APRSTLM

While aprstlm (will) support multiple APRS satellites, it can only show the telemetry from one satellite per running instance. However, you can run multiple instances, which can all connect to the same (or different) APRS and predict servers. Heavy users may wish to use their own APRS server.

Getting and Building aprstlm is easy. To get and build aprstlm, you need to do the following:

1. Download the tarball from the link above,
2. Extract it with tar -xvf - It will extract itself into a directory called 'aprstlm'
3. cd into the aprstlm directory
4. run the command 'make'

This should give you a binary, called 'aprstlm'. If it doesn't, there is a binary here, but it may not work for you.

Running aprstlm. aprstlm has a number of options, or switches, some of which are mandatory, while others are optional. The options for version 1.00.0 are:

-v               Prints the program version and quits. Overrides all other
                 switches.

-sat satname     Specify which satellite to monitor telemetry from.
                 Mandatory. Version 1.00.0 only supports PCSAT2.

-aprs host port  Specify the APRS Server to connect to, and receive the
                 APRS Feed From. You must specify both host, and port.
                 Mandatory.

-pred host port  Specify the Predict Server to connect to, and receive
                 the APRS Feed From. You must specify both host, and
                 port. Optional.

aprstlm -sat PCSAT2 -aprs localhost 10152 -pred localhost 1210 

Now weve seen how to get, compile, and run aprstlm, lets take a look at some screenshots of it actually in action, to get a better understanding of what it does, and how it looks.

If you want to skip the detailed explanations below, you can go directly to the Big Cheat Sheet, which shows what each window does, with a full set of telemetryshown here.[When I've written it!]

The first screenshot shows what you will see when you initially startup aprstlm, before any telemetry has been received from the APRS Feed. This shows the "Raw Telemetry Values" window, which will show the raw telemetry data when data arrives. Pressing [TAB] will switch to the "Telemetry Engineering Values", as shown in the second screenshot

As you can see there are a number of windows shown on the screen. These are:

The Clock Window

This window shows the time in UTC, Local Time Zone, and Also "Mission Elapsed Time". This is the time since Launch of the Satellite in question (or Deployment in the case of PCSAT2). The format is OOOOO/DDDD HH:MM:SS, where OOOOO is the orbit number of the satellite (ISS in the case of PCSAT2), and DDDD is the number of days in orbit, with HH:MM:SS being the more recognisable Hours, Minutes, and Seconds.

Header Window

This window just shows the satellite that you are monitoring telemetry for.

Location Window

This Window shows the location of the satellite in question, as well as Range, and Eclipse details. This window only functions if you have a functional predict server, and will show "PREDICT SERVER UNAVALIABLE" if there is no operational predict server.

Main Telemetry Window

This window shows the majority of the telemetry from the satellite. It can show a number of different views of the data, but most satellites will probably only require a "Raw" view (as seen above), and an "Engineering" view (shown below). Some satellites will only require one view (eg RAFT). Pressing [TAB] will always switch views

Command Bits Window This window shows the state of the command bits in the latest telemetry packet. "Normal" text means the bit is set to 1, and "Reverse Video" means that the bit is set to 0, and that the equipment in question is active. Note in the case of PCSAT2, it does check both bit7 and bit8 prior to setting the FM_REPEATER flag on, as documented.

Last TLM Receive Date Window This window shows when we last received each telemetry frame. It can show the date in UTC, Local Time Zone, Mission Elapsed Time, or Elapsed Time.

ARM Values , and Timer and Derived Telemetry Values Windows These two windows are PCSAT2 specific, and can be used for other things with other satellites. They mainly deal with the "Crew-Safe" functions of the spacecraft. The "Arm" values show which relay is supplying power and which isnt to the Transmitters.

Now weve seen what the program looks like when it initially starts up, lets take a look at what it looks like once weve received some telemetry. In this first screenshot, we can see each of the latest raw telemetry frames that have been received. The "Last TLM Receive Date" window is showing the time elapsed since each frame was received, along with the frame number.

Now lets take a look at a few more similar screenshots, this time showing a partial, and full set of telemetry engineering values. Note the "S" showing on some telemetry values in some screenshots. This indicates that it has been more than 5 minutes since the appropriate telemetry frames have been received.

This is a (non exhaustive) list of known bugs that I intend to fix at some point. Some are more trivial and easier to fix than others!