RE: [amsat-bb] tracking through APRS

[Tony Langdon <tlangdon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Now to my question. If I would broadcast the elevation and 
> azimuth data
> for the position of the transmitting station, would this still be
> accurate enough for say a 30 miles radius? I realize it will not be
> exact, but will it still be useful?

Yes, it will.  I routinely issue azimuth and elevation predictions for the
major cities of VK, ZL and several smaller countries in the region.  I don't
worry about any adjustments necessary in areas of similar size to what
you're describing.  The errors are only a few degrees and seconds (of time)
at most, at the extreme edges of the coverage area.

Give it a go, and see what happens!

> location:   El:   Az:  time:
> 
> @tx loc.    77    55   10:13:53z
> 30mi NW     76    54   10:13:48z
> 30mi SW     72    50   10:13:56z
> 30mi SE     78    56   10:13:44z
> 30mi NE     80    59   10:13:57z
> 
> To me this seems close enough to be useful, but I wonder if that
> assessment is correct.

This sounds 100% correct.  I think your idea is something potentially
useful, rather similar in concept to what I do on the web for casual
satellite operators.

Now, if only I could automate my report generation, I'd be very happy (it's
currently a rather labour intensive process)! :-)
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