STATE
OF WASHINGTON
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
Approved by the
Federal Communications Commission, March
3, 1997
January 14, 2009
Present: Terry Spring-KWPX; Ruth Brownstein-KAOS; Jim Dalke-SBE; Alex Brewster-KDDS; Clay Freinwald-SECC Chair; Mark Allen-WSAB
Via phone: Arthur Willets-KWDK; Elray Rasmussen-Comcast Spokane; Dennis Hull-NWS Pendleton; Kevin Noyes-Skagit county; Phil Johnson-Central Puget Sound Chair; Don White-KCPQ; Art Blum-Retired
Clay Freinwald called the meeting to order and introductions were made. The minutes from the previous meeting were approved. Please note that the minutes are distributed on the remailer and are also available on the WSAB web site, http://www.wsab.org/eas/eas.html.
Remember that is an FCC requirement to keep an EAS log, showing tests received and transmitted. Make a note of any test failures and the cause. The remailer is a good place to find out why tests, such as the RMT, have not been received. You should receive at least two tests a week. The National Weather Service suspended their RWT's during the recent weather, but they have started doing them again. An actual alert counts as a received test.
There is a new, non-commercial radio station in Sequim. They are working on getting their EAS monitoring assignments.
KIRO-AM will be changing formats in April. Their EAS status will not change. KIRO-FM cannot be substituted for the AM signal for EAS monitoring purposes. National emergency messages are still inputted directly into the AM transmitter.
Credentials to allow broadcast personnel to access their facilities in emergencies were discussed. The WSAB did this some time ago but the program was dropped. The local police will handle access on a case by case basis. The local authorities could not be forced to accept the credentials, anyway.
There are several vacancies at the SECC. A cable chair is needed. Local chairs are also needed in Southeast Washington and the Columbia Basin. Stephan Cornmesser is now chair of the North Puget Sound area.
The EAS activity during the recent inclement weather was discussed. Each station has to decide what to relay and how.
The last CPS RMT from Kitsap County was discussed. It appears their ENDEC was not programmed correctly. There might have also been some procedural issues. Phil Johnson will be visiting them soon.
Phil Johnson presented a policy for RMT's that go bad. The high points are that the RMT will not be resent unless the problem can be corrected immediately and that an explanation will be posted to the remailer as soon as possible. The full document has been posted to the remailer and will be discussed at the next meeting.
The bad audio from SNOPAC has been investigated and appears to be an RF problem rather than an audio problem. There are planning on moving their transmit antenna from their roof to their tower.
Do stations have to relay all alerts? Mark Allen will put a list of suggested alerts to be relayed on the remailer. Most are voluntary.
Clay is trying to drum up support for amateur radio participation in EAS, mostly for their technical expertise.
The updating of local plans was discussed. This should be done periodically. The SECC will assist. The Central Puget Sound area will meet in the first quarter. All the local areas should meet periodically.
In Oregon, the National Weather Service will be using EAS for high wind alerts, similar to what the NWS is doing in Washington. This was done on purpose as some of the Oregon NWS regions extend into Washington.
It looks like La Niña has returned. This would mean more moisture in the northwest.
The Washington State Patrol will adopt the AMBER and endangered person plan as an administrative rule (WAC). They will be reviewing and revising the AMBER plan as part of the process.
EAS Summit #5 will happen March 29 & 30 in Washington DC. They are now working on an agenda.
Most counties have an EAS plan. We are working on the few who don't.
About 90 people have signed up for the new EAS remailer.
Roland Robinson has a new phone number: (253) 680-7754. This should be corrected on Tab 1 of the state plan.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, March 11, at 9:30 AM at Camp Murray. The meeting dates for the rest of the year are as follows:
May 13; Jul 8; Sep 9; Nov 12
Terry Spring, Chief Engineer
KWPX TV/DT
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