Good places to look for basic information about Satellite Systems

[jfkittredge]

Hey guys,

Lately, I have been interested to follow the conversations about recent channel uplinks, the shuffling of satellites, malfunctioning transponders, various spotbeams, WA vs EA, etc. At the same time, I have often found myself a little bit lost when the conversations take a turn for the technical. Can anyone recommend some good online resources for learning things like how our satellite system works, what a transponder does, what the vagaries of the various satellite arcs and spotbeams are, or what is involved in the uplink process?

Thanks!