OSCAR LOCATOR Web Generator Turns Live Elements Into Printable Tracking Sheets
/Following last week’s introduction of the browser-based OSCARLOCATOR Web Simulator, a companion tool is now online that closes the loop between the on-screen simulator and the classic paper tracker. The OSCARLOCATOR Web Generator, produces printable base-map, range-circle, and path-arc sheets — the physical components of the traditional OSCARLOCATOR — as vector PDFs generated entirely in the browser.
Like the simulator, the generator is the work of AMSAT Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, and produces the same vector output as the OSCARLOCATOR export in his OrbitDeck desktop application. Nothing is uploaded to a server: the tool fetches only current AMSAT GP orbital elements and, if the operator asks, their location. It runs offline once loaded.
To build a set of sheets, the operator sets a station by Maidenhead grid square, by latitude and longitude, or via browser geolocation, then selects a satellite from a list populated automatically from AMSAT’s GP element data. The map projection can be a polar azimuthal-equidistant sheet — chosen automatically for the northern or southern hemisphere, or forced to North or South — or a QTH-centered azimuthal map. The output can be produced as a two-sheet set, pairing a base map with the range circle drawn at the operator’s station plus a separate path-arc transparency, and an option keeps the overlay transparencies free of text so all the how-to-use instructions live on the base map. An advanced panel allows manual entry of orbital elements — inclination, mean motion, eccentricity, argument of perigee, and RAAN — for cases where the operator wants to plot a specific orbit by hand, and provides an optional CORS-proxy override for fetching the AMSAT bulletin data.
Coastlines are drawn from Natural Earth 110m data. The sheets must be printed at 100% / actual size so that the base map and the transparency overlays register correctly when stacked. The result is a genuine, working paper tracker keyed to current elements — a satisfying bridge between the pre-computer era of satellite operating and modern on-demand data.
The OSCARLOCATOR Web Generator - https://oscarlocator-pdf.n8hm.radio,
OSCARLOCATOR Simulator - https://oscarlocator.n8hm.radio.
