SatPC32 Auxiliary Files
Actually Paul, I have to disagree with your comments.
It would be best if either SatPC32 was reprogrammed to allow for seamless and automatic updates when new satellites are launch, or if someone would write a completely new piece of software with this capability.
SatPC32 may be the best available (I think it is after trying them all) but it’s hardly a user-friendly piece of software. Amateur satellite communications offers one of the most cutting edge areas of our hobby, but the premiere software package available doesn’t begin to compare to things like WSJT, CWSkimmer, or other software tools that we have available.
I’d rather have AMSAT fund one less satellite and instead funnel those resources towards the development of a satellite tracking and rig control software that performs better.
Maybe we should start a crowd-sourcing project.
73,
Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf
Member WTFDA, IRCA, NRC. Former CPC Chairman for NRC & IRCA.
Elad FDM-S2 SDR, AirSpy SDR2, SDRPlay RSP-2 Pro, Sony XDR-F1HD, Dennon TU-1500RD, Sangean HDT-1, Ray Dees RDS Decoders, Korner 9.2 Antenna, FM-6 Antenna, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active Whip.
“Nothing but blues and Elvis, and somebody else’s favorite song…”
SatPC32 is an excellent piece of software and well supported by DK1TB. I have used it often and it works well. Many of us have had great, almost real-time support from the author. My hats off to Eric for helping many operators get on the satellites. Many users use it and it supports AMSAT. Thank you Eric! Working in the software industry, I too feel it is time to create the next generation of software that takes the excellent technology of SatPC, adds the beautiful display of Nova, creates easy updating of satellite profiles and keps, all on multiple platforms for Windows, Linux and Mac. This is being done today for FLDIGI and WSJT for example. There is no reason the software can't be brought to the next level. We already have many new satellites to work FM and linear SSB/CW. If we are to encourage new users to get on the linear satellites, we will need software that encourages exploration in this area. With cheap SDR receivers, it is possible the reduce the cost of a linear setup. We are even starting to see small SDR transceivers hit the market that would would easily fit the bill for small stations that would make great starter stations and great stations for rovers. There are so many possibilities! There are many great programs that are available for satellite operators today. Each program has something that we would use in our daily oprations. I think we have an opportunity to come up with a list of "must have" features from all these programs and bring them into one well thought out piece of software that meets today's state of the art for satellite tracking and operations. I would like AMSAT and its membership give some serious thought about such a project. We have plenty of satellites at the moment and other organizations are sending up more. Now is a good time to consider putting an open source software program together to create the next generation software to help new users embrace all the new satellites, help increase enjoyment for current users and expand opportunities for the super users to try even more. See what FLDIGI did for digital and see what WSJT-X has done for waking up dead bands with FT8. We should be able to do the same based on past work and create a new satellite tracking program for the next generation of operators. I am sure we have some excellent coders in our community and new operators with coding skills that could add to the project. Operating on satellites is fun but not easy, as the cliche goes: if it was easy everybody would do it. Full disclosure, I was a long time AMSAT member but let my membership drop due to a job loss a few years ago.I am seriously considering joining AMSAT again and such a project would get me to sign up in an instance. My checkbook is ready. 73, Adrian AA5UK
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On Sun, Feb 4, 2018 at 12:53 AM, Les Rayburnles@highnoonfilm.com wrote: Actually Paul, I have to disagree with your comments.
It would be best if either SatPC32 was reprogrammed to allow for seamless and automatic updates when new satellites are launch, or if someone would write a completely new piece of software with this capability.
SatPC32 may be the best available (I think it is after trying them all) but it’s hardly a user-friendly piece of software. Amateur satellite communications offers one of the most cutting edge areas of our hobby, but the premiere software package available doesn’t begin to compare to things like WSJT, CWSkimmer, or other software tools that we have available.
I’d rather have AMSAT fund one less satellite and instead funnel those resources towards the development of a satellite tracking and rig control software that performs better.
Maybe we should start a crowd-sourcing project.
73,
Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf
Member WTFDA, IRCA, NRC. Former CPC Chairman for NRC & IRCA.
Elad FDM-S2 SDR, AirSpy SDR2, SDRPlay RSP-2 Pro, Sony XDR-F1HD, Dennon TU-1500RD, Sangean HDT-1, Ray Dees RDS Decoders, Korner 9.2 Antenna, FM-6 Antenna, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active Whip.
“Nothing but blues and Elvis, and somebody else’s favorite song…”
_______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
if someone would write a completely new piece of software with this capability.
That someone could be you! GPredict is under the GPL so you could hack away at it and add whatever feature you wish and a lot of the hard work has already been done. This is where open source really shines, you can quit waiting on someone else and fix it yourself. You can find the source code here https://github.com/csete/gpredict/releases
I’d rather have AMSAT fund one less satellite and instead funnel those resources towards the development of a satellite tracking and rig control software that performs better.
