What is out there for the beginners?

I’m still thinking that there should be a simple way to tell the grandpa or grandma on how to show their grand children the passing of ISS or other satellites across an early morning or evening sky. For example, we may offer them some basic info like ”When Are Satellites Visible?” etc., that was covered in Jeff’s introduction and part of it is quoted below:

Whether or not a satellite is visible to a given observer is dependent upon many factors such as observer location, time of day, satellite altitude, and sky condition. Knowing these details may aid an observer in determining the most favorable times for sightings and is most certainly necessary, in order to spot some of the more elusive targets that speed across the heavens.

Tonight I spent time to check what else are out there on the Internet beside all the favorite site such as Heavens-above, or other in my favorite links’ list. As I have mentioned in previous post, my intention is to find a site which provides a step-by-step guide to grandpa or grandma, who happens to have an internet access but without that much knowledge on orbital mechanics, satellite tracking, or satellite tracking software.

My first landing was at this page with a special section called Suggestions for the Beginners. That particular section offers some practical suggestions for the beginners but the site it’s a jungle , packed with long list of links.

The next link that caught my attention provides an article that covers some basic of satellite motion including orbital mechanics, satellite tracking, Keplerian elements, the basic of antenna and satellite communications. I thought the information is good for a beginner with some background in math and physics, but I don’t think this is a site for grandpa and grandma on the block. I remember few days ago I saw a site talking about Satellite Tracking should be as easy as one, two, three or something to that effect. However, after more than an hour, I still could not find that since I didn’t bookmark it. My feeling is always the same. The Internet is a jungle. Google provides a lot of help in finding the information we need, however, we still need to spend a lot of time before we can find what do we need.

If you happen to know the URL on Satellite Tracking that should be as easy as one two three, please post a comment so I can revisit the site.

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