Burns, Sounds good. There are various ways to combine the source files, but they are all external to SatPC32. I have just gotten so used to using different groups that my fingers are already programmed with that macro. :)
I like the description of groups as aliases! I will steal that for future explanations. 73s, Alan WA4SCA <-----Original Message----- <From: Burns Fisher [mailto:[email protected]] <Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2013 8:06 PM <To: Alan Biddle <Cc: AMSAT BB <Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Help with SATPC32 (maybe groups) please < <Hi Alan, < <Ok, so let me play this back. First, I understand the source <files. And I think I understand now that in a sense "groups" <are aliases for the source files. I can set it up so that <"Diverse" is kind of the same as tle.new if I wish. I'm <really not sure what good that is, but ok. And I do <understand that "standard" is the default group when you start it up. < <And short of manually mixing source files, there is no way to <assign the lower right letters to satellites in different files. < <Do I mostly have that right? < <By the way, it appears that AO-73 has already moved out of <tle-new.txt but it moved into cubesat.txt, not amateur.txt. <That's why I wanted to select one from cubesat and others from <amateur. Maybe it will move again. Somehow 'cubesat' seems <like an odd grouping. The other Celestrak groups are by <function or source (NOAA, amateur, etc) but cubesat is by <form. Anyway... < <Thanks for all the help and 73, < <Burns W2BFJ < < <On Thu, Dec 26, 2013 at 8:10 PM, Alan <[email protected]> wrote: < < < Hi Burns, < < There are two issues here, groups and source files. In <this case, the groups are a part of SatPC32. < They have names like Standard, Diverse, NOAA, etc. The <newest version of SatPC32 allows you to create < your own group names. < < Then there are the source files from CelesTrak which <group satellites by function. The CelesTrak < groupings are things like amateur.txt, cubesat.txt, <noaa.txt, and tle-new.txt for launches in the < preceding 30 days. For instance, after launch AO-73 <was in the tle-new file at first, and either has < or will soon be moved to the amateur.txt file. Note <the amsat.all file is created by merging the data < from several source into ones which are of interest <specifically to hams. In one sense, that is the < most convenient, but unlike the Trak files it is only <updated weekly. < < Now, in SatPC32 you can assign a source file to a <group. For instance, amateur.txt to Standard, < tle-new.txt to Diverse, etc. One and only one source, <though there are manual ways to merge them. < You only need to do this assignment once. So assume <you have assigned the tle-new.txt to Diverse, and < then selected the satellites you want, including AO-73. < To get AO-73 you select Satellites, then < Groups, then Diverse and OK it, and you will then have <AO-73 and whatever other new satellites < displayed. Since Diverse is not the default group, you <will need to select the group once each time < you start SatPC32, but not the source file. Note that <when AO-73 moves to amateur.txt, it will < autmatically become available in the Standard list, <assuming you have assigned amateur.txt as the < Standard source file. < < 73s, < < Alan < WA4SCA < < < < <-----Original Message----- < <From: [email protected] < <[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Burns Fisher < <Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2013 5:08 PM < < <To: AMSAT BB < <Subject: [amsat-bb] Help with SATPC32 (maybe groups) please < < < < <Hi Everyone, < < < <I've used SatPC32 for a number of years, but I have <been using it in < <"simpleton" mode, it would seem. Now that AO-73 is in the < <"cubesat.txt" < <keps file rather than amateur, I apparently have to take the < <next step in < <my education about this program. < < < <Here the current general question: How do "groups" work. I < <have googled, < <and the term seems to be used both for Celestrak groups and < <for the groups < <in SatPC32 (e.g. Diverse, Standard, etc). I mean the SatPC32 < <groups. What < <I want to do is to have a number of satellites selectable with < <the A,B,C... < <buttons in the lower right. But right now, I have to <pull down the < <satellites menu and select "cubesat.txt" to get AO-73 and < <"amateur.txt" to < <get, say, VO-52 and SO-50. And whenever I switch to a new < <keps file, all < <the satellites I have selected as current for the previous < <file disappear < <from the right column. < < < <Somehow, I suspect that 'groups' are the answer to this, but I < <can never < <get the "edit" function under groups to do anything terribly < <useful. It < <looks like I can edit "standard", for example, so that if < <selected, it uses < <the satellites selected from amateur.txt or <cubesat.txt but not both. < < < <Ok, so when I get into a pickle like this, it is usually < <because I don't < <understand the concept or the model that the program is using. < < So rather < <than (or as well as) "click x, select y, edit xxx.txt" the < <kind of help I < <hope I can get would be include "how are groups supposed to be < <used?" And < <by the way, I have read the manual, and it again seems <to assume that I < <know what groups are supposed to be. < < < <Thanks in advance, < < < <Burns, W2BFJ < < <_______________________________________________ < <Sent via [email protected]. 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 < < < < < < < _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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
