Re: SkyMap6.3.....help!

=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Bj=F6rn_Gimle?= (b_gimle@algonet.se)
Tue, 23 Feb 1999 14:33:56 +0330 (GMT+03:30)

Den 23 Jan 1999 skrev ghart@cableinet.co.uk:

> Hi,
> Having trouble trying to get SkyMap to show sats. Is there a
> downloadable manual....'cause if I try anymore combinations of
> keypresses my comp will boil!
> Regards
> Geoff Hart
> 

The README file says:

SkyMap Version 6.3                                    January 15, 1999
------------------

Please read at least the first few pages of SKY63.NEW.  This text file
contains update notes for SkyMap versions 5.1 through 6.3 (in reverse
chronological order), including hundreds of features not mentioned in
SkyMap's *extremely* outdated <sorry!> documentation file, SKYMAP.DOC.
Update notes for SkyMap versions 5.0 and earlier can be found in file
SKY50.NEW in archive SKY62AUX.ZIP.

There are three main classes of errors:
1. Not knowing what to do.
2. Setting improper selections on some menu - that doesn't match any pass.
3. Computer environment non-standard - display unreadable.

#3 is very infrequent nowadays.
#1 could be verified by loading the default SKYMAP.CFG (run SKYMAP without parameter, or with SKYMAP.CFG as parameter, or press L and type the file name on the SKYMAP MAIN MENU)
   Then press F10 to show the map.
   When this works, change as little as possible and test again. Save each one that works (ESC on main menu) and give a different .cfg name.
(after sub-menu changes, press ENTER to return to the MAIN)
#2 is most common, I can make some ridiculous choices myself, and it can take an hour to realize that.

Please e-mail your .cfg as an attachment, and I'll (try to) tell you what's wrong.

PS. Actually reason #4 is quite common: The elset file used is not in MS-DOS format (no CR/LF, just LF as Unix). There are several editors and utilities that handle this, like ftp://ftp.satellite.eu.org/pub/sat/programs/ibmpc/toms.zip
If even a large file is processed in a second, this is probably the case. Of course if you use FTP to download the file, you should use  Ascii setting if it is not a .zip or .z file.


Björn Gimle


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