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Notes on STSORBIT PLUS Beta Version 9334 ---------------------------------------- Version 9334 (and 9333) are a MAJOR UPGRADE and one step toward full dual satellite tracking. Version 9334 repairs some bugs and expands the number of static and real time satellites to a maximum of 32 At this point, multiple satellites may be tracked using the Real Time features described here. Time resolution for these additional satellites is 10 seconds. Users should remember that this is a BETA RELEASE which almost certainly has bugs; please report any bugs you discover. These notes assume users are at least generally familiar with the full documentation distributed with this release or prior versions; these notes are NOT intended to replace that full documentation. Comments and suggestions are invited. Special thanks to Joel Runes for his help in testing initial beta versions and tracking down numerous problems! David H. Ransom, Jr. 7130 Avenida Altisima Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90274 SETUP NOTES: ------------ 1. If you are upgrading, unpack the ZIP files to a NEW SUBDIRECTORY to avoid disturbing your current version of STSPLUS. 2. Copy the following files from your old subdirectory to the new subdirectory if they have been modified or customized. STSPLUS.CTY STSPLUS.LOC STSPLUS.LTD STSPLUS.TRK Also copy any other special .CTY, .LOC, or .TRK files you have prepared. 3. Start the program with the command: STSPLUS 4. Before trying to track a satellite, use F7 from the Main Menu to set up all paths and filenames as they exist on your system. The "basic" STSPLUS.INI file supplied with this release defaults to the drive from which the program is executed. 5. If you already have higher detail Map Database files stored in some other directory, be sure to set the path correctly. This distribution package includes EARTH4 files; if they are already located elsewhere, they may be deleted if the map path is correctly set. OPERATIONAL DISCUSSION: ----------------------- There are more ways to set up the new features than even I have had a chance to explore, but here are a few hints and suggestions based upon what I have experimented with so far. 1. Tracking multiple satellites in the orthographic mode requires that satellites be in the same "hemisphere" in order to be plotted, even in the MAG=100 view. You can switch to the World Map ("W") to see where all the satellites are. It's particularly interesting when several satellites are close together. On 4 AUG 93 at about 22:00 UTC (15:00 PDT), ROSAT, MIR and UARS were sufficiently close that you could watch all three in orthographic mode at MAG = 200! 2. When in normal map modes and with any of the ground track options (DOTS, LINE, or BOTH) enabled, the "real time" satellites leave a ground track behind that is the same as the selected icon color. The ground track is in the form of dots spaced 10 seconds (X1 or X10) or 60 seconds (X60) apart. The satellite label, if enabled, is written once when the map is drawn and remains stationary. 3. When in the Motion Map mode, especially with a high speed computer and using a "vanilla" boot disk without memory managers, the map drawing time is quite short (on my 486DX/33 that's about 6 seconds at MAG=200). In this mode, the label follows right along with the icon and no ground track is left behind. It was an interesting display at the time in item #1 above. As a general comment on the Motion Map mode, this mode has the advantage of keeping the primary satellite centered on the screen and always keeping the label with other satellites. The principal disadvantage is that you must suffer with EGA (rather than VGA) display resolution. Particularly when tracking several satellites in reasonably close proximity, however, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in my opinion. 4. STSPLUS expects that the first two satellites set up with F6 will be TDRS (or geosynchronous) satellites. 19883 and 21639 are the "standard" choices for TDRS East and TDRS West respectively. Selecting some other non-geosynchronous satellites for those slots may produce unpredictable results! 5. Labels for the new additional satellites are optional, but especially for the "real time" satellites they are a real help in finding the satellite! Labels are limited to 5 characters and usually that's plenty. For the Real Experts, use the NORAD number. 6. Although the full range of colors is available, stay away from the colors that make up the land masses and rivers (Cyans and Blues) to avoid "losing" the satellite in the clutter. This is especially true for full world views; at higher zoom factors and over oceans, any color will show up. 7. STSPLUS's new capability to update all internally stored TLEs came in very handy during my testing of the past few days. As it happened, the most recent elements were in several files: TLEnnn and GSFCnnn. Simply asking STSPLUS to update its TLEs and calling out the two files in turn did the whole job in a few seconds. 8. While these features can be used with monochrome monitors, color is an important feature and makes the difference between a display which is clear visually and one which is simply cluttered. About the only remedy is to turn off some features (like extra grid lines and lakes/rivers) to reduce the clutter. My testing is done almost exclusively using a VGA color monitor operating in VGA or EGA modes. 9. Just in case someone tries all this on a CGA machine, be advised that most of the new satellite features are disabled on those systems! If that's a big problem for someone, please let me know ... The following are extracts from new sections of the manual text, reprinted here for convenience, which describe the changes to the F2 and F6 function keys on the Main Menu. F2 Read/Update NASA/NORAD 2-Line Elements from *.TXT/*.TLE Files -------------------------------------------------------------------- In order to read or update the NASA/NORAD 2-line elements, you must have a file with data for the appropriate satellites. A current file is included in the standard distribution of STSPLUS. These files have names such as "TLE239.TXT" where the "239" corresponds to the particular US Space Command Prediction Bulletin number from T. S. Kelso's Celestial BBS and may change several times per week. Update Current TDRS and Real Time Satellites -------------------------------------------- Once TDRS and Real Time Satellites have been selected (using F6 from the Main Menu), it is necessary to periodically update the 2-line elements ("TLEs") for these satellites so that the calculated positions are accurate. Naturally, this is also true for the primary satellite being tracked. TLEs have a limited lifetime. For higher altitude satellites such as geosynchronous satellites, 4 to 8 weeks is probably sufficient unless the satellite is being maneuvered (although I usually do this task at least weekly since I have the data). For low Earth orbit satellites, even when the satellite is not being maneuvered, I recommend a maximum interval between updates of 1 to 2 weeks; if the satellite is being maneuvered, such as is usually the case with the Space Shuttle, daily updates may be required. To update 2-line elements for the primary satellite and all TDRS and Real Time satellites, press F2 and select the desired file as described in the following section. Then enter the satellite name as "&" to request TLE update mode. The TLE file will be scanned and all satellite TLEs will be updated if their Epoch Time is later than those presently stored. The entire process takes only a few seconds. The following prompt illustrates the "Update" selection: Select NASA/NORAD 2-Line Elements File Enter 2-Line Filename [GSFC267.TXT]: GSFC267.TXT Enter Satellite Name/#nnnnn [#20638]: & (Enter '*' to match any satellite name, '&' for AUTO UPDATE) As STSPLUS updates TLEs, a list of the satellites for which new TLEs have been loaded is displayed: Automatic TLE updates for: Satellite 3: Norad# 22314 @ 93217.59157166 Satellite 2: Norad# 21639 @ 93219.36124578 Satellite 8: Norad# 20580 @ 93218.03265951 Satellite 1: Norad# 19883 @ 93220.90943044 Satellite 4: Norad# 19548 @ 93220.44861278 Satellite 6: Norad# 16609 @ 93220.81848976 Satellite 5: Norad# 13969 @ 93220.48367176 Press any key to continue ... In the example shown, the TLEs for seven satellites were updated to the Epoch Times indicated. The satellite number indicates the "slot" in the TDRS and Real Time Satellite list, or "P" for the primary satellite. The updated TLEs will be saved in file STSPLUS.INI. Press ENTER to return to the Main Menu. F6 Set/Read/Save TDRS and Real Time Satellites -------------------------------------------------- STSPLUS is able to display up to sixteen additional TDRS (or other geosynchronous/geostationary) or Real Time satellites. The first menu selection allows the user to select the desired satellite for each of the sixteen available "slots" as well as abbreviation, mode, and icon/label color. Note that these features are enabled and disabled using F10+F3+F2 from the Main Menu. The following menu is displayed: TDRS and Real Time Satellite Maintenance Menu F1 Display/Modify satellite assignments F2 Save SCF Satellite Configuration File F3 Read SCF Satellite Configuration File Press function