DTV channel assignment information:

Topeka and Kansas City

As of this writing to the best of my knowledge the Topeka and K.C. channels will change to the following DTV channel Assignments:

WDAF will vacate analog channel 4 and will use DTV channel 34.

KCTV will vacate their analog channel 5 and will use DTV channel 24.

KMBC will vacate analog channel 9 and DTV channel 7 and will use DTV channel 29 (the old KCWE analog channel).

KTWU will vacate their temporary DTV channel (23) and will move their DTV to their old analog allocation as DTV channel 11.

WIBW will vacate their temporary DTV channel (44) and will move their DTV to DTV channel 13.

KCPT will vacate their DTV channel 18 and move to their old analog allocation as DTV channel 19.

KSNT/KTMJ will vacate DTV channel 28 and move to their old analog allocation as DTV channel 27. Channel 43 will continue to operate as 27-2. (I have no knowledge as to the fate of channel 43 analog.)

KCWE as of this writing has already shut down their analog operation on channel 29 and will continue to operate on their DTV assignment of DTV channel 31.

KMCI will vacate their temporary DTV channel of 37 and move to their old analog allocation as DTV channel 38.

KSHB will vacate their temporary DTV channel of 42 and will move to their old analog allocation as DTV channel 41.

KTKA will vacate their temporary DTV channel 48 and will move to their old analog allocation as DTV channel 49.

KSMO will vacate their analog channel 62 and will continue to use their DTV allocation of DTV channel 47.

So, in short, there will be NO VHF low band DTV stations in either the K.C or Topeka markets. Only Topeka channels 11 and 13 will remain on VHF High band, and all the K.C. stations will be on UHF channels.

DTV tests pre conversion: A finer point to be mentioned...

There is one other issue to bring up with respect to VHF DTV operation.  A local VHF station is running their DTV tests almost nightly. They run a graphic on the VHF analog while their UHF DTV shows the studio shot. They claim if a viewer can see the studio shot then they're ready for DTV. They make a dangerous assumption. 

They assume that if you can get their UHF DTV then you'll be able to receive their VHF DTV...... (which may or may NOT be true) The test, as it's currently being run, ONLY tests UHF DTV reception, NOT their VHF DTV reception... 

Obviously they can't test VHF DTV unless the turn off the analog transmitter and turn on the DTV VHF transmitter and also have viewers rescan to find the VHF DTV signal. But skipping these steps assumes some things that may not in fact be true.

There are many set top antennas claiming to be HDTV/DTV ready. They are in fact UHF only antennas. And there are a lot of outside DTV antennas that are UHF only too. (or have very minimal VHF reception.) I know in other markets some major retailers have been pushing UHF only DTV antennas claiming they're OK.

So What I'm saying here is that once they start using VHF DTV some antennas may not in fact be able to receive the VHF DTV signal on a UHF only DTV antenna. 

I know this was the driving force behind KMBC in K.C. choosing to abandon their DTV channel 7 and go to DTV 29. They've been swamped with reception issue calls. I also know in other markets, where VHF high band DTV signals are being used on a temporary basis, this is also a major issue..... 

So in any particular case this may or may not be an issue. But be aware that just cause you can get a local station's test signal on UHF, doesn't necessarily mean you will be able to receive that station's VHF DTV signal when the conversion happens.

The remaining of this page covers older analog TV reception, but all the concepts, as well as the station's locations, are the same. Consequently much of the information is still relevant. I will leave it for historical references if nothing else.

Analog TV History: 

The Pre-DTV world of TV reception

The purpose of this document is to help the typical local TV viewer in the Topeka area in obtaining good television reception. The author of this paper is a broadcast engineer, unaffiliated directly with any of the Topeka or K.C. TV stations, but has been a TV engineer for many years and lives in the Topeka area. The views herein are not necessarily the views of any of the broadcast entities mentioned. 

