New Gadget

My birthday was earlier this month.  Geogal had great sense in getting her gift-giving inspiration from looking at what I'd saved in our Amazon shopping cart.  

Clearly the inverter generator (3000-watt version) wasn't feasible given camping season is all but over around here.  Besides, hauling that thing around in the Suburban while the camper is hitched would be problematic as that truck's rear door doesn't clear the camper's electric jack.  (Camper generators and the accompanying gas can are much better suited for a pickup truck bed.)  

Nor was the Shop-Vac foam filter (great for vacuuming up anything wet) bound to be a present resulting in the "oh, wow!" exclamation.  

She did, however, locate another item I've been wanting for some time.  It's a Sangean PR-D5 radio.  

For a few years I've known I needed a replacement for the venerable Radio Shack DX-375.  I've had that device since Christmas of 1995 and used it to listen to AM, FM and short wave in many locations around North America.  While it's been reliable and given me hundreds of hours of joy in pulling in distant stations it is clearly showing its age.  The power cuts out periodically which then requires a shake to bring it back to life (obviously a problem with the internal circuitry) plus the headphone jack, while designed for stereo capability, has only been functional in one channel for at least 10 years.  Time for something new.  

I learned there isn't quite the selection of quality AM/FM/short wave units as in the past.  The Grundig Yacht Boy is no longer being made and some of today's offerings scream cheap.  Looking around the 'Net yielded a few options for under $100.  I found the Sangean had good reviews and some noted they were impressed with its ability to pull in the distant AM stations.  Even in today's streaming and on-demand world I still often prefer the old-fashioned Ancient Modulation as an entertainment choice.  

So, the big day arrives and Geogal surprises me a day early with a 49-inch smart TV.  The "day early" bit was due to it arriving at the house on that date and Geogal having no place to hide it.  Then on the real anniversary of my birth I was treated to the radio.  

So far I'm liking it.  I was surprised to learn it was somewhat larger than the old Radio Shack tuner.  However the larger size likely explains why it does well in receiving distant AM stations as the compartment has room for a longer-than-usual internal ferrite antenna.  The Sangean also feels just downright solid.  When you hold it it doesn't give the impression of cheaply made.  I also like using a rotary knob to tune the frequencies although sometimes I did miss the ability to go to a keypad and punch in a specific station.  However the preset buttons should make going to a particular kilohertz or megahertz frequency easy enough.  

Since we're now well into autumn I've enjoyed the nighttime AM offerings that are more plentiful due to the decreased solar interference.  Favorite stations from Chicago, Minneapolis, Nashville, Louisville and Detroit are easy catches.  I've also heard north of the border broadcasts from Manitoba and Ontario and to make sure our other neighbor doesn't feel left out, tried and grabbed both XEW from Mexico City and XEROK from Juarez.  

Last Saturday morning I even got one that was a true surprise.  Clicking around the dial I landed on 750 AM and heard a very clear garden show.  I thought, no, couldn't be.  Went online and sure enough, it was Atlanta's WSB.  Confirmed it a bit later with local weather and traffic reports.  While WSB is one of the blowtorch AM stations in the southern U.S. I've never been able to receive them until now.  

Daytime reception is also indeed a bright spot.  Last Saturday (I really bonded with that gadget that day, didn't I?) while spending time cleaning up the garage I enjoyed listening to the play-by-play of the Nebraska Cornhuskers game.  KXSP from Omaha came in almost sounding like a local.  Even Geogal was impressed.  

So farewell, my DX-375.  You served me well for lo these many years.  Time to make way for the new blood.  

From The Idiot Box

One more point to make from the July road trip:  

That Suburban is the best vehicle to use for expeditions (wait, isn't that the Ford version of the large utility vehicle?)....excursions (wait, another Ford product of the same variety which is no longer manufactured)...uh, journeys?  (Think we're OK there.)  Plenty of room, comfortable ride, numerous amenities.  And the ability to put E85 fuel in it when we're in corn country makes for a cheaper fill-up.  

