High School Students Became Ghost Busters Using Technology at FEL Camp

This year’s edition of FEL Camp, a science camp supported by TTC MARCONI for several years, took on a supernatural theme. However, the participants solved the seemingly mysterious phenomena through the use of real technologies and knowledge from the field of electronics, electrotechnical engineering, programming, and amateur radio.

During the camp, the students searched for and “hunted ghosts”, that had been hidden in mobile phones, computers and radios. Their task was to capture various signals, identify them correctly and decode them, subsequently digitally trapping them. They worked, for example, with spectrograms, slow-scan television and EEPROM memory, and also had the opportunity of trying fibre-optic splicing.

The program was prepared for beginners as well as for students who already had experience with electronics and programming. In addition to the technical assignments, participants also took care of the daily operations of the camp. Upon arrival, they pitched their tents, they looked for the supplies of water and wood, and, through the use of photovoltaic panels, they generated the electricity necessary to charge their mobile devices.

FEL Camp was organized by the team of teachers and students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Czech Technical University in Prague. TTC MARCONI has been a long-term supporter of the camp.  Every year, the event combines technical education with practical tasks in the fields and provides students with opportunities of acquiring how knowledge from various technological fields can be used in practice.