Satcom Training

Tuition fees are listed in the Course Catalog and Fees page.  If you are a national of a developing country, or you represent an NGO or a UN agency, the Andrew Werth Scholarship discount may apply.  If you would like to enroll 20 or more students, or your organization has an ongoing need for staff training, please inquire about quantity discounts.

If you are a national of a developing country, or you represent an NGO or a UN agency, the Andrew Werth Scholarship discount may apply.  If you would like to enroll 20 or more students, or your organization has an ongoing need for staff training, please inquire about quantity discounts.

Online courses are available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. You may log in and work on your course at your own speed. The learning system will remember your place in the course the next time you log in.

If you are installing any type of VSAT, you definitely need to take course GVF510 (Core Skills for VSAT Installers) and the Hands On Skills Test. This will give you the Basic certification which indicates that you have the minimum skills to activate a VSAT without creating excess interference. The GVF and the major satellite operators also encourage you to continue to Advanced certification by taking courses GVF520 and GVF521.

If you work with iDirect, Hughes, or Gilat equipment, you should also take course GVF503i, GVF503H, or GVF503G respectively in order to receive GVF specialist certifications for those three types of VSAT.

If you are installing or maintaining Sea Tel marine VSAT terminals, you should take GVF520, GVF 561, GVF562E, and GVF503E. 

You can expect to take about 5-15 hours of online study to complete the GVF 510.   Most other courses typically take about 5-20 hours.  If you have substantial satellite field or engineering experience, you may be able to work through the courses quickly, but you will need to view all pages and take the quizzes and simulator skills tests.  You are more than welcome to take as long as you wish and revisit any pages as you work through the online courses.

The Hands On Skills Test generally takes several hours, working outside with a GVF Examiner.

No, you may not share logins! Registrations are for individual students. The learning system tracks each student’s through the course and records quiz and test scores. If you share an account, you will violate the terms of service, you will not be able to take advantage of the critical quizzes and exams, and you will not receive a certificate.

In September 2009, we made significant updates and improvements to the online courses, and added a new entry-level ("Basic") certification. The learning content from our previous Level 1 and 2 online courses, plus the practical topics covered in the previous Level 3S classroom session, are now included (and enhanced) in the new GVF 510, 520, and 521 online courses. The Hands On Skills Test (HOST) is now offered stand-alone by regional or organizational Examiners, and additional supplementary classroom sessions may be offered by GVF instructors, at their discretion.

These changes have no effect on the validity of previous certifications and/or on courses taken toward Certification. If you completed the legacy Level 1 and Level 2 courses and wish to obtain an Advanced GVF SatCom Certification, you receive credit for passing GVF520, but you must complete GVF510 and GVF521 and attend a HOST session. However, students who have previously paid tuition for GVF 501 and 502 and order GVF 521 will receive complementary enrollment in GVF 510.  If you have any questions, please contact us at gvfsupport@satprof.com.

Send an email to gvfsupport@satprof.com and ask us to reset the course for you. When the course has been reset, you can start it again. Please note that you must view all pages, and pass all quizzes and tests in order to pass a course.

Send an email to gvfsupport@satprof.com identifying yourself by email address, first name, and last name and we will assist you.

Go to the main GVF portal at http://www.gvf.org/training, click on Edit My Profile, and enter your new email address. Remember to log out of this page when you are finished! If you have any problems, contact us at gvfsupport@satprof.com. 

Courses are generally active for three months (90 days) after enrollment. There is normally a fee for extensions, but if you need a little extra time because of circumstances outside your control, please let us know at gvfsupport@satprof.com.

You will not be able to enter the course after you log in. Under certain circumstances, we can extend a course deadline upon request via email to gvfsupport@satprof.com .

Log in, enter your specific course, and click on My Resources.  From there, you can click on each of the available reference documents to display and/or download them.

There can be several possible reasons for this:
1. The wrong version of the Adobe Flash player is installed on the computer you are using, or Flash is not installed at all. GVF online courses now require that you have the latest Flash player.  (As of March 2011, you must have version 11.1 minimum.)  For a free update, go to www.adobe.com and click on “Get Flash Player.” 

2. During periods of heavy use, the learning system may slow down somewhat. If that happens, please wait a minute or two and try again.

3. Most learning pages are quite small (under 100 kbytes) but a few of them are as much as 1 Mbyte. You have to wait until the page is loaded. After that, it should play at full speed locally on your computer.

