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STSPLUS.NEW
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1994-11-18
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STSORBIT PLUS Revision History
------------------------------
Each released version of STSPLUS uses a four digit revision code such
as 9445. 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 9445 -- November 1994
-----------------------------
-Version 9445 was initially released for beta testing, then released
publicly in mid-November.
-Corrected a long standing problem with orbit numbering, primarily during
space shuttle missions. STSPLUS now accepts the orbit number given in the
TLEs and allows only a 60 second time offset prior to the next ascending
node. In other words, if Epoch Time is within 60 seconds of the next
ascending node, STSPLUS assumes the orbit number in the TLEs is for that
ascending node; otherwise, STSPLUS asumes the TLE orbit number is for the
current orbit. In prior releases, STSPLUS used the NEAREST ascending node
in its orbit number calculations rather than the CURRENT ascending node and
this often required adjustment to the orbit number in TLEs. Orbit numbers
will still be correctly calculated when the Epoch Time is just after the
ascending node; this change only applies to TLEs in the second half of an
orbit. Thanks to Ken Ernandes for repeatedly "reminding" me to fix this
annoying problem!
-STSPLUS may now operate with the DOS clock set to either LOCAL TIME or UTC
TIME. Use F8+F10 from the Main Menu to set the DOS time zone (along with
the UTC Offset and Daylight Flag). The default assumes the computer is set
to LOCAL time.
-In response to several requests, added the capability to show AOS/LOS in
four time units by pressing F12:
Countdown clock in minutes:seconds (as in prior versions)
UTC UTC time in hours:minutes
LCL Local time in hours:minutes (proper abbreviations will be used)
MET Mission Elapsed Time in hours:minutes
All "hours:minutes" times are TRUNCATED rather than rounded to the minute,
and days are omitted; thus, an MET of 4/01:02:00 and 4/01:02:59 will both
display as "01:02". Time Since Epoch ("T+E") will display in place of MET
if the MET flag is OFF. If no launch time has been set, MET AOS and LOS
times will NOT be available. NOTE: Older computers without an F12 key
cannot use this feature.
-In the orthographic mode, the appropriate time units label is shown for
UTC, LCL and MET to the left of "AOS LOS" when only one local station is
enabled; no label is shown for normal countdown clocks OR if two local
stations are enabled. LCL is replaced by the appropriate abbreviation if
available for the time zone.
-In rectangular modes, space for time units labels is only available when
the "/CLK" command line option is used AND MET is selected using F2. When
displayed, the labels are UTC, LCL, and MET as above.
-Added internal time zone abbreviations for Hawaii (UTC-10, HST/HDT), Yukon
(UTC-9, YST/YDT), and Atlantic (UTC-4, AST/ADT) zones.
-When entering Launch Time and Date (F5 from the Main Menu), dates are now
displayed as "dd MMM yyyy" where "MMM" is the alphabetic abbreviation for
the month. However, all dates must still be entered using the NUMERIC
formats "mm/dd/yy" or "mm/dd/yyyy" (US style), or "dd.mm.yyyy" (European
style).
-Corrected a minor bug which caused the longitude labels not to display for
EGA and Motion Map modes in some circumstances.
-Removed the "happy face" progress indicator in the Motion Map if the
system reports a 386/387 or higher processor. This undocumented feature was
added for users with slow computers and computers without a math
coprocessor so there would be some "action" as those clunkers plodded
through the off-screen map drawing process.
-Various cosmetic repairs.
Version 9435A -- August 1994
----------------------------
-Version 9435A corrects a problem with certain country codes (such as those
which use the "YY-MM-DD" date format) which still caused "BASIC Error = 5"
in the orthographic mode for Version 9435. The program should now be
independent of the country code.
-Corrected a minor bug with amateur radio satellite frequencies. If the
primary satellite was changed with F6, the frequency file (STSPLUS.FRQ) was
not rescanned and the frequencies from the prior satellite remained.
STSPLUS will now always rescan file STSPLUS.FRQ if the primary satellite is
changed.
Version 9435 -- August 1994
---------------------------
-This release repairs an unfortunate bug which surfaced when I added the
NORAD-style date on the orthographic display. Only users who set DOS to
non-US-style date formats were affected. The problem occurred immediately
when drawing the orthographic map as "BASIC Error = 5" and returned the
user to DOS.
-Added satellite name cross-reference in file STSPLUS.XRF. When TLEs are
read and accepted, STSPLUS now checks for the cross-reference file and, if
the file is present in the current directory, checks for the NORAD Number
of the satellite and a cross-reference name. If found, the new name is
substituted for that found in the TLE file. The file is standard ASCII and
each entry consists of a SPACE, the five-digit NORAD Number, a SPACE, and
then the satellite name. A sample file:
22920 HST Solar Array
22076 Topex/Poseidon
21225 Gamma Ray Observ
20638 Rosat Observatory
20580 Hubble Telescope
16609 MIR Space Station
NOTE: The leading space is required for file compatibility with my program
ORBITEL (but is optional for STSPLUS). The NORAD Number MUST be 5 digits;
pad with leading zeroes if necessary. Only one entry is read per satellite.
If the satellite name is longer than 19 characters, only the left 19
characters will be used. This feature may be used to substitute any name
for that given in a TLE file (which is not always consistent from source to
source) or to specify a payload piggy-backed on another satellite (as is
frequently the case with amateur radio transponders). A number of XRF files
are posted on my RPV Astronomy BBS; such files must be renamed for use with
STSPLUS.
-Repaired a minor bug which caused the pass predictions (F3 from Main Menu
to repeat a pass indefinitely when that pass was a grazing pass with a
maximum elevation of less than one degree (0.14 degrees in the test case
reported by Ken Ernandes).
-Corrected a bug in read/save .SCF files (F6 from the Main Menu). If a
fileltype is entered (".SCF" or whatever), it is now ignored and ".SCF" is
automatically appended to the filename. Thanks to Paul Becker for reporting
the problem.
-In response to many requests, the date input routine has been modified to
permit entry in the European style "dd.mm.yyyy" in addition to the US style
"mm/dd/yyyy". The choice of delimiter ("." or "/") determines the method of
interpretation. In both cases, the year may be entered as the last two
digits only, "yy", if desired; "50" through "99" will be interpreted as
"1950" through "1999" and all others as 2000+yy. Dates are displayed as "dd
MMM yyyy" where "MMM" is the English abbreviation for the month.
-All current .SCF files are now displayed for both SAVE and READ functions
(F6+F2 and F6+F3 from the Main Menu).
-Improved backspace processing and error checking when entering TLE
filenames (F2 from the Main Menu).
-Corrected "West Latitude" to "West Longitude" in the data entry section
for local coordinates (F10+F2).
-Various minor cosmetic changes.