So I have confirmed HRD is like 23 minutes ahead of Amsat, I got a good Digi Qso on the last pass... I just dont see why Amsat shows good info but not on there keps download.
Probly will get fixed soon, just makin sure HRD users were on the same page...
Kevin KF7MYK
On Wed, 2011-06-15 at 23:05 -0700, Kevin Deane wrote:
So I have confirmed HRD is like 23 minutes ahead of Amsat, I got a good Digi Qso on the last pass... I just dont see why Amsat shows good info but not on there keps download.
Because the amsat site is an unusable pile of crap, with various bits and pieces that don't entirely talk to each other.
The keps download and the pass predictions should pull their information from the same source. This would be incredibly easy to script. However, it appears that the downloadable keps are only updated when someone can be bothered to get off their hindmost and upload a text file containing them.
Several people (including) have offered to fix or rewrite the amsat.org site, even for free. Instead they're all too busy with their HEO cargo-cult.
Gordon MM0YEQ
On 06/16/11 02:38, Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
On Wed, 2011-06-15 at 23:05 -0700, Kevin Deane wrote:
So I have confirmed HRD is like 23 minutes ahead of Amsat, I got a good Digi Qso on the last pass... I just dont see why Amsat shows good info but not on there keps download.
Because the amsat site is an unusable pile of crap, with various bits and pieces that don't entirely talk to each other.
The keps download and the pass predictions should pull their information from the same source. This would be incredibly easy to script. However, it appears that the downloadable keps are only updated when someone can be bothered to get off their hindmost and upload a text file containing them.
Several people (including) have offered to fix or rewrite the amsat.org site, even for free. Instead they're all too busy with their HEO cargo-cult.
Gordon MM0YEQ
Offer again, in public? Like, here?
--STeve Andre' wb8wsf en72
On Thu, 2011-06-16 at 02:42 -0400, STeve Andre' wrote:
Several people (including) have offered to fix or rewrite the amsat.org site, even for free. Instead they're all too busy with their HEO cargo-cult.
Gordon MM0YEQ
Offer again, in public? Like, here?
--STeve Andre' wb8wsf en72
Having done so and been rebuffed, I'm not inclined to do so again - even if I had the time to do so. Any time I spend on computery amateur radio stuff is given over to writing some APRS software for Linux, an area which is sadly lacking (although Windows isn't much better).
Gordon MM0YEQ
Hi Gordon,
Why bother with the rants if you feel so pissed?
I also liked the "old" amsat site but also realise things have moved on since then. Way back (!) I used to get my keps from the scheds on 20 metres along with several other folk, we all used to pool our handwritten notes to get consensus on the probable keps. Then they were entered manually into a derivative of Tom Clark's "orbit" program, thanks to Phil ZL1PK, who had access to the work computer and then disseminated to other interested amateurs. Sometimes by MAIL!. Today I fire up SATpc and upload the latest keps, have a look at the track of the selected sat, look at the mutual visibility and decide if it's worth going on air...... Tragic really when I think that I used to listen for AO10 and then try to get onboard using all (really) home brew gear.
So I guess , is the amsat community about grid chasing, moaning about the HEO LEO FM APRS ISS DATA ETC satellites or about amateur experimentation on OUR frequencies using space based technology?
In any event I expect a heap of replies about the direction that some of the posters to this forum seem to be heading in.(hi Keith!) In my opinion(!) the majority of folk on the board are far more interested in chasing grids and complaining about the minutiae of operating a given sat instead of debating the real issues... like where or who is going to provide more space junk for us to (hopefully) experiment with. Notice I did not say grid chase, position finangle systems, space relay systems, or any thing else.... All I would like to see is real debate and experimentation on AMSAT (as in real, and hypothetical future sats, as opposed to the present fixation on the lack of "x" satellites). As an old curmudgeon these topics exercise my limited mental capabilities but I would still like to see some intelligent discussion on at least some of of the crazy "I'm entitled to this (information) I see far too often on this board. Get real: Search for it your selves...Google...Join your local club, get on air and ask, go to a local college and join there science class, do some research at your local library...etc etc. I really worry that the "amateur" service is going to vanish mainly due to "the we are entitled to it" mentality. We aren't. Don, ZL1THO
Kevin,
The AMSAT Keps distribution service dates back to the dark ages when the Internet as we know it did not exist. Many got their info from the packet system since e-mail was fairly hard, and expensive, to come by. Also, all satellites were in a high enough orbits, and did not maneuver, that their Keps changed very slowly. Usually the Keps were good for a month or more, with the difference being only a few seconds when you updated. AMSAT.ALL is updated about once a week, no matter how many times you download it. For most satellites, that was, and is, more than enough. They do have the advantage that they use only the common satellite names, and at times in the past have quietly fixed some cases where Space Track has incorrectly paired object numbers with common names. They also include Keps for satellites which for some reason do not appear from Space Track, but only on their own web sites.
For the ISS, and the Shuttle for one more flight, your best source for data is CelesTrak which does Keps, and only Keps, or Space Track. All the major tracking programs will do this for you, though you will need to insure they are using the correct files. It is a common problem, often discussed here, and relatively simply addressed. For one old program I use for special purposes, I just cut and paste the new data if necessary.
The Keps posted there are not really an integral part of the AMSAT web site, but just a place where the data is provided for convenience. I hope a bit of historical perspective, and understanding what is going on behind the scenes, helps.
73s,
Alan WA4SCA
-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Deane Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 1:06 AM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS HRD
So I have confirmed HRD is like 23 minutes ahead of Amsat, I got a good Digi Qso on the last pass... I just dont see why Amsat shows good info but not on there keps download.
Probly will get fixed soon, just makin sure HRD users were on the same page...
Kevin KF7MYK _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
This is this mornings:
ISS (ZARYA) 1 25544U 98067A 11166.32006815 .00079535 00000-0 70033-3 0 5373 2 25544 051.6404 170.2103 0012163 235.9591 252.3222 15.67954468720612
Why do you expect Amsat to provide you with keps? Do as most of us do and get them yourself directly from www.space-track.org the people that generate them originally.
On 16/06/11 07:05, Kevin Deane wrote:
So I have confirmed HRD is like 23 minutes ahead of Amsat, I got a good Digi Qso on the last pass... I just dont see why Amsat shows good info but not on there keps download.
Probly will get fixed soon, just makin sure HRD users were on the same page...
Kevin KF7MYK _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
----- Original Message ----- From: "Nigel A. Gunn" nigel@ngunn.net To: "Kevin Deane" summit496@live.com Cc: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 2:42 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: ISS HRD
Why do you expect Amsat to provide you with keps? Do as most of us do and get them yourself directly from www.space-track.org the people that generate them originally.
On 16/06/11 07:05, Kevin Deane wrote:
So I have confirmed HRD is like 23 minutes ahead of Amsat, I got a good
Digi Qso on the last pass... I just dont see why Amsat shows good info but not on there keps download.
Probly will get fixed soon, just makin sure HRD users were on the same
page...
Kevin KF7MYK
Hi Kevin, KF7MYK
Traditionally AMSAT provided Equator Crossing to the users since 40 years ago when they were sent on paper by letters to all AMSAT members.
Actually AMSAT via WA5QGD send keps by email to the users every week from Fort Worth ,TX and in my opinion it is a nice and useful service.
73" de
i8CVS Domenico
participants (7)
-
Alan P. Biddle -
don -
Gordon JC Pearce -
i8cvs -
Kevin Deane -
Nigel A. Gunn -
STeve Andre'