4. An unreliable Internet connection is the most common source of problems with access to the learning system. The best way to check for this is to use the tracert utility, as follows:

    a. In Windows, click Start, Run
    b. Type cmd {Enter}
    Type tracert http://gvf.absorbtraining.com {Enter}

First, check that gvf.coursehost.com resolved to an IP address. If not, then your DNS service is not working correctly. Second, look for any delays or blockage along the path. If tracert consistently shows a problem reaching gvf.absorbtraining.com, then you should contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and ask for assistance.

We welcome all suggestions and comments! Please send and email to gvfsupport@satprof.com . Be sure to mention the course name, lesson name, the page title, and the step number (if there is more than one step on the page).

At the login menu, when you enter your username and password, you may choose your language using the pulldown menu.  This language selection controls the learning system user interface, but not the course content.

However, we are pleased to advise that course GVF 510 now has a built-in language selection menu.  As of March 2012, English, Spanish, and Portuguese are fully active.  You can immediately switch between any of these three languages for all learning content, 3D graphics, quizzes, and user navigation at any time by simply selecting your desired language in the pulldown menu.  We are considering making other courses multilingual too.  If you have a special requirement, please let us know.

No. You only need to take the GVF 503i online course.  You do not need to repeat the Hands On Skills Test (HOST) when upgrading your certification from Basic to Advanced, or from Avanced to Specialist.  You need only complete the required online courses if you have completed the HOST before.  (Note however that there are different specialized skills test requirements for marine VSAT certifications.)

We would be happy to set up a HOST class if you have at least 6-8 students. Tuition cost will depend on the available Examiner and will usually include the Examiner's travel expenses. To find an Examiner, please visit page Find an Examiner Near You.

Go to www.gvf.org/training and click on HOST Schedule.  This report automatically lists all public HOST sessions that have been registered in our learning system.  If you don't see a session that is suitable, you are welcome to click on Find an Examiner Near You and contact any of these Examiners to inquire about making a special appointment.

GVF welcomes technicians and engineers who have substantial experience with VSAT field work to apply to become Examiners.  Click on Becoming a GVF Examiner for complete details.

HOST fees are determined by the Examiner.  In general, most Examiners charge in the range of $50 to $200 per student for a public HOST-only session.  For sessions that also include supplementary training and may continue for two or more days, the fee will generally be higher.  If the Examiner does not use GVF's services for collecting fee payments, then all of the fee goes to the Examiner.  That means that organizations with their own Examiners are free to determine their own cost or charging policy.

GVF Basic Satcom Professional Certification.  Core skills for critical every VSAT field technician in order to prevent accidentally generating interfence.  Requires GVF 510 and the basic Hands On Skills Test.  

GVF Advanced Satcom Professional Certification.  Knowledge and skills for all satcom fixed earth station and VSAT techncians and other professionals.  Requires GVF 510, GVF 520, GVF 521, and the basic Hands On Skills Test.

GVF Satcom Professional: iDirect/Hughes/Gilat Specialist Certifications. Detailed knowledge and skills for specific VSAT equipment types.  Requires the Advanced certification and the relevant GVF 503x specialist course.

GVF Marine Satcom Operator: Sea Tel Specialist.  Knowledge important for any crew member responsible for operating and maintaining a Sea Tel 4009 series marine VSAT terminal at sea.  Requires GVF 561 and GVF 562E.

GVF Marine Satcom Professional: Sea Tel Specialist.  Detailed knowledge and skills necessary for complete installation, troubleshooting, and maintenance of a Sea Tel 4009 series marine VSAT terminal.  Requires GVF 520, GVF 561, GVF 562E, GVF 503E, and a Sea Tel hands on skills test.  (Note: 503E enrollment requires pre-approval by Sea Tel Inc.)

GVF Marine Satcom Professional: SpaceTrack Specialist. Detailed knowledge and skills necessary for complete installation, troubleshooting, and maintenance of a Sea Tel 4009 series marine VSAT terminal.  Requires GVF Advanced Satcom Profession certification, GVF 503T, and an HCC (Harris CapRock) hands on skills test.  (Note: 503T enrollment requires pre-approval by HCC)

Basic Certification indicates that you have the bare minimum skills to activate a VSAT without causing excess interference. These skills consist of dish pointing, cross pol alignment, connector attachment, and decommissioning. All VSAT installers should hold this certification. Advanced Certification indicates that you understand the aspects of satellite communications theory that are important for every professional field technician, and that you have been trained in the practical skills that are important for efficient, high quality VSAT installations.

Log in the the learning system. Click on My Transcripts.  Click in the name of the certificate you wish to view.  When it displays, you may click the Print button below the certificate.  You may need to adjust your printing preferences for best results.

Yes.   Log in the the learning system, click on My Transcripts, and click in the name of the certificate you wish to view.  

No. Certificates are created in our online learning system, so actually there is no paper "original." GVF maintains a permanent database of all course completions, so if there is ever a question, you can refer back to us for confirmation, simply log in to the learning system to view and print your certificates.

Go to www.gvf.org and click on Certified Installer Database.  Note that only satcom professionals with Advanced or higher certifications are eligible to be listed.  A list of those with Basic certification is available only to satellite operators, for the purpose of confirming minimum certification training when activating VSAT terminals.

There could be several possible reasons for this:

1. You have not yet completed all the requirements for Advanced or higher certification, which means that at a minimum, you must have completed GVF 510, 520, 521 and theHands On Skills Test.  Holders of only the Basic certificate are ot eligible to be listed in the database.

2. You have completed your requirements but we have not updated the database yet. This is normally done every week.

3. Your have chosen not to appear in the database.  To check, go to www.gvf.org and click on Edit My Profile, and log in with your student account.  In the Other Information section, "How to be listed in the public database" must be set to FULL if you wish your name to appear.

4. Your employer or organization does not permit you to appear.  To check,  go to www.gvf.org and click on Edit My Profile, and log in with your student account.  In the Other Information section, if "Student may control listing in public database" is set to NO and "How to be listed in the public database" is set to NONE or ANON, then you will not be listed and you must ask your organization to give GVF permission to change the settings.  (Note that ANON means that an entry will be shown for your certification, but you will not be personally identified.) 

Send an email to gvfsupport@satprof.com.  After we make the correction to your profile, when you log in to the learning system your certificates will display correctly.

Go to www.gvf.org, click on Edit My Profile, and log in with your student account. You will be able to change all settings and preferences (including address, phone number, etc.) except for first name, last name, username, and password.  To correct your name or change your password, contact us at gvfsupport@satprof.com.  Your listing in the database will be updated within 24 hours.

Since 2006 we have hosted the GVF training courses on the learning system at gvf.coursehost.com (the "old" system).  Starting in 2012, we are transitioning all students over to the new learning system, "Absorb," which is accessed via the student login at www.gvf.org/training.  The new system will provide better flexibility and responsiveness to students, and will enable us to more rapidly bring new courses online and new features such as multi-language.  All new students and most new enrollments and extenstions are being done with the new system.

We are moving students in blocks to the new system and notifying everyone of the new login details as we go.  All course statuses and certificates on the old system will be transferred to the new system, so you will not need to repeat any work!

We expect the transition to be complete by mid-2012.  Up to then, please continue to use the old system at gvf.coursehost.com until you receive emails from us telling you about your new account on the new system.

Thank you for your patience as we make the transition, and we trust that you will enjoy the new system! If you have any questions, please contact us at gvfsupport@satprof.com.

We are in the process of transitioning students from the "old" system at gvf.coursehost.com to the "new" system at gvf.absorbtraining.com.  Your account may not have been converted yet, so in the meantime, please continue to log in at gvf.coursehost.com.

Your account may have been transitioned to our new learning system at gvf.coursehost.com.  Please check your emails and look for a notification that you have been enrolled recently and that you should log in at www.gvf.org/training.  If you are still having trouble, please contact us at gvfsupport@satprof.com.

There were several reasons:

1. The major satellite operators, including Intelsat, launched an initiative to combat interference, which is having a serious impact on transponder capacity and service quality for all users. GVF has responded to this challenge by creating a new Basic certification that is focused on interference prevention and making it available at lowest cost to installers worldwide.

2. We now have the technology to delivery much more realistic simulators for antenna pointing and polarization adjustment skills practice. This technology has been built into the new courses - in particular, GVF 510, which is the requirement for the new Basic certification and primarily teaches interference-prevention skills.

3. We wanted to make certification more accessible worldwide by enable students to complete their hands-on requirements with an Examiner rather than being required to attend a complete classroom session. To do that, we upgraded the online courses (GVF 520 and 521) to cover theory topics previously taught in the Level 3S class.

4. We wanted to give instructors more flexibility in offering classroom and practical courses. In the new structure, instructors may offer "supplementary" classes (possibly including the mandatory Hands On Skills Test) to students who would like extra time, discussion in their own language, or more practical work than only the test.

In September 2009, we made significant updates and improvements to the online courses. The Level 3S Certification has been renamed simply the Advanced Certification. If you already have a Level 3S Certification, you will be listed in future as holding an Advanced Certification. If you are just starting on certification training, you should take the new GVF 510, 520, and 521 courses, plus the Hands On Skills Test, to achieve Advanced Certification.