SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS001
ARLS001 EASAT-2 and Hades Satellites with FM Repeaters Scheduled for
Launch
ZCZC AS01
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 001 ARLS001
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT January 12, 2022
To all radio amateurs
SB SPACE ARL ARLS001
ARLS001 EASAT-2 and Hades Satellites with FM Repeaters Scheduled for
Launch
The EASAT-2 and Hades satellites are scheduled to launch on January
13 on a SpaceX TR-3 flight, AMSAT has reported, citing information
provided by AMSAT-EA President and Mission Manager Felix Paez. Both
will carry amateur radio payloads offering FM voice and data
retransmission in FSK or AFSK up to 2,400 bps, and Hades is equipped
for slow-scan television (SSTV) and FM voice beacons with call signs
AM5SAT (EASAT-2) and AM6SAT (Hades).
Paez has called on the amateur radio community to listen for both
satellites when they are activated. In the case of EASAT-2, that
will be about 30 minutes after launch (1525 UTC). Hades will be
activated remotely a few days after launch. Share reception reports
with AMSAT-EA at, http://data.amsat-ea.org/ .
EASAT-2 was designed and built by AMSAT-EA and students from the
European University of Degrees in Aerospace Engineering in Aircraft
and in Telecommunication Systems Engineering. It carries an
experimental load of a basalt material from Lanzarote that is
similar to lunar basalts. It's believed that this material, which
was provided by the CSIC research group on meteorites and planetary
geosciences at the Institute of Geosciences, could be used as a
lunar construction material.
During various investigations, the UNESCO world geopark of Lanzarote
and the Chinijo archipelago have served as an as an analog of the
moon and Mars, as well as for training European Space Agency
astronauts, Paez said. The purpose of the basalt experiment is to
determine its evolution in space based on periodic measurements of
some of its properties. "Although the experiment is limited and
constitutes the first phase of this type of study, it represents an
important milestone as it is the first of its kind to be introduced
on such a small satellite," Paez explained.
The Hades payload consists of a miniature camera, the output of
which will be transmitted as an audio signal in SSTV mode. The
transmissions will be compatible with Robot36, Robot72, MP73, and
MP115. The camera module design was based on one used successfully
in the PSAT-2 satellite, which was built by cadets at the US Naval
Academy and by students at the Brno University of Technology and has
been in use since 2019. The system will be controlled completely
from the ground. The SSTV firmware will permit sending live images
as well as images saved in flash memory or encoded in onboard
read-only memory (ROM). It also provides PSK telemetry and imaging
advance scheduling with current status (event counters, temperature,
voltage, light conditions, etc.) and a brief summary, Paez said.
* EASAT-2 Frequencies
145.875 MHz uplink, FM voice (no subtone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK,
AX.25, APRS 1,200/2,400 bps
436.666 MHz downlink, FM voice, CW, FSK 50 bps, FM voice beacon with
call sign AM5SAT.
* HADES Frequencies
145.925 MHz uplink, FM voice (no subtone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK,
AX.25, APRS 1,200/2,400 bps
436.888 MHz downlink, FM voice, CW FSK 50 bps, SSTV Robot 36, FM
voice beacon with call sign AM6SAT
More information in English and Spanish on transmissions from both
satellites is available from the AMSAT-EA website at,
https://www.amsat-ea.org/ .
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