International amateur radio at the radio telescope
DLØEF (“Delta Lima Zero Echo Foxtrott”) has been the international call sign for the amateur radio club station at the Astropeiler Stockert since the founding of the club.
This is not unusual, as for example, the radio amateurs of the world-famous Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico with its fixed 305-meter mirror also used the amateur radio call sign KP4AO. Our neighboring 25-meter radio telescope Dwingeloo in the Netherlands is active with the amateur radio call sign PI9CAM.
While radio technology in radio astronomy serves exclusively for scientific research, amateur radio is a worldwide radio service. The fascination with radio waves and their possibilities is the bridge between radio technologies for a group of radio astronomy interested club radio amateurs.