Another question from a satellite newbie.
I'm working on a satellite pass information query system via APRS
messaging and am currently providing future pass duration as a layman's
indicator of the "quality" of an upcoming pass. I've been told that
duration is "of little value" (see below for the full quote) and a max
elevation is all that matters.
In my (relatively short) time of watching various pass predictions, I've
found a nearly direct correlation between the duration of a pass and the
max elevation achieved. I've not noticed a "longer low pass" nor a
short high pass for that matter. Low elevation passes are short, and
high elevation passes are long.
So, my question, to be answered from the perspective of hoping to get
more people aware of satellite passes by making it easy to casually
query their availability while at the same time providing useful
information to people that frequently "work the birds" (if I've got that
expression correct) while they're away from their normal prediction
tools is:
Would a forecast pass duration (expressed as a delta time) be useful in
this context, or is that truly "of little value" and the Max Elevation
of a pass should be provided necessitating a potentially greater
education of the general populace?
Lynn (D) - KJ4ERJ - Author of APRSISCE for Windows Mobile and Win32
PS. Here's my original reasoning for pass duration rather than max
elevation and the comments I received in reply. The sender of the
response is purposely kept anonymous so that I can get independently
reasoned responses and not just agreements with the quoted source.
I went with a pass duration rather than max
elevation so novices can better plan their
time investment. They both basically
communicate pass "quality" and "ease of
working", but everyone understands time, while
the experts have a handle on elevation.
Sorry, but time is of little value since it can be a longer low pass that one
has no prayer of working from a mobile because it is so low. So elevation
tells it all. A low max elevation is not worth bothering with no matter how
long it is. A high elevation pass will have a nearly 10 dB advantage to the
mobile operator and is very important information. And also, by definition it
is longer.
And satellite operators know the approximate length of a pass. For a mobile,
the shortest is the ISS with about 5 minutes useable. For PCSAT1, about 10
minutes max. All other satellites are somewhere in between or are not usually
workable from an FM mobile rig with omni antenna. So the few minutes
difference is of little value.
I dont think people are going to arrange their daily schedules around whether a
satellite is going to be useable fo 5 minutes or 8 minutes. But they certainly
will change plans for a 60 degree pass compared to a 10 degree pass.
_______________________________________________
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
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