Q. What stations should we monitor?


A. The State SECC can only require you to monitor 2 sources. (See the State Plan for your assignment) Usually this will be the LP1 for your area and NWS (Weather Radio). It works better and makes a more redundant system if you also monitor the State Relay Network and your Local Area Network. By monitoring these sources you will receive the alert / test when it was issued. Delay and distortion will be added by each relay in the system. If you cannot hear / receive one of your required sources or have assignment issues contact Lowell Kieso at KPLU. (253) 535-7758.

LP1 & LP2 stations are required to monitor additional sources.

Q. Where can I find a good receiver?


A. Sage / Harris sells a very nice package, (SAGRM- 3.) It has quality receivers and works well. You can put an AM & FM module plus 1 or 2 VHF or UHF receivers in the same unit. It makes a very nice installation and is handy, but it is a bit pricey. http:broadcast.harris.com A rack mounted car radio works well for AM or FM. You do have to treat the antenna input a bit. (Not 50 Ohms). For VHF and UHF, I recommend some style of good crystal controlled receiver with a good front end. Hamtronics sells some nice VHF & UHF receivers that work well. Mount them in a Bud Box and rack mount the boxes and your good to go. http: hamtronics.com. Avoid scanner type receivers. I would also avoid TFT receivers. Use outdoor antennas, a whip antenna inside a building is just plain dodgy. Sage seems to now be shipping the Dayton Industrial (AFC3) receiver package. http:daytonindustial.com

Q. Can't I just use the paper tapes as a log?


A. Technically you could, but each piece would need to be signed and kept in proper order. It makes it very difficult if not impossible to comply with the signing requirement and have room for all the other notations that may be needed. It makes it very difficult to keep track of the calendar week. An inspector may not like having to go through all the tapes to see the big picture. Overall it's just a bad idea.

Q. What EAS events should we relay?


A. FCC rules require you to relay an EAN / EAT (National Alert, President want's to talk to everybody) and the monthly test (RMT) for your area. All other events are voluntary. The SECC has published a list of events they feel are important and how they should be handled. This was added to the State Plan as Tab-25 in January of 2002. I feel it is a station's responsibility to provide important life threatening information to its listeners if it has that information. It would be irresponsible if your station received an EAS alert and someone died because you did nothing.

Q. How long do I need to retain our EAS Logs?


A. Broadcasters two years, Cable TV three years, they then can be destroyed / discarded. If during these two years legal issues come up (as in a lawsuit or FCC review), you may be required to retain certain logs for a longer period.

Q. How do I subscribe to the Washington State EAS re-mailer?

A. We have a re-mailer that is used as a discussion / notification system dealing with EAS issues for the State of Washington. If you have a question, all you have to do is ask and somebody will come up with the answer. It is also helpful when monthly tests go bad or other nasty things happen. Usually there is some discussion of what happened and how it is to be resolved. To subscribe go to http://www.broadcast.net/listinfo/eas-wa and follow the instructions. You may wish to subscribe to the digest version if you find the e-mail volume overwhelming. This holds messages for a while and then sends them out in a single e-mail. This works well, but if traffic is slow messages may be held for quite a while before being sent.

Q. Where in the audio chain should the EAS equipment be installed?


A. Each station is unique and there is no simple answer for this. Basically it needs to be in a placed so it common to all modes your studio may use. If you have operators on duty 24/7, then it is legal to have it on an input to the board, but this is highly discouraged. We have found that if a unit is programmed properly, it works much better to have the unit "inline". If programmed properly the box is usually smarter than the Board Op / DJ, and by being "inline" it eliminates all kinds of Board Op / DJ errors. If you are automated for any part of the day, then you are required by the FCC to have it "inline". This may be just before your STL or may be just after your board.

I have wired our stations so the EAS equipment is wired to a patch point within the board, just before the final amplifier. This way the Board Op / DJ will see the EAS audio on the VU meter, and it will be heard on the board output.

