INTRODUCTIO

N
TO
SATELLITE
Mutiara
Training
Program

CONTENT
1.What

is satellite
2.History
3.Type of Satellite
4.Orbit
5.Basic Communication
Satellite

WHAT IS SATELLITE
1.

2.

3.

A celestial body that orbits a planet; a moon;

An object launched to orbit earth or another
celestial body.
A satellite is a small object traveling around the
larger object.
Satellites can be either natural or man-made
(artificial).

HISTORY
1. USSR

launched the first artificial

earth satellite, Sputnik in 1957.
2. US launched the first GEO
satellite, Relay-1 in1962.
3. First trans pacific TV traffic
distribution in 1963.

TYPE OF SATELLITE
Astronomical satellites

Are satellites used for observation of distant

planets, galaxies, and other outer space
objects.

Uhuru, The First Small

Astronomical Satellite (SAS-1)

Hubble SpaceTelescope (HST)

TYPE OF SATELLITE
Communications satellites
Are

artificial satellites stationed in space for the purposes of

telecommunications using radio at microwave frequencies.
These satellites possible form the greatest number of
satellites that are in orbit. They are used for communicating
over large distances.

Applications:
Telephony
Television and radio
Mobile satellite technologies
Amateur radio
Satellite broadband

TYPE OF SATELLITE
Earth Observation Satellites
These

satellites are used for observing the earth's surface

and as a result are often termed geographical satellites.
Using these satellites it is possible to see many features that
are not obvious from the earth's surface, or even at the
altitudes at which aircraft fly.
Using these earth observation satellites many geographical
features have become obvious and they have even been
used in mineral search and exploitation.

TYPE OF SATELLITE

Navigation Satellites

Satellite

navigation systems allow small electronic devices to

determine their location(Longitude, Latitude, and Altitude).
The first system known as GPS (Global Positioning System)
was set up by the US Department of Defense and was
primarily intended for use as a highly accurate military
system.
Satellite navigation systems have a wide variety of civilian
uses:
Navigation, ranging from personal hand-held devices for
trekking, to devices fitted to cars, trucks, ships and
aircraft
Location-based services such as enhanced 911
Surveying
Tracking devices used in wildlife management
Current and proposed satellite navigation systems
a)GPS (US)
b) GLONASS (RUSIA) c) Galileo (EUROPE)
d) EGNOS (EUROPE) e) Beidou (CHINA) f) DORIS

TYPE OF SATELLITE
Reconnaissance
Satellites
A spy satellite (officially referred to as a
reconnaissance satellite or recon sat)is an Earth
observation satellite or communications satellite
deployed for military or intelligence applications.
These satellites, are able to see objects on the
ground and are accordingly used for military
purposes. As such their performance and operation
is kept secret and not publicized.
The term "reconnaissance satellite" is preferred, as
"spy satellite" often has negative connotations.

TYPE OF SATELLITE
Weather Satellites
Used

to monitor the weather and climate of

the Earth.
These meteorological satellites, however,
see more than clouds and cloud systems.
City lights, fires, pollution, auroras, sand
and dust storms, snow cover, ice mapping,
boundaries of ocean currents, energy waste,
etc., are other environmental information
collected from weather satellites.

SATELLITE ORBIT
1. Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO): 35,786 km above the
earth
Orbiting

at the height of 22,282 miles above the equator

(35,786 km), the satellite travels in the same direction
and at the same speed as the Earth's rotation on its
axis, taking 24 hours to complete a full trip around the
globe. Thus, as long as a satellite is positioned over the
equator in an assigned orbital location, it will appear to
be "stationary" with respect to a specific location on the
Earth.
A single geostationary satellite can view approximately
one third of the Earth's surface. If three satellites are
placed at the proper longitude, the height of this orbit
allows almost all of the Earth's surface to be covered by
the satellites.

SATELLITE ORBIT
2. Medium Earth Orbit (MEO): 8,000-20,000 km above the
earth
These

orbits are primarily reserved for communications

satellites that cover the North and South Pole.

