* INTRODUCTION *
================
Portable PREDICT Plus is a miniature distribution of Linux
that includes several ham radio and OSCAR satellite communication
applications.   Portable PREDICT Plus boots from a pair of floppy
disks, and runs entirely in RAM, so there's no need to install
Linux, compile code, or re-partition your hard disk to run this
software.  A third "data disk" is used to save configuration and
home directory files, and can be used to import Keplerian orbital
data into the system during setup.

Portable PREDICT Plus includes PREDICT, PB/PG, FODtrack, PacsatTools,
MoonTracker, minicom, setserial, and a small collection of AX.25
applications and utilities including kisson, kissoff, kissattach,
kissparms, listen, mheard, call, and beacon.  There's even a program
included to play audio CDs.  :-)

Portable PREDICT Plus is based on a Linux kernel version 2.6.9,
and supports a total of eight "virtual consoles", providing
multiple simultaneous login sessions that take full advantage
of the multitasking and co-operative nature of the operating
system and many of the included applications.

Portable PREDICT Plus is capable of supporting moonbounce, analog
and digital (Pacsat) satellite operations, satellite and terrestrial
packet radio communications (including ISS operations), as well as
the generation of APRS-style beacons.  Portable PREDICT Plus supports
KISS and 6pack mode terminal node controllers, and runs on 32-bit
PCs from 386s on up.  (A math co-processor is STRONGLY recommended.)

Specific documentation for each application is available under the
docs directory.


* QUICKSTART INFORMATION *
==========================
The following are some "Quick Start" instructions for building a set
of Portable PREDICT Plus installation floppies under DOS/Windows:


1) Gather three blank 3.5" 1.44MB floppy disks.

2) With one disk inserted into the first floppy drive (A:),
   type:

	fdimage bootdisk.img a:

3) When completed, remove the first disk and label it "boot disk".

4) Insert the second disk, and type

	fdimage rootdisk.img a:

5) When completed, remove the disk and label it "root disk".

6) The third disk only needs to be formatted and blank.
   Format the disk if necessary (format a:) and label it "data disk".
   If you are currently running PREDICT and its Keplerian database
   file is up-to-date, copy PREDICT's PREDICT.tle file to your
   "data disk".

7) With the "boot disk" inserted into drive A:, reboot your computer.

8) Replace the "boot disk" and with the "root disk" when prompted.

9) When the "linux login:" prompt appears, log in as root and press
   ENTER.

10) Type setup and press ENTER to personalize your linux environment.
    If you make an error in entering the requested information,
    simply press CONTROL-C and type setup again to start over.

11) Insert the "data disk" when prompted to save your settings.


* A BRIEF TUTORIAL *
====================
Portable PREDICT Plus supports a total of eight "virtual consoles".
These consoles refer to eight separate login sessions (screens) that
can run simultaneously through a single monitor and keyboard combination.
Each console is selected by holding the left ALT key (located to the
left of the space bar), and pressing a corresponding function key
(F1 through F8).  You are currently operating out of virtual
console 1.

At the command prompt, type PREDICT and press ENTER.  Type M to
enter multitracking mode.

Hold the left ALT key and press F2 to select the second virtual
console.  Log in as root, type top and press ENTER.  The top
command shows all the processes currently running under Linux,
including PREDICT on console 1.

Switch to virtual console 3.  Login as root and enter the command:

	cat /proc/cpuinfo

Some details regarding your CPU will be displayed.

Next, type dmesg and press ENTER.

The dmesg command displays all the kernel messages that have been
generated thus far.  Unfortunately, the messages are too extensive
to be seen in their entirety on a single screen.  Hold down the right
SHIFT key and press the PageUp key several times to scroll the screen
up to the point where the dmesg command was entered at the command
prompt.  Holding the right SHIFT key and pressing the PageDown key
permits downward scrolling of the screen.  Note that the right SHIFT
PageUp/PageDown keystroke combination can be used anytime to scroll
back to previously displayed text, provided that virtual consoles
were not switched in the process.