key for desired menu or ENTER for Main Menu: Press ENTER to return to the Main Menu, or press the desired function key to perform the indicated item. Before the current position of each satellite can be calculated, 2- line elements must be read or updated using F2 from the Main Menu. After this has been performed once, the position will be calculated based upon those 2-line elements. The user is reminded that the 2-line elements should be updated periodically so that the calculated position accurately reflects the actual position. NOTE: Users of prior versions of STSPLUS will note that Function Key F6 has been reassigned for its present function. Switching between MET and T+Epoch may now be accomplished ONLY by pressing F5 while the ground track is displayed. F1 Display/Modify Satellite Assignments ---------------------------------------- This menu selection displays the current TDRS and Real Time Satellite assignments and option selections as a table: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- TDRS and Real Time Satellite Setup Sat# NORAD# Abbr Mode Color Size Label Vis Color Chart 1 19883 TDRE Static 10 o 3 ON 2 21639 TDRW Static 10 o 3 ON 1 = XXXXX 3 22314 TDR5 Static 2 o 3 ON OFF 2 = XXXXX 4 19548 TDR2 Static 2 o 3 ON OFF 3 = XXXXX 5 13969 TDR1 Static 2 o 3 ON OFF 4 = XXXXX 6 16609 MIR Real Time 12 o ON ON 5 = XXXXX 7 21701 UARS Real Time 13 o ON OFF 6 = XXXXX 8 20580 HST Real Time 14 o ON OFF 7 = XXXXX 9 20638 ROSAT Real Time 13 o ON OFF 8 = XXXXX 10 22076 TOPEX Real Time 13 o ON OFF 9 = XXXXX 11 0 (not used) 10 = XXXXX 12 0 (not used) 11 = XXXXX 13 0 (not used) 12 = XXXXX 14 0 (not used) 13 = XXXXX 15 0 (not used) 14 = XXXXX 16 0 (not used) 15 = XXXXX Enter Satellite # to edit or press ENTER when done: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: The first two satellite slots, #1 and #2, are reserved for the standard TDRS East and TDRS West satellites, currently NORAD Numbers 19833 and 21639. Instead of conventional circles of visibility, these two satellites generate commumications coverage circles. Assigning different satellites, especially satellites which are not geostationary, may produce unpredictable results. The Satellite Setup table headings indicate: Sat# Satellite Assignment Number, 1 to 16. NORAD# The NORAD Number of the assigned satellite, or "0" if no satellite is assigned to this slot. Abbr The five character abbreviation assigned to this satellite. Use only letters and numbers; the common satellite name or NORAD Number are the recommended choices. This abbreviation will be used as a label on the map if the Label is ON. Mode Three classifications are available: "Static" for geosynchronous or geostationary satellites; "Real Time" for satellites to be tracked dynamically; and, "(not used)" for unassigned slots. Color A number selected from the Color Chart at the right which indicates the color to be used to display the satellite icon and label (if enabled). Each "XXXXX" in the Color Chart appears on color monitors as a bar of the corresponding color. The "o" character to the right of the number is displayed as a small diamond in the selected color. Size For Static satellites only, selects the relative size of the icon used to represent the satellite. Values may range from 3 to 6. This column is blank for Real Time satellites since the icon size is fixed for these satellites. Label May be set to "ON" or "OFF" to indicate if the satellite abbreviation is to be displayed. The label color will be the same as that selected for the satellite. Vis May be set to "ON" or "OFF" to indicate if the satellite circle of visibility is to be drawn. The circle of visibility is drawn only for Static satellite on normal maps but is drawn for all satellites on Motion maps. Color The color chart displays the 15 available icon and label Chart colors (BLACK is omitted). When a monochrone display is used and the "/M" command line option is specified, two levels of gray will normally be displayed instead of colors. Each color is assigned a standard color number which is used for all data entries. As indicated by the prompt, simply press ENTER if all data in the Satellite Setup is correct. You will return to the F6 menu above. If you wish to add a satellite or change the selections for an existing satellite, enter the satellite slot number (Sat# in the left column of the table). The following prompts will be displayed in turn: Enter NORAD Number: (Enter 0 to clear the satellite entry) STSPLUS expects the NORAD number for the desired satellite. This number will be used to "capture" the 2-line elements when this satellite is subsequently displayed. Enter Satellite Abbreviation: Enter any desired abbreviation, 5 characters or less, or the NORAD number. Use only letters and numbers with no leading spaces. Enter Mode (0=STATIC, 1=REAL TIME): Enter "0" or "1". STATIC mode satellites are drawn each time the map is redrawn on the screen. REAL TIME satellites are updated every 10 seconds or as often as the processor can complete the required calculations. Enter satellite color (1 to 15): Enter the number for the desired color, as shown on the Color Chart at the right of the screen. Illegal color numbers will default to YELLOW. Display satellite Label (0=NO, 1=YES): Enter "0" or "1". The label will be displayed directly below the satellite icon in the same color as that selected for the icon in the preceeding step. For Real Time satellites, the label is only drawn when the map is redrawn and remains stationary EXCEPT when using the Motion Map (in which case it follows with the icon). Display Cir of Visibility (0=NO, 1=YES): Enter "0" or "1". The circle of visibility is drawn (when enabled) for all Static satellites, and for all Real Time satellites when using the Motion Map. When a new satellite is entered, a double asterisk ("**") will appear at the right for that satellite slot. This is to remind the user to display the ground track for that satellite so that 2-line elements may be stored in the TLE memory associated with that slot. The following message will also appear below the chart: ** Display ground track for this satellite! To display the ground track, press F2 from the Main Menu, select the file of 2-line elements which includes the satellite in question, and enter the NORAD Number ("#nnnnn", where "nnnnn" is the NORAD Number). Once the satellite has been displayed on the map, the 2-line elements will be saved for future use. Although 2-line elements are saved for all TDRS and Real Time satellites, the user is reminded that these elements have a limited lifetime. That lifetime varies considerably from satellite to satellite. For geosynchronous satellites, 4 to 8 weeks is probably reasonable; for other active satellites, 1 to 2 weeks should be an upper limit before new elements are used. Use F2 from the Main Menu and enter the satellite name as "&" to scan through the 2-line elements file and update all elements which are more recent than those now saved. F2 Save SCF Satellite Configuration File ----------------------------------------- Users may wish to switch among several sets of TDRS and Real Time satellites from time to time. Since it can be tedious to re-enter all the information repeatedly, STSPLUS can save and read Satellite Configuration Files, identified by the filetype .SCF. All parameters are saved and restored, exactly as if entered at the time. The current satellite configuration is automatically saved in file STSPLUS.INI each time the program is exited and is restored when the program is restarted. The following prompt is displayed: Save SCF Satellite Configuration File Enter FILENAME (without .SCF filetype), ENTER to quit: Enter any desired filename WITHOUT the .SCF filetype; STSPLUS automatically appends the filetype and will reject any filename which includes a filetype. Filenames may be no longer than 8 characters. If the file already exists, it will be overwritten; if it does not exist, it will be created. Do not use filename STSPLUS since a sample file by that name is included with the distribution package (unless you wish to overwrite the supplied file). F3 Read SCF Satellite Configuration File ----------------------------------------- See the comments above for saving SCF files. The following prompt is displayed: Read SCF Satellite Configuration File Enter FILENAME (without .SCF filetype), ENTER to quit: Enter any desired filename WITHOUT the .SCF filetype; STSPLUS automatically appends the filetype and will reject any filename which includes a filetype. Filenames may be no longer than 8 characters. If the file does not exist, an error message will be displayed. STSORBIT PLUS Revision History ------------------------------ Each released version of STSPLUS uses a four digit revision code such as 9334. The first two digits indicate the year and the second two digits indicate the week of the year. In some cases, an additional letter suffix is added to distinguish changes occurring within the same week or to identify special versions. A partial week at the beginning or end of the year is counted as a full week. Using this method, a year will typically have 53 weeks although it is possible to have 54 weeks in a leap year (1972 is an example). The current year-week revision code is shown on the Julian Date display, Display Mode 7, in my program