High Altitude Balloon Tracking Software
Design Goals:
- Serial port connection to Terminal Node Controller for APRS ASCII messages
- Serial port connection with local GPS for chaser position.
- Callsign filtering for target.
- Computation of look angles and range from chaser to balloon. -Azimuth: relative to true north -Elevation: relative to local horizon -Range: Slant Range, AKA Line of Sight Distance -Bearing: Angle relative to the direction of travel of the chaser.
- Computation of Ascent/Descent Rate.
- Computation of time since last packet heard from target.
- Logging of raw and filtered TNC messages with time stamps.
- Logging of raw and formatted local GPS messages.
Longer Term Goals:
- pyQT implementation. Look angles, plotting, etc.
- Serial connection to CAT port of FT-857D for S-meter logging during Packet Bursts.
- prediction of look angles between updates based off last packet heard (pos, track, speed).
- Serial/Network output for gimbal pointing.