adding comments

satpredict.py

@@ -3,14 +3,15 @@ import json
 import sys
 import datetime
 
+#Frequencies that satellites transmit on.
 frequencies = {'NOAA-15':'137.620M', 'NOAA-18':'137.9125M', 'NOAA-19':'137.10M', 'METEOR-M2':'137.925M', 'ISS':'145.80M' } #Meteor M2 is also on 137.1M
 
 tle_data = json.load(open('sat_tle.txt'))
-default_predictions = 1
+default_predictions = 1 #how many predictions do we want to predict in advance
-default_min_elevation = 30
+default_min_elevation = 30 #how low the angle of the satellitie pass is allowed to be if we want to record a pass
-suppress_low_passes = False
+suppress_low_passes = False #Less console spam if you enable this.
-
 
+#You can change the default elevation with the first parameter
 pass_elevation = default_min_elevation
 if( len(sys.argv) > 1 ):
 	pass_elevation = int(sys.argv[1])
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ if( len(sys.argv) > 1 ):
 if( pass_elevation == '' ):
 	pass_elevation = default_min_elevation
 
+#you can change the number of predictions per satellite with the second parameter
 predictions = default_predictions
 if( len(sys.argv) > 2):
 	predictions = int(sys.argv[2])
@@ -25,14 +27,17 @@ if( len(sys.argv) > 2):
 if( predictions == '' ):
 	predictions = default_predictions
 
+#anything in the third parameter will turn off console spam
 if( len(sys.argv) > 3 ):
 	suppress_low_passes = True
 
+#format a unix timestamp in a time appropriate for the 'at' command
 def convert_time( unixtime ):
     return datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(
         int(unixtime)
     ).strftime('%H:%M %Y-%m-%d')
 
+#format the unix timestamp for minutes, used to determine length of recording
 def convert_time_short( unixtime ):
     return datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(
         int(unixtime)
@@ -41,6 +46,7 @@ def convert_time_short( unixtime ):
 def get_sat( sat ):
 	return sat + '\n' + tle_data[sat]
 
+#Where on the earth you are. Change this to your location
 qth = (49.5, 123.5, 50)  # lat (N), long (W), alt (meters)
 
 data = {}
@@ -56,6 +62,7 @@ for sat, freq in frequencies.iteritems():
 		p_nw = t_nw.next()
 		p_se = t_se.next()
 
+		#peak check. PEAK CHECK!
 		while (p.peak()['elevation'] < default_min_elevation):
 			p = t.next()
 			p_nw = t_nw.next()
@@ -63,6 +70,7 @@ for sat, freq in frequencies.iteritems():
 			if( not suppress_low_passes ):
 				print name, "pass too low, recalculating"
 
+		#this is the data we want to pass on to the rest of the program
 		data[name] = {}
 		data[name]['frequency'] = freq
 		data[name]['start_unix'] = p.start
@@ -71,7 +79,7 @@ for sat, freq in frequencies.iteritems():
 		data[name]['duration_minutes'] = convert_time_short(data[name]['duration_seconds'])
 		data[name]['elevation'] = p.peak()['elevation']
 
-		print name, 'next pass at:', data[name]['start'], 'at', data[name]['elevation'], 'degrees.', data[name]['direction'] + '-bound'
+		print name, 'next pass at:', data[name]['start'], 'at', data[name]['elevation'], 'degrees.'
 		count = count + 1
 
 import json