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Setup Screen
There are a few items you can personalize to
your use of Element Manager.
On the Program Defaults Tab:
 | AutoLoad Data file will
automatically load the last element set file in
use when you next start Element Manager.
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| You can set a maximum number of
elements to be processed. If you try and load a
file with more element sets, all sets beyond this
limit will be skipped. A warning will be
displayed.
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| Entering a File Size Alert sets a limit
that when exceeded causes EM to opens a message
box letting you know your are loading a file
exceeding that limit and offers you the
opportunity to not load the file.
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| Set the behavior of Element Manager
when it updates element sets. There are two basic
choices
 | Retain Line0 Name, replace
mag/radar data will keep your name (25
characters if no Mag data is available or
15 characters if there is) while
replacing the remainder of line0 with
current data
 | A sub option here is
the capability to totally ignore
all data on the incoming element
set on line0 and retain line0
from your old two line element.
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| Replace Line0 with data from
new file does just that. Your old Line0
name, mag, radar, and apogee/perigee data
are replaced by whatever information is
on line0 of the updating element set.
(This is how the program used to work
without these new options (prior to
v1.3.9))
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| Select Kilometers, Statute Miles or Nautical Miles to set
the default output of any distances displayed. The program does
all calculations in the background in metric. These values are
then converted for display.
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| You can set the behavior of the
Inclination Line, the Axes lines, the mean
anomaly line and the plotting of the satellite on
the Orbital View screen to either on or off. The MA or Phase
selection displays mean anomaly in either degrees or phase.
Amateur radio operators often deal in the Phase of a satellite.
Phase divides an orbit into 256 parts instead of the traditional
360 degrees. If you select this option, then on the "Orbital
Screen" you will see labels indicating you have selected
Phase or Mean Anomaly.
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On the Folder Management Tab:
| The file folders allow you to enter
directories where Element Manager expects to find
the Element Files, Parameter and Select files and
Archive files. (keeps the program directory less
clogged and you might like to keep you elements
for all uses in one directory)
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| You can enter a default extension
for use when loading element files. Clicking on
the up and down arrows scroll through the
available extensions. Once you have the type of
file you wish for you default displayed you MUST
click on it to activate it. Once clicked, it will
highlight as shown above.
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On the User Location Tab
| In order to properly calculate the
ages of the elements the program needs to know
the offset from your computer's clock to
UTC(GMT). If you live in the western hemisphere,
this should be a negative number. I live in
Colorado. The time here is 7 hours earlier than
UTC so I enter -7.
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| Latitude and Longitude should be
entered to accurately calculate the range and
bearing and plotted location of your home station
to the selected satellite.
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On the Alerts Tab:
| The program flags the Perigee,
Apogee, Mean Motion and Age fields with colors
when certain values are met. In a preliminary
incarnation of the program, I had all these
hardcoded in, but then thought better of that
idea. Each person may be viewing different types
of element files and may wish to tailor these
settings for themselves.
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| For the Perigee and Apogee alerts if
the satellite's data fall below the red alert
figure then the data in the program is displayed
as white text on a red background. If the data
fall between the red and yellow limits, the data
is highlighted by black text on a yellow
background. Above the yellow alert, the data is
displayed in the system default fore/background
colors.
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| Mean motion, the higher the number
the faster and lower the satellite so, if the
mean motion is greater than the red alert factor
it's highlighted red (as above). Between red and
yellow alert values, it's highlighted yellow.
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| Age, same deal. Less than yellow
alert and it's considered good current data, no
highlighting. Above yellow but below red, it's
highlighted yellow, and above red -- red data
flags.
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On the Data Files Tab:
| Set the filename of your
On-Orbit Satellite Situation Report.
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| Set the filename of your
Decayed Satellite Situation Report.
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| Select whether or not the program
will use both files if they are both present.
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| Set the filename and folder location for your Satellite Notes
file and any associated individual note files (see Satellite
Notes for explanation).
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On the Windows Layout Tab:
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Save the location of moved windows
so they will open there in the future. |
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Reset all windows to open center
screen. If you choose this option be sure to
CLOSE ALL Windows except for the Main Screen of
course before clicking the reset button. When
each window closes, it saves its location to
memory. So, opening the tracking screen, moving
it into a corner, then opening the setup screen
and hitting Reset for the windows positions, then
closing the Tracking screen and reopening it will
NOT cause it to reappear in the center of the
screen.
I originally added this option to make sure
"lost" windows would be recovered.
However, in the interim, I've discovered how to
force the windows to open fully within the
boundaries of your screen, so it isn't really as
important as it was in the first incarnation of
this sticky location feature.
Now, you can move a window almost totally off the
screen, close it and it will reopen fully
displayed on screen as close to the last position
as possible. This is actually a good way to line
up windows along the borders of your screen. Move
windows slightly off screen to the right or left
and they will reopen the same distance from the
top but aligned with the edge they were slightly
slipping off the screen. Likewise with the top
and bottom of the screen or the corners. |
On the Sounds Tab:
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You can enter two wave files. One to be sounded
when the currently active satellite rises above your horizon, the
other when it sets.
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Once entered, you can preview the sound (hit
play).
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You can also set whether or not these files should
be played.
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Regardless of settings, the program will not play
or crash trying to play non-existent files and if you computer
doesn't have a sound card, that will be detected and you won't be
able to turn the sounds on.
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On the Splash Tab:
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You can set whether or not to display the Splash
screen
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Set the duration (in seconds) for the Splash
Screen to display
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And set the Splash Screen to remain on screen
permanently, until you click on it to close it.
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| Set the name of the Reminder File.
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