Topeka and the surrounding area is in a somewhat unique situation, being a separate TV market but still being within reception range of a major metropolitan market. As such the reception problems this co-location generates are likewise unique. So some education of the general TV viewer is in order so that they can get the most out of their TV’s in this transition to DTV. First, some basics. 

Even though the channel numbers on a TV are continuous, the actual frequencies used are not all together in one frequency band. There are actually three bands, Lo VHF, Hi VHF, and UHF. Lo VHF consists of channels 2 thru 6 and are from 54 to 88 MHz just below the FM radio band. As such these channels are the best at bending over the horizon, but are also the most susceptible to noise from lightning, power lines and the like. Hi VHF band contains channel 7 thru 13 cover 174 thru 214 MHz, and are less susceptible to noise, but are more line of sight dependent. The UHF band for TV contains the lion’s share of channels 14 thru 69 cover 470 thru 804 MHz. This is the least noise susceptible band but is also much more dependent on line of sight to work well. As a side note here, as part of the FCC’s master plan for conversion to DTV, channels 2 thru 6 and 52 thru 69 will be vacated and used for other services. 

Analog vs. DTV….

In addition, there is the issue of analog or digital. Analog TV that was developed in the late 1930’s, actually has two carriers. A visual which is AM type modulation and aural (sound) which is FM modulation. AM relies on the change in power level to convey the picture information. Anything which can change this level, like lightning or power line noise, shows up as sparkles in the picture. This is why analog TV looks poor at times, but the picture may still be watch able if not great. Most of the power transmitted, energy if you will, is clustered within 1 megahertz of the visual carrier frequency and as such not all frequencies in the channel are as important in receiving the picture as others. 

Digital on the other hand, relies on converting the picture to numbers, lots of zeros and ones. This is the same process in many ways as is used in digital cell phones or WiFi connections. And to clarify, HDTV (high definition TV) and SDTV (standard definition TV) also known at DTV use the same transmission scheme. The only difference is how many bits of information are shoved into the pipe. This digital technique means the power used to carry the signal is spaced out equally all across the band. On an analog TV this energy looks like snow….This is something to remember and will become clear later in this article. 

To put a picture to this, below is a spectrum analyzer photograph showing KSNT and KSNT-DT. This is really a graph with the horizontal line showing frequency whereas the vertical scale shows power. The left is the lowest frequency whereas the right is the highest frequency. The photo clearly shows the visual and aural carriers of the analog signal whereas the digital channel is the large rectangular bump on the left with energy shared equally all across the 6MHz channel band. 

So now on to specific channels…. 

Below is a chart showing all the channels and their locations in the bands. The red channels are analog channels that will go away at the end of the FCC transition period. The Green are local, Topeka analog stations whereas the Yellow are the local DTV stations. The blue bars are the KC analog stations where the purple are the KC DTV channels. I will cover this in more detail later but for now the problems areas are where big bars lie next to small bars.

For those of you wanting more information here is a table showing the channels, affiliation, whether they’re digital or analog and some other pertinent facts. 

 According to the FCC’s definition of coverage that means 50 percent of the typical viewers with a 30-foot tall mast and deep fringe antenna can receive this signal 50 percent of the time. So what does this really mean? Well if you have a taller mast or a better line of sight to the station your chances are better, if you live in a valley or can’t put up a big mast then your chances are worse. 

East side, west side, outside of town…. 

Ok now that you know all the generalities, and where on the band each channel lay, let’s talk about specific channels and their special quirks….Channels 4,5 and 9 are all Kansas City stations and from what typical coverage charts say 4 and 5 quit west of Auburn road, whereas channel 9 is not receivable west of Kansas Ave. This is based on their FCC coverage charts. BUT these are VHF channels and can have signals that bend over the horizon some. So it still may be possible to receive them in some form. The downside, Topeka generates a lot of power line noise and these signals are very weak, so there will always be impulse noise in the picture, worst at some times. These lower frequency channels are also subject to interference from other stations on the same channel during times of changing weather also. 

