RE: [amsat-bb] Space Track Web Site

[Alan Thoren <ve4yz@xxxxxxx>]

The bulk download does include AO-51 while the Amateur download doesn't.
The files only have satellites that have been updated!  Worse, AO-51 is not
known by that name in the bulk download.  It is "Amsat Echo".   FO-29
doesn't exist in either file under that name but you can find it under
24278U as "JAS2".  

We can now all face toward Colorado Springs and bow down and acknowledge the
amount of effort T.S. Kelso has but into reconfiguring the TLE files for
layman's use.  Here he is in person  http://celestrak.com/webmaster.asp

Excuse the inexcusable cross-post but we have 2 groups with a common
interest in getting good simple keps for our various and sundry applications
- in my case NOVA, WISP32 and a TrakBox.

Space-Track is useless as-is because of the incomplete data, name changes,
mandatory logon, server side perl scripts ( I can't even write a simple
AutoIT script to automate the download ) but I can do a "retrieve by
satellite number using "25544 27607 24278 28375" and get this:

ISS (ZARYA)
1 25544U 98067A   05005.03405421  .00026189  00000-0  19709-3 0  5170
2 25544  51.6400  15.1481 0003516 162.0921 238.2077 15.72344771350035 
SAUDISAT 1C
1 27607U 02058C   05004.25251075  .00000428  00000-0  88059-4 0  6099
2 27607  64.5587 278.4835 0086595 271.0071  88.1111 14.70848941109621 
JAS 2
1 24278U 96046B   05004.25206834  .00000036  00000-0  74857-4 0  8642
2 24278  98.5707  75.7737 0350145 240.9454 115.6218 13.52907680414029 
AMSAT ECHO
1 28375U 04025K   05004.12478681  .00000078  00000-0  36828-4 0  1495
2 28375  98.2366  73.0014 0084716   7.2215 353.0175 14.40424314 26996 

Note the naming convention.  I would have to process it through a couple of
utilities such as Orbitel, SortEng and/or NasaWash to get it into a
"Kelso-Nova-Wisp-TrakBox ready" format.  I'm not into reinventing the wheel
so each time I do a Kelso auto-download in Nova, or an AutoIT script I use
for the TrakBox and Wisp; I will say "Thank you".






-----Original Message-----
From: owner-AMSAT-BB@amsat.org [mailto:owner-AMSAT-BB@amsat.org] On Behalf
Of W3NJ@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 7:23 PM
To: kb5mu@amsat.org
Cc: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Space Track Web Site


First, thanks Bruce for providing the simpler file format to the group!!

Up on soap box.....
I agree that that this is 2-(or more!) steps backwards from Celestrak! I 
should have figured this would be the result after ackowledging the 
multi-paragraph user agreement that would make any lawyer smile. I'm sure
there are concerns 
over some covert group getting access to sensitive data, but seems like this

data is going to be avaialble by other (maybe manual) means anyways. Amazing

the amount of productivity that is lost due to lowest common denominator 
bureacracy. I better stop now.

Off soap-box

FYI, there is a slightly better way to access the data.There's a "My 
Satellites " button where you can define which satellites you want info on.
HOWEVER, I 
tried to JUST get 2-line keps for Nova and it leaves the SatCat (I thin
kthat 
was the cryptic name) 

One more option is a section that has just the amateur satellites (forgot 
which sub-section it's buried in). HOWEVER, I downloaded the info and it
doesn't 
even have AO-51/Echo in the line up! I did confirm that ECHO is in the Keps 
database.

REALLY off soap box now.

Hopefully there will be enough grass roots folks that truly understand a 
"customer's" needs and will address them.

tnx es 73

Bruce -W3NJ



In a message dated 1/4/2005 18:40:20 Central Standard Time, kb5mu@amsat.org 
writes:


> Subj:Re: [amsat-bb] Space Track Web Site
> Date:1/4/2005 18:40:20 Central Standard Time
> From:    kb5mu@amsat.org (Paul Williamson)
> Sender:    owner-AMSAT-BB@amsat.org
> To:    pyantis@earthlink.net
> 
CC:    amsat-bb@amsat.org (Amsat BB)

> 
> 
> 
> 
> At 4:59 PM -0500 1/4/05, Perry Yantis wrote:
> >My question is why is it that Kelso makes things simple and everyone 
> >else seems to go out of their way to make things more trouble then it 
> >is worth????
> 
> My question is why program authors make their 2-line format reading
> routines too dumb to skip some headers and footers.
> 
> >Is there anywhere I can download keps in TEXT format WITH NO HEADERS 
> >and keep things simple??????
> 
> Your impassioned plea motivated me to add a feature to the AMSAT.ORG
> keps processor to generate a stripped file of just the valid 2-line 
> element sets from the KEPS mailing list bulletins. From now on, you 
> can find what you requested at
> 
> http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ftp/keps/current/nasabare.txt
> 
> or by anonymous FTP from ftp.amsat.org in 
> /amsat/keps/current/nasabare.txt
> 
> This file, like the existing amsat.all and nasa.all files in the same
> place, is updated automatically whenever the KEPS bulletins come out. 
> Usually, once a week on or about Friday.
> 
> 73  -Paul
> kb5mu@amsat.org
> ----
----
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