Now the child needs to make her college choice.  Won't be an easy one.  

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A couple of weeks ago I did something I haven't done in I don't know how long.  I watched the premiere episode of a TV series on its first airing on the network.  

The promos for "Manifest" looked interesting enough to catch my interest.  And so far, so good.  

That's saying quite a bit as I'm something of a tough customer when it comes to TV viewing.  I've decided to only watch what's worthwhile and drop a series when it's obviously getting stale.  (Learned that lesson from "The Simpsons" and "Cheers.")  Of course I thought the pre-season promos for "Dark Angel" (remember that show?) looked equally awesome but that program turned out to be a  royal piece of fecal matter.  

As with everything, time will tell if Manifest holds my interest.  Sorry to say I had near-equal anticipation for "New Amsterdam" but all it took was my watching the first installment to decide I was done.  

I don't even want to get into the reasons why.  

I Wouldn't Mind Having A Drink With This Fellow

Continuing where we left off yesterday...

My week away from work draws to a close, but there's one more destination to be had.

As a family, and on my own a few times (work-related), we've been to Kansas City.  So while this visit doesn't entail any first-time experiences in regard to the metro area, the Geofamily has never been to the Harry Truman Presidential Library and Museum.  (For shame...)

Therefore Saturday afternoon found us at said site, following a lunch at Five Guys.  Family readers of this blog know I'm quite the history nerd and I truly have no excuses for being dilatory in visiting this site and the Eisenhower Center in Abilene.

While aware of Truman's background and knowledgeable of his presidency, including his decision to use the A-bomb on Japan and pulling off a surprise victory in the 1948 election, I sure learned much more about the man during this visit.

And I loved seeing his office, even if it was through a window.

Even though we wouldn't agree on everything, I left this place with the desire to sit down and have a glass of bourbon with Truman.  Don't know if I can say that about any other occupant of the Oval Office.  I came away with the impression he was a very likable man.  Honest, humble and not afraid to speak his mind.

Later, back at the hotel, I viewed portions of his funeral on YouTube.  I then remembered seeing at least some of it on live TV, at our house in Baltimore.  Mom had it on and at one point said to me:

"You see that American flag?"

"Yes."

"Harry S Truman is under it."

For a few moments I felt creeped out, taking her comment literally.  Thinking the flag was draped over a dead body.  Shortly I realized he was in a casket, under the flag.

The things I remember.




The next day Geogal and I visited the neighborhood where Truman's house is located.  While we couldn't enter the former president's house we were delighted to go across the street to the Noland Home (his cousin's house) and view the exhibits there.  

Then it was time to head home.  Not a bad way to spend a week.  

Summer Summary

Summer vacation?

In the Geohouse the closest we got was loading up the Suburban and heading to Minnesota to visit a few institutions of higher learning.  Geoana is now in her senior year of high school and while Kansas State University is still on the table, she thinks she'd be better in a small liberal arts college.  

She's probably right.  Despite the sometimes-downright fun atmosphere of the larger schools (such as Saturdays during football season) I think her personality would be a better fit for a small pond.  And she doesn't care much for athletics anyway.  

So we journeyed towards the Land of Paul Bunyan but first we waited for the child to take her ACT at K-State.  (She took it during the spring but wanted to better her score.  It was a good call.)  After she finished that task it was hit the road!  Quick late lunch at Wendy's in Topeka then get on the turnpike into Kansas City.  Skirt around the north end of the metro area (and realize how much I don't miss city traffic) and reach I-35 which will take us all the way to the Twin Cities.  

But not all in one pop.  Given the lateness of the day we planned an overnight stop in Des Moines.  Late supper at Zombie Burger followed by hitting the hay at the hotel.  

From that point on it's the familiar route.  North to Ames (fill up Suburban with E85--yesss!!), then pass by Clear Lake before entering the Land of 1000 Lakes.  Exit at Faribault and snake through the town before taking highway 3 and reaching Northfield.  