Q. Where can I get a copy of the State Plan?


A. One should have been mailed to your station already. If you don't have it or can't find it, contact Mark Allen at WSAB. Telephone: (360) 705-0774, Fax: (360) 705-0873, wsab@mail.tss. He should be able to help you. There is a sanitized online version at http://www.wsab.org/eas/html.

Q. Where can I find a copy of the FCC EAS Handbook?


A. Contact Kris McGowen at the FCC, Seattle Office, (425) 820-6271. You can also find a printable on line version at http://www.fcc.gov/eb/eas/,

Q. Where can I obtain a copy of the Local Area Plan?


A. Contact the chairperson of the LAECC for your area. Some areas in Washington do not as yet (Feb 2002) have an approved plan. (LAECC - Local Area Emergency Communications Committee)

Q. How would an EAN / EAT work?


A. If there is a National Emergency and the President want's to address the nation, then an EAN is sent out over all the PEP stations. KIRO is the PEP station for the NW. All our EAS units will lock up on this audio for the duration of the speech / notice. There is no time limit to how long this might be, but it is expected that it should not be over 45 min. to one-hour total. At the end of the speech they will send an EOM signal and your unit should switch back to normal programming. At this time we now have a National Emergency in progress and you may wish to switch to your newsroom or network or what ever else you can do to keep your listeners informed of the Emergency.

At the end of the Emergency, it could be several days or weeks later, they will issue an EAT. This will be pretty much like a normal EAS event with a header, tones, voice message and EOM. Again your unit will automatically switch to the alert and back to programming with the EOM signal.

Don't try and make a lot of sense out of the EAS handbook that you are required to keep at the control point. The FCC themselves don't truly understand how the system works. Their instructions don't always match reality. Keep the book to show to the inspector, but don't expect it to make sense, and don't ask the inspector to explain it.

Q. How does a State EAS alert work?


A. If something occurs here in Washington that requires a state wide EAS alert, the Duty Officer at WSEMD, Camp Murry, would step up to the EAS unit and enter the event code, address, time duration and would record the message. He then presses send and it goes out on the State Relay Network. The NOAA stations receive it and relay it as well as the LP1 & LP2 station. (We are working on the NOAA part). Every Radio, TV, and Cable System in the state should now have it, and it is up to them as to what happens from there. Hopefully they will relay the message or will turn it into an immediate News Bulletin or Announcement.

This part of the system works very well and has been used in the past. This system is tested several times a year with the Monthly Test.

Q.How does a Local Alert work?

A. This may vary from one area to another, but here is the general concept.

If something occurs at the county or city level that requires a EAS Alert, the Duty Officer or Emergency Manager steps up to their EAS unit and enters the event code, duration, and records the message. They may send it live. They then press send and it goes out on the LRN for that area. The NOAA stations receive it and relay it as well as the LP1 & LP2 for that area. (We are working on the NOAA part). Every Radio, TV, and Cable System in that area should now have it, and it is up to them as what happens from there. Hopefully they will relay the message or will turn it into an immediate News Bulletin or Announcement.

This works in most areas and is being continually tested with the Monthly Test. A few real alerts have been issued in the past. Currently there are a few areas that don't have a Local Area Plan nor do they have a LRN working. This is a work in progress.

Q. Can our EAS equipment be interfaced with our automation system?

A. I'm only really familiar with the Sage unit. A TFT can also be interfaced see. Automating the TFT EAS911,

A Sage could be interfaced with an automation system but it gets tricky. There is only one input to the box. It can be programmed to do the weekly test or it can be used as a monthly test / alert hold off. It can't do both. There is a company that sells a small add on box that connects to one of the RS-232 ports. You could use it, as the second needed input. http ://dmengineering.com Your automation system would then need to give a contact closure when it wants to do a weekly test, and another closure to tell it when to send the monthly test / alert or as a hold off. The Sage unit has a closure that could be used to tell the automation system that an EAS event is pending. I don't know of any stations that have done this. Usually stations will use the single input to do the weekly test, but a monthly test / alert is sent immediately and just stomps on the program.

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