Chapter 20: Satellite Communications

MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The height of the geosynchronous orbit above the equator is about:
a. 3,578 km
c. 357,800 km
b. 35,780 km
d. depends on satellite velocity
ANS: B
2. The high and low points of a satellite's orbit are called, respectively,:
a. apogee and perigee
c. uplink and downlink
b. perigee and apogee
d. downlink and uplink
ANS: A
3. The area on the earth that is "covered" by a satellite is called its:
a. earth station
c. footprint
b. downlink
d. plate
ANS: C
4. The velocity required to stay in orbit:
a. is constant
b. is zero (freefall)
c. is lower close to the earth than far from the earth
d. is higher close to the earth than far from the earth
ANS: D
5. An antenna is aimed by adjusting the two "look angles" called:
a. azimuth and elevation
c. declination and elevation
b. azimuth and declination
d. apogee and perigee
ANS: A
6. The power per transponder of a typical Ku-band satellite is in the range:
a. 5 to 25 watts
c. 500 to 2500 watts
b. 50 to 250 watts
d. depends on its orbit
ANS: B
7. The power level for an earth station to transmit to a satellite is on the order of:
a. 101 watts
c. 103 watts
2
b. 10 watts
d. 104 watts
ANS: C
8. The "payload" on a communications satellite consists of:
a. transponders
c. solar cells
b. batteries
d. all of the above

ANS: A
9. "Station-keeping" refers to:
a. antenna maintenance
b. power-level adjustments

c. orbital adjustments
d. none of the above

ANS: C
10. DBS stands for:
a. decibels of signal
b. down-beam signal

c. direct-broadcast system
d. direct-broadcast satellite

ANS: D
11. LNA stands for:
a. low-noise amplifier
b. low north angle

c. low-noise amplitude
d. low-noise array

ANS: A
12. A reduction in TWT power for linearity is called:
a. backdown
c. power-down
b. backoff
d. EIRP drop
ANS: B
13. TVRO stands for:
a. television receive only
b. television repeater only

c. television remote origin

d. none of the above

ANS: A
14. TDMA stands for:
a. transponder-directed multiple antennas
b. television distribution master antenna

c. time-division multiple access

d. transmit delay minimum aperture

ANS: C
15. VSAT stands for:
a. video satellite
b. video signal antenna terminal

c. very small antenna terminal

d. very small aperture terminal

ANS: D
16. On the uplink from a terminal, a VSAT system uses:
a. high power to a small antenna
c. low power to a large antenna
b. low power to a small antenna
d. LEO satellites
ANS: B
17. A typical VSAT system is configured as a:
a. star
b. mesh

c. ring
d. repeater

ANS: A
18. LEO stands for:
a. long elliptic orbit
b. low-earth orbit

c. lateral earth orbit

d. longitudinal earth orbit

ANS: B
19. For real-time communication, LEO systems require:
a. a constellation of satellites
c. very high power
b. tracking dish antennas
d. all of the above
ANS: A
20. The frequency bands used by Ku-band satellites are:
a. 4 GHz and 6 GHz
c. 20 GHz and 30 GHz
b. 12 GHz and 14 GHz
d. none of the above
ANS: B
COMPLETION
1. A satellite in geosynchronous orbit takes ____________________ hours to complete one orbit.
ANS: 24
2. The ____________________ is the signal path from the earth station to the satellite.
ANS: uplink
3. The ____________________ is the signal path from the satellite to the earth station.
ANS: downlink
4. A satellite in a ____________________ orbit appears to stay directly above one spot on the equator.
ANS: geostationary
5. Non-geostationary satellites are sometimes called ____________________ satellites.
ANS: orbital
6. A geosynchronous orbit is about ____________________ km above the earth.
ANS: 35,780
7. A ____________________ is an outline of the area on the earth's surface that a satellite broadcasts to.
ANS: footprint
8. All satellite orbits are ____________________ in shape.

ANS: elliptical
9. The ____________________ is the distance of a satellite's closest approach to the earth.
ANS: perigee
10. The ____________________ is a satellite's farthest distance from the earth.
ANS: apogee
11. An antenna's ____________________ is its angular direction between east and west.
ANS: azimuth
12. An antenna's ____________________ is its vertical angle with respect to the earth's surface.
ANS: elevation
13. An antenna's ____________________ is the angle by which it is offset from the earth's axis.
ANS: declination
14. Satellites using the ____________________ band operate on 12 GHz.
ANS: Ku
15. The time for a signal to make a round trip via satellite is about ____________________ milliseconds.
ANS: 500
16. A ____________________ is a type of repeater used on communications satellites.
ANS: transponder
17. Both the gain and the beamwidth of a dish antenna depend on its ____________________.
ANS: diameter
18. VSAT systems commonly use a ____________________ network configuration.
ANS: star
19. To date, LEO satellite systems have been a financial ____________________.
ANS: failure
20. C-band antennas are ____________________ than Ku-band antennas.
ANS: larger

SHORT ANSWER
1. A receiving antenna with a gain of 44.4 dBi looks at a sky with a noise temperature of 15 K. The loss
between the output of the antenna and the input of the LNA is 0.4 dB, and the LNA has a noise
temperature of 40 K. Calculate the G/T.
ANS:
25 dB
2. A receiver has a noise figure of 1.7 dB. Find its equivalent noise temperature.
ANS:
139 K.
3. A receiving antenna with a G/T of 25 dB is used to receive signals from a satellite 38,000 km away. The
satellite has a 100-watt transmitter and an antenna with a gain of 30 dBi. The signal has a bandwidth of 1
MHz at a frequency of 12 GHz. Calculate the C/N at the receiver.
ANS:
38 dB