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STSPLUS.NEW
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1993-09-14
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STSORBIT PLUS Revision History
------------------------------
Each released version of STSPLUS uses a four digit revision code such
as 9338. 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 9338 -- September 1993
------------------------------
-Repaired a bug in multi-satellite modes which caused a "trail of dots" to
be left behind if the primary satellite icon fell on top of a secondary
satellite icon (such as during close proximity operations).
-Repaired a bug when reading SCF files. In prior versions, the primary
satellite was changed if the SCF file had a different primary satellite.
The primary satellite in the SCF file is now ignored. The format of the SCF
file is unchanged to maintain compatibility with prior versions.
-Modified the World and Zoom Maps in rectangular projection so that the
PgDn key switches to Zoom Map (180 degrees) from World Map, and the PgUp
key switches to World Map from Zoom Map (180 degrees).
-Added list of available .SCF files when reading, F6+F3 from the Main Menu.
-Added a warning when writing .SCF files if the requested file already
exists. F6+F2 from the Main Menu. User must now press "Y" to overwrite an
existing file, ENTER or any other key to cancel.
-By user request, modified the small character set (used for labels) to
include the DASH ("-").
-After numerous user complaints, I've finally repaired the BLINK mode so
that for most systems the primary satellite icon will blink on and off once
per second. Press "B" while the map is displayed to toggle the BLINK mode.
-Repaired a minor bug which caused the message "Pause ... press ENTER" not
to be displayed if the map was redrawn during Pause Mode.
-Thanks to the many users who took the time to carefully document these
bugs, enabling me to find and fix them!
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.