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Re: AO-91 and RS-44 not functioning?
by Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

At 07:39 PM 4/18/2023 +0000, you wrote: >Dear Folks: > >Today, neither AO-91 nor RS-44 seemed to be functioning. To be fair, I >could barely hear my CW transmission on RS-44, so I suppose its >transponder is functioning, albeit not well. I can understand AO-91 going >out due to its battery issues, but RS-44 on the same day? Is it possible >that the problem is with my setup? > >Thanks for any help you can give me. > >73 de Bernie, KF0QS RS-44 fades out at times when you're in an antenna null, where other stations seem to be doing well, then things switch and they're in a null, and you receive yourself just fine. What's sad it there are a number of linear sats not functioning or working well: FO-29, not active, FO-118 not active, CAS-4A not active, and XW-2C has issues cutting out it's downlink. KB7ADL

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Re: AO-91 and RS-44 not functioning?
by Ignacio Granados Vega 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

Today I heard voice transmissions on the RS-44 at 17:25 UTC 73. El mar, 18 abr 2023 a las 13:38, Bernie Poskus (KF0QS) via AMSAT-BB (< amsat-bb(a)amsat.org>) escribió: > Dear Folks: > > Today, neither AO-91 nor RS-44 seemed to be functioning. To be fair, I > could barely hear my CW transmission on RS-44, so I suppose its transponder > is functioning, albeit not well. I can understand AO-91 going out due to > its battery issues, but RS-44 on the same day? Is it possible that the > problem is with my setup? > > Thanks for any help you can give me. > > 73 de Bernie, KF0QS > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at > https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org > -- ========================================== *Ignacio Granados Vega - TI3IES* Cartago, Costa Rica ========================================== *Cuidemos el medio ambiente. Por favor no imprima este correo si no es necesario.*

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AO-91 and RS-44 not functioning?
by hamdan＠ix.netcom.com 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

Dear Folks: Today, neither AO-91 nor RS-44 seemed to be functioning. To be fair, I could barely hear my CW transmission on RS-44, so I suppose its transponder is functioning, albeit not well. I can understand AO-91 going out due to its battery issues, but RS-44 on the same day? Is it possible that the problem is with my setup? Thanks for any help you can give me. 73 de Bernie, KF0QS

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Re: Old Verbose Element Source?
by Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

At 06:32 PM 4/18/2023 +0000, you wrote: >What commodore program did you use? My elmer had a cool one, and I >traded a commodore 64 for an RC car because I thought it was so cool. >Well guess what, I just picked up that computer for my parent's house >35 years later and it still works! I brought it to school for the >kids to see. I found one on a dead link from an amsat news post, but >that is not the same program. I was able to get running on a >simulator, and I could tell that it was not the same app. I >distinctly remember lots of colors. > >I am waiting for fresh floppies and a raspberry Pi hat that emulates a >1541 drive as all my floppies were dead as this thing has been in the >garage for many of those 35 years. We live in hot Southern >California. > >-Chris KQ6UP I really wish I could remember the name of it, but it wasn't from Amsat. It was shareware. a computer guy came to a ham event, and had lots of programs for commodore, and he just happened to have a tracking program. I do remember mailing a couple bucks to the program author. Kind of brings back memories. It worked good and I used it until I got my first PC, then I bought InstantTrack. It came in the mail from Amsat on two floppies with a freeware de-compression program. Still use InstantTrack to this day for antenna control on a windows 98 computer. I think InstantTrack is one of the best tracking programs ever written, with all the information it can give you besides just tracking satellites. KB7ADL

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Re: Old Verbose Element Source?
by Nico Janssen 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

Of course nowadays there are modern verbose style formats available: https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/gp.php?CATNR=25544&FORMAT=KVN https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/gp.php?CATNR=25544&FORMAT=JSON-PRETTY 73, Nico PA0DLO On 18-04-2023 20:42, Paul Stoetzer via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Copies of QuikTrak by Bob McGwier, N4HY, for both the Commodore 64/128 > and Apple II are available at > https://www.amsat.org/flashback-friday-satellite-tracking-with-quiktrak-for… > > > The disk image files can be used in emulators or written to real > floppy disks / modern floppy emulators and run on real hardware. I've > run the Commodore version on my Commodore 64C with an SD2IEC and the > Apple II version on my Apple IIc. > > Rather than attempting to pull the numbers out of the TLEs, I've found > Heavens Above to be the easiest source of verbose style elements - on > the orbit page. For example, AO-7 can be found at > https://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=7530&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspeci… > <https://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=7530&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspeci…> > > 73, > > Paul, N8HM > > > > On Tue, Apr 18, 2023 at 2:32 PM Chris Maness via AMSAT-BB > <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > What commodore program did you use? My elmer had a cool one, and I > traded a commodore 64 for an RC car because I thought it was so cool. > Well guess what, I just picked up that computer for my parent's house > 35 years later and it still works! I brought it to school for the > kids to see. I found one on a dead link from an amsat news post, but > that is not the same program. I was able to get running on a > simulator, and I could tell that it was not the same app. I > distinctly remember lots of colors. > > I am waiting for fresh floppies and a raspberry Pi hat that emulates a > 1541 drive as all my floppies were dead as this thing has been in the > garage for many of those 35 years. We live in hot Southern > California. > > -Chris KQ6UP > > On Tue, Apr 18, 2023 at 11:22 AM Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL via AMSAT-BB > <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > > > At 05:33 PM 4/18/2023 +0000, you wrote: > > > > > > >Neither element set format encodes the century of the element > set, so I > > >suspect that whatever math is being done in the program to > determine the > > >age of the element set will fail in either case. > > > > > >You can test this hypothesis by making up a verbose element set > manually > > >with your favorite text editor. > > > > > >Decode two line element sets with the following key: > > >1 AAAAAU 00 0 0 BBBBB.BBBBBBBB .CCCCCCCC 00000-0 00000-0 0 > DDDZ > > >2 AAAAA EEE.EEEE FFF.FFFF GGGGGGG HHH.HHHH III.IIII > JJ.JJJJJJJJKKKKKZ > > >KEY: A-CATALOGNUM B-EPOCHTIME C-DECAY D-ELSETNUM E-INCLINATION > F-RAAN > > >G-ECCENTRICITY H-ARGPERIGEE I-MNANOM J-MNMOTION K-ORBITNUM > Z-CHECKSUM > > > > > >For more detail see www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-formats/ > <http://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-formats/> > > > > > > > > >If your trial verbose file works OK, it might be worth it to > have one of > > >the high school kids write a script to convert from TLE to > verbose - it is > > >a pretty straightforward exercise in text manipulation. > > > > > >The TLE format is actually the older format. AMSAT came up > with the > > >verbose format in order to facilitate distribution on voice > networks. I > > >fondly remember copying them as read by Rip, WA2LQQ on the > weekly Tuesday > > >night75 meter net. At the time I was not really all that > fond of it > > >since a static crash at the wrong time could wipe out a > critical digit and > > >render an entire element set useless. But it was the only > practical > > >means I had to obtain them as a broke high school student in > the 1980's, > > >at least until I discovered that the government would mail them > to me once > > >a week if I asked nicely :-) > > > > > >de KM1P Joe > > > > > > Ha, > > That's how I got them, they were mailed from the Goddard space > > flight center. I moved from tracking with oscar locator, to a > > commodore 64 program. Still had to type them in to the program > > by hand. > > > > KB7ADL > > > > > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <http://amsat.org>. AMSAT-NA makes > this open forum available > > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring > membership. Opinions expressed > > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official > views of AMSAT-NA. > > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at > https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > > > View archives of this mailing list at > > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > <http://amsat.org> > > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org > > > > -- > Thanks, > Chris Maness > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <http://amsat.org>. AMSAT-NA makes > this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official > views of AMSAT-NA. > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at > https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > <http://amsat.org> > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available athttps://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences athttps://mailman.amsat.org

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Re: Old Verbose Element Source?
by Paul Stoetzer 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

