If your STB has an IF loopout, try hooking up an SDR dongle, and, with the right software, such as Touchstone Pro, you'll be able to see a 300 MHz swath of spectrum. In the photos below, you'll see 3ABN English program on the 8Dtek Desired displayed. This TP is at 11842 MHz, and the LNB LO is at 10600 MHz, so the IF is at 11842-10600 = 1242 MHz, horizontal polarization.
If you look at the second screen shot, you see various TPs in the 300 MHz scan. This gives you an idea of the received signal levels for different transponders. The 3ABN English TP is seen at around 1250 MHz in the scan.
There's great info in these scans for the tinkerer or when optimizing a dish. Sure it may be overkill in some instances, but at least you'll see that TPs are at different signal strengths. Maybe you want to optimize your dish for a particular TP, who knows. The waterfall image, though somewhat poor in this instance, would be helpful for visualization of signal strength over time.
And for those of you who can't afford an expensive spectrum analyzer for FTA, well give it a try.
One problem encountered with the scanning software I am using is that after a few scans it locks up.
If you look at the second screen shot, you see various TPs in the 300 MHz scan. This gives you an idea of the received signal levels for different transponders. The 3ABN English TP is seen at around 1250 MHz in the scan.
There's great info in these scans for the tinkerer or when optimizing a dish. Sure it may be overkill in some instances, but at least you'll see that TPs are at different signal strengths. Maybe you want to optimize your dish for a particular TP, who knows. The waterfall image, though somewhat poor in this instance, would be helpful for visualization of signal strength over time.
And for those of you who can't afford an expensive spectrum analyzer for FTA, well give it a try.
One problem encountered with the scanning software I am using is that after a few scans it locks up.
