This started out as a PM to a friend, to discuss his recommendation for a satellite aiming calculator.
One he'd suggested to a newbie.
I didn't want to have a discussion in that thread, so I was going to make it a short PM and get him to try these two programs.
This just got way too long, so I decided to make it a topic for public discussion.
Over the years, I've tried a lot of the calculator web sites, and a few stand-alone programs.
I used to stick with one site, because even though you had to enter the longitude (?) with a negative sign in front of it, the rest of the input was easy and clear, and it gave you azimuth corrected for your local magnetic variation!
At the time, I couldn't believe any decent program skipped that feature.
Obviously, ZlP code input is the better way to go, and modern programs all allow that.
City and state is fine. Canadian and Mexican cities would be a real plus!
For the few who live out away from everything, coordinate input is okay, too.
* see below for a discussion of using a nearby city.
Selection of satellites is always a pain for a newbie.
As one, all I knew was the orbital location.
A list of names was the last thing I could easily use, not knowing one name from another.
And, let's not even bring up the fact that many birds have gone by three names in the memory of many old timers!
(I stick with orbital location - that's a constant!)
In the beginning, I was only aiming at one satellite, so one answer was fine.
As I advanced, being able to see a table for all satellites was a real plus.
The following two programs meet all of my preferences listed above, and many others fall short:
SatFinder by Lutis
The one strong negative for running this wonderful program, is that it requires a current version of JAVA (it's free, too)
Installing Java and then Satfinder might tax some users.
For those of you up to it, you'll be rewarded with a fine program, which runs stand-alone, should you need to use your laptop in the field, with no internet access.
GeoSatFinder by SatelliteAV
The only negative to this program, is finding your way to the last output screen.
It's a little daunting for a first-time user.
Once you get your location put in, and click on All Common Satellites, you will be given a nice PDF file with everything you wanted to know about the sky from your location.
Info lookup for single satellites is supported, too, as are other features.
* selection of a nearby city:
I just used one program, and input Los Angeles and San Diego, California, and wrote down the aiming info.
Ask.Com says the two cities are 112 miles (180km) distance from each other, pretty much north/south.
When looking for Galaxy 11 at 91º, here are the aiming differences shown:
azimuth - 1 º
elevation - 1.6 º
skew - 0.2 º
Maybe that wasn't fair, so let's get two cities 100 miles apart east to west.
Los Angeles and Palm Springs:
azimuth - 2.6º
elevation - 1º
skew - 1.5º
Moral of the story?
Use a city that's 100 miles away, and you really shouldn't have much trouble.
After all, what's a couple of degrees between friends.?
I'm not usuallly accurate enough with my tools to come within two degrees, anyway!
One he'd suggested to a newbie.
I didn't want to have a discussion in that thread, so I was going to make it a short PM and get him to try these two programs.
This just got way too long, so I decided to make it a topic for public discussion.
Over the years, I've tried a lot of the calculator web sites, and a few stand-alone programs.
I used to stick with one site, because even though you had to enter the longitude (?) with a negative sign in front of it, the rest of the input was easy and clear, and it gave you azimuth corrected for your local magnetic variation!
At the time, I couldn't believe any decent program skipped that feature.
Obviously, ZlP code input is the better way to go, and modern programs all allow that.
City and state is fine. Canadian and Mexican cities would be a real plus!
For the few who live out away from everything, coordinate input is okay, too.
* see below for a discussion of using a nearby city.
Selection of satellites is always a pain for a newbie.
As one, all I knew was the orbital location.
A list of names was the last thing I could easily use, not knowing one name from another.
And, let's not even bring up the fact that many birds have gone by three names in the memory of many old timers!
(I stick with orbital location - that's a constant!)
In the beginning, I was only aiming at one satellite, so one answer was fine.
As I advanced, being able to see a table for all satellites was a real plus.
The following two programs meet all of my preferences listed above, and many others fall short:
SatFinder by Lutis
The one strong negative for running this wonderful program, is that it requires a current version of JAVA (it's free, too)
Installing Java and then Satfinder might tax some users.
For those of you up to it, you'll be rewarded with a fine program, which runs stand-alone, should you need to use your laptop in the field, with no internet access.
GeoSatFinder by SatelliteAV
The only negative to this program, is finding your way to the last output screen.
It's a little daunting for a first-time user.
Once you get your location put in, and click on All Common Satellites, you will be given a nice PDF file with everything you wanted to know about the sky from your location.
Info lookup for single satellites is supported, too, as are other features.
* selection of a nearby city:
I just used one program, and input Los Angeles and San Diego, California, and wrote down the aiming info.
Ask.Com says the two cities are 112 miles (180km) distance from each other, pretty much north/south.
When looking for Galaxy 11 at 91º, here are the aiming differences shown:
azimuth - 1 º
elevation - 1.6 º
skew - 0.2 º
Maybe that wasn't fair, so let's get two cities 100 miles apart east to west.
Los Angeles and Palm Springs:
azimuth - 2.6º
elevation - 1º
skew - 1.5º
Moral of the story?
Use a city that's 100 miles away, and you really shouldn't have much trouble.
After all, what's a couple of degrees between friends.?
I'm not usuallly accurate enough with my tools to come within two degrees, anyway!
Last edited:
