If SatPC32 was open source, we could pitch in and help fix the problem on the consumer end. But it's not, so we have to rely on the single closed-source author if we need changes there. This also, of course, means that if anything ever happens to the author, or if he or she simply loses interest in maintaining it, the users are screwed. (This is why I personally prefer to depend on open source.)

Changing the produced format, or adding more formats, doesn't really help unless the authors of the consuming software can be convinced that their software should adopt something new. If said software is open source, people can contribute to make that happen. It's a different story if the software is closed source, though.

You're right, Mark, that it would be good for people to step up when things need to change. It's unfortunate that the changes we're talking about here, though, are driven by issues with the consuming software, over which we have no control.

Perhaps someone could write either a validation script or a creation script for use by Ray or whoever, before updates are made public - but it would need to be done in a way that *easily* integrates with the process that Ray (or someone else) is already using, so that there's minimal impact on the way things are done now. If that process is documented, a link would be helpful.

Martin.
KD6YAM

On Sat, Aug 20, 2022 at 12:52 PM Mark Johns, K0JM <k0jm.mark@gmail.com> wrote:
And another volunteer steps up to write the script!

I wonder when people are going to wake up and realize that AMSAT is a
100% VOLUNTEER organization. Ray gives his time every week to produce
this stuff. He's been doing it for years. He isn't paid. Few people
thank him, but everyone is in line to bitch or to suggest other ways
it OUGHT to be done when there is a glitch. Same with the IT folks
running the servers -- all volunteers, giving their time.

If you want it a different way, pitch in!
--
Mark D. Johns, KØJM
AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor
Brooklyn Park, MN USA   EN35hd
-----------------------------------------------
"Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit,
   you would stay out and your dog would go in."
    ---Mark Twain

On Sat, Aug 20, 2022 at 2:11 PM Brian Wilkins <ko4aqf@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Or abandon the TLE format for something modern like JSON, YAML or XML. Surely it isn’t hard to produce it in a multitude of formats automatically with a script.
>
> On Sat, Aug 20, 2022 at 3:02 PM Martin Cooper <mfncooper@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> While fixing the source is a good idea, it seems to me that the software in question should be corrected in such a way as to be more tolerant of minor variations in what it's asked to parse. It's not a complicated format.
>>
>> Martin.
>> KD6YAM
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 20, 2022 at 11:56 AM Joseph Fitzgerald (KM1P) via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb@amsat.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Jeff,
>>>
>>> It appears that this week's Keplerian bulletin, stored as the file "nasa.all" on the AMSAT web site, included extra carriage returns and line feeds, and that evidently is not acceptable to your tracking software.  The plain file "nasabare.txt" without the bulletin header does not suffer from this issue.
>>>
>>> We will investigate the cause of this problem and expect that it will be corrected for next week's bulletin.
>>>
>>>
>>> 73 de KM1P Joe
>>> AMSAT IT
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: jeff griffin <kb2mjeff@att.net>
>>> Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2022 11:07 AM
>>> To: amsat-bb@amsat.org <amsat-bb@amsat.org>
>>> Subject: [AMSAT-BB] AMSAT Keplerian data
>>>
>>> Several of us that talk on the linear birds in the morning have noticed
>>> that SatPC32's Satellites, Update Keps, selected keps file, routine
>>> returns either a 'No Keplerian data found!'  or a 'Download failed'
>>> error. I had to manually copy and paste the kep data from the AMSAT site
>>> to get a fresh set.  I tried this on two different PC's here.  As I
>>> haven't updated any of my s/w on this end I'm assuming this is an issue
>>> on the AMSAT kep site. Anyone know what's going on here ?
>>>
>>> 73 Jeff kb2m
>>>
>>>
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
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>>>
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>>
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> 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/
>>
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>
> --
> 73, ko4aqf@gmail.com
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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/
>
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Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/

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