Crozet Project: Establishing radio contact with scientists on the Crozet Archipelago in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands
The University and the Southern Territories
The Faculty of Sciences of Montpellier, in association with the Teyran RadioClub* F8KHR, has been selected to establish radio contact with scientists on the Crozet Archipelago in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
Between December 2022 and March 2023, amateur radio operator Thierry Mazel F6CUK will be operating amateur radio equipment in the archipelago to communicate via audio and video.
On this occasion, a call for projects was issued to universities and schools by the REF (Réseau des Emetteurs Francais) to establish a communication channel enabling many students to ask questions to scientists. These islands, supplied four times a year by the Marion Dufresne ship, are uninhabited except for the Alfred Faure scientific base. Numerous research projects on local fauna and flora, as well as studies on magnetism, are carried out there.
On the initiative of Sylvie Jarrix F4HEU, lecturer and researcher in the EEA (electronics) department of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Montpellier, a satellite communication ground station is being set up by students with the help of the F8KHR Radio Club. A satellite dish can be seen on the roof of Building 1 on the Triolet Campus, connected to practical work equipment used daily in teaching. The Ecole Polytech'Montpellier is closely involved in the project through its teachers and Enzo Becamel, a student who is an amateur radio operator. A partnership has also been established with the Lycée Joffre for two 10th grade classes who visited the campus facilities and will be involved in asking questions.