OrbitPredict is a simple program to plan when there are good conditions for moon bounce in your area.
There are many factors that determine the conditions and this program only takes into account the view of the antenna on the clear sky and the distance between sun and moon. For the other conditions you can consult e.g. the EMEPlanner of VK3UM.
The white bar at the bottom of the graph indicates when the conditions are good with an unobstructed view in all directions.

orbitpredict_mainscreen_empty.png

To determine a clear view, the program uses data from the SkyScanner program from OZ9AAR.
With that program, you can scan your environment for obstacles that obstruct your view.
You will then get the image below, in this case my environment that was scanned with a 70cm dish at 10 GHz.

skyscanner example

From this program you can export the data to a so-called csv file.
You can import this file into OrbitPredict after which the main screen will look like below.

orbitpredict mainscreen

The bar at the bottom of the graph shows, in SkyScanner colors, what the visibility is like in the clear sky at the elevation and azimuth of the moon at that moment.
The other limitation is the distance between the sun and the moon, which is indicated by the Sun Dist line. There is a setting that indicates the minimum distance at which the sun no longer has any influence on the reception, the line then turns red. That minimum distance can also be determined with SkyScanner, which has the ability to scan the area around the sun.
In this case, it seems that on March 1, for example, the conditions are reasonable. You can better view that in the daily overview.

orbitpredict_dayview_example.png

By placing the markers at the beginning and end of the white bar at the bottom of the graph you can see that moon bounce is possible from 13:00 to 15:08,

Planning is done via the screen below with the settings for this next to it.

orbitpredict_planning_example.png

orbitpredict_planning_settings.png

 

 

First, you can set how long the period should be before it makes sense to start working.
In the example above, you can see that at 4:00 PM there is also a period of about fifteen minutes of free visibility, but you can say that it is too short.
You can set the time that you are available below, with NoLimits checked, no account is taken here.

Graphs and schedules can of course also be saved and printed.

For more information, download the user manual here.
The program and installation instructions are also here.