprint perimeter the satellite has just risen above the observer s horizon This is the display used by NASA for each of its tracking stations If the observer s horizon is obstructed in some directions and the Horizon table see below has been filled out it will be useful to check the Use horizon table box so that the NASA footprint portrays the actual horizon of the observer Fill first sat s footprint and Fill additional footprints control whether the footprints are lightly colored to make them more easily visible Number of ground tracks tells NfW how many orbits to plot as lines on the Earth s surface The lines represent the paths of the sub satellite point a ground track helps to show where a satellite will be traveling in the future Set this value to 0 zero to turn ground tracks off Tip You can also change the View from Space s center continent by left clicking on the map itself on the desired continent Configure the View from Space map by clicking on the Map Configuration toolbar button 26 Configuration for View from Space map Wap are
71. s of several satellites Lines represent passes arcs over lines show selected passes AutoSelect evaluates all the passes in the list according to the rules set forth in the Configure Script Tracking screen In the Configure Script Tracking screen you can set the beginning and ending times for Script calculations as well as set Script Rules These rules govern how NfW evaluates passes to see whether they are selected in the Satellite Script Each pass must meet the criteria set in the Script Rules for it to be AutoSelected Default to Current tells NfW to always use the current date time as the starting point for Script calculations If this box is unchecked then Script calculations will begin at the time date specified in the spin boxes Favor Higher Priority Satellites means that if two satellites are above the horizon at the same time and otherwise meet selection criteria that the satellite whose name is higher on the View s satellite list will take precedence If this box is unchecked then the satellite with the longer remaining pass duration will be selected without consideration of its priority Only Ascending Passes means that only satellites that appear above the horizon rise in the south and set in the north will be selected Only Descending Passes means that passes must rise in the north and set in the south to be selected This option is useful for polar orbiting weather satellites Minimum elevation attained ref
72. sats C Small C tWedum Number of columns of WeatherSats text data to display Configurations DEFAULT a Jletault Help Xx AN Biew Delete TO ALE T Save different configurations and recall them for quick access Groups are customized in Setup Groups or by right clicking here The Individual View Configuration screen is the main focus for making each View appear the way you want it to This screen is the place to select the satellites and observers that the View will track as well as the basic maps and text that will be displayed observers is provided for quick access Ls You may select observers from this list and drag them to the Current Configuration region What controls which satellites appear in the Satellite List The satellites included in the selected Group are displayed in the Satellites list Clicking on different groups changes the list of satellites displayed Two groups have special status the Complete group includes every satellite in Nova s database and the Naturals group includes the Sun Moon planets celestial noise sources and cold sky regions The remaining groups may be modified by the user in the Setup Groups selection from the Main Menu or by right clicking here on the Groups Box What controls which observers appear in the Observers list Nova for Windows includes several large databases of locations including a list of 2 000 cities These li
73. sing the Experimental Mode orbits can be adjusted in real time and the effect on an orbit can be seen immediately For example what would the orbit of the Russian Mir space station look like if its inclination was 10 higher and its eccentricity was Experimental Mode is entered via the View pop up menu described on the previous page The satellite used in this mode is the first satellite on the View s satellite list Buttons at the bottom of the Experimental Mode screen allow you to retrieve different satellites or to save the results of changes made in this screen ff Close Expermental elements satellite name Feng Yunt 2 Catalog number 20788 Epoch time 97079 1886816C B Element set 284 Inclination 98 8200 B Rasse Node 812144 A on Eccentricity 0 0015085 Arg of perigee 85 3638 B bean anomaly 274 9477 E Mean motion 1401410822 E Decay rate 0 000001 04 Epoch orbit 33475 El El A Save J Derived Lis Restore 6 The Derived button enables examination of several values such as apogee and perigee altitude period etc A more visual approach is to configure the parent View to display the View from Space with an orbit displayed Then as changes are made in Keplerian elements the orbit s shape changes immedi ately The key to a satellite s identity is its catalog number Changes made to the satellite s catalog will permanently change its identity and prevent Nova f
