If it's Judgement day...don't think EAS will help much..
AND NEITHER WILL THE NEW SYSTEM!!!
Going our on a limb here, but I got what I thought was a very corporate sounding and "political" e-mail from my state broadcaster's association about this nationwide test.
Keep in mind that we posted our audio and results on this site, and it was heard by at least one board member. Most of the Great Lakes got the same mucked-up double triggered test and audio. My state's broadcasting association however praised the test, saying, "
was generally a successful test for Michigan radio, TV, cable and satellite providers" and, it went on to say, quoting an MAB official,
"some of the issues experienced across the nation will disappear once all stations, NOAA, FEMA and local emergency managers, begin utilizing the common alerting protocol (CAP) and digital EAS equipment. Full adoption of the new CAP system is required by June 2012."
Now, I don't mean to be doom and gloom where political press release writers are concerned, but what you just read is right off the stable floor. The new EAS cap system, STILL has a daisy chain of "over the air" station to station STANDARD EAS communications as I quote here in bold from radiomagonline.com) and stated on other credible EAS information sites
Does this mean the "duck quacks" (the EAS SAME tones stations use now) will change or go away?
Nothing changes with what stations must send. Even EAS isn't changing...yet. In fact, it is expected that the current EAS system will not be changed, but a separate, CAP-capable data distribution system will be added to EAS plans.
The note from my state Broadcasters' closed with this:
To the residents of Michigan this should be a comfort. You will receive emergency communications in a number of different formats to assure that everyone is informed in times of emergency.
Perhaps this belongs in another thread, but...keep in mind...the new "CAP" system stated by officials to solve this problem is INTERNET based. Now,
do you want your city's safety and emergency information routed through the public internet? (a must-have-power "along the line" system) for emergencies? What went down during East coast hurricanes? The 'net at a local level. What goes down next when cell towers have no power? The 'net on your phones. The 'net is a luxury of modern communications, not a backbone for emergencies, in this broadcaster's opinion.
Broadcasters have been fighting this new CAP concept since it was brought up, and as consumers and listeners/viewers, you should be too! Its another government mandate, its unfunded to broadcasters so we'll dig into our pockets to meet a government order to buy equipment....its unproven as a system, and it's unfair to try to impress the public with facts that cannot prove themselves. Research CAP! You'll see the holes in our government's "system" we'll all be working under as broadcasters, and as citizens! It may be worthy of your asking your Congress why they're allowing this!
Perhaps the government would do better to mandate generators at broadcast facilities and staff to BE THERE during emergencies. Oh, sorry. That's too old fashioned. Maybe they should just stay out of it and let capitalism back into broadcasting, via less mergers, creating competition among stations, which in turn, should spur more excellence, more employment of experienced personnel, and less complacency and automation.
My soapbox just got removed. Back to your regularly scheduled thread.