No thanks, I’d rather have more hardware. Why would I want AMSAT to allocate resources to something I can do manually?
Maybe we should start a crowd-sourcing project.
This is exactly what open source is, maybe you can take the lead and organize an AMSAT fork of GPredict that will do exactly what you want.
73, Mike Diehl W8LID
I agree with Les; SatPC32 is a good piece of software but it does have a few holes that need it to be plugged to make it the flagship software that AMSAT members should have. And as far as Paul's comments about basically "figure it out yourself" once again I feel he fancies himself on occasion as the OO of the FM birds. Don't get me wrong I have seen many posts he has made that are quite enlightening and helpful but on occasion he tends to go to the dark side. I mean this is one ham asking the satellite community for help with a problem they were having and to be put down by one of the AMSAT members was unnecessary. If the members think it is a goofy request then just don't respond to it. Geeezzzz... If you cant say something positive just keep it to yourself. Bedside manner Paul. You have many good things to help with the community...stick to that.
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 Auxiliary Files
From: "Mike Diehl" diehl.mike.a@gmail.com
Date: Sun, February 4, 2018 9:22 am
To: "Les Rayburn" les@highnoonfilm.com
Cc: "AMSAT BB" amsat-bb@amsat.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
if someone would write a completely new piece of software with this capability.
That someone could be you! GPredict is under the GPL so you could hack away at it and add whatever feature you wish and a lot of the hard work has already been done. This is where open source really shines, you can quit waiting on someone else and fix it yourself. You can find the source code
here https://github.com/csete/gpredict/releases
I’d rather have AMSAT fund one less satellite and instead funnel those resources towards the development of a satellite tracking and rig control software that performs better.
No thanks, I’d rather have more hardware. Why would I want AMSAT to allocate resources to something I can do manually?
Maybe we should start a crowd-sourcing project.
This is exactly what open source is, maybe you can take the lead and organize an AMSAT fork of GPredict that will do exactly what you want.
73,
Mike Diehl
W8LID
Sent via AMSAT-BB@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.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
I agree that there is plenty of room to improve SatPC 32. Only being able to track 12 satellites per group is a limitation. Modifying the files is not difficult in my opinion, but automated downloads like the keps would be an improvement. I remember the days of manual keps input. I can't remember the last time SatPC 32 had an update.
I use SatPC 32 to automate my station radio and rotors. Works very well.
For pass planning and announcement I use HRD Satellite Tracking and MacDoppler. These programs have a much better graphical interface. To bad the HRD Satellite Tracker does not work well for station automation. MacDoppler works well for station integration but my shack computer is a Windows box.
Does AMSAT own the code to SatPC32 or would a group of programmers need to start from scratch?
Frank K6FW
On 2/3/18 10:03 PM, Les Rayburn wrote:
Actually Paul, I have to disagree with your comments.
It would be best if either SatPC32 was reprogrammed to allow for seamless and automatic updates when new satellites are launch, or if someone would write a completely new piece of software with this capability.
SatPC32 may be the best available (I think it is after trying them all) but it’s hardly a user-friendly piece of software. Amateur satellite communications offers one of the most cutting edge areas of our hobby, but the premiere software package available doesn’t begin to compare to things like WSJT, CWSkimmer, or other software tools that we have available.
I’d rather have AMSAT fund one less satellite and instead funnel those resources towards the development of a satellite tracking and rig control software that performs better.
Maybe we should start a crowd-sourcing project.
73,
Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf
Member WTFDA, IRCA, NRC. Former CPC Chairman for NRC & IRCA.
Elad FDM-S2 SDR, AirSpy SDR2, SDRPlay RSP-2 Pro, Sony XDR-F1HD, Dennon TU-1500RD, Sangean HDT-1, Ray Dees RDS Decoders, Korner 9.2 Antenna, FM-6 Antenna, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active Whip.
“Nothing but blues and Elvis, and somebody else’s favorite song…”
Sent via AMSAT-BB@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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
SatPC32 has worked well for me for many years, yes the SQF files require some reading and a little effort to figure out but once you get past that bump they are easy to use.
All I hope is if something is automated there will be a box to check to turn it off.
Many of my files are tuned to my station and what I am interested in for which mode I want to have as default, if everyone understood them and what they can do then they would understand one automated size does not fit all.
73 Kevin WA7FWF
I agree 100%. I have 3 different Doppler.SQF files for my three different home stations....
73 Jeff kb2m
-----Original Message----- From: Kevin Schuchmann Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2018 5:57 PM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 Auxiliary Files
SatPC32 has worked well for me for many years, yes the SQF files require some reading and a little effort to figure out but once you get past that bump they are easy to use.
All I hope is if something is automated there will be a box to check to turn it off.
Many of my files are tuned to my station and what I am interested in for which mode I want to have as default, if everyone understood them and what they can do then they would understand one automated size does not fit all.