Pressing the up arrow and down arrow cursor keys permit scrolling of
commands previously entered on the command line.  The right and left
cursor keys permit editing of these commands.  Pressing ENTER invokes
the command displayed at the command prompt.

After users log into a Linux system, they are placed into a "home"
directory where all their personal files are held.  As root, your
home directory is /root.  Type pwd and press ENTER to display your
current working directory.

The output of commands can often be re-directed to a file rather
than the screen.  Type dmesg > dmesg.txt and press ENTER.  This
writes the output of the dmesg command to a file called dmesg.txt.
Typing ls -l and pressing ENTER performs a long listing of the
contents of your current working directory.

The command prompt provides information regarding your current location
(current working directory) in the Linux filesystem structure.  When in
your home directory as "root", the command prompt is displayed as "~ #".
The tilde (~) represents the location of your "home" (login) directory,
and the pound symbol (#) represents the fact that you are logged in as
a superuser (root).

Type cd / and press ENTER.  This moves you to the root of the entire
filesystem.  Notice the change in the command prompt.

Type ls -l and press ENTER.  All the directories under / are displayed.
Notice that directory names are displayed in blue text.

You can cd (change directory) into any of these directories, perform
short (ls) and long (ls -l) directory listings to see how the filesystem
is structured.  It is important to realize that all the files and
directories displayed actually reside in RAM, and not on any physical
disk media.  As files in your home directory build and change through
use of the applications included in Portable PREDICT Plus, they need
to be saved to non-volatile media for future reference.

Type cd and press ENTER to return to your home directory.  With your
"data disk" in drive A:, type backup and press ENTER.  This command
backs up the contents of your home directory to your "data disk".

Remove your "data disk" and insert your "boot disk" into drive A:.
Type reboot and press ENTER.  Insert your "root disk" and press
ENTER when prompted.  Finally, insert your "data disk", login as
as root, type setup dos, and press ENTER.  Performing an ls -l
from within your home directory will show the files created
during the last Portable PREDICT Plus session.


* USING PORTABLE PREDICT PLUS *
===============================
Portable PREDICT Plus assumes your computer's hardware clock/calendar
is accurately set to UTC.  Type date and press ENTER to display
the system date and time.  If the date and time displayed do not
correspond to the correct UTC date and time, set the date and time
as follows:

	date MMDDhhmm.ssYYYY

To set the time only:

	date HH:MM:SS

Note that the date command only affects the date and time reported
by Linux.  It does not alter your computer's clock/calendar.  As
such, any changes made are not permanent and only last as long as
Portable PREDICT Plus is running.

Fodtrack is included in Portable PREDICT Plus to control antenna
rotators via the parallel port.  Fodtrack can be used with PREDICT
and MoonTracker to track satellites or the Moon, respectively.
PREDICT and Moontracker can also drive serial port rotator
controllers that utilize the EasyComm II protocol.  If a serial
port controller is used, it must use a port separate from that
used to connect to a TNC.  The setserial utility is included
for modifying baud rates and IRQs of serial ports if needed.

For packet radio (and Pacsat) use, Portable PREDICT Plus communicates
with a TNC in KISS mode.   Your TNC can be placed into and taken
out of KISS mode using the included kisson and kissoff utilities.
The "setup" command may also place your TNC into KISS mode if you
desire.

Typical Pacsat operation might go as follows:

1) Run PREDICT to PREDICT upcoming passes of the satellite.

2) Prepare a message to upload to a satellite using the vi editor
   (or imported into Portable PREDICT Plus by way of the "data disk").

3) Files may be compressed using zip (zip msg.zip my_msg.txt)

4) Type pfhadd followed by the filename (msg.zip) that you wish to
   upload to the satellite.  Provide your callsign, the destination
   callsign, expire time, and other information as requested.

5) Type fodtrack to start fodtrack.