Copies of QuikTrak by Bob McGwier, N4HY, for both the Commodore 64/128 and Apple II are available at https://www.amsat.org/flashback-friday-satellite-tracking-with-quiktrak-for… The disk image files can be used in emulators or written to real floppy disks / modern floppy emulators and run on real hardware. I've run the Commodore version on my Commodore 64C with an SD2IEC and the Apple II version on my Apple IIc. Rather than attempting to pull the numbers out of the TLEs, I've found Heavens Above to be the easiest source of verbose style elements - on the orbit page. For example, AO-7 can be found at https://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=7530&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspeci… 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, Apr 18, 2023 at 2:32 PM Chris Maness via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > What commodore program did you use? My elmer had a cool one, and I > traded a commodore 64 for an RC car because I thought it was so cool. > Well guess what, I just picked up that computer for my parent's house > 35 years later and it still works! I brought it to school for the > kids to see. I found one on a dead link from an amsat news post, but > that is not the same program. I was able to get running on a > simulator, and I could tell that it was not the same app. I > distinctly remember lots of colors. > > I am waiting for fresh floppies and a raspberry Pi hat that emulates a > 1541 drive as all my floppies were dead as this thing has been in the > garage for many of those 35 years. We live in hot Southern > California. > > -Chris KQ6UP > > On Tue, Apr 18, 2023 at 11:22 AM Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL via AMSAT-BB > <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > > > At 05:33 PM 4/18/2023 +0000, you wrote: > > > > > > >Neither element set format encodes the century of the element set, so I > > >suspect that whatever math is being done in the program to determine the > > >age of the element set will fail in either case. > > > > > >You can test this hypothesis by making up a verbose element set manually > > >with your favorite text editor. > > > > > >Decode two line element sets with the following key: > > >1 AAAAAU 00 0 0 BBBBB.BBBBBBBB .CCCCCCCC 00000-0 00000-0 0 DDDZ > > >2 AAAAA EEE.EEEE FFF.FFFF GGGGGGG HHH.HHHH III.IIII JJ.JJJJJJJJKKKKKZ > > >KEY: A-CATALOGNUM B-EPOCHTIME C-DECAY D-ELSETNUM E-INCLINATION F-RAAN > > >G-ECCENTRICITY H-ARGPERIGEE I-MNANOM J-MNMOTION K-ORBITNUM Z-CHECKSUM > > > > > >For more detail see www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-formats/ > > > > > > > > >If your trial verbose file works OK, it might be worth it to have one of > > >the high school kids write a script to convert from TLE to verbose - it > is > > >a pretty straightforward exercise in text manipulation. > > > > > >The TLE format is actually the older format. AMSAT came up with the > > >verbose format in order to facilitate distribution on voice networks. > I > > >fondly remember copying them as read by Rip, WA2LQQ on the weekly > Tuesday > > >night75 meter net. At the time I was not really all that fond of it > > >since a static crash at the wrong time could wipe out a critical digit > and > > >render an entire element set useless. But it was the only practical > > >means I had to obtain them as a broke high school student in the 1980's, > > >at least until I discovered that the government would mail them to me > once > > >a week if I asked nicely :-) > > > > > >de KM1P Joe > > > > > > Ha, > > That's how I got them, they were mailed from the Goddard space > > flight center. I moved from tracking with oscar locator, to a > > commodore 64 program. Still had to type them in to the program > > by hand. > > > > KB7ADL > > > > > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > Opinions expressed > > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at > https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > > > View archives of this mailing list at > > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org > > > > -- > Thanks, > Chris Maness > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at > https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org

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Re: Old Verbose Element Source?
by Chris Maness 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

What commodore program did you use? My elmer had a cool one, and I traded a commodore 64 for an RC car because I thought it was so cool. Well guess what, I just picked up that computer for my parent's house 35 years later and it still works! I brought it to school for the kids to see. I found one on a dead link from an amsat news post, but that is not the same program. I was able to get running on a simulator, and I could tell that it was not the same app. I distinctly remember lots of colors. I am waiting for fresh floppies and a raspberry Pi hat that emulates a 1541 drive as all my floppies were dead as this thing has been in the garage for many of those 35 years. We live in hot Southern California. -Chris KQ6UP On Tue, Apr 18, 2023 at 11:22 AM Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > At 05:33 PM 4/18/2023 +0000, you wrote: > > > >Neither element set format encodes the century of the element set, so I > >suspect that whatever math is being done in the program to determine the > >age of the element set will fail in either case. > > > >You can test this hypothesis by making up a verbose element set manually > >with your favorite text editor. > > > >Decode two line element sets with the following key: > >1 AAAAAU 00 0 0 BBBBB.BBBBBBBB .CCCCCCCC 00000-0 00000-0 0 DDDZ > >2 AAAAA EEE.EEEE FFF.FFFF GGGGGGG HHH.HHHH III.IIII JJ.JJJJJJJJKKKKKZ > >KEY: A-CATALOGNUM B-EPOCHTIME C-DECAY D-ELSETNUM E-INCLINATION F-RAAN > >G-ECCENTRICITY H-ARGPERIGEE I-MNANOM J-MNMOTION K-ORBITNUM Z-CHECKSUM > > > >For more detail see www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-formats/ > > > > > >If your trial verbose file works OK, it might be worth it to have one of > >the high school kids write a script to convert from TLE to verbose - it is > >a pretty straightforward exercise in text manipulation. > > > >The TLE format is actually the older format. AMSAT came up with the > >verbose format in order to facilitate distribution on voice networks. I > >fondly remember copying them as read by Rip, WA2LQQ on the weekly Tuesday > >night75 meter net. At the time I was not really all that fond of it > >since a static crash at the wrong time could wipe out a critical digit and > >render an entire element set useless. But it was the only practical > >means I had to obtain them as a broke high school student in the 1980's, > >at least until I discovered that the government would mail them to me once > >a week if I asked nicely :-) > > > >de KM1P Joe > > > Ha, > That's how I got them, they were mailed from the Goddard space > flight center. I moved from tracking with oscar locator, to a > commodore 64 program. Still had to type them in to the program > by hand. > > KB7ADL > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org -- Thanks, Chris Maness