74. sly The figure to the right shows a real time display of 4 700 satellites Such a display is not especially useful for tracking but it does provide an intriguing perspective on the distribution of satellites in the near Earth environment The map was created by acquiring a large Keplerian data set and using the Complete group minus natural satellites setting the View from Space map to Orbit Display number of orbits 0 show satellites With this large number of satellites one must be somewhat patient Low Earth Orbiting LEO satellites are abundant The Earth is hidden under this cloud Belt of geosynchronous satellites above View from Space map with 4 700 satellites displayed Somewhere under the central cloud of L E O satellites is the Earth left 100 orbits of the Russian Mir space station This display shows the web like pattern of repeated space tracks and the hole above about 57 latitude where the satellite never passes Frequently Asked Questions Q I just installed my registered copy of Nova for Windows but it says that it is a demo What should I do You have apparently made a mistake in entering your serial number during installation You must re install NfW from the original disks making sure to enter the full serial number including the NLD prefix Q How do I update Keplerian Elements See page 11 Step l Acquire a c
75. sts are too large for easy access so you create a short list for use in day to day Observer selection This short list is displayed in the Observers list box It may be as long as you wish You may modify the Observers list by using the Setup Observers selection from the Main Menu or by right clicking on the Observers box here in the Individual View Configuration screen The general appearance of the View is controlled by the Map Display and Text Display boxes Select what type of map you wish or no map for an all text display on the left and what sort of text display on the night Each View must contain a map or text or both 22 How does one configure maps Maps may be Co by right clicking within the Maps box or by pressing the Maps Configuration button on the ToolBar This will display a multi page screen that permits control of many aspects of appearance for all of Nova s maps This screen is described in detail below p 38 The number of columns of text 1 12 columns is controlled by the Columns Visible entry large maps may not fit on the screen with several columns of text If more satellites are being tracked than can fit in the number of columns that have been entered a scroll bar is presented in the view to slide the display horizontally The Script Tracking selection is discussed in detail below page 27 Advanced users may find that they wish to store and recall certain configurations For exa
76. the next pass The layout of the text display 1s dependent on the number of observers currently active in the View The text displays the greatest amount of information if one observer is specified Two observers data are summarized in a format similar to that of one observer but with fewer lines of data for each observer If more than two observers are included in the View s list then each satellite s current position is listed for each observer Maps Nova for Windows contains four major map types with many user modifiable attributes in each map e Rectangular modified Miller projection e View from Space Orthographic projection e Radar upper hemisphere stereographic projection e Sky Noise rectilinear RA Dec projection The Rectangular map covers most of the Earth only the poles are omitted It is convenient for showing the positions of several satellites at once and for displaying satellite footprints for intercontinental communication The rectangular map can be set to display any longitude at the center Individual continents can be zoomed in for greater detail On a 1024 768 pixel display the 3 03 08 98 12 20 46 UTC Change the continent at the center of the map by mouse clicking on a new continent Aa ES Satellite s footprint the 4 Sats Mir area of the Earth visible to Azimuth 39 40 the satellite at this moment Elevation 47 80 Range 1 036 9 km Height 36 9
77. the path of the satellite against the sky Show Sun plots the sun s position on the map and Show temperature labels displays numbers representing equivalent noise temperature of the map s contours Configuration for Sky noise map Select frequency for Sky Noise map Map frequency C SO MHz Bm C 400 MHz 70 crn a Select additional options show horizon show satellite path show Sun show temperature labels show antenna position na degrees e on x Cancel 7 Help Radar Horizon table 29 Horizon Table Horizon Table is a means of Horizon o 20 5 modeling the observer s horizon to Horizon 20 40 0 7 account for obstructions such as Horizon 40 60 z orzon table for mountains buildings or trees Jorizon BORO A AutoTracking location The full circle horizon is divided Canton NY into 20 slices in the Horizon table aeie Dou configuration page For each ales 9100120 o Slice enter the actual horizon Horizon 9 120 140 13 If the AutoTracking Observer s horizon elevation as seen from the Horizon g 140 160 a is blocked in some directions edit these values to show the horizon at the antenna s point of view For Horizon 160 180 4 aes l specified azimuth For example this example if mountains obstruct the Horizon 130 200 0 entry shows that the horizon from 120 horizon from 80 180 then their Horizon 200 220 T 140 azimuth is 13
