Crozet Project: Establish radio contact with scientists in the Crozet archipelago of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises)
The University and the Southern Territories
The Faculté des Sciences de Montpellier, in association with the RadioClub* de Teyran F8KHR, has been chosen to establish radio contact with scientists in the Crozet archipelago in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
Between December 2022 and March 2023, amateur radio operator Thierry Mazel F6CUK will operate amateur radio equipment in the archipelago for audio and video communications.
To mark the occasion, the REF (Réseau des Emetteurs Francais) issued a call for projects aimed at universities and schools, with a view to setting up communications to enable students to put questions to the scientists. These islands, supplied 4 times a year by the Marion Dufresne ship, are uninhabited except for the Alfred Faure scientific base. Numerous research projects on local fauna, flora and magnetism are carried out here.
On the initiative of Sylvie Jarrix F4HEU, a teacher-researcher in the EEA (electronics) department of the Faculty of Science at the University of Montpellier, a satellite communications ground station is being set up by students with the help of RadioClub F8KHR. A satellite dish can be seen on the roof of Building 1 on the Triolet Campus, connected to the practical work equipment used in daily teaching. The Ecole Polytech'Montpellier is closely involved in the project through its teaching staff and Enzo Becamel, a student radio amateur. A partnership has also been set up with the Lycée Joffre for two classes of 10th graders, who have come to visit the campus facilities and will be involved in asking questions.