There are different orbit prediction programs which can be taken as a reference for our desings. We have already tried three different softwares (all of them free) for getting to know the charasteristics of each one.
WxTrack
http://www.satsignal.eu/software/wxtrack.htm
Well known, probably the one with more options and customizable parts. It has lots of tools which add different features and make it the most complete software. It has an interface easy to use and it allows to add the .TLE files (kepler files) from NORAD automatically.
In the next image we can see the path followed by the ISS, other satellites as well as the sun (yellow circle).
It allows to use lots of different controllers of rotors.
It is not open source, but we can download from their website the code of the SGP4 model (in different languages):
http://www.satsignal.eu/software/SGP4comp360.zip
Orbitron
It has the same characteristics as the WXTRACK and it is also used by amateur radio enthusiast. In an overall view, it does not have more content than WXTRACK. The last version of Orbitron is really old compared with the program described before, but it is also valid for most of the uses. The main advantage is that is is more “plug & play” type. We only need to install it and we are ready to work on it.
GPredict
It is a lot less known than the others, but for our proyect it might be the most interesting. This software is based on free prediction so we can either download the different compilations for different operative systems either download the source code to compile it ourselves. Its interface is really user friendly but with lots of different features, as controlling the radio and the rotors. Those characteristics (simple and open source) make this program the most suitable for us.
In the following picture you can have a look on the configuration of a station in Granada:
