Contents
- Index
- Previous
- Next
Ground Path Tab
The main feature of WXtrack is the prediction of the image that a pass should produce. The program allows you to put side-by-side the predicted image with an actual satellite pass picture so that areas that are unclear or cloud covered may be determined. Coming from the Make picture button on the WorldMap tab, the details for the pass will be filled in, but you can choose a different set of parameters should you wish. Since producing the image is a computationally expensive process, you must press the Make picture button to start the process, and you can interrupt with the escape key. The direction you last used on either the Ground Path tab or the Flight Path tab will be remembered for the next run.
Saving the results
The program will automatically save the predicted picture as a file Result.jpg in the program folder. It will optionally save a text file containing the satellite position for each line of the pass. This file contains the UTC in text, and the azimuth and elevation in degrees (more details). The filename follows the standard naming convention, with the suffix pass.dat.
No satellite picture?
If you don't get a satellite picture, most likely your picture files do not conform with the naming convention described in the documentation, or you haven't set up the paths for satellite pictures correctly. You can choose the visible or the infra-red channel, and you can zoom both images. The predicted and actual images may not coincide exactly - not because of any program error, but because you did not acquire the signal at the start of the pass, had interference or whatever. To allow for this, when zoom is selected you can scroll both images together by scrolling the predicted image, or you can scroll the actual image on its own using its own scroll bars.
Hint
You can load an arbitrary image, and print the results, by using the File menu. The Load Picture button only loads pictures with the fixed format file name.