I just wanted to confirm with you all that the launch of EASAT-2 and Hades satellites is scheduled for this January, 13, 15.25 UTC on SpaceX TR-3 flight, as it has been confirmed to us by Alba Orbital.
We thank you in advance for trying to receive their signals and of course for trying to use the repeater. EASAT-2 one will be automatically active 30 minutes after the launch although it would be a priority for us trying to have some telemetry frames first to check if all is working properly.
I tell you a bit more about the satellites:
EASAT-2 has been designed and built jointly by AMSAT-EA and students from the European University of Degrees in Aerospace Engineering in Aircraft and in Telecommunication Systems Engineering, with contributions from ICAI in the communications part, and it incorporates as an experimental load a basalt material from Lanzarote, similar to lunar basalts, provided by the CSIC research group on meteorites and planetary geosciences at the Institute of Geosciences, IGEO (CSIC-UCM) and that could be used as a construction material on the Moon. This project was promoted and has the collaboration of the ETSICCP (UPM).
The UNESCO world geopark of Lanzarote and the Chinijo archipelago has been used for different investigations as an analogue of the Moon and Mars, also including the training of ESA astronauts. The selected basalt material meets the requirements to be used as a simulant of the existing basalt on the Moon. The purpose of the 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.
As for Hades, its payload consists of a miniature camera module that outputs the captured images as an audio signal in SSTV mode. The SSTV formats it uses are compatible with Robot36, Robot72, MP73 and MP115. The design of the cam module is based on the one used in the successful mission of the PSAT2 satellite, an amateur radio satellite of the United States Naval Academy and the Brno University of Technology. This camera has been operational since June 25, 2019: (http: //
www.aprs.org/psat2.html).
The camera chip is the Omnivision OV2640, which provides a resolution of up to 2M pixels and compressed JPEG output. The resolution is limited by the internal memory of the CPU (MCU) that controls the camera to 320x240 (typical) or 640x480 maximum. The MCU selected for the control is the STM32F446RET6, which has the smallest possible footprint with connection to a DCMI peripheral, necessary for the connection with the camera. Images can be stored in 2MB serial flash memory. The complete SSTV encoder has managed to be implemented on a 4 layer PCB with dimensions of only 38x38mm. The MCU can be fully controlled from ground stations. The firmware allows the sending of live camera images, images previously saved in flash memory, or images encoded in ROM. It also provides PSK telemetry and imaging advance scheduling with current status (event counters, temperature, voltage, light conditions, etc.) and a brief summary.
The described module has been developed and manufactured in the Department of Radioelectronics of the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic. Both hardware and firmware designs with the source codes will be available on Github under the MIT license (
https://github.com/alpov/SatCam).
As noted, initially only the EASAT-2 repeater is active. Hades one will be activated by remote control a few days after launch.
The frequencies coordinated with IARU for both satellites are as follows:
EASAT-2
145.875 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (no subtone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK, AX.25, APRS 1200/2400 bps
436.666 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW, FSK 50 bps, FM voice beacon with AM5SAT callsign
AMSAT-EA appreciates the receipt of telemetry, voice beacons and SSTV images. A paper QSL will be sent to those who submit their transmissions. It can be done through the following link: