An internal (non-public)  ESOC Navigation Support Office GNSS station.

Location

The antenna is mounted on a small concrete pillar, inside a fenced area in a mountain valley approximately 3.5km from the village of Matjiesfontein, South Africa

The site is managed by HartRAO (Hartebeesthoek, also responsible for the station HRTB)

A joint collaboration between  HartRAO   and ESA/ESOC was established in April 2017.

Equipment

In September 2017 a Septentrio PolaRx4 receiver was installed together with a Septentrio Chokering MC antenna,  providing multi-GNSS tracking from this location: GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Beidou and QZSS.

In December 2019 the equipment was upgraded to a Septentrio PolarRx5 receiver and a Septentrio PolaNt Chokering B3/E6 antenna".

A rubidium 10 MHz reference clock is planned to be installed at the site soon. 

The installation of the clock will be done together with the coating of the antenna

Photos

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MTJF Antenna installation - View towards the North