We have a leisurely lunch at Hogan Brothers, then explore the downtown area.  

Later in the afternoon we head to our hotel in Burnsville.  But the next day it's back to Northfield.  Yes.  The first college visit is to St. Olaf.  

Takes a good chunk of the day but we still manage to get in a visit to....

Of course.  The Mall of America.  

The next day sees us darken the doorstep of two schools.  Concordia and Macalester, both in St. Paul.  

Now we're to Wednesday and it's back on I-35, going south this time.  Ames, Iowa is the destination. Time to make a second campus visit to Iowa State (go Cyclones!!)  

That takes most of Thursday.  Our original plan was to drive from Ames to Kansas City then stay the night to allow Geoana a chance to meet up with her friend and attend the Halsey concert.  However, since Geoana scheduled the Iowa State visit for Thursday instead of Friday and Halsey would perform on Saturday, we elected to head straight home from Ames once we finished with the ISU business.  

Followed the same route described earlier in this entry.  However timing was now my friend, as we were in Kansas City around the dinner hour.  

You know what that means.  

BBQ!!

A stop at Arthur Bryant's hit the spot.

After gorging ourselves and packing up the remnants in a to-go box, we are back home in a little less than 90 minutes.  

Nice to sleep in one's own bed and get some laundry done.  And on Saturday we again packed (just an overnight bag this time) and made our way to K.C.  

I'll detail that portion of our "vacation" in a different entry.  

A few items, none of which really justify their own long narrative.  

First, I'm writing this as the morning temp is 47 degrees.  The first truly crisp morning of the season.  I'm looking forward to the additional warm beverages during the day, the increased number of big-pot-on-the-stove dishes that just seem out of place during the summer months, the ending of weekend mow-the-yard routine, the interim season of needing to run neither the air conditioning nor the furnace at home, sleeping with the windows open at night, doing any activity outdoors and not be drenched in sweat, the continuing of football season (might even attend another K-State game or two) and the lack of houseflies and other insect pests.  

Reminder to self:  Re-read the above when it's late January/early February and you're sick to death of the bone-chilling cold and brutal accompanying wind.  

________________________

Visited the Kansas State Fair two weekends ago.  Headed that direction on the afternoon of the 8th, walked the midway and some exhibits during the evening.  Learned a great lesson as well:  If you search long enough you will find decent food for the evening meal.  Since I'm now in my 50's I don't care for fast/greasy food quite as much as in my younger days.  As one may expect, the midway area was loaded with offerings ranging from fried (you name it) on a stick to moink balls.  Definition?  Meatballs (moo) that are bacon-wrapped (oink) and cooked up good.  While my palate might enjoy such a thing as my evening meal, the rest of my body would not.  

Finally hit on the right place.  In one hall there was a variety of food vendors, all of whom were local.  This included church groups and other organizations.  Geogal and I wound up buying salads from one stand and meatloaf with mashed potatoes from another.  Hit the spot and the old adage remains true:  No beating home cooking.  

Stayed overnight in McPherson and returned to the fairgrounds on Sunday morning.  Easily in time for the 10:00 Lutheran Layman's League church service.  

Headed home by midday, stopping for lunch at Cozy Inn in Salina.  Not only are the sliders to die for but if you eat at the counter (which we did) you have the added benefit of your clothes smelling of grilled burgers with onion.  Reviewers on Yelp and elsewhere view this as a negative.  Not me!!  

Why the overnight stay, you ask?  Geoana had 4H commitments.  First she had to work the T-shirt booth Saturday from 6-8:30 (the crummy shift) and then had a Kansas 4H Ambassadors action team meeting at 9 on Sunday.  Even though our house near Manhattan is MUCH closer to Hutchinson then when we lived in Norton, it still made better sense to just stay overnight in the immediate area.  

