3dtrack is written in TCL/TK, using VTK as a 3D Toolkit, so you will need TCL, TK, and VTK installed. Most linux distributions should package TCL and TK, and certainly Debian packages VTK, However if your distrbution doesn't package them:
The image shown on the right, is called the 'Orbit View". It shows the earth, the satellite's orbit, and the satellite in it's orbit. Please note the satellite is not shown to scale, although the Earth, and the Orbit are scaled correctly.
The image on the left is meant to be as if you had a very long camera lens pointed directly at the satellite from the earth. It currently is show as if you are at the centre of the earth (see TODO list).
Both images are currently static, and were picked, in order to get the 3D basics done - Earth and Orbit size etc. The images are supposed to be showing ALON 0 / ALAT 0. MA is approximatley 32(modulo 256), or 45(modulo) if my maths is correct (Corrections welcome of course...)
3dtrack is written in TCL/TK, using VTK as a 3D Toolkit, so you will need TCL, TK, and VTK installed. Most linux distributions should package TCL and TK, and certainly Debian packages VTK, However if your distrbution doesn't package them:
Windows versions of both TCL/TK, and VTK should also both be avaliable from the above sites, and should just 'work', but I have no Windows machine, so I cannot test.
3dtrack is at a very early stage, and should not be expected to do anything (other than crash), but the _basic_ 3D work is complete. The remaining (current) items on the TODO list are:
Currently the code just draws a static image, both of the Satellite, and the Orbit View. I need to add The following code:
The Eagle-Eyed amongst you would have noticed that the Orbit View is showing the entire orbit, from a perpendicular angle. Future versions will show the inclination of the orbit, which using VTK is not too difficult, but It seriously complicates the calculating the satellite location and rendering code.
Currently the 'Satellite View' code shows the satellite as if it were seen from the centre of the earth, looking directly at the satellite. This needs improving, so that the location of the observer is taken into account. This is dependent on the Networking Code additions documented above.
Currently the model used for AO-40 is an extremly rough hexagonal shape. There is a makeshift 400N motor, used to identify the +Z side of the spacecraft. This all needs improving, and Antennae added, so if anyone has detailed measurements of the size of the spaceframe (Sizes of the Sides would be really usefull), and Detailed Size/Location of antennae, they would be gratefully received (I've already checked out and grabbed all the info I can from the AMSAT-NA, and AMSAT-DL websites.
Currently, only a (very rough) model of AO-40 is implemented. However, 3dtrack is being written in a way to be able to handle any satellite that we can get ALON/ALAT details, and ranging details for. At some point models for the following satellites will be added:
I have some early code to communicate with the GSFC telemetry server, that currently does apply ALAT to the 'Spacecraft View', but it needs some further work, and ALON needs adding, not to mention MA...
The first picture below shows what the 'Spacecraft View' would look like at your location with a squint of 0 degrees, while the second shows the ALAT (26) today (24th Nov 2003) - note, no ALON applied yet. The third picture shows the view looking to the bottom (-Z) face of S/C
The following images give an idea of what the model of AO-40 will look like at different orientations. These are for eye candy purposes only at the moment, its going to be a while before the ALAT code is perfected, and ALON and MA code Added. There may be an extra view of the S/C added, so we can have a view from your 'predict' QTH, and a zoomed view of the S/C in orbit...
