Finding satellites

[aquarious46]

Now that c band is gone digital can i use the analogue receiver to find sats. and secondly is there anything left on analogue.

 

[B.J.]

Now that c band is gone digital can i use the analogue receiver to find sats. and secondly is there anything left on analogue.

Well, I wouldn't say that C band has gone digital. There is still analog around, although it has been getting harder and harder to find, and there are several sats with no analog, which does make those sats hard to find.
The signal meters on analog receivers don't respond well to digital signals, but you do get a response, particularly on the higher SR transponders. I have an old analog receiver that has a meter output, and also a mode whereby it rapidly cycles through all the channels. I have found sats by watching the needle on an old galvanometer style voltmeter attached to this receiver while in the cycle mode. When I'm off the sat, the meter just sits there, but when I'm approaching a sat, the meter starts jumping as it goes through transponders with signals on them. This method is nice since I don't need a TV attached, just the receiver and a meter. This is more cumbersome than a hand held meter, but I think it's more sensitive, plus you can see which transponders you're getting the response from.
Of course, you can also use a DVB receiver's signal indicator, if you know the freq/SR of an active transponder, but DVB signal meters are often slow responding, and they often don't register until you have a lock.
Another method I've used is to use the shortwave SR detection method to find a sat. Again, similar to the meter on a DVB receiver, but you don't need a lock to see the SR signal.