6) Start PREDICT under server mode with the fodtrack device as
   the tracking device:  PREDICT -s -a `cat /tmp/fodtrack`

7) Press ESC, and begin tracking the target Pacsat under single
   tracking mode.

8) Switch to another virtual console and log in as root.  Start
   the listen utility to monitor the AX.25 communications that
   take place: listen -ac8r

9) Switch to another virtual console and log in as root.  Start
   pb: startpb PACSAT_NAME (For the ECHO satellite, we would enter:
   startpb PACB).  Tracking information from PREDICT will appear in
   the center of pb's screen.  When the satellite comes into range,
   pb will start communicating with the Pacsat.

10) Switch to another virtual console and log in as root.  Start
    pg: pg PACSAT_NAME (pg PACB) to upload your prepared message
    to the satellite.

11) While everything is running, you can flip over to the other
    virtual consoles to watch PREDICT, monitor all the communications
    with the satellite with listen, and watch the progress of pb.  As
    directory information and files are downloaded from the satellite,
    log into another console and run pbdir to view the satellite's
    directory of files.  Downloaded files can be processed by running
    them through phs (phs file.dl or phs *.dl).  The mheard command
    will show a log of all the callsigns heard by Porable PREDICT Plus.

12) If this isn't enough, insert an audio cd in your cdrom drive,
    connect a pair of headphones to the drive's earphone jack, and
    type mcdp to play the audio CD.  :-)

13) After the pass is complete, type q on the console in which pb
    is running.  The listen command can be ended by pressing CONTROL-C.
    Make sure to issue the backup command to save all the downloaded
    files and directory information to your "data disk".

14) Logging out of a virtual console can be accomplished by typing
    exit or logout and pressing ENTER.  Portable PREDICT Plus can be
    ended by issuing the halt command, the reboot command, the poweroff
    command, or by issuing a ALT-CTRL-DEL keystroke combination.  Make
    sure to remove your "data disk" from the disk drive before issuing
    any of these commands.


* GENERATING PACKET BEACONS *
=============================
Generating APRS-style packets for relay via the International Space
Station is easy.  First determine your latitude and longitude in
degrees (whole number) and minutes (fractional number).  Use the
"beacon" utility to generate the packet:

beacon -d "CQ VIA RS0ISS-3" -t 1 tnc "=####.##N/#####.##W- Hello World!"

    where ####.##N represents your latitude in degrees and fractional
    minutes.  For example, 41.716905 degrees would equal 41 degrees,
    43.0143 minutes (0.716905 x 60) and would be represented as 4143.01N
    while #####.##W represents your longitude in degrees and fractional
    minutes (72.727083 degrees west would be equal 72 degrees, 43.62498
    minutes) and would be represented as 07243.62W

This entire command can (should) be written to a file in your home
directory and executed as a script for ease of use.


* SUMMARY *
===========
Boot with the "boot disk", insert the "root disk" when prompted.
Log in as root and insert the "data disk".  Type:

	setup dos

(or setup linux if you're using a Linux formatted "data disk").

Have a ball.  When you're ready to end your Portable PREDICT Plus
session, type:

	backup

with your "data disk" inserted to save all your home
directory files for your next use of Portable PREDICT Plus.

Keep your Portable PREDICT Plus Keplerian database up-to-date
by copying the PREDICT.tle file from your regular PREDICT installation
to your "data disk".  This will then be copied into your Portable
PREDICT Plus home directory for your convenience when you issue
the setup linux (or dos) command above.


* FURTHER INFORMATION *
=======================
Additional information on general Linux use and operation can be
found on-line at:

	http://www.tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/index.html


Additional information on Linux-based AX.25 operations is available
at:

	http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/AX25-HOWTO/


Additional information on the Amateur Radio satellite program is
available at:

	http://www.amsat.org/


The latest news on PREDICT software is available at:

	http://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/PREDICT.html


73, de John, KD2BD
kd2bd@amsat.org