ASTROCLK. This file records the revision history of program STSPLUS through all of the minor twists and turns that usually accompany the evolution of such a complex program. It illustrates the tortuous process of maintaining and refining a program as ideas and problems are reported from every quarter. These notes may also be helpful to users who are upgrading from one version to another to find out what has changed. David H. Ransom, Jr. Version 9334 -- August 1993 --------------------------- -The maximum number of Static and Real Time satellites is increased to 32. This permits the entire GPS constellation, currently 25 active Block I and Block II satellites, to be tracked. The satellite setup display, F6+F1 from the Main Menu, has been modified to two display pages of 16 satellites each; the second page of 16 is not displayed if no active satellites are present. -Added "Clear Static and Real Time Satellites", F6+F4 from the Main Menu, to speed reconfiguration of these satellites. It may be used to clear any block of satellites NOT INCLUDING #1 AND #2 (which are assigned to TDRS East and TDRS West and must be cleared manually). Users are cautioned that once cleared, the satellite data for the cleared satellites is lost. If in doubt, save the current satellite configuration to a SCF file using F2 BEFORE clearing! -Somehow the "bullseye" was lost in the Tracking Mode for rectangular projection several releases back. It has now returned. Thanks to Alan Pound for reporting the problem! -As an experiment, I changed the color of land boundaries from Light Cyan to Cyan to make multi-satellites and other display features a little easier to spot. Feedback welcome! -When Extra Grid Lines are OFF (F10+F3+F3), changed the color of the grid lines from Light Blue to Blue and added lines of latitude at +80 and -80 degrees. -Various repairs to eliminate spurious pixels and other minor problems associated with multi-satellites. Version 9333 -- August 1993 --------------------------- -This is a MAJOR UPGRADE, adding multi-satellite capability. This is the first in a series of upgrades for tracking multiple satellites and rendezvous missions. Comments, suggestions, and bug reports are welcome! -Special thanks to Joel Runes for his assistance during beta testing! -OPERATIONAL HINT: With the addition of multi-satellite tracking, the Motion Map feature now really comes into its own; press "M" when the normal map is displayed to switch to the EGA Motion Map, press "M" or ENTER to return to normal map or to the Main Menu. All satellites are updated as fast as the computer can draw the map. See the notes on a "vanilla" boot without memory managers for dedicated STSPLUS uses. -The format of file STSPLUS.INI has been substantially modified and files from prior versions of STSPLUS will be ignored. The configuration information must therefore be re-entered. -Increased to sixteen the number of additional TDRS and real time satellite positions in file STSPLUS.INI so that all active satellites may be updated and displayed. Sample data are shown below. See the section "TDRS and Real Time Satellite Features" for additional information. 19883,"TDRE ", -0.04218, -41.14169,10014 21639,"TDRW ", -0.03643,-174.14074,10014 22314,"TDR5 ", -0.31155,-138.36021,10004 19548,"TDR2 ", 0.05352, -61.66467,10004 13969,"TDR1 ", -6.59117,-170.55876,10004 16609,"MIR ",-17.45706,-178.73251,14115 -TLEs for each active satellite are now saved in the .INI file so that accurate positions may be calculated dynamically. These TLEs should be updated periodically. -TLEs are may now also be saved in and read from special .SCF (Satellite Configuration File) files so that multiple TDRS and Real Time satellite configurations may be saved and/or selected. A sample file, STSPLUS.SCF is included in the standard distribution. Function Key F6 from the Main Menu is used to display, modify, save, or read these data. -The 5-character abbreviation of each TDRS satellite may now be used to label the satellite. The size and color of the icon used to display each TDRS or real time satellite may now be independently controlled. -STSPLUS now uses the calculated LATITUDE for the display of all TDRS satellites. This will cause TDRS1, for example, to appear up to 7 degrees North or South of the Equator (as of 8/9/93). -The drive, path, and name of the .CTY file may now be set with F7 from the Main Menu. -The Motion Map is now available for the World Map in rectangular projection. This is helpful with multiple real time satellites. -Repaired an infrequent bug discovered by Joel Runes which causes the orthographic map to be redrawn continuously when a) the satellite has a high eccentricity (.73 in the test case), and b) when the map is being drawn at approximately the time of perigee. The code has been modified to take the Eccentricity into account in calculating the map offset time. -Corrected a minor bug which caused MET in excess of 9999 days to overflow the assigned format statement for the data block and appear as "%12038/00:00:00 MET" with the "MET" wrapping around to the left side of the screen. Obviously, there aren't many satellites with this problem, but NORAD #00051 is one such. The STSPLUS.LTD entry for this satellite is: 00051,2437158.90208333,0 and the problem was noted because of the pre-launch "temporary" NORAD number assignment for STS-51. -A similar problem occured with the large clock displays. In both projection modes, only the last four days of MET are now displayed (12038 days will display as "2038"). -Added a reminder in the text that when entering filenames using F7 from the Main Menu, a drive and path may also be included if desired. That capability has been present for some time but was not stated explicitly. -Changed the precision that the "plain English" display of the elements Epoch Time is displayed for approval (F2 from the Main Menu) from [rounded] integer seconds to 0.001 seconds, coordinated with VEC2TLE V9331. -Several V9332 Beta Versions were released privately for testing. Version 9331 -- July 1993 ------------------------- -In coordination with Ken Ernandes' VEC2TLE, the data output for Format 7, ECI State Vector (Labeled Data), has been modified. The data have been supplemented by the addition of two lines: Element Set Number; and, Rev Number at Epoch. The IAU Designation has been added to the Catalog Number line and the Epoch Time is now given to .001 seconds. The data output for Format 4 has been changed so that it is identical to Format 7. See text for details. -Per Ken Ernandes, the Format 4 & 7 label "Ndot/3" is changed to "Nndot/6". -I have received NO REPORTS from anyone using Data Formats 5 and 6. Those formats may not continue to be supported indefinitely UNLESS I am informed of applications which use them. CAUTION: STSPLUS Version 9331 Data Formats 4 and 7 are NOT compatible with VEC2TLE Version 9322 when multiple state vectors are generated! Use a release of VEC2TLE with a version number equal to or greater than 9331. (However, manually editing the data to remove the Elset and Rev Number lines can restore compatibility with the older version.) NOTE: Users are urged to update to VEC2TLE Version 9331 or the current version, which ever is later! Not only does the current version of VEC2TLE maintain compatibility with STSPLUS but several important new features have been added and a bug in Version 9322 which affected data accuracy under certain circumstances has been repaired. -The Tracking Station Mode is now active in both Orthographic and Rectangular projections. The projection used will same as the one which is active when the "T" key is pressed. -Repaired a bug which caused the NORAD number displayed in the Pass Prediction Mode to be incorrect under certain circumstances. Thanks to Grant Pinto! -Repaired a bug in the pass prediction logic which caused the MAX VISIBILITY data to be missstated by a significant amount for certain satellites, especially ones with higher eccentricities. Thanks to Grant Pinto for spotting and reporting the bug! -Changed the default time zone abbreviation for unrecognized (foreign) time zones from all spaces (which confused the Pass Prediction setup!) to "LCL". -Corrected a bug using F2 from the Main Menu which showed no 2-line elements files if no .TXT files were found in the current directory but one or more .TLE files were present. Thanks to Bob Krohn for reporting the bug. If no files of either filetype are found, an error is displayed and the user is returned to the Main Menu. -Corrected a bug in default paths if the root directory was used. (Path defaulted to "B:\\" instead of "B:\" for drive B:, etc.) -Corrected a bug in the NORAD number for F2 from the Main Menu. If the NORAD number was greater than 32767, a negative nunber was shown. -Disabled RIGHTIME detection for 8086/8088 processors. The detection process affected the time in certain XT-class machines. -Corrected a minor bug which caused the "blink" feature for the satellite icon not to function under certain circumstances. -Corrected a minor bug which initialized the Location Flag incorrectly for CGA systems when file STSPLUS.INI was not present. Locations and Features were displayed even though the menu display indicated they were OFF. -Various cosmetic changes. -Most of the changes in this release were included in Beta Version 9329.