73 Kevin WA7FWF
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Hi All,
While I agree SatPC32 has a few things that could be improved let's also remember that Erich DK1TB is on the newsgroup, I believe he owns full rights to the application and does quite a service to the community I don't believe the profits from the application.
The question came up about the last release it was 12.8c I think from a quick Google it was released in 2013.
The software has quirks but at the same time, while rewriting a new application its worth remembering it also needs a support system you only have to watch the constant flow of people asking for help on here and facebook.
It's not just a simple thing of "writing a new app" or getting the source code.
73,
Peter, 2M0SQL
On 4 February 2018 at 23:11, kb2mjeff@att.net wrote:
I agree 100%. I have 3 different Doppler.SQF files for my three different home stations....
73 Jeff kb2m
-----Original Message----- From: Kevin Schuchmann Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2018 5:57 PM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 Auxiliary Files
SatPC32 has worked well for me for many years, yes the SQF files require some reading and a little effort to figure out but once you get past that bump they are easy to use.
All I hope is if something is automated there will be a box to check to turn it off.
Many of my files are tuned to my station and what I am interested in for which mode I want to have as default, if everyone understood them and what they can do then they would understand one automated size does not fit all.
73 Kevin WA7FWF
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. http://www.avg.com
Sent via AMSAT-BB@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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
I agree with most of the comments in this thread. Although SatPC32 has worked fairly well, I find myself using other tracking programs in concert with it. I like Wisp32 as to being able to have a one shot display of many of the satellites in view schedules at a time then chose the one for the map. The only problem is that Wisp332 is picky running under Windows 10 and the registry. Sometimes the satellites disappear after and upgrade and system reboot. I find by adding just one satellite back in and my QTH info, they all come back.
At times I use Instatrak for printing out schedules.
Reid, W4UPD
, time w
On 2/4/2018 5:57 PM, Kevin Schuchmann wrote:
SatPC32 has worked well for me for many years, yes the SQF files require some reading and a little effort to figure out but once you get past that bump they are easy to use.
All I hope is if something is automated there will be a box to check to turn it off.
Many of my files are tuned to my station and what I am interested in for which mode I want to have as default, if everyone understood them and what they can do then they would understand one automated size does not fit all.
73 Kevin WA7FWF
Sent via AMSAT-BB@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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
As far as HRD is concerned, the new owner, Mike Carper, WA9PIE, claims he is committed to 'fixing' the Sat portion of HRD. He has been invited to comment on this forum on many occasions. So far its 'crickets from HRD.
73, Ted K7TRK
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Frank Sent: Sunday, February 4, 2018 9:56 AM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 Auxiliary Files
I agree that there is plenty of room to improve SatPC 32. Only being able to track 12 satellites per group is a limitation. Modifying the files is not difficult in my opinion, but automated downloads like the keps would be an improvement. I remember the days of manual keps input. I can't remember the last time SatPC 32 had an update.
I use SatPC 32 to automate my station radio and rotors. Works very well.
For pass planning and announcement I use HRD Satellite Tracking and MacDoppler. These programs have a much better graphical interface. To bad the HRD Satellite Tracker does not work well for station automation. MacDoppler works well for station integration but my shack computer is a Windows box.
Does AMSAT own the code to SatPC32 or would a group of programmers need to start from scratch?
Frank K6FW
On 2/3/18 10:03 PM, Les Rayburn wrote:
Actually Paul, I have to disagree with your comments.
It would be best if either SatPC32 was reprogrammed to allow for seamless and automatic updates when new satellites are launch, or if someone would write a completely new piece of software with this capability.
SatPC32 may be the best available (I think it is after trying them all) but it’s hardly a user-friendly piece of software. Amateur satellite communications offers one of the most cutting edge areas of our hobby, but the premiere software package available doesn’t begin to compare to things like WSJT, CWSkimmer, or other software tools that we have available.
I’d rather have AMSAT fund one less satellite and instead funnel those resources towards the development of a satellite tracking and rig control software that performs better.
Maybe we should start a crowd-sourcing project.
73,
Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf
Member WTFDA, IRCA, NRC. Former CPC Chairman for NRC & IRCA.
Elad FDM-S2 SDR, AirSpy SDR2, SDRPlay RSP-2 Pro, Sony XDR-F1HD, Dennon TU-1500RD, Sangean HDT-1, Ray Dees RDS Decoders, Korner 9.2 Antenna, FM-6 Antenna, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active Whip.
“Nothing but blues and Elvis, and somebody else’s favorite song…”
Sent via AMSAT-BB@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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (10)
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Adrian Engele -
Frank -
jim＠beeson.cc -
kb2mjeff＠att.net -
Kevin Schuchmann -
Les Rayburn -
Mike Diehl -
Peter Goodhall -
Ted Krempa -
w4upd