Unlike

the circular orbit of the geostationary satellites,

MEO's are placed in an elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit.

An

orbital period of 12 hours.

The

orbit is outside Earth's atmosphere and is thus very

stable. Radio signals sent from a satellite at medium
altitude can be received over a large area of Earth's
surface. The stability and wide coverage of the orbit
make it ideal for navigation satellites.

SATELLITE ORBIT
3. Low Earth Orbit (LEO): 500-2,000 km above the earth
These

orbits are much closer to the Earth, requiring

satellites to travel at a very high speed in order to avoid
being pulled out of orbit by Earth's gravity.

At

LEO, a satellite can circle the Earth in approximately

one and a half hours.

Less

energy is required to launch a satellite into this

type of orbit than into any other orbit. Satellites that
point toward deep space and provide scientific
information generally operate in this type of orbit.

SATELLITE ORBIT

COMMUNICATION SATELLITE
Most communications satellites in use today for
commercial purposes are placed in the geostationary
orbit, because of the following advantages:
One

satellite can cover almost 1/3 of Earth's surface,

offering a reach far more extensive than what any
terrestrial network can achieve.
Communications require the use of fixed antennas.
Since geosynchronous satellites remain stationary over
the same orbital location, users can point their satellite
dishes in the right direction, without costly tracking
activities, making communications reliable and secure.
GEO satellites are proven, reliable and secure-with a
lifespan of 10-15years.

BASIC SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

Satellites

are able fulfill a number of roles. One of the

major roles is for communications.

The

satellite enables communications to be established

over large distances.

Communications

satellites act as relay stations in space.

They

are used to bounce messages from one part of the

world to another.

The

messages can be telephone calls, TV pictures or

Internet connections. Certain communications satellites
are, for example, used for broadcasting: they send radio
and TV signals to homes.

FREQUENCY SATELLITE
There are specific frequency ranges used by commercial
satellites.
L-band = 1.02.0 GHz
S-band = 1.553.9 GHz
C-band = 3.76.2 GHz
X-Band = 8.012.0 GHz
Ku-band = 11.714.5 GHz
Ka-band = 17.7-21.2GHz and 27.531 GHz

UPLINK AND DOWNLINK

UPLINK AND DOWNLINK

Earth

stations transmit a signal to a satellite in orbit,

this act is called an uplink.
The satellites receive the uplinked signal, amplify it,
shift it to a lower frequency and then couple the
outgoing signal to the transmitting array of on-board
satellite antenna where the signal is focused into a
narrow beam and sent back to earth. The act of
sending the signal back to earth is called downlinking.
The on-board satellite electronics which receive the
uplinked signal, amplify it and shift the frequencies is
called a transponder.
Uplinks and downlinks are at different frequencies to
avoid interference with each other.

UPLINK AND DOWNLINK

EXAMPLES:
USA

C-band uplink frequencies are from 5.925GHz

to 6.425Ghzand the downlink frequencies are
from 3.7GHz to 4.2GHz.

ku

signals are uplinked in the 14.0-14.5GHz range

and downlinked in the 10.95-12.75GHz range.

TRANSPONDER
Transponder

is the brains of the satelliteprovides the connection between the satellites

receive and transmit antennas.
Satellites can have 12 to 96 transponders plus
spares, depending on the size of the satellite.
A transponders function is to
Receive the signal, (Signal is one trillion times
weaker then when transmitted)
Filter out noise
Shift the frequency to a down link frequency
(to avoid interference w/uplink)
Amplify for retransmission to ground

MOBILE SATELLITE SYSTEM

A

satellite telephone, satellite phone, or satphone

is a mobile phone that communicates directly
with orbiting communications satellites.
Depending on the architecture of a particular
system, coverage may include the entire Earth, or
only specific regions.
Permit voice and data transmission via satellite.
Satellite phones do not rely on cell towers and cell
sites.
Three of the major systems that are in use are
Iridium, Globalstar and Thuraya.

MOBILE SATELLITE SYSTEM

Iridium specification
FDMA/TDMA

Downlinks = 19.416.6 GHz

Uplinks = 29.129.3 GHz

Transmission rate = 2.4 kilobits per

second

Outdoor Unit
(ODU)

OUTDOOR UNIT (ODU)

Outdoor unit is a part of user terminal located
outside the building
ODU consist of:
Low Noise Block-down converter (LNB)
Block Up Converter (BUC)
Orthogonal Mode Transducer (OMT)
Transmit Reject Filter (TRF)
Feed Horn
Antenna
Cabling

Low Noise Block-down converter

(LNB)
LNB

is a device that accepts downlink

signal from the antenna, amplifies it with
a built-in LNA (Low Noise Amplifier), and
translates it down to the receive IF
frequency required by the modem
LNBs are made with different internal
features and performance grades.

Low Noise Block-down converter

(LNB)

LNB specification:
Input Frequency : 12.25 12.75 Ghz (KuBand)
Output Frequency : 1550 2050 Mhz (CBand)
LO Frequency : 10.7 Ghz
Noise Figure: Less than 0.8 dB
Gain: 50 60 dB

Block Up Converter (BUC)

BUC is a device that accepts the transmit
IF signal from the modem, translates it to
the uplink frequency e.g. Ku-band, and
amplifies it with an SSPA (solid state
power amplifier)

Block Up Converter (BUC)

BUC specification:
Input Frequency: 950 1450 Mhz
Output frequency: 14.0 14.5 Ghz
Output Power@P1dB: 1W
Gain: 50 dB min
Reference Signal:
10 Mhz signal from IDU

ORTHOGONAL MODE TRANSDUCER

(OMT)
OMT is a combiner that connect to the
feed horn and separates the transmit and
receive signals going to and from the LNB
and BUC, respectively
In linear polarization schemes, an OMT
acts as the combiner by separating the
waves according to their polarization.

TRANSMIT REJECT FILTER (TRF)

TRF helps stop any remaining transmit
signal that leaks out of the OMT from
overloading the LNB. It is usually a sort
piece of waveguide with internal resonator
elements.
Sometimes TRF is integrated into the OMT
or feed system, or even into the LNB.
Leaving it out can serve problems that are
very difficult to troubleshoot in the field

FEED HORN
Feed

Horn is used to launch waves. In ODU, the horn

launches the waves in a wide spray towards the
antenna reflector, which then focuses them into a
narrow beam. The feed horn and OMT together are
called the feed assembly.
The antenna manufacture usually includes the feed
system with the antenna
In fact, the feed system is designed to match the
antenna. Installer should only use the approved feed
system components with antenna: otherwise, the
antenna may not meet its performance
specifications, and is likely to generate interference
due to excessive side-lobes or inadequate cross-pol
performance

ANTENNA
Antenna

is a device that can direct, amplify and

focus waves to desired direction. It comes in
different shapes and sizes e.g. elliptical, circular,
poles.

CABLING
Cables

are often the least expensive part of ODU

but they are very important to a quality
interference-free installation.
In most UT some RG-6 style of cable is used.
However, that there are many grades and styles
of RG-6 cable, made with different materials and
shielding schemes.
Type F and N connectors are the most popular
for UT. The exact connector part number must
be approved for the cable part number, and the
workmanship of the connection must be good or
interference and degraded performance can
result.

CABLING
N-Type
Connector

Coaxial Cable

F-Type Connector

RG-6

Indoor Unit
(IDU)

INDOOR UNIT (IDU)

Indoor

Unit (IDU) or Modem is a device

located inside of building
A modem is a combined modulatordemodulator
The modulator accepts the users transmit
data, applies Turbo Product Coding and
modulates a carrier at an intermediate
frequency (IF), usually at L-band which is
generally in the range 950-2200 Mhz
The demodulator accepts an IF signal and
demodulates it, and decodes to create the
received data

INDOOR UNIT (IDU)

INDOOR UNIT (IDU)

Major
Problems for
Satellite

MAJOR PROBLEMS FOR SATELLITES

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Positioning in orbit
Stability
Power
Harsh environment
Alignment

POSITIONING
This

can be achieved by several methods

One method is to use small rocket motors
These use fuel-over half of the weight of
most satellites is made up of fuel
Often it is the fuel availability which
determines the lifetime of a satellite
Commercial life of a satellite typically 1015years

STABILITY
It is vital that satellites are stabilised
to ensure that solar panels are aligned properly
to ensure that communications antenna are
aligned properly
Early satellites used spin stabilisation
Either this required an inefficient omnidirectional aerial
Or antennae were precisely counter-rotated in
order to provide stable communications
Modern satellites use reaction wheel stabilisationa form of gyroscopic stabilisation. Other methods
of stabilisation are also possible

POWER
Modern

satellites use a variety of power

means
Solar panels are now quite efficient, so
solar power is used to generate electricity
Batteries are needed as sometimes the
satellites are behind the earth-this
happens about half the time for a LEO
satellite
Nuclear power has been used-but not
recommended

HARSH ENVIRONMENT
Satellite

components need to be specially

hardened
Circuits which work on the ground will fail
very rapidly in space
Temperature is also a problem-so
satellites use electric heaters to keep
circuits and other vital parts warmed upthey also need to control the temperature
carefully

ALIGNMENT
There

are a number of components which

need alignment
Solar panels
Antennae
These have to point at different parts of
the sky at different times, so the problem
is not trivial

Planning

PLANNING
Site

Survey
Etiquettes
License and
Permit

SITE SURVEY
Ask yourself:
Site survey is a must before starting the installation:
1.
2.

3.
4.

5.
6.
7.
8.

9.

Where will the antenna be installed?

Is concrete platform ready incase of installing antenna on ground
before starting installation?
What type of mounting will be used?
Is there a clear line of sight to satellite? And will it stay clear
when trees and leaves grow?
Where the IDU be located?
How will the coaxial cable be lined up to the building?
How long will it be and what coaxial cable to use?
Have all the required license and personal information been
granted for your authorization?
Is the AC power used for notebook and IDU available?

ETIQUETTES
The following key points are recommended for
installers during site survey and installation visit:
1.

2.
3.
4.

5.

Always notify customer visiting schedule in

advance
Be on time
Identify yourself and explain role to customer
Ask customer to confirm and give a permission
with what installers have decide on the
appropriate place for installation of antenna
Customer Privacy is important, do not disturb
unless installers need cooperation from them

UTI license and Permit

The following key points are recommended for
installers during site survey and installation visit:
1.

2.
3.
4.

5.

Always notify customer visiting schedule in

advance
Be on time
Identify yourself and explain role to customer
Ask customer to confirm and give a permission
with what installers have decide on the
appropriate place for installation of antenna
Customer Privacy is important, do not disturb
unless installers need cooperation from them

Line of Sight (LOS)

Line

of Sight propagation refers to electromagnetic radiation travelling in a straight line. The

rays or waves are deviated or reflected by
obstruction and cannot travel over the horizon or
behind obstacles.
Any obstruction between the transmitting antenna
and the receiving antenna will block the signal.

FINDING AZIMUTH Az AND

ELEVATION El
Installer can be found the Az and El from job order
which has been created by provisioning system
(webpro)

USING COMPASS
Normally, satellite can not be seen from the ground, so
installer may need a compass to verify for clear line of
sight in the azimuth direction. The followings are the
facts of compass:
Compass is an instrument for finding direction which
align itself accurately with Earths magnetic field
The needle normally points to the North direction and
installer should check the correct direction of satellite.
Both azimuth and elevation angles of the site are
different from site to site as different places have
different angles
Be careful while using the compass as wrong angles
are easily to acquire
Avoid area closed to magnetic generated source e.g.
transformer, generator