Channels 14,18,19,29,31,34,36,38,41,42,47,50,51and 62 are all in the UHF band. According to their coverage charts the best of them just reach the east Shawnee County line. But hope springs eternal in the heart of the TV viewer and it is possible to get these stations in parts of Topeka. Generally speaking, a viewer east of Indiana St. with a good UHF deep fringe antenna at least 30 feet up, with a preamp, on high ground can receive these stations most of time. There are some exceptions I’ll mention later. Anywhere west of this line it becomes more and more difficult where by Fairlawn St. the odds of reception dwindles…Remember the earth curves and there is some pretty decent high ground between Topeka and Lawrence, this works against the signal. Viewers North of the Kansas River are a bit luckier. In their geographic location the signals from the K.C. stations skim down the Kansas River bottom and as such can go a bit further west. But Much west of US 75 and the signal is gone. 

Your Mileage may vary…. 

Now for the exceptions, Firstly channel 29, their signal can be swamped by the channel 28 DTV signal from KSNT. The closer to the KSNT tower the worse the odds of getting a usable signal. Since the channel 28 signal is digital and spread over the entire band, there is no passive filter made to easily block it out. In short, many viewers just won’t get channel 29. Another lost cause is channel 42, the DTV signal from KSHB. It’s parked next to channel 43 KTMJ and as such the receiver’s tuner just can’t lock to the distant signal reliably. Same goes for channel 50 KPXE. KTKA swamps this signal too. Now that being said, there may be areas, on the Eastern edge of Topeka where these signals may be viewable on a case-by-case basis.

Yet one more caveats here. Some of the K.C. stations are still in the process of upgrading their DTV systems and may not be viewable til mid summer. For example WDAF is currently operating on a low power transmitter using a smallish transmitting antenna lower down on their tower. As such their signal doesn’t even cover the fringes of the K.C. metro area. But by 2006 all the K.C. stations should have a DTV coverage comparable to their analog channels. So a good rule of thumb here is, if you can see their analog signal, the DTV should also be viewable the lion’s share of the time. 

There’s no place like home….The Topeka Stations: 

Well here it’s a bit easier you would think, but this is not always the case either. To start with here is a map showing the location of the Topeka stations. 

 Channel 11’s tower at the North end of Wanamaker is the home of both KTWU analog and DTV transmitters as well as the KTMJ transmitter.  The KSNT tower North of the river on highway 24 holds their analog and DTV transmitters. The KTKA tower west of Topeka at 23^rd and West Union Road, holds the KTKA analog and DTV antennas as well as the K33 LPTV antenna. Finally, WIBW is located several miles South of the Maple Hill exit on I-70 in Wabaunsee Co. It holds the WIBW analog and digital antennas.

So, depending in where you live in or around the city the various transmitters may not be in the same direction. This is a bad thing. As any viewer knows so well, the placement of the antenna is what gets rid of ghosts. Remember playing with rabbit ears to find the best picture? This is not so much an issue of signal strength but more one of minimizing the unwanted reflecting signals that show up as ghosts. This same thing happens with outside antennas not pointed toward the transmitting tower, ghost signals, also called multipath, can tear up an otherwise strong signal. As a side note here, don’t be fooled by folks who say DTV doesn’t have ghosts, well no not that you can see BUT these multipath signals can and do strongly affect the reception. These multipath signals can cancel out parts of the received signal and make it very hard for DTV receivers to detect the data properly. So these digital ghosts show up as unreliable signal and will cause the DTV receiver to show a “blue screen of death” right in the middle of that all-important game. When DTV is good it’s great, when the digital signal is marginal, it simply goes away. This by the way is known as the “cliff effect” referring to the fact the signal is either there or not, rather than the cliff a viewer wants to jump off when the all important show is missed.

So in Topeka proper, it may work to have just one antenna for 11 and 13 and one antenna for the UHF channels. Or, if you live on the west side of town, a couple of antennas to get each set of signals cleanly, remember ghosts kill DTV too. 

The FCC’s “gift” to Topeka’s viewers…. 

