Satellite Pass Predictions

GUI showing satellite pass predictions. Can also control radio and antenna rotor. EME support is in the works...

Installation under Linux using uv:

0. This seems to be the easiest/best solution. You will need to install uv on your system (once):

   curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh rehash

which will install uv in ~/.local/bin/uv . If you want it system wide, try this:

  curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sudo env UV_INSTALL_DIR="/usr/local/bin" sh
  rehash     

1. Clone gitub pySat, libs and data repositories

   cd mkdir Python cd Python git clone https://github.com/aa2il/pySat git clone https://github.com/aa2il/libs git clone https://github.com/aa2il/data

2. One of the features of uv is that the virtual environment is included in the github repository. You should NOT have to do anything since uv will install the environment and required packages the first time you run wclock.:

For the record, here is how I set up the environment:

 cd ~/Python/pySat
 uv init
 rm main.py
 uv add -r requirements.txt

Note: pySat.py uses qt, not tk, so there is no problem with the recent versions of python (e.g. 3.13).

3. Make sure pySat.py is executable and set PYTHON PATH so os can find libraries:

   cd ~/Python/pySat chmod +x pySat.py

   • Under tcsh: setenv PYTHONPATH $HOME/Python/libs
   • Under bash: export PYTHONPATH="$HOME/Python/libs"

4. Bombs away:

   uv run pySat.py

   or,

   ./pySat.py

5. Notes: On RPi using X11 and VNC, QT does not render everything correctly. I "think" the fix is to add

   video=HDMI-A-1:1920x1080M@60D
   

   to the end of the line in /boot/firmware/cmdline.txt. This seems to work but I'm not convinced yet ... keep trying ... See also demos/hello3.py

   It does, however, work just fine if we use RDP instead of VNC (tested both X11 and labwc display managers.) So the problem appears to be with VNC.

   RDP is also a can of worms. Install via

   sudo apt install xrdp sudo systemctl status xrdp

   BUT, in the RPi, it doesn't work with the user pi so we need to create another user and work there. What a crock!

   BTW, can replace "status" in the systemclt command with "start" or "stop" so start/stop the xrdp daemon and with "enable" or "disable" to enable/disable the daemon at atart-up (boot).

Installation under Linux:

1. Uses python3 and pyqt
2. Clone gitub pySat, libs and data repositories
   • cd
   • mkdir Python
   • cd Python
   • git clone https://github.com/aa2il/pySat
   • git clone https://github.com/aa2il/libs
   • git clone https://github.com/aa2il/data
3. Install packages needed for pySat:
   • cd ~/Python/pySat
   • pip3 install -r requirements.txt
4. Make sure its executable:
   • chmod +x pySat.py
5. Set PYTHON PATH so os can find libraries:
   • Under tcsh: setenv PYTHONPATH $HOME/Python/libs
   • Under bash: export PYTHONPATH="$HOME/Python/libs"
6. Bombs away:
   • ./pySat.py

Installation under Mini-conda:

0. Good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23aQdrS58e0&t=552s

1. Point browser to https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html

2. Download and install latest & greatest Mini-conda for your particular OS:

   • I used the bash installer for linux

   • As of July 2023: Conda 23.5.2 Python 3.11.3 released July 13, 2023

   • cd ~/Downloads

   • bash Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh

   • Follow the prompts

   • If you'd prefer that conda's base environment not be activated on startup, set the auto_activate_base parameter to false:

     conda config --set auto_activate_base false

   • To get it to work under tcsh:

     • bash
     • conda init tcsh
     • This creates ~/.tcshrc - move its contents to .cshrc if need be
     • relaunch tcsh and all should be fine!
     • Test with:
       • conda list

   • To blow away a work environment and start over:

     • conda deactivate
     • conda remove -n work --all

3. Create a working enviroment for ham radio stuff:

   • Check which python version we have:

     • conda list

   • conda create --name aa2il python=3.11

   • To activate this environment, use:

     • conda activate aa2il

   • To deactivate an active environment, use:

     • conda deactivate

   • conda env list

   • conda activate aa2il

4. Clone gitub pySat, libs and data repositories:

   • cd
   • mkdir Python
   • cd Python
   • git clone https://github.com/aa2il/pySat
   • git clone https://github.com/aa2il/libs
   • git clone https://github.com/aa2il/data

5. Install packages needed by pySat:

   • conda activate aa2il
   • cd ~/Python/pySat
   • pip3 install -r requirements.txt

6. Set PYTHON PATH so os can find libraries:

   • Under tcsh: setenv PYTHONPATH $HOME/Python/libs
   • Under bash: export PYTHONPATH="$HOME/Python/libs"

7. To run pySat, we need to specify python interpreter so it doesn't run in the default system environment:

   • cd ~/Python/pySat
   • conda activate aa2il
   • python pySat.py

8. Known issues using this (as of July 2023):

   • None

Installation for Windoz:

1. Best bet is to use mini-conda and follow the instructions above.
2. If you want/need a windoz binary, email me and I'll put one together for you.