Issues with updating TLE files

Gpredict
#1

I have been stuck for some time now trying to update TLE files on Gpredict.

Background: I am building a SARCTRAC Mk1a satellite tracker that uses Gpredict and Hamlib to track amateur satellite passes and aim the antenna at the satellite throughout the pass. The instructions from SARCTRAC specifically state that only the Gpredict 1.4 version will work with the tracker, along with the latest version of HAMLIB.

Everything has been installed, and I can successfully open Gpredict and track individual satellites as they come into view. However, the TLE files are very old, so the pass predictions are way off. I have tried to update the TLE files from the internet, and Gpredict runs through the update but does not update any of the 1,200 or so satellites. It returns a message of “0 satellites updated.”

The following url is provided by default in Gpredict: https://www.celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/gp.php?GROUP=amateur@FORMAT=tle and as far as I can tell, this is correct according to Celestrak.

Any help is much appreciated!

#2

Hi!

GPredict version 1.4 is more than 5 years old. The current version of GPredict is 2.3 (released 4 years ago!). I recommend you to install this latest version to see if this fixes your problems with TLE updates.

The SARCTRAC Mk1a satellite tracker shouldn’t require ancient software versions (which will certainly break, especially in their interfaces to the internet).

If you still got problems with TLE updates in gpredict 2.3, please let us know your Operating System and how you installed gpredict.

Best regards,
kerel

#3

Kerel,

thank you for your quick response. I will try to install version 2.3 and see if that works.

#4

If you open that URL in a browser, you will find GROUP "amateur@format=tle" does not exist.
If you’re after amsat tle, you can start with these two:

https://www.amsat.org/tle/current/nasabare.txt
http://www.celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/amateur.txt