Ok now on to the real bailiwick in Topeka TV viewing. Something the FCC didn’t think about. The idea of adjacent channels was addressed by the FCC making some assumptions, that the stations were co-owned and co-located. This would allow one, common engineering staff to make sure the proper equipment and techniques are used so the typical viewer gets both stations cleanly. Then, the FCC promptly overlooked the low power class A stations, of which KTMJ is one. So all the safeguards went right out the window….. KTMJ is a class A station and as such is limited on the amount of power they can broadcast. It’s not their fault; this is the way the FCC set up the rules. And WIBW is required by the FCC to cover their entire viewing audience with their DTV signal on channel 44. This makes their signal strong. Again it’s the FCC rules it’s not their fault. BUT what this means is there’s a big old DTV transmitter putting out what looks like snow right next to lower power KTMJ on channel 43. So neither station wins this battle. KTMJ has a strong signal over Topeka but typical TV tuners also see the digital snow from WIBW DV and the picture looks bad. And before you think WIBW is all bad, the analog signal from KTMJ affects their digital signal too. The analog signal makes it harder for DTV receivers to lock on to the proper signal and the consequence is the viewers at home get the dreaded “blue screen of death”  out of their DTV sets….. 

Remember, it’s NOT either of the station’s fault, they are controlled by FCC regulations. But take heart, when the digital conversion is done, WIBW will most likely switch their DTV to channel 13. This does two good things, improves their range and will eliminate the co-channel interference problem…They just can’t do it til more folks have DTV receivers and the FCC says it’s time to switch….Stay tuned for further developments. 

Digital, who needs digital…. 

Ok, one last fly in this ointment to consider. Remember the FCC? Well in their rush to implement DTV standard they kind of forgot about Class A stations, so KTMJ has no DTV channel assignment. This is why there’s no DTV for them. Again, it’s NOT their fault; the FCC hasn’t gotten around to figuring out how to handle this little problem. This will solve itself in some way as the transition to digital progresses. Remember this before you pick up the phone or sent them email. 

Just a quick reminder…. 

Remember the Topeka TV stations didn’t create the problem, they know it’s there, and are reticent to talk about it. It’s an FCC thing. And out of their hands.  

Now before you throw up your hands and just get a satellite dish. This won’t fix your DTV reception problems either. Both Dish Network and DirecTV have agreements to carry only the analog signals from local TV stations. Yes the satellite providers do use digital technology to transmit their signals to our homes BUT for the Topeka locals they start out as good old analog TV, then they convert it. In fact, both of the satellite providers pick up most of their signals over the air, just like you do at home, and then convert it to digital to transmit. So to get the most out of your New HDTV set, receiving the local DTV signal is a must. “So what do I DO!” You ask yourself. Do not despair. It is possible to get local TV all that is needed is a plan. 

Where to start…. 

Firstly, a little pre planning goes a long way. Figure out where each TV tower is relative to where you live. It may be possible to get all the stations with two or three antennas. It may even be worth buying one antenna, which you plan to use, and try pointing it around at each of the stations from ground level while hooked up to some sort of portable TV. This is a pretty good indicator if you’re going to have problems with the final installation. If the signals look good on the ground, they should be even better from the attic or on the roof.

OK picking an antenna, in this case bigger is better. Antennas get their gain by eliminating signals from other directions. This makes the wanted signal better and off angle signals, the multipath mentioned earlier, weaker. Amplifiers amplify both the signal and the noise but an antenna selects just the wanted signal. It you have the luxury of being able to mount the antennas outside by all means do so. No need to loose most of the signal going through roofing if you don’t have to. Even for local stations a small mast outside could mean the difference between a great signal or a mediocre one. One other point here, if the antennas are outside it should be grounded properly as the directions with the antenna recommend. This is to protect against lightning damage.

Attic installs….

Well as you may have guessed the higher the antenna the better, at least for getting distant signals, but it some cases this can’t be done. Antennas placed in attics loose 60% to 80% of their signal going through the roofing material. This loss is greater on UHF signals. But in some cases, where there are home association covenants, this can’t be helped, the attic is the only place for an antenna. In these cases it’s important to make sure the antenna is still aimed properly to the station of interest.

