A satellite signal demodulator is configured to use frequency-based channel scanning to sense the presence of a channel and to obtain the frequency profile of the channel. Once the channel is identified and the profile is obtained, channel extraction is used to identify the frequency parameters for a given channel. A coarse parameter estimation is performed to obtain a coarse estimate of the symbol rate (SR) and the center frequency (fc) of the channel. The coarse estimation can then be followed by a fine estimation of the symbol rate and center frequency (fc), using a bit tracking loop (BTL) lock indicator.