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Re: Old Verbose Element Source?
by Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

At 05:33 PM 4/18/2023 +0000, you wrote: >Neither element set format encodes the century of the element set, so I >suspect that whatever math is being done in the program to determine the >age of the element set will fail in either case. > >You can test this hypothesis by making up a verbose element set manually >with your favorite text editor. > >Decode two line element sets with the following key: >1 AAAAAU 00 0 0 BBBBB.BBBBBBBB .CCCCCCCC 00000-0 00000-0 0 DDDZ >2 AAAAA EEE.EEEE FFF.FFFF GGGGGGG HHH.HHHH III.IIII JJ.JJJJJJJJKKKKKZ >KEY: A-CATALOGNUM B-EPOCHTIME C-DECAY D-ELSETNUM E-INCLINATION F-RAAN >G-ECCENTRICITY H-ARGPERIGEE I-MNANOM J-MNMOTION K-ORBITNUM Z-CHECKSUM > >For more detail see www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-formats/ > > >If your trial verbose file works OK, it might be worth it to have one of >the high school kids write a script to convert from TLE to verbose - it is >a pretty straightforward exercise in text manipulation. > >The TLE format is actually the older format. AMSAT came up with the >verbose format in order to facilitate distribution on voice networks. I >fondly remember copying them as read by Rip, WA2LQQ on the weekly Tuesday >night75 meter net. At the time I was not really all that fond of it >since a static crash at the wrong time could wipe out a critical digit and >render an entire element set useless. But it was the only practical >means I had to obtain them as a broke high school student in the 1980's, >at least until I discovered that the government would mail them to me once >a week if I asked nicely :-) > >de KM1P Joe Ha, That's how I got them, they were mailed from the Goddard space flight center. I moved from tracking with oscar locator, to a commodore 64 program. Still had to type them in to the program by hand. KB7ADL

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Re: Old Verbose Element Source?
by Joseph B. Fitzgerald 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

Neither element set format encodes the century of the element set, so I suspect that whatever math is being done in the program to determine the age of the element set will fail in either case. You can test this hypothesis by making up a verbose element set manually with your favorite text editor. Decode two line element sets with the following key: 1 AAAAAU 00 0 0 BBBBB.BBBBBBBB .CCCCCCCC 00000-0 00000-0 0 DDDZ 2 AAAAA EEE.EEEE FFF.FFFF GGGGGGG HHH.HHHH III.IIII JJ.JJJJJJJJKKKKKZ KEY: A-CATALOGNUM B-EPOCHTIME C-DECAY D-ELSETNUM E-INCLINATION F-RAAN G-ECCENTRICITY H-ARGPERIGEE I-MNANOM J-MNMOTION K-ORBITNUM Z-CHECKSUM For more detail see www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-formats/ If your trial verbose file works OK, it might be worth it to have one of the high school kids write a script to convert from TLE to verbose - it is a pretty straightforward exercise in text manipulation. The TLE format is actually the older format. AMSAT came up with the verbose format in order to facilitate distribution on voice networks. I fondly remember copying them as read by Rip, WA2LQQ on the weekly Tuesday night75 meter net. At the time I was not really all that fond of it since a static crash at the wrong time could wipe out a critical digit and render an entire element set useless. But it was the only practical means I had to obtain them as a broke high school student in the 1980's, at least until I discovered that the government would mail them to me once a week if I asked nicely :-) de KM1P Joe

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Old Verbose Element Source?
by Chris Maness 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

I am playing around with FBB (Old packet BBS) and it has a satellite tracking server in it which I think is super cool (and even have high school kids interested in the project). I am not sure if it is Y2K compliant, the keps are updated through BBS posts and the updater is not happy with the Nasa TLE format that they come in presently. It has a flag for them, but it complains that fresh keps are too old. I am going to try passing some though that are of the older verbose variety (Old AMSAT style). Is there a source for these or at least some Perl or Python script to convert them? Thanks, Chris KQ6UP DM14ia -- Thanks, Chris Maness

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