Decoding the NOAA Satellite Interrogation Schedule

Typical 2-line entry in the interrogation schedule:

18  12285 S 33.6 071002 061100 061200 062500 062550 0 170.84W   5.70W 054111   
                               061200 062500             F                     

First Line
18 - Satellite; NOAA-18
12285 - Orbit number S=Svalbard
S - Receiving station; W=Wallops, F=Fairbanks, B=Point Barrow
33.6 - Maximum satellite elevation (degrees) at the receiving station
071002 - Date, in the form YYMMDD
061100 - Time (UTC) of acquisition of signal (AOS), in the form hhmmss
061200 - First data reception time
062500 - Last data reception time
062550 - Time of loss of signal (LOS)
0 - 0 = no gap in the station receive mask; 1 = gap in the station receive mask
170.84W - Longitude of the ascending node for this orbit
5.70W - Longitude of the descending node for this orbit
054111 - Time (UTC) of the ascending node for this orbit

Second Line
(No useful information on this line for non-NOAA users)
061200 - First command time
062500 - Last command time
F - Type of pass - F=Full Service, Realtime Telemety and Stored Data. M=Monitor Pass, Realtime Telemety Only. This line may also contain the 2-digit number(s) of other NOAA satellites which will be in conflict with the CDA station readout.