Make it louder….

Amplifiers boost the signal but can cause problems all their own. Firstly there are actually two types of amplifiers, preamplifiers also known as preamps and line or distribution amplifiers. Preamps are used to boost the signal from the antenna to the distribution amplifier. These are sensitive but not meant to produce lots of power. Here bigger isn’t necessarily better. In fact, using the highest gain preamps can cause more problems than they solve. They can overload from stronger local signals and make the weaker, distant signals unwatchable. Use them only as needed. Distribution amplifiers serve a different function they take the combined signals,  amplify them split them to several TV sets. They have less gain and are meant to get the signal to each set adding only enough gain to make up for the loss in signal in the cable and the splitting process…They also accept high signal level without overloading. Using the proper amplifier type for the proper use can improve quality, while misuse will certainly cause reception problems.

Filters and combining the signals….

There are filters available to pass only one of the TV bands or to block only one channel. These filters can be helpful in allowing only the wanted signal into the system while blocking unwanted signals. An example here is if you live on the western edge of the city. KSNT would be due North whereas KTKA is due West. Pointing the antenna North would give a great picture for KSNT but have ghosts on KTKA and visa versa. The solution is to put up two smaller UHF antennas one pointed to KSNT the other pointed to KTKA. Then two UHF trap type filters are used, one in the line from the KSNT antenna which would trap out KTKA’s ghosts, whereas one in the KTKA antenna’s line would be used to block the unwanted KSNT signal. Then both signals would be combined to get two great signals. So the trick here is to let the good signal pass and block the bad ones with filters.

These TV bands can also be combined with a band splitter/combiner filter. This device has three ports (inputs), one for each band, and one combined output. These are good for keeping any UHF stray signal from a VHF antenna from passing a poor UHF signal or visa versa……These devices are available at the same store where you get the antennas……

Don’t scrimp on the basics……

Make an effort to use good RG-6 type 75-ohm coax. Coax comes in all types but RG-6 is shielded properly and has less signal loss than other types. Using this will insure the signal you do get makes it to the TV set cleanly and with the strongest signal possible.

For the advanced hobbyist……

There are other, fancier devices that can improve the signal further, but a good understanding of TV is needed to use these. Firstly, there are available on eBay devices called channel processors. They are generally used and have been removed from cable systems in good working order. These are little receivers connected to transmitters. What they do is to receive only one channel, filter it cleanly, and then convert it to any other, open channel. Because of the special active filter they use (called a SAW filter, short for standing acoustical wave) these devices filter out the one channel. They work well for grabbing either channel 43 or channel 29 without passing the adjacent digital channels.

One other device is called an XUV converter these aren’t as fancy or as flexible as true channel converters but they are cheaper. They only convert UHF channels to VHF channels hence the name. Unlike the channel processors they don’t have special SAW filters and will pass some adjacent channel’s junk.

Another device that comes in handy is called a modulator. This device takes the video and audio from a VCR, or DVD, or video game, or even a home security camera and converts it to an open TV channel. With this device you can add you own channels to your TV system, allowing the source to be viewed all over the house.

Lastly, if you plan on getting this deep into a home TV system it’s worth it to get some sort of signal meter to both check levels at each set or to check for any possible interference of antennas.

Good luck….

You now have a good start on knowing how to get all the Topeka analog and DTV stations cleanly. And have a pretty good feel if you can possibly get the K.C. stations where you live also. Depending on your need for TV you can make your TV watching choices as grand or as limited as you desire. I hope you find this useful. Happy viewing.

Other links to more info….

Lastly, if you want to learn more here are some helpful web sites.

http://www.fcc.gov

http://www.antennaweb.org

http://www.picomacom.com/macom/home/

http://www.winegard.com/

http://www.blondertongue.com/

http://www.channelmaster.com/

http://starkelectronic.com/

http://www.radioshack.com/