SATUPDAT (English) and AJOURSAT (French) read orbital element messages
copied via packet radio. This software was developed by F6BVP.
They extract keplerian elements both in NASA and AMSAT formats and update
the results into the satellites data base of the F6FBB's BBS (SATEL.DAT)
Running SATUPDAT or AJOURSAT without arguments prints the following:
------------------------------------------------------------------
Update of F6FBB's BBS satellite data base orbital parameters
Version 1.90 - May 2026 - Bernard Pidoux, bernard.f6bvp@gmail.com
Usage: satupdat [options] file_name[.txt]
Reading option:
-a AMSAT format (default)
-n NASA format
Update option:
-f merging new and old data (default)
-u update only satellites being in the data base
-s keep only satellites being in the input file
Delete option:
-d N delete data older than N days (default 100 days)
<<768 satellites maximum>>
------------------------------------------------------------------
This version verifies checksum both for AMSAT files and NASA files.
For automatic update of keplerian elements into F6FBB's bbs, create a
virtual BBS in the BBS.SYS file (e.g. named AMSAT), then declare the
following forward in FORWARD.SYS:
A AMSAT
*
G AMSAT
P @
C /usr/local/var/fbb/system/sat/amsat.txt
*
------
SATUPDAT / AJOURSAT OPTIONS:
The default extension for the input file is .txt; another extension may
be specified explicitly.
Reading options (-a / -n)
-a selects the AMSAT format (default).
-n selects the NASA "2-line" format.
Update options (-f / -u / -s)
-f (default) merges the new list with the old one. Data for satellites
absent from the input file are kept unchanged; others are updated.
-u updates only the keplerian elements of satellites already present in
the data base. New satellites from the input file are ignored. This
prevents the list from growing with satellites you are not interested in.
-s keeps in the data base only satellites whose name appears in the
input file. This is useful to remove outdated satellites.
Delete option (-d N)
-d N removes from the data base any entry whose keplerian elements are
older than N days (default: 100 days).
In all cases the program preserves permanent satellite data such as the
beacon frequency (for Doppler) and the computation step (provided manually
the first time).
If the keplerian elements in the input file are older than those already
in the data base, the existing data are kept.
The list is sorted alphabetically to help users locate a satellite when
connected to the BBS.
Duplicate entries in the input file are resolved by keeping the most
recent data.
If the CRC computed by the program differs from the one in the input
file, the entry is rejected with a "bad CRC" message.
In LinFBB (cron or startup script):
#!/bin/sh
SAT=/usr/local/var/fbb/system/sat
if [ -f $SAT/amsat.txt ]; then
satupdat -n $SAT/amsat.txt > $SAT/satupdat.res
satupdat $SAT/amsat.txt >> $SAT/satupdat.res
rm $SAT/amsat.txt
fi
(The program is called twice: once for NASA format and once for AMSAT
format, so that a CRC error in one format does not prevent updating from
the other.)
In WinFBB (file RUNFBB.BAT):
maint ********************** START of MAINT script **************************
cd %fbb%
@echo off
cd %fbb%\system\sat
if not exist amsat.txt goto amsatend
satupdat -n amsat.txt > satupdat.res
satupdat amsat.txt >> satupdat.res
del amsat.txt
:amsatend
cls
cd %fbb%
This page was last updated 04-May-2026