Satfinder Portable v1.2.1

January 18th, 2008, 02:40 Posted By: Unicorn



Via SatFinder Portable Homepage.

I have the pleasure to show to you one of the most original Homebrew that have ever coded. Pedro J has just released one of those MUST HAVE applications. With this impressive Homebrew, we will be able to watch artificial satellites from our home, using our PSP (you dont need any GPS adapter).

Pedro J words: "SatFinder Portable is the perfect program for all keen on astronomy. Its main task is to be a tool to locate in the sky hundreds of satellites that can be seen with the naked eye, making a special follow-up to the International Space Station (ISS), the brightest satellite ever."

With Satfinder Portable we will be able to:

* To determine the current position of artificial satellites and if they can be seen by the observer.
* To determine the current position of the stars, the sun and moon in the sky. We can use them for finding the satellites in the sky.
* To determine the position of constellations.
* To determine when will be the next times you will be able to see the International Space Station (ISS) in your hometown, drawing the path the ISS will follow in the sky.
* To determine which satellites are visible in the next half an hour.
* To determine the precise moment when the Sun and Moon raise and set.
* To determine when the moon phases will happen: 1st quarter, full, 3rd quarter and new.
* To determine the night starts and ends..
* To have a world map with all satellites drawn at their current position, showing up for eache one if it is eclipsed or not by the Earth, and the path the ISS will follow during the next hour.
* To listent to an voice assistant that notify us important events, letting us not to keep seeing the PSP screen all the time. These are this events:
o The dusk and dawn, to know from when we can start looking for satellites and when not.
o The emergence of a new satellite above 0, 30, 60 and 80 degrees of elevation when there is no one with higher elevation. It is useful for long waiting times in the absence of satellites, which we can look away from the screen and wait while we look at the sky.
o The appearance and disappearance of the ISS, in addition to the time when it reaches its maximum elevation.
o In each notification also is said in what direction we should look: N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW and UP are the possible directions.
o Sunrises and sunset. Moonrises and moonsets. There are two notifications, the first one few minutes before and the second one just when it will happen.
* It has an installer for the PC that help us to easily install the application on our PSP, taking into account the type of firmware installed, searching the corresponding directory. It is called Satfinder Updater.
* Change the SatFinder settings:
o The possibility of changing the location of the observer using the installer (permanent change), or directly using the options menu in the PSP (temporary change).
o Posibilidad de cambiar entre visión diurna y nocturna. Ability to switch between day and night vision.
o Possibility of configuring the colors for night vision and for the daytime.
o Possibility of enabling and disabling the elements to represent in the sky (Sun and Moon, stars, satellites, constellations).
o Possibility of configuring the number of stars to be shown changing the magnitude limit.
o Possibility of using automatic magnitude limit adjustments.




Its seems a little complicated at first, but you can enjoy a complete guide (in English) in the author's homepage. After installing the programm, you will be able to access to SatFinder from PSP's web browser, to learn more about our sky without using a PC.

Its coded in LUA, and its PSP Slim compatible.

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