24 Nov
2009
24 Nov
'09
4:15 p.m.
Rich,
I remember receiving the two line elements from Goddard in the mid-eighties. I was just getting into amateur radio, but was only using the data to predict visual sightings of the shuttle and satellites. I believe the list I received was a generic for visable satellites. I used the data to manually plot an orbital track with grease pencil on a piece of acetate, using it as an overlay on a map of the earth. I'm sure there's probably more than a few people here that did the same 'back in the day'. Aren't computers great!
73,
J.D. Smith N4VIL