_________________________

College football?  Now it's week 4 and the fun (i.e. conference) games really go into high gear!  Not that the first three weeks didn't offer some good armchair entertainment.  Even though I don't bleed burnt orange as do some of my other family members I still enjoyed seeing the Longhorns punch USC (The University of Spoiled Children) right in the mouth last Saturday night.  

I also read UT made the first move toward resuming matchups with Texas A&M.  The Aggies however, gave them the blow-off with the rationale that their schedules are already set for the next several years (which is true) and then added their philosophy that "our SEC opponents mean much more to us than playing you," (Geoguy paraphrase).  Seems the powers running the maroon and white wish to continue sending the message to Austin:  We don't need you anymore.

Not Gone!!

I didn’t intend to go on hiatus these past several weeks.  However….

While on a college-visit-tour-vetting-how-much-money-will-this-cost sojourn in July I got a call from my supervisor.  Just seeing the name on the caller ID took my BP up many notches as no one wants to get a call from work while out on PTO.  

I won’t go into details but the news involved significant changes with my employer.  Only now is the dust beginning to clear but one result was a significantly high level of stress during July and August.  I also was occupied with paperwork and other required tasks, all of which served to suck away not only time but also my creative juices.  

Then last week I had an epiphany:  What if returning to writing has a therapeutic effect?  

Many adults are aware of the healing power of journaling.  What if I do the same, especially here in my “online journal?”  

I decided it certainly couldn’t hurt.  

So my commitment for September is to do several entries during the month.  Perhaps not daily but more than one per week.  And as always, there’s no limits with my subject matter.  Could be sports-related, a summation of a road trip or even the discovery of a new (to me) eatery.  I’ve got several topics lined up.  So thank you for returning to Bucolic Blogger.  

Heck, I even started the process last week when I updated the theme and picture.  Hope you enjoy the “Eastern Kansas” scenery.  

And now, a little kitsch

I'll pause briefly from my writings about broadcasting (television in particular) to mention this next subject.  

Geogal brought to my attention a few days ago that the house used in the exterior shots of "The Brady Bunch" is on the market.  

I'm well aware the establishing shots were done sometime in 1969, no doubt after the pilot was accepted and the series green-lit.  I also know the "second story" window was fake, nailed on to portray the house as a two-story (although true BB fans will quickly tell you the exterior view in no way matches the layout of the house as done on the soundstage).  

I finally got a chance to see the domicile for myself in either 1996 or 97.  Geogal even snapped a photo of me out front, now I've got to shuffle through our bin of prints to find it.  

Yet I've always wondered what the true house actually looked like on the inside.  Thanks to Zillow one can see how the house overall, while well-kept, is rather dated.  However I'm particularly impressed with the backyard and overall this dwelling looks oodles better than many family structures approaching 60 years.  

And it can be mine for just a little short of two million!  Zillow estimates my mortgage would set me back about 7,600 each month....

Nebraska TV oddities

Today I'll be turning focus to the state of Nebraska. You may notice with this blog that I am interested in broadcasting but only for certain geographical regions. Certainly Texas plus states where I lived or visited often such as Kansas, Arizona, New Mexico and to lesser extent California and Colorado.

And then there’s Nebraska.  Even though I never lived there it's a rather interesting state TV wise and I’ve traveled through much of it, often with my DTV stick and antenna helping me see what’s available over the air.  

Going from east to west the television landscape changes dramatically given most of the population is in the southeast corner.  First you have the Omaha television market which is very straightforward. Then heading west you have Lincoln, which begins the DMA known as Lincoln-Hastings-Kearney.  This market covers a huge chunk of the central and western part of the state. After that you have one of the smallest markets in the country, North Platte. Continuing west the communities are served by either the Denver or Cheyenne Wyoming markets.

Back to Lincoln-Hastings-Kearney, an interesting thing to point out here is this market has a rather high number a full power TV stations that broadcast on the low VHF band. Starting in Hastings you have KNHL which now broadcasts religious programming but for a long, long time was the NBC affiliate for the western part market under the call letters KHAS, RF and virtual channel 5.  This area also has a newer full power station broadcasting on channel 4. This is the old KSNB, licensed to Superior Nebraska but in reality serves the area immediately surrounding York.  This station replaced the NBC coverage formerly provided by KHAS.  KSNB, however, is not limited to the VHF channel 4, as it also is carried on the .2 subchannels for KOLN (Lincoln) and KGIN (Grand Island).  Both of these stations have robust coverage on channels 10 and 11 respectively. In North Platte long time NBC affiliate KNOP broadcasts on RF channel 2.  South of North Platte is KWNB, a full-power satellite of Kearney’s KHGI with ABC affiliation.  KWNB operates on RF channel 6 and its COL is Hayes Center.  I haven’t researched this too deeply but I suspect this community of only a few hundred souls might be the smallest COL for a full-power, network-affiliated television station anywhere in the States.  

To sum it up— in a certain geographical region you have several stations that are using low band VHF.  

For those that are not TV historians, some explanation: In the old days of analog broadcasting the VHF band was very coveted. It wasn't until the mid-1960s that TV’s were required to have a built-in UHF tuner. Even with that, VHF stations still had superior coverage area. In the switch to digital engineers quickly learned that broadcasting on the low VHF band (channels 2 through 6) was not desirable due to the potential for interference. High band VHF (channels 7 through 13) was still acceptable provided the power output was good and the transmitter antennas had sufficient height over average terrain.  But ironically the ATSC digital TV standard performed much better on UHF.  So in most communities if their local channel was previously 2 through 6, this channel simply stayed on their UHF digital companion channels. 

At least for the majority of stations. One of the unfortunates was Philadelphia’s WPVI, which used channel 6 for its analog broadcast.  However, the companion digital signal was on the channel that would be out of core once the digital switchover was complete.  Since there was no other available UHF channel in the area WPVI had no choice but to use their digital signal on channel 6. Almost immediately viewers in Philadelphia complained about not being able to receive the signal.  

So in a complete 180-degree turn, channels operating on UHF were no longer considered inferior and in fact became highly desirable.  

Why then, are several of the stations in this one area using low band VHF?  Central and western Nebraska is not exactly heavy with population or have numerous TV stations so one thinks there will be enough space on UHF dial.  After giving this a lot of thought I can only come up with two answers.

(Keep in mind I am not a broadcast engineer. I'm a hobbyist. Plus I don't know anybody at any of the stations so I have no inside knowledge.)

Answer number one: Economics.

I suspected, but didn't know for sure until recently that the same transmitter antenna could be used for analog or digital broadcasting. However after reading about WIBW's transmitter and antenna replacement I concluded it it it is cheaper to use your existing antenna at the transmitter rather than purchase an entire new one. Given none of these operations are owned by corporations flush with cash it makes sense to use as much as you can from that which you already have.

Answer number two: Poor engineering advice.

Maybe the stations all use the same engineering firm but it seems the opinion at the time was to keep your digital signal on VHF if possible. With the information then available perhaps the engineers predicted the VHF signal would provide better coverage than the UHF signal. While this was true in the days of analog broadcasting it appeared to not be the case for digital. There also is the well-known “digital cliff” so a somewhat watchable picture on analog turned into no picture at all for digital. Also the low band VHF full-power stations, in the analog days, transmitted using 100,000 watts of power. With digital the maximum you can go is 45,000 watts.  Again, no signal for many viewers.

I can attest to this last part. In the spring of 2009 I took my laptop and DTV stick and ventured into central Nebraska to see which signals I could receive. In North Platte I had no luck with channel 2 even though I could easily get the local low power stations and KPNE on channel 9. Then I drove south but could not receive KWNB at several points even within 20-30 miles of the transmitter.  I could not get any signal for that station until I was literally at the tower.

I also took a couple of pictures while I was there. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the base but there wasn't much to see. Just a small shack surrounded by fencing.

A bit to the east I always had difficulty receiving the erstwhile KHAS.  Even in locations as close as Grand Island nothing would show on channel 5.  Last summer I camped at Fort Kearny State Park, well within the putative range of KNHL.  Yet even with my camper’s outside amplified antenna I could not pull in KNHL while the other area stations (KGIN, KHGI and KLNE) were clear as could be.  And yes, I tried rotating the antenna and every other trick in the book.  Nothing.  

I noticed KWNB’s owners applied to the FCC to change their RF channel from 6 back to 18 (together with co-owned KHGI in Kearney moving from channel 13 to 21).  I haven’t looked deeper into the FCC’s database to see if these still under consideration.  

Maybe there’s hope for OTA viewers in the Cornhusker State.  

Closer To Home

This entry also is devoted to television broadcasting changes/updates but this time I’ll focus on my home DMA (Topeka).  

Since installing my antenna there’s been little change in the channel lineup or offerings.  49.4, which used to be a dedicated weather channel is now Justice (which I don’t ever watch).  KSNT added a 27.4 subchannel for Bounce, of which I watch very little.  

However a few weeks ago I noticed that WIBW’s UHF fill-in channel was no longer on the air.  Not surprising, since it was on RF channel 44 which will soon be out-of-core (see the previous post about the repack).  A check of the FCC database shows WIBW applied for a digital replacement translator on channel 33.  For kicks and giggles I also went to WIBW’s website to see if they had any information about a timeline.  To my surprise they had quite a bit of information from the station engineers and as it turns out they are not just moving the translator channel, they’re upgrading the main signal’s antenna and installing a new transmitter to match that antenna.    

I learned a few things.  First, antennas back in the day were apparently very well-built, as I’m amazed anything continues to function well after being exposed to the elements for 55 years.  (And Kansas weather being what it is, this antenna has survived numerous brutal cold spells/griddle hot temps/wind speeds that would even challenge the best turbines.)  Second, I applaud WIBW for being proactive with ATSC 3.0 technology. Third, the differences between VHF and UHF transmitter antennas might explain why Nebraska has more than an average amount of low-VHF full-power stations.  (More on that in my next post.)  

I’ll leave it to WIBW’s engineers to give the details.  And for those who are interested, they also have some really awesome photos of the antenna replacement (still in progress, by the way).  

Some of you who have only a passing interest in this stuff might be wondering: What is ATSC 3.0 anyway?  This page explains it fairly well.  As a hobbyist I’m looking forward to being able to again watch over-the-air TV while in a moving vehicle.  Haven’t been able to do that since the analog shutoff back in 2009.  😀😀😀

Smaller Operations, Beware!

After a significant down period, yes, I’m returning to this blog.  

As happens sometimes, life or other factors gets in the way of either making the time to write for recreation/relaxation or the creative juices simply aren’t there.  However as things in the Geohouse have calmed down I intend to give my readers regular entries.  

I also look at page hits and noticed when I create entries about general observations or simple update about my daily life it’s about the same 10 or so views but my entry about the putting up an outside antenna and seeing which over-the-air channels I can see gained much more interest.  So perhaps it’s time for me to dedicate this space to topics that are appealing to folks with the same hobbies/interests as me.  That would include broadcasting, camping/RVing, shooting sports, and 70s/80s pop culture.  Today, an entry devoted to a broadcasting topic. 

One might think since the digital television switchover of 2009 and the following months of stations realizing their channel (usually VHF) is not sufficient and thus moved to a UHF frequency or increased their power that DTV might not be the hot topic it once was.  

One might think, but one can be wrong.  

Today I’ll take a look at something happening in the great state of Texas.  In the Waco-Temple DMA there is news that KNCT (RF and virtual channel 46) will be leaving the air entirely.  KNCT functions as the PBS outlet for the market.  

Wait.  I need to correct and clarify things a bit.  The market is actually labeled “Waco-Temple-Bryan” and KNCT is one of two PBS stations, the other being KAMU in College Station.  And at one time there were three in the market.  Waco had KWBU until 2010 when it left the air due to constantly running in the red and very little community support.  Given the market still had the aforementioned other stations many viewers probably took little note of the loss.  Also KWBU wasn’t a heritage station, only having been on the air as a full power station for a little over 10 years.  

KNCT, meanwhile, is a different story.  It’s been around since 1970 and seems to have a loyal (if small) following.  However KNCT appears to be a victim of red ink and the upcoming spectrum repack apparently put the final nail in the coffin.  This is an article that originally appeared in the Killeen newspaper.  Very telling is the quote from the Central Texas College chancellor:  

“KNCT never failed. What happened was it outlived its time,” Yeonopolus said. “Time passed it. The technology has passed it.”

Indeed the television landscape changed significantly in the last few decades and one wonders if more of the smaller PBS stations may suffer a similar fate.  Consider the noncommercial broadcast outlets don’t have the advantage of being able to accept even the lowest-tier advertising (just take a look at some of the “if you took this pharmaceutical please call us at 1-800-WE-SUE-EM” spots on your .3 or .4 subchannels).  

Some may be reading this and wondering “what is spectrum repack?”  Here’s an explanation and some background.  People my age and older remember when television sets had tuners that covered channels 2-83.  Sometime in the late 1980’s channels 70 through 83 were removed from television use and likely few people noticed as that range didn’t have any full-power stations of which I’m aware and communities that had translators in those frequencies simply saw the parent stations use a different translator channel.  Then with the analog shutoff in 2009 the FCC removed channels 52-69 from the spectrum, citing the space was needed for more wireless uses.  Now again due to increased demand, channels 37 through 51 are slated to go by 2020.  The result?  Some stations (such as KNCT) are required to change their RF channel and as seen in the above linked article, this is not a free or inexpensive process.  Some stations are opting to leave the air entirely or partner with another station to share broadcast bandwidth.

One last thought:  Is PBS indeed becoming (or already is) outdated?  Think about this—when is the last time you heard your local PBS station referred to as “the educational channel?”  (That was my dad’s only vernacular for Houston’s channel 8 when I was young.)  No longer does public television air classroom programming.  Nor do they have a monopoly on British shows as they did in the 1970’s.  While PBS still has prestige offerings such as Nova and Antiques Roadshow they (together with the commercial “Big 4” broadcast networks) offer a significant amount of their programming via streaming.  Do the PBS stations serve a purpose and fill a niche?  Yes.  Are they the only game in town in regard to their programming?  No.  Another point worth mentioning here—unless one counts coverage of some high school sporting events or even college-level sports (NET in Nebraska does great work with their telecasts of Nebraska Cornhusker volleyball games), PBS doesn’t have the lucrative deals with NBA/NFL/MLB/NHL/PGA/World Cup Soccer/NCAA football that attracts and keeps millions of viewers.  

Remember, I began this entry discussing issues that pertain to smaller PBS stations.  Obviously the larger players in public broadcasting aren’t going anywhere soon and likely don’t have the cash-flow issues plaguing the medium size and smaller operations.  Still, one does wonder if KNCT’s fate might not be unusual for smaller operations, noncommercial or not.  

Thinking warm thoughts

Greeting all!  As I noted above, spring is here and even though we have more daylight the temps are still playing their game of tease-and-run-away.  Case in point:  Last Thursday was the mildest day of 2018 so far with the thermometer showing high 60’s.  I chose to get out the grill and cook up some pork steaks (superb!!) to celebrate.  

Then came Friday, with gray skies, harsh winds and temps dropping.  Friday night into Saturday morning featured some record low early April readings for parts of Kansas.  While my community might not have set a record it still was friggin’ cold!  

Fortunately we are in April and the forecast for coming days indicates the mercury surpassing the 80 degree mark.  Too bad it will be accompanied by high winds but hey, no wind chill!!

Mental note to self:  Re-read this entry, Geoguy, when it’s downright balmy and you’re aching for a breath of cool air.  

Love these change of seasons.  And where’s my allergy medication?

Springing Into Spring

Spring is finally here.  And spring fever is hitting big time.  

I’m sure it started a few Mondays ago.  I was driving to work and witnessed a beautiful sunrise over the Flint Hills.  The temperatures are warming and we’re actually getting some blue skies.  

It rained a few days ago which did a great job of washing the salt and sand (left over from Old Man Winter) off the streets and highways.  Plus I began noticing some green blades of grass on the lawn, mixed amongst the yellow-tan leftovers from last year.  At first I thought it was wishful thinking but when said grass was encroaching onto the walkways I had neatly trimmed back in late October I knew the change of seasons was in process.  

As if all the aforementioned wasn’t sufficient proof, we also had our first housefly of the year.  

I’ve even taken my neighborhood constitutional in t-short and shorts, something I couldn’t have done just a fortnight ago.  

Yes, I’m well aware that even though spring is here in the literal sense (as the vernal equinox occurred) we are still in for some chilly days.  However no one can argue that more light and additional warmth can elevate one’s mood and instill hope that the days of outdoor grilling, sunscreen, bug repellent and air conditioning are almost upon us.  

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Earlier this month I made another trek to Norton to attend to the house.  There wasn’t any significant occasion or occurrence, rather I just wanted to check it over myself.  And add salt to the water softener system.  And hit some floors and stairs with the Shop-Vac.  And have friendly visits with a former coworker and my across-the-street neighbor.  

I took the familiar and most direct route.  Highway 24 through Clay Center, Beloit, Cawker City and Downs before making a right turn onto U.S. 281, passing through the large urban areas of Portis and Harlan before turning west on Highway 9.  Pass by Gaylord, Cedar and Kirwin and keep a hopeful and watchful eye out for Glade.  Turn right onto U.S. 183 and in five miles you’re in Phillipsburg.  At U.S. 36 you head west for another 30 minutes or so and see landmarks that at one time gave you the positive “we’re almost home, finally” emotional rush but now seem oddly familiar yet now somewhat foreign.  

The preceding paragraph makes it sound likety-split and even looking at a map it doesn’t appear to be a long distance.  However the drive takes at least three and a half hours, not counting stops for coffee, snacks or urine release.  Unlike other journeys I did this one on my own.  To be sure the experience wasn’t as negative as it sounds.  My family knows I cherish my alone time and I do enjoy driving.  In addition I had a new (to me) set of wheels.  

In January we decided to trade in the Ram 2500 (we called it “Wondertruck”) and took ownership of a 2008 Suburban with plenty of bells and whistles.  Despite its age this appears to be a well cared-for vehicle and the Carfax report looked good.  So for my drive I had the luxury of not only a truck that loves to own the road but also came with a Bose sound system, leather seats (heated!!), moon roof, backup camera, DVD player and a way-smooth ride.  After I stopped at Dunkin Donuts in Manhattan and got myself coffee and a couple of fried breakfast treats I was rarin’ to go.  I could spend another blog entry on just why a Suburban is so appealing but this piece explains it well.  Even though it was written over 30 years ago the author’s reasons are much the same as mine except I never was raised in a small-car family.  Did I mention I learned to drive in a 1976 Suburban?  

Back to the main storyline.  I took care of the house items in no time flat.  Everything looked good and my conversations with both my colleague and my neighbor were delightful and insightful.  After a lunch at Sonic I went the reverse of my morning trek and was back at the new (to us) house well before sundown.  

Here’s hoping my next road trip involves more fun/leisure and less work.  

Cutting the cord--all the juicy details!!

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.”