Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- bigdish_console [2026/08/22 17:56] – [Satellite Tracking] dsheen
+++ bigdish_console [2026/08/22 19:19] (current) – [Tracking Offsets] dsheen
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-====== Overview ======
+===== Overview =====
 The BigDish Console program can be found in [[https://github.com/w1xm/BigDishTools|BigDishTools]] and provides a general purpose graphical user interface for controlling the antenna. Unlike `srt-py`, this program is intended to run entirely separated from control of the radio system, enabling any desired software to be simultaneously used with the SDR.
@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
    * Search [[https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/|SIMBAD]] for named astronomical source coordinates
    * Start and stop saving antenna position logs
-====== Advanced Capabilities ======
+===== Advanced Capabilities =====
-===== Satellite Tracking =====
+==== Satellite Tracking ====
-==== Queued Antenna Commands ====
+The BigDish console is the preferred UI method for satellite tracking. Any satellite ephemeris can be added to the tracking list either via a direct lookup from [[https://celestrak.org|Celestrak]], or by a file upload through the dialog in the [[#Utilities]] tab. The data fed to the control server when tracking includes both the satellite position and velocity, ensuring a smooth track with consistent convergence.
-==== Coordinate Queries ====
+It is also possible to use Gpredict, however it has no concept of the posvel format we use and will thus produce an unstable velocity and poor pointing convergence.
+=== Ephemeris Formats ===
+The ephemeris file upload supports many different formats and coordinate systems. These currently include
+   * TLE as ''.tle'' or ''.txt'' (legacy, please stop using these)
+   * OMM as ''.json'' or ''.csv''
+   * CCSDS OEM as ''.oem'' or ''.asc'' (the format NASA used for Artemis II ephemeris)
+   * Starlink modified ITC format ''.txt'' (see: [[https://api.starlink.com/public-files/ephemerides/MANIFEST.txt]], [[https://starlink.com/public-files/ephemerides/README.md]]) (TODO: need to test this one)
+==== Tracking Offsets ====
+The offsets tab in the sidebar allows setting an offset from a track in any of the three standard coordinate frames used by bigdish.
+Additionally, a fourth option is provided to offset by an angle defined in the frame of the target (parallel/perpendicular to track). This is defined as a right handed frame ordered as (pointing direction, travel direction, cross direction). Crucially, unlike the other frames, This frame gives a true angle of arc which is defined only by the commanded offsets independent of source position.
+==== Source Queries ====
+The [[#Utilities]] tab also has a search function for the [[https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/|SIMBAD]] database. It should generally work for search terms like ''cas A'', ''M 87'', etc. I make no promises about the exact input formatting or reliability since that is dependent on them. Once a source is found it can be added to the tracking dialog.
+Note: this is very very slow. That is a problem with the database, not our queries.
+==== Queued Antenna Commands ====
+Uploading pre-plannned antenna trajectories is also supported in the same format used by [[https://github.com/w1xm/BigDishTools/blob/main/dish_client/WR66_run_pointing_file.py|WR66_run_pointing_file.py]]. Files should be .csv with columns containing
+<code>
+UTC_Time in ISO format, coordinate system, first coordinate, second coordinate, azvel [optional], elvel [optional]
+</code>
+The commands in any such file are added to a non-blocking queue (e.g. other commands can still be issued to the antenna until the timestamp of the first command in the file.