ISS Tracker is the best one I have found. It costs a few dollars, but well worth it.

-- 73, Don KB2YSI

On Thu, Nov 8, 2018, 18:07 Bob- W7LRD <[email protected] wrote:

Hi - The best tracking program for a Motorola android is?

Thanks 73 Bob Johnson W7LRD

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I've used several apps on Android, including AMSATDroid Free, Heavens Above, OSCAR, and others, but have settled on ISS Detector. It has a lot of unique features that set it apart from the rest.

If you pay the very small price (a buck or two) for the amateur satellite package, you get the ability to limit the display to only those satellites you want to see. For example, if you can only work FM sats, then just show those and hide all the rest.  AMSATDroid Free requires you to select a specific satellite, which is a pain when you can work twenty of them. And  AMSATDroid Free has those satellites in a pull-down menu that isn't in any obvious order! Heavens Above doesn't allow you to filter satellites at all, so you have to wade through a couple of hundred satellites, most of which are not workable.

Another nice feature is that you can limit the elevation of passes to hide those that are too low for you to work. I can't work anything below 10 degrees at home (and have to hike a block to go down to about 15 degrees to the east), so being able to set those limits avoids a lot of false-alerm notifications for unworkable passes.

Those notifications are also a nice feature. I have mine set with a ringtone of "SAT" in Morse, but you could set it to any ringtone you like. It'd be nice if I could set each satellite with its own notification ringtone in Morse, but at least being able to distinguish the satellite notifications from other notifications is helpful.

ISS Detector also provides real-time display of the Doppler shift, which is helpful when you're learning the proper shift points for Doppler frequency adjustment during a pass. A lot of users have gotten used to the generous AFC available on the recent Fox-1 satellites, and will have to be more disciplined about Doppler control on Fox-1C, which doesn't have AFC.

If you set the phone/tablet down on a fixed surface while you operate, it isn't always practical to rotate it to face north. ISS Detector allows you to rotate the az/el display to face in any direction. This isn't as important if you're using a phone, especially if you're wearing it on a velcro armband as I do, but is very helpful if you use a tablet with a tilt stand. I do this a lot when I work linears, since ISS Detector allows you to see both the az/el display screen and the real-time Doppler values screen at the same time if you use a tablet in landscape display mode. On a phone or in portrait mode, you can only see one of those screens ata  time, although swiping from one screen to the other is fast and I've done that even on AO-92 L/v mode, where Doppler shift corrections have to be made more quickly than in U/v mode.

ISS Detector allows you to project out 7 days. AMSATDroid Free only projects 24 hours. Heavens Above allows you to select an arbitrary date in the future, which is convenient for longer-term planning. I did my initial planning for Field Day about 2 months ahead and found most of the passes were still fairly close to the predictions that far out, with the exception of the packet satellites. This feature of Heavens Above is sometimes useful. But that's the only benefit I've found that any of those other apps have that ISS Detector doesn't.

73, Ryan AI6DO

On Thursday, November 8, 2018, 3:07:52 PM PST, Bob- W7LRD [email protected] wrote:

Hi - The best tracking program for a Motorola android is?

Thanks  73 Bob Johnson W7LRD

Check the table of apps and reviews we have here:

http://sats.wikidot.com/what-apps-can-i-use-to-track-satellites

73, John Brier KG4AKV

On Thu, Nov 8, 2018 at 6:07 PM Bob- W7LRD [email protected] wrote:

Hi - The best tracking program for a Motorola android is?

Thanks 73 Bob Johnson W7LRD

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Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb