Readers of this blog from a long time back (i.e. around 2009-10) know I’ve long been interested in the old-fashioned method of rooftop antenna to pull in television signals. I did document my attempts at the residence in Norton, with virtually no success. Even with a Winegard HD 8200U (a ginormous aerial if there ever was one), a preamp and a rotor all I was able to see was KSNK, the NBC affiliate broadcasting to northwest Kansas. Even that station was hardly worth the effort given it only transmits NBC programming with no sub-channels and with a paltry low-def 480i picture.
(A visit to rabbitears.info further illustrates how KSNK must really be the red-headed illegitimate child in the KSN family of stations. While flagship KSNW/Wichita airs NBC on 3.1 in 1080i it also offers Telemundo, Ion and Justice on its .2, .3 and .4 sub-channels, respectively. The other full-power affiliates fare a bit better than KSNK: KSNC/Great Bend has all four channels, however even the NBC signal is only broadcast in 480i and KSNG/Garden City only provides NBC and Telemundo, although its NBC signal on 11.1 is in high-def 1080i. Given it’s been nearly 9 years since the digital transition one doubts the ownership will upgrade the picture or product on KSNK.)
So at that time I admitted defeat and disassembled/packed up the HD 8200U. It sat in the garage in an out-of-the-way location on a shelf with my philosophy that one day I would live elsewhere and get a chance to use it for free TV.
With our move to Manhattan that day finally arrived.
Before starting any manual labor I did check TV Fool although I was confident I would pick up at least some of Topeka’s stations. Not only that, I did connect my Macbook’s DTV stick to the camper’s antenna when I completed the task of transporting my rig across the state to its new parking/storage space east of the Little Apple. That day I got all of Topeka’s full-power stations with no dropouts or other interference.
Even though my TV Fool report indicated I might have challenges with KSNT, KTKA and KTWU I still wanted to make use of the antenna. After all, “my mileage may vary.” TV Fool’s metrics try to be as accurate as possible but a check of over-the-air TV forums shows one never truly knows about reception until the equipment is installed and connected.
Since I am renting the house in which we live I needed to use some caution. Obviously drilling holes into the roof shingles to accommodate a new antenna mount was out of the question as was running coaxial cable from the outdoors directly into the living room. However the previous tenant had Dish Network so I ended up removing the dish and using the existing mount pipe to hold the mast for the 8200U. I also tried using the Dish coaxial cable to connect the antenna to the interior inputs however this yielded no signal even though I tried several variations of connections.
So, I needed to run my own coaxial from the antenna to the splitter just outside the living room. While I didn’t have that length on hand I did have a DIY kit containing 100 feet of the highest-quality coax, plus the connectors and the tools for stripping/crimping. (I bought it not long after we moved to Norton, when my outdoor antenna project was still in the active phase.) But, as I have no experience whatsoever with crimping an F connector onto RG6 cable.
I decided to go ahead and give it a shot anyway. Given all of this was already paid for, what did I have to lose? I looked through the instructions then checked YouTube for a few other pointers. Then it was a matter of sitting down at the kitchen table and trying it for myself.
Results? Pretty good, actually. Not as complex or intricate as I thought. With the appropriate amount of cable cut and the F-connectors on each end, time to get it all together!
Up and down the ladder. Antenna fully assembled (I swear I could hear it saying, “nice to see you again, Geoguy”). Even though the HD 8200U is large in size it is made from aluminum so it is much lighter than you’d think, didn’t even need much help with the transport to the roof. Use the compass and point in in the best direction to get all of Topeka’s broadcast towers in the azimuth. Connect the coaxial cable onto the antenna lead, then string it out carefully and use the splitter left outside from the Dish Network setup. Next, cut another length of coax for the inside lead, again strip and crimp the endings. Use existing cable input (again, a holdover from the Dish installer) and connect the external antenna to my Vizio flat-screen.
Now, the moment of truth! Time to do the channel scan and see just what I will get.
I set the Vizio to do the automatic channel scan, then leave the room and proceed to clean up the detritus from my project.
Roughly five to seven minutes later I return, ready to see the results of my efforts.
And I was in for one of the biggest surprises of my hobby-leisure life.
But first: I expected I would receive all of the Topeka full-power stations. Why? Since my Macbook DTV stick already had scanned and stored channels 11, 13, 27 and 49 I took it up the ladder and made a fast connection once I had the antenna where I wanted it on the roof. All those channels came through.
Yet in checking my living-room Vizio I saw the message: “36 channels found.”
36?
Let’s see. Topeka’s full-powered ones would give me 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 13.1 (twice), 13.2 (twice—this is due to WIBW having a full-power signal on RF 13 and a fill-in on RF 44, I got both and both show up with the same PSIP channels), 27.1, 27.2, 27.3, 49.1, 49.2, 49.3, 49.4. Doing the math, that accounts for 14.
I took the remote, clicked “OK,” now here’s the surprises:
The first channel to show up was 4.1, WDAF. Kansas City. A picture with no interference or pixellation associated with a weak or questionable signal.
My jaw dropped in near-shock.
I continued to press “channel up.” 4.2, 4.3, then 5.1 which is KCTV, Kansas City.
Holy moley!
In addition to the Topeka stations, the good ol’ Winegard brought in Kansas City’s WDAF, KCTV, KMBC, KCPT, KCWE and KPXE. Nearly all of KC’s full-power stations.
I also got KAAS from Salina which is a full-power station, a satellite of Wichita’s KSAS, showing Fox on 17.1, TBD on 17.2 and Comet on 17.3.
I even called Geogal into the living room to show off my workmanship. While usually indifferent to my broadcast pursuits that day even she was impressed with our over-the-air selections.
To be sure, I suspected the Kansas City stations would not be constant given the distance and topography. And I was right. About two hours later the KC stations faded away. As the day was a very warm August one it appears I did the channel scan during a particularly good tropo. However after sundown the KC stations again again were visible and until the seasons transitioned from the warm into the cold we often could see the Kansas City channels during the night. I’m writing this near the end of February and am looking forward to the return of warm weather as it should also increase our viewing possibilities.
And all of that without even attaching or using the Channel Master 7777 preamp. Hmm, maybe that’s a project when we are back into late spring.
Regarding the Topeka stations, I’m happy to say our viewing is very satisfactory. It’s been about six months since setting up the antenna and not once (knock wood) have we lost the signals or had any dropout or interference. (I do think the Vizio has an excellent tuner.) Even though Topeka isn’t a large DMA and has relatively few TV stations we still get everything we need via the .1, .2, .3 and .4 sub-channels: ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, CW, Me-TV, Ion, GetTV, Justice, Bounce, Mhz Worldview (granted, I don’t actually watch all these networks but still nice to have the options).
I’m also very happy with the quality of the HD picture. It is true, over-the-air gives you the best HDTV as the signal isn’t compressed as you would get with cable TV or Direct TV/Dish Network.
I remember just a few weeks after installing the antenna we visited the Kansas State Fair. Naturally they have the different areas where vendors are set up in their booths. As we were walking by the Dish Network stand, the salesperson asked me, “who’s your TV provider?”
“Antenna!”, I responded with conviction. Not breaking my stride I added, with less volume, “and it doesn’t cost me a cent.”
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