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EBS for iPods?

G

gcreedle239

With the inclusion of FM radio on iPod, it got me thinking, what if the FCC created a new digital code that could be sent over HD that would cause the player to turn to EBS info even if the user was listening to music off the iPod. The device would audibly beep as well if it were not in use. This would be user selectable, of course, and require the cooperation of radio, the FCC and device manufacturers. It would require the FM receiver to run as a background app, possibly requiring more power draw, but as the state of the art progresses, it is very doable.

Music players and cell phones are the pocket radios of today, I say the EBS system should be updated to take advantage of new technology.
 
Aye, I believe you mean EAS. The idea of a chip that turned on Radios and TV's has been around for quite a long time. I agree it is a good idea
 
bologna said:
Aye, I believe you mean EAS. The idea of a chip that turned on Radios and TV's has been around for quite a long time. I agree it is a good idea
Click to expand...

Something akin to the SAME system used for Weather Radio receivers?
 
Yes. We have reverse 911 to cellphones for fire evac (with sign-up), but no technology that OVERRIDEs (at user selection) the music playing or app running (on cell phone) etc for weather alerts and general EAS (sorry for the old school EBS ref) usage. Alerts can be sent digitally on phones, but only if one subscribes to a government email feed (if available) and would be ineffective outside of the home community. With built-in FM/HD receivers, cell phones, mp3 players, etc could get emergency warnings via a new supplemental digital EAS code (which would work from local FM/HD wherever you are) that would not only activate the radio to the EAS feed, but flash screen or make an alert sound and provide text/graphic info (where this goes further than EAS-activated desktop radios).

The FCC together with device manufacturers would have to implement such a system. In a future when many might get their radio from a cellphone or mp3 player instead of a pocket/tabletop radio, it's something to consider.
 
Do we really want to give the government a means to interrupt our Mp3 players???? Gosh knows they've got their tentacles into too many parts of our lives already. This was a system originally intended to let us know that the missiles from Moscow were headed our way and that we had 30 minutes to kiss out butts goodbye. Now it is so broad that just about anything could trigger it should some bureacrat so decide: "The EAS is a national public warning system that requires broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) providers, and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers to provide the communications capability to the President to address the American public during a national emergency. The system also may be used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information, such as AMBER alerts and weather information targeted to specific areas."

I lived in Kansas City and had one of those emergency alert weather radios and what a pain that was: anytime the wind blew in an 11-county area that thing blasted off. Here in Southern California we pretty much will know when the earthquake hits without having an EAS alert and for anything, by time government gets done filtering information and passing it along, it's outdated.

I can also imagine how much fun it would be to have those test alert tones comes blasting through your iPod earbuds: that'll melt the ear wax for sure.
 
So sort of a new PPM device...not sure Apple would be down for that.
 
gcreedle239 said:
With built-in FM/HD receivers, cell phones, mp3 players, etc could get emergency warnings via a new supplemental digital EAS code (which would work from local FM/HD wherever you are) that would not only activate the radio to the EAS feed, but flash screen or make an alert sound and provide text/graphic info (where this goes further than EAS-activated desktop radios).

The FCC together with device manufacturers would have to implement such a system. In a future when many might get their radio from a cellphone or mp3 player instead of a pocket/tabletop radio, it's something to consider.
Click to expand...

Really there is no need to make any changes to the EAS protocol. It *is* the same thing as the SAME protocol for weather radios. You'd simply tell your phone which types of alerts you want to interrupt and its software would handle the rest. (the phone could even use its built-in GPS to decide what county to alert you for) It could even parse the FIPS code (the designation of the area the alert is for) to pull down the alert text from the NWS website.

The problem I see with using broadcast radio to activate this... is that use of EAS to broadcast weather alerts **is not mandatory**, it is very possible for many stations to not transmit the data bursts, or even to mention the severe weather at all. (and satellite-fed translators may transmit weather alerts for the **wrong market**)

It would probably make more sense to use the phone's Internet function to check the NWS website for severe weather alerts at a regular interval.
 
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