Training

About the Training Programme

The Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC) (www.mric.mu) is organizing a series of training workshops for secondary school students on the building of a Simplified Antenna for Satellite data Reception. The aim is to initiate young Mauritians to Satellite/Space Technology and create awareness on the numerous possibilities these fields could offer for the Republic of Mauritius. The specific objectives are to provide:

Hands-on training on building of antenna for satellite data reception;
Data reception and communication with Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites; and
Operation of ground station using specific softwares.

At the end of the course, the functional antenna will be gifted to the participating school to enable the trained teacher to impart the knowledge and skills to other students.

The built antenna and the Software Defined Radio (SDR) will be handed over to the supervising teacher only at the end of the training. The Council will provide technical assistance in setting up a mini ground station at the school after the completion of the training.

Two pilot training sessions have already been conducted, firstly at Prof Hassen Raffa SSS and secondly at Forest Side SSS Girls.

The training workshops will be done over school holidays and have been broken down into 6 sessions as shown below.

The first training was conducted from 30 November to 4 December 2020, comprising of 17 schools, with 1 Educator and 4 students from each school.

Zone	Time Schedule (Based on school holidays)	Secondary Schools	Universities	MITD
2 Test Cases	Apr/May 2019 (Completed)	2	-	-
Zones 1, 2, 3 and 4	30th November to 4th December 2020	12	5	-
Zone 1	TBD	20	1	1
Zone 2	TBD	20	1	1
Zone 3	TBD	20	1	1
Zone 4	TBD	20	1	1
Zone 5 (Rodrigues)	TBD	7	-	1

Why the need for a pilot phase?

Before the launch of the Satellite Training Programme on Mini Ground Station in 2020, it was important to prepare the training materials adapted to school students and also test the antenna system. The best way to achieve this was to carry out a pilot training workshop with students, build the antenna step by step and finally test it at a school.

Following the seminar on the First Mauritian Satellite by the MRIC in 2019, the council was approached by Prof. Hassan Rafa SSS showing interest in being involved in the pilot phase of the training programme.

A second pilot phase of the training, later in 2019, was carried out at the Forest Side SSS (Girls) following the institution’s request to the MRIC.

The Pilot Training

The training involved the following activities:

Theory

Introduction to radio waves and communication. Explanation of the different components of a receiving antenna system. Introduction to team project planning and execution.

Antenna Building

Building and assembly of the antenna from scratch using affordable components and common materials such as aluminum rods and PVC pipes.

Antenna and Station Set Up

Setting up of completed antenna on school rooftop Cabling and PC setup. Connection to PC.

Receiving Station

The different software tools are installed and explained. Testing of software with antenna. Satellite tracking and decoding of satellite telemetry and images in radio amateur bands. Voice capture on radio amateur bands.