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Configuration Guide

This page covers FBSAT59's software options — what each setting does and where it lives. Connecting hardware (radio, SDR, rotator) is in Setup; a first run-through is in Getting Started.

General Settings

File → General Settings opens a dialog with five tabs.

TLE Sources

Checkboxes for the CelesTrak orbital-element groups FBSAT59 downloads:

  • Space Stations
  • Amateur Satellites
  • CubeSat
  • Weather Satellites
  • Earth Observation
  • Science Satellites

Each group refreshes on its own interval (roughly 1–12 hours). Individual satellites can also be updated from SatNOGS on demand (Satellite → Update TLE, or Add Manual TLE… for a hand-entered set). There is no Space-Track account to configure — FBSAT59 does not use one.

World Map

Choose the background for the World Map tab:

  • Built-in polygon map — vector coastlines, always available
  • One of several raster maps fetched from the GPredict map repository — select it to see a preview, then click Download. Cached maps are marked ✓.

Custom Groups

Your own satellite groups, used by the list filter, the Group pass search and the mobile web UI:

  • Add Group — creates Favorite N; double-click the name to rename it
  • Remove Last Group — deletes the last group after a confirmation; its satellites are unassigned

Put satellites into a group by right-clicking them in the list (★ Favorite Groups).

Notifications

  • AOS Notifications — enable/disable, plus how many minutes before AOS to alert (1–60, default 5). Delivered through the operating system's notification service.
  • LOS Notifications — enable/disable, plus minutes before LOS (1–30, off by default).
  • Application Updates — Check for updates on startup (on by default). A manual check is Help → Check for Updates….

Logging

Broadcast logged QSOs via UDP (ADIF) — when enabled, each confirmed digital-mode contact (APRS / FT4 / Q65 …) is sent as an ADIF record over UDP to the Host and Port you set (default port 2333). Point it at Wavelog, GridTracker or another logger on your network.

View menu

Item Effect
Language English / 日本語 — applies immediately
Time Zone Show times as UTC or Local Time. Purely a display preference — pick whichever you like.
Wide Tab Shrink the satellite list and pass panels to give the centre tabs more room
Show Ground Track Draw the selected satellite's orbit track on the World Map

Radio, rotator and SDR settings

These live in the Radio menu, not General Settings:

Web interface

The built-in web server runs on port 8080 (fixed) and is reachable on your LAN only. The URL and a QR code are shown in the status bar. See Web Interface for what it exposes.

Where settings are stored

Every setting — QTH, rig / SDR configuration, favorites, notification preferences, enabled TLE sources — is kept in a single SQLite database. There is no editable text config file.

OS Database path
Linux ~/.local/share/fbsat59/fbsat59.db
macOS ~/Library/Application Support/fbsat59/fbsat59.db
Windows %APPDATA%\fbsat59\fbsat59.db

The log file path is printed to the console at startup ([FBSAT59] Log file: …).

Reset to defaults

Quit FBSAT59 and delete the database file above. A fresh, empty one is created on the next launch — you'll need to set your QTH and reconnect any hardware, but TLE and transmitter data re-download automatically.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+L Toggle Doppler Lock — works from any tab

This is currently the only keyboard shortcut. The T (Tune) and L (Lock) controls in the SDR Control tab are on-screen buttons, not keys.

Next Steps