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Receiving EAS Monitoring Assignment Stations?

K

kenglish

Guest
I was just checking the recorded audio from our last EAS RMT....the originator forgot to send the EOM tones, so the monitored stations coming back had a minute of "silence" after the voice announcement.
I've always thought the received signals sounded bad, but I can hear just how really bad they are, in that dead spot.
Computer noise, power-line buzz, even a high-pitched squeal that has AGC and pumps up to 100% during pauses.

How do you (other stations) receive your EAS monitoring feeds? I'm wondering about antennas, etc....AM, FM, TV, NOAA.
Do you have problems with noise? Any brilliant-idea "fixes" to share?
 
Guess I'll start it off....
We monitor FM and TV off of our building MATV system, which was designed for top quality, so that's not a problem.
I wonder what others are doing.

We monitor the AM using a Ramsey "Signal Magnet" antenna (a tunable, shielded ferrite bar) on the roof of the two-story main TV studios. It's getting harder and harder to find a spot that is really noise-free. Satellite dishes and their cabling carry some noise from inside the building. Lighting fixtures on the adjacent buildings could be a problem, especially at night. A Light-Rail line, about 400 feet away, hasn't caused any noticeable noise yet, but it's all brand new construction.

We are monitoring NOAA via the old VHF High-band antenna (still mounted for horizontal polarization), and a pre-amp. I want to pipe it in to the MATV one day, when I get a chance to re-design and re-tune an older AGC processor, and maybe buy a 162 MHz 3-element Lindsay receive yagi. That would make it available to all.

We monitor the local NOAA office WeatherRadio, and they have a Ramsey antenna on their AM receiver. Not sure if it's pointed properly. They have a background sound, much like a room of teletype machines. It's taken a static-hit once or twice, too. The FET's in there are obsolete versions, but I got a stash from Radio Shack.

Not sure why KBYU has a shrill squeal in their off-air AM.
 
We monitor 4 stations -- two FM and two NOAA, all located 30-40 miles distant. All are received on Scala-Kathrein yagis (H-pol for FM / V-pol for NOAA) mounted about halfway up our 80' STL tower, which is located just the other side of a wall from our rackroom. Multi-receiver is a TFT 930A. It all works well. I'm glad that we don't have to receive an AM.
 
local oscillator said:
I'm glad that we don't have to receive an AM.
Click to expand...
I wish no one had to receive an AM...it was hard enough to do clearly 40 years ago.
 
And getting harder...had to track down an electronic lamp ballast that was obliterating the AM band at one of my sites last fall.
 
The influx of translators and new LPFM's will make monitoring difficult, if not impossible in some areas.

At one station I monitor a Class B about 6 miles away--no problem with this, just use an inexpensive tuner. Same for NWS, which is about 10 miles away. However, that Class B--the local relay for EAS--must monitor one of two Class B's some 70 miles away under the state plan. At their studio, which is a mile from my station, the stronger of the two B's they monitor now has a LPFM first adjacent a 1/4 mile away. So that station can't be received anymore.

The other monitoring assignment also has a interference problem from a local first adjacent LPFM, but that LPFM is about 6 miles away off the back of their receive antenna. OK for now--but the LPFM channel finders show an upper first adjacent available for a new LPFM right in town.

This same station (the local relay) also has a proposed new translator on their second adjacent--across the street from their studios.
 
When a new LPFM, translator, or any other station comes along that makes monitoring an assignment difficult or impossible, the state EAS coordinator should be notified and a request to change monitoring assignments should be made. Sometimes, a station further away is easier to receive than the one selected by the coordinator. Usually, this is done and the problem is resolved.
 
If you have a problem with a translator blocking reception of (for example) your LP1 send a complaint letter to the LP-1 and the translator owner. If the public can complain about a translator and have the FCC shut it down don't see why this wouldn't work too.
 
Receiving AM's for EAS sucks. In NJ, we have WABC, which puts a VERY good signal over the northern half of the state. But with all the switching power supplies, lamp ballasts and other crap spewing noise, a clean signal is nearly impossible more than 25 miles out.

The whole thing is stupid. Sure, monitor other stations, but the primary input should be on a satellite. Everyone puts up a little DirecTV style dish and off it goes. How much bandwidth could EAS possibly consume? It's only using bandwidth when there is a test or emergency using the satellite.
 
The satellite would be a good backup. With unmanned stations at night there is a potential for snow in some area to "fill" the dish, This has happened a station I worked at in KY many years ago. I woke up one morning to white noise on my clock radio. We were using the analog satellite SMN / ABC service for overnights. When I got to the station at 5 AM, I looked back at the automation log and we had not received a tone to even fire the ID since 1 AM. It is amazing how loud the old Optimods could run white noise, about 98% on the mod meter. With everything digital I guess you get silence now. Then the sun fade issues in the spring and fall could be a problem too.
 
There are ways around that problem. Heating a 24" dish isn't a big deal. Hell, you could put the whole thing in a radome if you really wanted to.

It's better than trying to fish an AM station out of the muck. Again, with the small bandwidth necessary, a ton of FEC can be applied to make it work when your DirecTV service doesn't in heavy snow or rain.
 
New York state already does it with a dish.

NJ is just archaic with their EAS plan.
 
The talk about dishes, dish heaters and radomes, makes me wonder.....
How much money is "too much" for spending on EAS?

I've looked at AM MW loop antennas from people like Wellbrook (UK), and wondered how much a smaller station might spend. By the time you include shipping, you're probably in to it several hundred bucks. I don't know of a US distributor for them...maybe a group buy of several dozen/hundred would get the costs down some. Most of the loops that are designed for mod monitors are tuned to the station's frequency, aren't they?

Also, the NOAA antennas are an issue. Many stations here in Utah complained about a lack of strong NOAA coverage a while back. We checked in to antennas and such, and found that Lindsay makes a 75-ohm version of a 162 MHz antenna, as well as a smaller FM Yagi. Also, SITCO said they could do a Triax preamp, with input filtering for NOAA channels. You'd probably need that kind of "bullet-proof" install near an FM transmit antenna, or two-way stuff.
 
There is, but the question is how well will your home-brew antenna hold up 300' up a tower with icing and severe winds?

I could build one tomorrow, but sometimes it's easier to just spend $150 on something. Especially in my case with multiple clients. By the time I finally get home in the evening, if I'm building an antenna, it's for ME!
 
I just wonder, would hardwired POTS (plain old telephone service) circuits like the FAA uses with at least 99.9999 % availability (not counting drunks hitting phone poles and or operating backhoes) be more reliable. With a lot of folks going all cell phone and ditching their land line there should be lots of capacity and the phone providers should be willing to make a deal for their excess capacity.
 
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the internet. Check with your monitored station and see if they send their EAS alerts over their internet stream, if they have one. If they do, monitor the stream. Another option is, if you have a tower located outside of town, and away from the electronic noise, and have or can get) internet access, why not put a receiver there feeding a Barix Instreamer. Pull the feed down at the studio with an Exstreamer and feed your EAS box with it. Get a bi-directional link and you can use the internet feed as an STL backup.
 
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