USING COMPASS
Follow the steps below to learn how to use a simple
compass.
Step 1: Find azimuth angle (Az) as reported in Job order
Step 2: Place compass on your palm with your arm
parallel with the
earth surface
Step 3: Turn the compass housing with marker line
pointed at the center of the company
Step 4: Now hold the compass still and turn your whole
body toward
desired direction marked with marker
line previously shown. The satellite is now directly
ahead.
Step 5: Roughly memorize or mark target direction for
future
reference.
Remark: keep the compass still to improve direction
accuracy

ELEVATION FINDING
An inclinometer or clinometer is an instrument for
measuring angles of slope (or tilt), elevation or
inclination of an object with respect to gravity.
Although it is quite
awkward to use for
sighting elevation on
site surveys, it will be
suitable later when we
are ready to accurately
set the antennas
elevation.

OBSTRUCTION
Obstruction situated nearby the dish can easily block
line of sight. Extra care for those items is required to
minimize after installation service later.
Examples of obstacles:
1.Trees
2. High rise building
3.Walls
4.Roofs
5.Fences
6.Other satellite antennas and microwave towers

MOUNT TYPE
There are several ways antenna can be mounted to a
building or on the ground.

Triangular
Mount

Pole
Mount

Public Safety
and Survey
checklist

Public Safety
1.

2.

3.

4.

The antenna should be installed away from any

type of traffic paths e.g. people, vehicles which
could cause a blockage to line of sight path.
Antenna installed at the ground level should be
securely tightened with concrete platform to
prevent any damages occurred as of high wind
situation
Cabling shall be securely fastened to feed-horn
support or building with cable tie to avoid any
kinds of accident happened with customer.
The beam of antenna shall be 10 degrees away
from any occupied building or structured that could
have people in as high frequency is being used.

Survey Checklist
Before finishing site survey, please make sure that:
1.

2.

3.
4.
5.

6.

7.

8.

Rigid and strong mounting point of antenna has been

chosen
Good clearance around the line of sight to the satellite
shall be found and checked and it should not be affected
by growing trees or plants in the future.
Appropriate type of mount has been selected
IDU location has been well chosen with good ventilation
Cabling has been organized in order to route to the
building and it should not be too long to prevent high cable
attenuation
Customer has agreed with all installer decision regarding
placement of antenna, cables and indoor equipment.
License and personal information are valid until the day of
installation
Tools and other equipment used during site survey have
been restored back properly.

The Key
Benefit of
Satellite

THE KEY BENEFIT OF SATELLITE

UNIVERSAL:

Satellite communications are available

virtually everywhere. A small constellation of satellites can
cover the Earth's entire surface. And even the reach of a
single satellite is far more extensive than what any
terrestrial network can achieve.

VERSATILE:

Satellites can support all of today's

communications needs-transactional and multimedia
applications, video, voice, cellular networks, entertainment
and breaking news.

RELIABLE:

Satellite is a proven medium for supporting a

company's communications needs. Whereas terrestrial IP
networks are often a mix of different networks and
topologies, with different level of congestion and latency.
Satellite networks are extremely predictable allowing
constant and uniform quality of service to hundreds of
locations, regardless of geography.

THE KEY BENEFIT OF SATELLITE

SEAMLESS:

Satellite's inherent strength as a broadcast

medium makes it ideal for the simultaneous distribution of
bandwidth-intensive information to hundreds or thousands
of locations.

FAST:

Unlike most terrestrial alternatives, satellite networks

can be rolled out quickly and inexpensively to hundreds or
thousands of locations, connecting cities or remote locations
across a large landmass, where copper or fiber is cost
prohibitive. Since satellite networks can be set up quickly,
companies can be fast-to-market with new services.

EXPANDABLE:

Satellite networks are easily scalable,

allowing users to expand their communications networks
and their available bandwidth easily. In coordination with
local vendors, expanding a network on the ground requires
the ordering of new terminal components and the
commissioning of increased bandwidth at each site.