There is a program called "GBUTIL" that I believe eliminates duplicate entries and adds common names. It was at the Ransom site. Ron Lee At 10:50 AM 6/12/98 -0400, you wrote: >Thanks to Philip Clarke for providing one means around the >OIG problem. > >As a very casual computer user but avid satellite observer, >I am wondering what this will mean for others like myself, >whom I suspect may be the majority. I tried downloading the >gbYYMMDD.zip file from Dave Ransom's site and came up with >almost 10,000 elsets. The file is useless for SatSpy 2.5, in >that the program relies on the common name for >identification and comes up with a blank listing of >satellites (since the file uses no common names). I haven't >yet memorized numerical designators for all the 10,000 sats. >Many of us go strictly by the common name and only use the >NORAD or Internatl. designation if reference is made here >only to that, and to see the launch date. Even if the names >appeared, the time to produce usable pass data would be >increased by a factor of at least 5. > >I hope what you are all talking about is a method of >producing a molczan-size file with common names that will >also be useful to casual observers like myself. 100 elsets >is too small a file, but 10,000 is too big. I'm glad to see >that those who are capable are doing some constructive >thinking to solve the upcoming problem. As for my thoughts >on NASA/OIG, I will keep that to myself, but will certainly >join Bart in lending my name to a petition or other >communication to OIG. > >Thanks to all who provide us casual observers with the >usable data! > >Eric Vondra >Wampum, PA, USA > >