78. ting docking toolbar for easy access to common functions e Context sensitive online help e Multi level configuration setup screens e Text listings to screen printer or disk file e Configurable Satellite Script for priority tracking e Two satellite mutual visibility including 1 and 2 observer 2 satellite mutual windows e Satellite eclipse predictions e Full Moon data for EME e 2 000 city DXCC and EME databases included e Fully Year 2000 Y2K compliant Y Ma AAA a a Northern Lights Software Associates e Sound alarms for AOS amp LOS e Built in FTP for download of Keplerian elements e 1 600 stars and constellations included In this manual Nova and NfW refer to Nova for Windows System requirements e Pentium or similar fast processor a 386 or 486 will work but slowly e Microsoft Windows 95 98 or Windows NT e Video 640x480 256 colors required 1024x768 16 bit color preferred e At least 12 MB hard disk drive storage for full installation Installing Nova for Windows Insert the Nova for Windows CD into the CD ROM drive of your computer If the setup program doesn t start automatically click on the Start button lower left corner of the desktop Click on Run In the file name box type Setup EXE Follow the directions in the Nova for Windows Setup Important Be sure to enter the serial number carefully Serial number must include the NLD
79. tion label Approximate of horizon antenna 3 dB obstruction Enable sat ID beamwidth for from antenna position Observers We Show cursor azel display location Horizon table The Radar map page of the map configuration screen is shown on the previous page The number of passes to plot affects how many paths to display across the Radar map It is often useful to plot the next pass or two to visualize where in your sky the satellite will be how high it will ultimately rise etc Set this spin box to 0 zero to turn off pass plotting By selecting Show passes of all satellites you can control whether NfW plots passes of only the first satellite on the View s satellite list or all satellites in the list If the observer s horizon is obstructed in some directions and the Horizon table see below has been filled out you may check the Use horizon table box so that the radar map perimeter portrays the actual horizon of the observer 28 The Radar map can plot the direction in which your antennas are pointed if an antenna interface is installed By selecting Show antenna position a circle is displayed on the radar screen corresponding to the direction of the antenna The diameter of the circle is set by the Approx antenna beamwidth spin box If Enable Sat ID is checked mouse clicking on the Radar map will show a pop up status box of the nearest satellite If Sat ID is not enabled then clicking on the Radar
80. used to build groups based on their orbital characteristics 16 Observers list cc Albany GA Amarillo TA Birmingham England Canton MY Cincinnati QH Dayton OH Lima GH London England Montreal Pa Rochester MY Salt Lake City UT san Francisco CA Syracuse My Toronto OM A Ti Delete Sort Edit Location Location Temporary Latitude deg 45 Latitude min Latitude sec 0 00 Morth or South Morth Add to Observers List Main Database Aberdeen ID Alert MT e Alexander City AL Alexandria LA Alexandria YA Algiers Algeria haa Alhambra CA Allen AAP AK Ahwahnee GA Build your personalized short list of Observers by dragging locations from the Main Database of 2 000 cities to the Observers List p Acapulco Mexico Accra Ghana Ada hit Adak AK Alamogordo Mh Albany GA Allentown PA Albany M Y Alliance ME Albany OR Alpharetta GA Adams MA Albion 10 Altoona FA Adelaide Australia Albuqwerque Ah Amarilla Ts Aton OK Alca TH Ambler AE ATto pas BPorsaston England Amchitka AK rm Edit the latitude amp longitude of locations by dragging them to a UE EME the Edit Location box After es ee ee making changes click on Add to ii Observers List to save pal Elevaf n a v an OK l Location Albany GA Longitude deg 5 t Longitude min Latitude 31 58 North X Cancel Longitude sec 0 00 mai were nan ongitude BS East or West West j
81. vement without cluttering up the entire map Set the number of minutes of satellite movement to be displayed in the spin box NfW permits setting the central longitude of the Rectangular world map You can center the map at any longitude by entering the value in the spin box Alternatively you can let NfW automatically center the map over the first observer in the View s Observers list by checking the Auto Center map box Example of a footprint drawn with elevation contours The outer ring is 0 contours are every 10 from 0 to 30 View From Space Map The View from Space map presents the Earth as seen from outer space in a three dimensional perspective It is based on the Orthographic map projection Options for the View from Space are displayed in the Map Configuration screen next page The map may be centered over any of the major continents by selecting them in the Map Area box The Dynamic selection causes NfW to change the center of the map automatically in accordance with the movement of the first satellite in the View s satellite list As the satellite moves around the Earth the viewer s perspective changes automatically 0303 11 98 11 13 09 UTC A E Jo 25 Normal footprint is a circular area drawn on the map and centered on the satellite s sub satellite point This footprint moves with the satellite and represents the area of the Earth that the satellite can see High altitude satellite
