FEMA adopts new EAS requirements; Broadcasters worry about timing

[oldiesstation]

Looks like CAP V1.2 will be the new protocol. Just lovely.....

 

[TomT]

1. Jim Gorman,(Gorman-Redlich), at the radio show, said the private lab contracted by FEMA had completed testing on his (and other) units, but he had neither seen the report nor had any feedback on how his unit did.

2. At one session FCC official asked what was next. She said that their rule making procedure on possible changes to Part 11 still pending; not certain if the new equipment would need FCC type approval or not.

3. Jim's box is a mini-computer, to use you enter up to three IP addresses it will periodically ping for messages. If there is a message, the text string is converted into audio and fed into a regular audio port on an EAS decoder.
Even if I had one in the rack, there's no plan nor info on what I would have it look at.

 

[ChiefEngineer]

If this is all that's required cant we feed a barix into our Sage?

 

[TomT]

Over my head on the exact mechanics, but I suspect the emergency messages will actually look something like the old weather wire text strings. That is, there will be a header which indicates the type of alert and areas covered, followed by the message, and an end of message code. Something like: "ZZCNNXXV Tornado Alert until 12 PM EST Johnson County.... [end message]."

As I understand it, the Gorman Redlich device pulls this down from the alert site, converts the header to a standard EAS type header, and the text to speech (like NWS's Perfect Paul) and provides an EOM. Which is then fed into a standard audio input on the decoder.

Well, to use some other device, you would need the software to convert the CAP data string to audio AND to provide a header with the "duck farts" in proper sequence to trigger the decoder.

Plus I suspect that the FCC will require the equipment meets some kind of approval and certification process. I suppose they could certify anything that was passed by the Kentucky testing lab. That would be too simple, and not keep enough bureaucrats employed.