1. Learning system orientation. 2. Course intro, including review of GVF Cert requirements. 3. Satellite communications overview, including spacecraft, transponders, and launch vehicles. 4. Orbits, with interactive orbital mechanics simulator-based experimenters and 3-D constellation animations. 5. Footprints, explaining EIRP, G/T, contours, and their relationship to dish size. 6. Waves, including interactive experimenters for amplitude and frequency and discussion of latency and satcom bands. 7. Gains, losses, and levels, covering fundamentals of dB and level calculations, with interactive animated exercises. 8. Signals, noise, and spectrums, includingreal-time spectrum simulation of bandwidth, noise, and C/N. 9. Modulation, with animated explanations of QPSK, 8PSK, and other modulations, forward error correction, and bit error rate. 10. Antennas, including sidelobes, patterns, and gain, with interactive experimenters. 11. Propagation, including rain fade, blockage, snow/ice effects, and animated solar transit outage demonstration. 12. Satellite links, with breakdown of how a link budget concepts, link margins, and availability. 13. Polarization, with 3-D interactive animations of linear and circular pol waves, feed systems, and explanation of XPD. 14. Earth station and VSAT equipment, including review of VSAT equipment and expanded discussion of comnponents found in larger earth stations. 15. Access methods, with animated diagrams of SCPC, TDMA, TDM, DAMA, and DVB. 16. Mobile VSAT overview, including 3-D illustrations of auto-deploy and marine stabilized antennas. 17. Considering VSAT networks, with discussion of cost, regulatory, safety, and installation issues. 18. Comparing satellites, including review of satellite advantages and alternatives for specific services.
