EAS tests?

[ihEARDtHAT]

I was driving to Tucson yesterday and had KMLE-FM on the radio. At approx 10:00am the EAS alert tone sounded along with all the other tones, what sounded like an open mike with AC hum, then a couple of seconds of silence followed by the three tone burst. In about 15 seconds the music picked up in the middle of a song. No announcement, no nothing.

I started loosing their signal and changed to a local Tucson station (KIIM-FM) and about twenty minutes later, had the same EAS alert tone, additional tones, the same open mike noise and finally that three tone burst. Again, no announcment if this was a test or an actual alert (like an Amber alert)

I know the stations test the EAS system usually on a monthly basis, but don't they announce "this is a test of the EAS"?

(I know that when they test EAS on the cable system, at least I get a crawl that says it is the monthly test.)

 

[Old Yeller]

Unfortunately, the lack of attention is not an isolated case. If you travel ANYWHERE, it's very common to hear exactly what you discribed...in much larger markets. Bigger problems to deal with.

 

[KOOL Listener Lauren]

I heard an EAS Test yesterday, too. Not a CBS Radio station, but there was no announcement, and what seemed like too many seconds of that sound that sounds like bringing a large sea shell to your ear. Is there supposed to be an announcement each time?

 

[johndavis]

I heard an EAS Test yesterday, too. Not a CBS Radio station, but there was no announcement, and what seemed like too many seconds of that sound that sounds like bringing a large sea shell to your ear. Is there supposed to be an announcement each time?

On a monthly, yes. On a weekly, no.

A monthly test isn't required this month because of the national test; next week relaying the national test will fulfill the weekly requirement.

 

[catfish]

There's been a couple of statewide tests in the past two weeks to make sure the nationwide test works perfectly for the State of AZ next week. Yesterdays test was originated by KJZZ and there was a problem with the audio which has been fixed which is why there was no audio on all the TV and radio stations.

 

[ihEARDtHAT]

Thanks, Catfish.

Just had me concerned when I heard the same thing on two different stations in two different markets.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Yo, catfish (with a "c"):

Will Lumberyard 1440 be participating in the big national EBS EAS test next Wednesday?
It will occur during the food show (at noon MT)...or will the lamptimer make it a couple of
minutes early/late?

 

[bnzbz]

No announcement, no nothing.

To elaborate a little more on this post, typically you'll hear an announcement on the station's weekly tests as they originate locally at the station to test their own EAS gear. This allows the operator time to select exactly when the test will fire, play an intro to announce the test, and then hit the test button and resume regular operation after they hear the test conclude.

Monthly tests are a little more complicated as they originate from the primary EAS stations in the market and are forwarded from station to station. Typically radio alerts, including the tests, are set to automatically take control of the airchain and fire as it would be easy for a jock or board-op who is answering phones, blogging, etc to miss and not forward them for several minutes. And if the station is voicetracked or otherwise automated, that leaves little option other than an auto-forward.

TV alerts (or at least those on the main broadcast channel) are often manually forwarded as the person or people operating master control have enough manpower and attention to quickly catch and forward an EAS message with that station's correct protocol. I've noticed, however, that several of the local TV sub-channels still are set to automatically forward.

 

[johndavis]

TV alerts (or at least those on the main broadcast channel) are often manually forwarded as the person or people operating master control have enough manpower and attention to quickly catch and forward an EAS message with that station's correct protocol. I've noticed, however, that several of the local TV sub-channels still are set to automatically forward.

Or, they do what the radio people do: when you interrupt the main, you interrupt the subchannels because you only own one EAS box.

 

[johndavis]

Thanks, Catfish.

Just had me concerned when I heard the same thing on two different stations in two different markets.

Well, it proves that the message does get relayed across the state!

 

[Dave Andrews]

I had the radio on KMLE so it would be easy to start scanning at 88.1. I hit the button on my car radio every second or two and heard the tone(s) / announcement on every station except KUPD, KCDX and 105.9. (The radio skipped over AM 96.1 so I didn't hear them.) Is it possible that those 3 stations had aired the national test a few moments earlier or later than noon?

 

[johndavis]

I had the radio on KMLE so it would be easy to start scanning at 88.1. I hit the button on my car radio every second or two and heard the tone(s) / announcement on every station except KUPD, KCDX and 105.9. (The radio skipped over AM 96.1 so I didn't hear them.) Is it possible that those 3 stations had aired the national test a few moments earlier or later than noon?

Two possibilities: the originating box from FEMA was set 3 minutes fast, so some brands of EAS boxes waited until 3 after the hour to forward the test. Also, with the cascading tones bleeding into the audio (FEMA was reportedly listening to the return feed from the PEP stations over the phone bridge and that bled into the outgoing message) some EAS boxes decoded the second set of headers and aborted the test.

FEMA wanted to see the weak points in the system. They found them.