SubaruWRX

this sounds more like a software question but you know how most programs show a Sky view of where the gps is located in the sky.. Well is there like a space view of it where the Gps is located instead of the sky view?

Asterix

Do you mean something like Vito AstroNavigator.
http://vitotechnology.com/en/product...navigator.html

SubaruWRX

Uhmm sorta like that.. But I ment in a program you navagate with, you know how most show the gps signals, Well I'm looking for something like that but with a view from space.

I'm not looking to track the Gps without Navagating.

SubaruWRX

What I mean is this..



thats the normal Gps view.. but does anyone make a software where you can see the view from space looking down at earth with the Gps Sattellites in view?

Again this is not asking the Position of the Gps in the sky it just to replace the confusing standard Gps view in most gps programs.

Ken S

It may be confusing to you, but I would find a view from space much harder to view and interpret. :rolling: With the standard view (and the one you show is better than many, it appears to rotate to orientate to your direction of travel) you can see approximately where all viewable sats are. Many have degrees in the concentric circles, showing the angle above the horizon.

SubaruWRX

and the rings are the number of degrees that the Gps is over the Horizon right?

Ken S

Yes, that is correct.

SubaruWRX

This is what I got that idea from.. If you scroll down a little you can see it.

http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/destinatorsw.php

Ken S

You can certainly give their software a try, but if you are refering to figure 3, I don't think that will ever tell you where the sats are, its just a pretty picture. The advantage of the other display is you can reference it to north and see that that ridge or building is blocking your view of 3 sats, and can move to correct this.

SubaruWRX

well the site I posted that Destinator 1 or something like that..

I have a Qestion, which I always wanted to know when using my Garmin 12XL

Say if I had a Gps that was North on the Sky view Map.. that means the satellite is locacted in front of me right?

And the middle dot is one thats above my head right?

Ken S

If you are looking north and they indicate a sat low in the north then yes you would be looking at it, and if you had one in the exact center of the screen then it would be directly overhead. The screen shot you show appears to orient to your direction of travel, it is showing that you were going 62 degrees east of north so sat 7 would be slightly to your right and about 60 degrees above the horizon, sat 28 would be about 30 degrees to your right and probably about 45 degrees above the horizon, and sat 4 is sort of close to being overhead. (degrees above the horizon is assuming that your circles are 0, 30 and 60 degrees, read the info that came with the program to verify this)

SubaruWRX

now here comes a stupid question, do some people use this for trying to see a gps in the sky at night?

If thats possible? or use my tracking program instead?

Ken S

About the only time you are going to see satelites is a little after sunset and a bit before sunrise when the sky is in total darkness but the sat is being fully lit by the sun. Most sats you will see you will spot because many are going quite fast and traverse the sky in a minute or two. With slower moving sats it will be more difficult to recognize what you are looking at, but look for something noticably moving.

SubaruWRX

Ahh your right I almost forgot Gps satellites are in a geostationary orbit which would make it very hard to see unless I knew what I was looking at.

Koopah

Originally Posted by SubaruWRX

Ahh your right I almost forgot Gps satellites are in a geostationary orbit which would make it very hard to see unless I knew what I was looking at.

With the excepion of the two WAAS satellites (POR and AOR-W), GPS satellites ARE NOT in a geostationary orbit. They orbit the earth on a regular basis. To check this, take your GPS unit outside and display the Sky View map in GPS Info. As you watch the map, you will see the geometry of the satellites change. Thus, one can infer that the accuracy of positional information derived from the GPS satellites is not only based on signal strength, but also on satellite geometry.

Theoretically, if the "visible" satellites are spread about the sky in a optimum manner (some close to the horizon, some directly overhead and some in between, and all spread around the various compass points) your positional accuracy will be the greatest. However if all the satellites are "clustered" within a similar elevation AND compass point, your positional accuracy will be compromised.

Using geostationary GPS satellites would require many more birds than currently exist as they would have to cover the entire world. By orbiting the satellites, fewer can be used to cover the world (as long as their orbits are carefully planned).

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program...

FWIW,

Theo

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