EAS Tests: Can't These Things Wait?

[DToTheJ]

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh where, just now, WTIC cut him off in mid-sentence to run an EAS test... then after a minute, and a legal ID, they resumed Rush in progress. WTF? Can't these things wait until commercial breaks? Or perhaps there's some sort of left-wing conspiracy over at 'TIC? Hmmm...

 

[radio monkey]

If there is a LIVE jock or a LIVE board op an EAS test can definitely be placed in a stop set...there is a 15 minute window in which to run it. Otherwise when that 15 minutes is up...it runs.

AH...Local radio!!!

 

[kms575]

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh where, just now, WTIC cut him off in mid-sentence to run an EAS test... then after a minute, and a legal ID, they resumed Rush in progress. WTF? Can't these things wait until commercial breaks? Or perhaps there's some sort of left-wing conspiracy over at 'TIC? Hmmm...

Best thing that's happened to Rush in a long time ;D
Personally, I'd rather listen to a 3 hour EAS test than that buffoon.

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

That's a sure sign there was nobody in the studio and nobody bothered to check the EAS test schedule. That can easily be buried in a stop set. For WTIC AM the largest AM signal in CT to let that slip by is very strange?
I can see it happening on WELI or WMRD. Not very professional.

 

[meatslab]

the rules for wtic are pretty strict...as the primary station for ct's eas network, they orginate the eas tests and alerts. stations that recieve these tests from wtic have the option of delaying the rebroadcast. as to wtic being without a board op, i can assure that the eas tests are run with a human at the switch and a board op to make sure it airs. if there was a tornado or other natural disaster about to hit hartford, would you want that information delayed in order to allow rush to broadcast more of his self centered pap

 

[RonTheEngineer]

Was it a RWT or a RMT? Was it an actual alert?

RWTs are often randomly generated by the EAS box. RMTs are set to a set schedule by the CBA.

As the state SP-1, they have to get these things out in a timely fashion.

 

[DToTheJ]

If I were to venture a guess, it might have been a random test. I was listening online but I didn't hear any transitional pause that I would normally expect when going to commercials on the terrestrial side, and furthermore, the station player graphic (which rotates each time a commercial is played) stayed still at the conclusion of the test, and after the legal ID, they faded back into Rush. You might not understand what this explanation means, but it contributes to my theory as to whether or not it was a randomly triggered test. Maybe a technical expert can shed more light on this.

if there was a tornado or other natural disaster about to hit hartford, would you want that information delayed in order to allow rush to broadcast more of his self centered pap

Of course not; once again, this was only a test that had cut into Rush's show...

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

the rules for wtic are pretty strict...as the primary station for ct's eas network, they orginate the eas tests and alerts. stations that recieve these tests from wtic have the option of delaying the rebroadcast. as to wtic being without a board op, i can assure that the eas tests are run with a human at the switch and a board op to make sure it airs. if there was a tornado or other natural disaster about to hit hartford, would you want that information delayed in order to allow rush to broadcast more of his self centered pap

If it was an actual emergency, weather related, Amber, etc. I can undertand bumping anything on the air. But a routine test airing over another live voice is ridiculous and bush league. WABC in New york would never let that happen. But then again they have at least one live body there. ;D

 

[RonTheEngineer]

the rules for wtic are pretty strict...as the primary station for ct's eas network, they orginate the eas tests and alerts. stations that recieve these tests from wtic have the option of delaying the rebroadcast. as to wtic being without a board op, i can assure that the eas tests are run with a human at the switch and a board op to make sure it airs. if there was a tornado or other natural disaster about to hit hartford, would you want that information delayed in order to allow rush to broadcast more of his self centered pap

If it was an actual emergency, weather related, Amber, etc. I can undertand bumping anything on the air. But a routine test airing over another live voice is ridiculous and bush league. WABC in New york would never let that happen. But then again they have at least one live body there. ;D

I just checked, that was the CBA prescribed RWT... Feb Tuesday 02/10/09 1:20 PM Weekly
They go AT EXACTLY THAT TIME, since Rush is a nationally syndicated show, it cant wait for the break.

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

What about lowering the Rush network potometer and airing the test? That way it doesn't sound like a clusterfock montage on the air. But of course too few people wearing many hats running around like chickens with their heads cut off during a chinese fire drill. NICE! ;D

 

[meatslab]

eas overides all audio...any complaints about the transistion should be addressed to the fcc. they mandate how the thing is supposed to run

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

eas overides all audio...any complaints about the transistion should be addressed to the fcc. they mandate how the thing is supposed to run

If you are selling the fact that the EAS test and Rush's voice air at the same time, not happening. You can easily pot down his voice and air the test so it doesn't sound like a college radio station clusterfock.