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EAS test today

B

BarryATL

I punched around the stations at 2:21 p.m. today when the national EAS test came down.

WSB-AM seemed to have much better quality sound that WSBB-FM. WSBB-FM was much more muffled, a little echo, and could hear the tones from the originating station.

WABE-FM had better quality than WSBB-FM.
 
I heard that this national EAS test was also supposed to apply to mobile phones, but I didn't hear a peep from mine or anyone else's, even though we all got Trump's "Presidential Alert" a few years ago.
 
You had to specifically enable this. Here are the instructions on iPhone. It does not matter that opting into Emergency Alerts through the normal iOS panel. I am sure a similar thing needs to apply to Android.

How to turn on/off test emergency alerts on iPhone in the US​

  • Launch the Phone app and choose the keypad
  • To turn on test emergency alerts, dial *5005*25371#and tap the call button
    • You should see an alert saying “Test alerts enabled.”
  • To turn off test emergency alerts, dial *5005*25370#and press call
    • You should see an alert saying “Test alerts disabled.”
 
jabba17 said:
According to Wikipedia, it's WSB-FM (B98.5, not WSBB-FM) and WUBL (Bull). WUBL -
Click to expand...
So, WSBB was picking up WSB over the air. It was a horrible signal and since WSBB did not cut out at the appropriate times, we were hearing the tones from WSB.

I thought WSB-FM was no longer the entry point. I seem to remember a change and WABE was mentioned. WABE carries EVERY EAS alert of any kind. The other FM stations do not.

I assume WSB-AM is still the entry point for the AM stations.
 
The initial EAS entry point for Ga used to be WMAC (former WMAZ) 940 in Macon. This test did not use IPAWS as the primary transmission method this time. They wanted to use RF from the gateway station that was relayed to all of the primary and secondary stations as outline in the state EAS plan (like the old days before internet). Every station has to monitor both their assigned primary and secondary EAS stations 24/7. We found this test audio was legible, but seemed slightly over modulated with a noticeable 60 Hz hum.
 
Ray said:
The initial EAS entry point for Ga used to be WMAC (former WMAZ) 940 in Macon. This test did not use IPAWS as the primary transmission method this time. They wanted to use RF from the gateway station that was relayed to all of the primary and secondary stations as outline in the state EAS plan (like the old days before internet). Every station has to monitor both their assigned primary and secondary EAS stations 24/7. We found this test audio was legible, but seemed slightly over modulated with a noticeable 60 Hz hum.
Click to expand...
Apparently it still is. WMAC - Wikipedia

But why would they use a class B that's highly directional at night vs a class A clear channel station (WSB)? I get that Macon is centrally located, but still.
 
Ray said:
The initial EAS entry point for Ga used to be WMAC (former WMAZ) 940 in Macon. This test did not use IPAWS as the primary transmission method this time. They wanted to use RF from the gateway station that was relayed to all of the primary and secondary stations as outline in the state EAS plan (like the old days before internet). Every station has to monitor both their assigned primary and secondary EAS stations 24/7. We found this test audio was legible, but seemed slightly over modulated with a noticeable 60 Hz hum.
Click to expand...
Ray, do you know what the primary AM and FM stations are for Atlanta?
 
Most of Atlanta use WUBL 94.9 and WWPW 96.1. You can get permission to use alternates if the reception is poor (unlikely) with these stations.
 
Ray said:
Most of Atlanta use WUBL 94.9 and WWPW 96.1. You can get permission to use alternates if the reception is poor (unlikely) with these stations.
Click to expand...
In the EBS era the AM stations monitored an AM station and the FM stations monitored an FM station. Is that still true?

I bring this up because WSB-AM and WSBB-FM were definitely monitoring two different stations for this test.
 
I don't see any AM stations as approved relay stations now for Ga. TV Channel 11 is also an approved source for Atlanta however. I did look at the available options for one of the EAS decoder boxes and at least one (Trilithic) did show an internal AM receiver option (I was surprised). The approved sources vary in each state. In remote regions of the country, AM could have wider coverage along with higher issues with static/weather.
 
Ray said:
I don't see any AM stations as approved relay stations now for Ga. TV Channel 11 is also an approved source for Atlanta however. I did look at the available options for one of the EAS decoder boxes and at least one (Trilithic) did show an internal AM receiver option (I was surprised). The approved sources vary in each state. In remote regions of the country, AM could have wider coverage along with higher issues with static/weather.
Click to expand...
In remote or mountain regions, AM radio is still viable. I wonder how they handle EAS in Alaska? Most remote villages radio stations can be hundreds of miles from the nearest station.
 
Ray said:
I don't see any AM stations as approved relay stations now for Ga. TV Channel 11 is also an approved source for Atlanta however. I did look at the available options for one of the EAS decoder boxes and at least one (Trilithic) did show an internal AM receiver option (I was surprised). The approved sources vary in each state. In remote regions of the country, AM could have wider coverage along with higher issues with static/weather.
Click to expand...
I haven’t checked a lot of western states but Missouri uses WHB AM and KMOX AM as Primary Entry Points*. Kansas uses WIBW FM and KTPK FM which monitors WHB AM for national** and they use WIBW AM as Point 1 and KTPK for point 2 for state originated stuff. It is interesting that the Feds use an AM class B (WHB AM) as the primary entry point for Kansas.

I worked a couple of tornado seasons at KIUL Garden City and the National Weather Service severe thunder storms and tornado warnings still were on the AP newswire. We monitored 1370 Dodge City for EAS which we got warnings during daylight hours. We never had a usable night time signal from them. KIUL had a bomb shelter with studios left over from the EBS days which I almost switched too once due to a funnel cloud on the ground about 2 miles away. They also had the Weather Channel on all the time.


*https://sbe55.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/mo-eas-plan.pdf Page 11

**https://www.kansastag.gov/AdvHTML_doc_upload/State Emergency Alert System Plan 2013.pdf

Page 9
 
Funny, we are talking about EAS and the State monthly EAS test went 2 days early today by mistake. I was very confused when I heard it. They are going to repeat the monthly test at the proper time on Wednesday
 
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