82. with Nova for Windows Windows 95 and 98 include a simple sound recording utility in the Accessories Entertainment folder Sound alarms are set for each View individually You can choose to enable notification of AOS and or LOS Star Display Nova for Windows can display the brightest 1 600 stars against the Radar Map shown and the Sky Temperature map Enable this feature in the appropriate map configuration screen accessed by pressing the E Configure maps button on the Toolbar of each View Moving the cursor over a star will display its RA Dec name and visual brightness f All satellites in this View BEEP wA W Satellite name f seconds 5 C minutes c Test e is approaching TOA Applies to C Only 1st satellite wf OK M Cancel Help lo Record statement of the satellite s name and the words is rising or is setting Click on the Test button to hear what the announcement will sound like The time before the AOS or LOS event when the sound alarm will be played is specified in the spin box In the example sounds will play 10 seconds before AOS and before LOS of all satellites in the View ES EN _t j gt 1 i E 3 ee K 1 ar i saat a aiia Interesting Activities Nova for Windows flexibility enables several interesting possibilities For example you can display positions of an unlimited number of satellites simultaneou
83. with the Observer case 1s line of sight with the Observer ODE 00 ds 02 __ I I I I I I I I I 10 53 26 l I I I I I I 00 55 30 In addition to simple satellite to satellite visibility NfW also calculates the times when one of the satellites will also be visible to a ground station The satellite that is within line of sight to the observer is called the access satellite because this is the one which could be accessed from the observer s location while simultaneously being line of sight with the other satellite This situation is necessary if the ground station is going to access one satellite and then relay through the second satellite The 1 Observer page of the Mutual Visibility utility notebook displays data for two satellites and one observer whereas the 2 Observers page includes a second ground station The first step in generating an ephemeris of 2 satellite mutual visibility is to enter the Setup screen and select the satellites and observer s of interest When this is finished click on the ReCalc button to perform the calculations 34 The first column of the display shows the date followed by three columns that show when the two satellites can see each other The following three columns show the times when the satellites can see each other and at least one of them is visible from the observer s location The Graphics display shows a diagram of the situation for any pas
84. x will cause the antennas to be moved to the Park position selected in the accompanying spin boxes when Nova for Windows is closed Show StatusBar Keypad included buttons on the AutoTracking StatusBar for mouse control of antenna movements Show Time Slider reveals a slider on the Status Bar so that you can tweak the AutoTracking time by up to 30 seconds This is useful for bringing the antennas into better alignment with satellites by permitting the antenna to lead them by a small amount Correction values to be added to the reported antenna Azimuth amp Elevation Time before AOS to preset the antennas 0 degrees Elevation to use when presetting antennas Default is 0 o Sy degrees 0 degrees Show Time Slider Move AutoTracking Satto first in View list Interface General Calibration Advanced o A Cancel Reset Help General page of Setup Antenna rotator notebook Actual readings from the interface Antenna Rotator Setup ARA Elevation Faw AD de t 0 255 Reading 0 ium Elevation AID Reading jo Elevation o Step 1 Enter the raw A D reading at minimum elevation Step 2 Enter the actual minimum antenna elevation Step 3 Enter the raw A D reading at maximum elevation Maximum Elevation AID Reading 255 g Elevator 180 Step 4 Enter the actual maximum antenna elevation Interface 4 General Calibration 19
85. y be displayed by clicking the left mouse button on the satellite s image 105 91 5 260 4 Em 302 4 En 15 56 35 Loc 13 40 11 Loc 03 19 19 OO 03 37 Make AutoTracking Sat Pop up information about a satellite is available simply by clicking on its name 12 26 96 3 44 32 AM UTC Nova s Radar map shows a full view of the Observer s sky Overhead is in the center of the Radar map 12 26 96 4 07 18 AM UTC The Sky Temperature map shows noise sources across the sky It is especially useful for E M E moonbounce because sky noise can obscure weak signals The Sky Temperature Map portrays the sky s equivalent noise temperature Random noise generated by the billions of stars in the universe 1s more concentrated in some parts of the sky than others The lines on the Sky Temperature map are contours similar to contour lines on a topographic map that show areas of higher and lower amounts of sky noise 4 The Radar Map is a Northern Lights Software innovation It displays a view of the sky with the observer at the center similar to a radar station North 1s at the top of the map east to the right etc just like a compass The outer perimeter of the Radar Map represents the observer s horizon and the center of the Radar Map is directly overhead As a satellite becomes visible it appears on the map s perimeter and passes inside the circle The higher the satellite gets in the sky the closer to the center o

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