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Software Vault: The Gold Collection
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Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO
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STSPLUS.NEW
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1993-05-10
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STSORBIT PLUS Revision History
------------------------------
Each released version of STSPLUS uses a four digit revision code such
as 9320. 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 9320 -- May 1993
------------------------
-This is a MAJOR UPGRADE, adding new improvements and features along with
high precision state vector data output for use with Ken Ernandes' program
VEC2TLE.
-By popular request, STSPLUS now estimates if a satellite may be visible to
the naked eye or binoculars, and displays "VIS" in bright white next to the
orbit inclination if a visual sighting may be possible. See the section
"Satellite Visibility" for additional discussion.
-Also by popular request, the pass predections (F3, Data Mode 9) have been
enhanced to permit dates and times to be displayed for either UTC/GMT or
LOCAL time. An additional prompt has been added for that selection.
-When displaying predicted passes (F3, Data Mode 9), the satellite is now
approximately centered in the display (instead of being well to one side).
-After considerable confusion and several user comments, I have reworked
the pass prediction logic so that when the user returns to the Main Menu
after the ground track for a predicted pass is displayed, the time is
automatically restored to the real or simulated time in effect BEFORE the
pass prediction was displayed. This means that repeated use of the pass
prediction feature will generally display the same list of numbered passes
and the user no longer needs to restore real time (or reset simulated time)
after displaying predicted passes.
-Corrected a cosmetic bug on pass predictions when an illegal pass number
(greater than the last pass number displayed) was entered at the prompt.
-Added an asterisk ("*") at the left of each event timer when the satellite
is AOS (signal/Sun is being received). This will particularly benefit users
with monochrome or shades of gray.
-Enhanced the Precision X-Y-Z State Vector Data Modes (F3, Data Modes 4
through 7) to include four output formats: multi-line Ascending Node with
state vector, 2 numeric data lines, comma delimited, and multi-line labeled
data. State vectors may now be logged continuously, for a specific time, or
for a specified time span. See text for details.
-Corrected a problem with state vectors being generated at the wrong time
(Data Modes 5 through 7) when the time was entered in UTC and local time
was a different date.
-Removed the low precision state vector data output (F3, Data Mode 4).
-Changed the angle used to calculate the Earth's partial penumbra from 1.2
degrees to 0.3 degrees to better correspond with observed lighting. The Sun
AOS and LOS penumbral calculations were also slightly adjusted; timings
during STS-56 indicated about a 15 to 20 second error before these changes.
-Updated the TDRS information in the section "TDRS Satellite Features" and
all five TDRS satellites are now displayed on the maps at their approximate
locations as of 05/05/93. Thanks to Jim Walls for reminding me!
-Corrected a bug which caused "BASIC Error = 5" when the selected satellite
had probably decayed. #22209 MIR Debris was an example in file TLE180.TXT.
STSPLUS now displays a warning message if the satellite has a current
altitude less than 75 nautical miles and then returns to the Main Menu.
-Corrected the conversion from kilometers to feet per Ken Ernandes. (My
original conversion factor was taken from a 40+ year old Handbook of
Chemistry and Physics and was very slightly in error!)
-Repaired (I think...) a truncation problem which sometimes caused MET/T+E
to run one second slow.
-For all those who refuse to read documentation, I added a reminder to the
Main Menu: "WHILE MAP IS DISPLAYED: F1 = HELP, ENTER = Main Menu".
-Special thanks to Ken Ernandes, Joes Runes, and Willie Musty for state
vectors, testing, and validation of the new features in recent versions!
-Version 9319 was released privately for beta testing.
Version 9316 -- April 1993
--------------------------
-This is a BETA MAINTENANCE UPDATE not released publicly.
-Added Data Output Function #5, "Precision XYZ State Vector (km)", to
generate full precision state vectors. The position and velocity data are
in km and km/sec. The format is similar to Data Output Function #4 except
that it requires two data lines per state vector.
-Help is now available in all display modes by pressing Function Key F1.
Press F1 again to return to normal data display.
-The default (and minimum) magnification for the End key in orthographic
modes has been changed from 100 to 150. Thus, pressing the End key will
return to the prior magnification or to MAG=150, whichever is greater.
-Added missing minus sign on large character MET during the last 24 hours
prior to launch time. Display was "0/00:01:00" instead of "-0/00:01:00".
-Corrected the latitude for Mauritius in file STSPLUS.LOC. The latitude was
missing a minus sign! Changed the "trigger" magnitude for Athens, Greece to
500 from 2000 following a user complaint. Also corrected the longitude for
Luxor, Egypt which was off just that little bit ...
-Various minor cosmetic changes.
Version 9314 -- March 1993
--------------------------
-This is a MINOR UPDATE to correct several problems. Except for these
notes, the documentation is essentially unchanged.
-Corrected a bug with F6 on the Main Menu. Switching between MET and T+E
using F6 changed the label but NOT the data. (F5 worked correctly when the
ground track is displayed.) Thanks to Paul Ferrante for reporting the bug.
-Corrected (again!) a format error in file STSPLUS.OBS which is created for
use with TRAKSTAR. For names shorter than 20 characters, the numerical data
was shifted left. Thanks to Michael Simmons for helping track down the bug!
-Corrected the CPU identification displayed for 386 processors to "80386DX
or 80386SX". Due to a typo, the SX processor was shown as "80387SX".
-Corrected the spelling of Yarragadee, Australia. Thanks to Elwood Marshall
for the correction.
Version 9311 -- March 1993
--------------------------
-This is a FULL RELEASE with updated documentation, and includes all
changes listed here as well as those made in Preliminary Versions 9307
through 9310. Please see the update notes below for details.
-Added F1 to the Main Menu, Convert Keplerian Elements to 2-Line Format,
which incorporates the features formerly provided separately in my program
MAK2LINE. See new text for discussion and for a form which may be used to
transcribe data received by voice or modem.
-Repaired a bug which caused the Location Map isocontours to be drawn at
the wrong location when a second location was enabled in orthographic mode.
Thanks to Paul Ferrante for reporting the problem!
-Added Function Key F9 to the Time and Date Menu (F8 from the Main Menu) to
show the last system TIMESET and the current RIGHTIME corrections. This
menu item will not appear if program RIGHTIME is not detected.
-Added additional code to maintain the prior state of RIGHTIME per Tom
Becker. Thanks, Tom!
-Various minor cosmetic changes.
-Documentation updated.