STATE
OF WASHINGTON
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
Approved by the
Federal Communications Commission, March
3, 1997
November 12 , 2008
Present: Terry Spring-KWPX-TV; Phil Johnson-CPS LECC; Roland Robinson-Bates Technical College; Ted Buehner-NWS Seattle; Jim Dalke-Dalke Broadcast Services; Clay Freinwald-Society of Broadcast Engineers; Don Miller-Washington State Emergency Management
By Phone: Ruth Brownstein-KAOS; Arthur Willetts-KWDK
Introductions were made and the minutes for the previous meeting were approved. Please note that, though the old, (broadcast.net) emailer still exists, it is not being used anymore.
The SECC national remailer is being revived. Co-hosts are Gary Timm and Richard Rudman. To subscribe, send an email to secc@broadcast.net and put subscribe in the body. To subscribe to the national SBE EAS remailer, go to http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/sbe-eas.
New EAS gear is coming. A Manufacturers Working Group has been formed to ensure the new equipment meets the new standards, whatever they may be. It is part of the EAS CAP committee which consists of about a dozen entities including the SBE, NAB, NEMA, etc. They will lobby for what we would want the new EAS to look like. To participate contact Clay at CFreinwald@entercom.com. He is interested in what you would like to see the new system do or any ideas you would have covering any and all aspects of EAS. For more information see
http://www.sbe.org/documents/SBEEASCAPWorkingGroupsDocumentMay162008_000.doc.
For an interesting article on the subject see http://www.radioworld.com/pages/s.0052/t.15899.html.
The FCC requires that each station receives two EAS tests and transmit one every week. If this does not happen, the reason why needs to be logged. Also, check the date and time on your ENDEC's periodically. The clocks in the units tend to drift over time. Also, check the batteries in the units. A dead or dying battery can cause bizarre behavior in some boxes.
The Netherlands now has an AMBER Alert system modeled after the American system. They use pop-ups on PC's, digital signage screens, email, text messages, and more to alert the public. They state, "The goal of the new system is to make use of the general public's eyes and ears in urgent missing children cases, to help trace the child more quickly. See http://www.amberalertnederland.nl/Default.aspx.
The new EAS gear will have to be certified. The FCC has a process for doing this, FEMA does not. FEMA would use the Organization for Structured Information Standards (OASIS). See
http://www.oasis-open.org/home/index.php. The FCC should be setting the standard because they have the clout to require its use. In any case, it will probably be a year before anything happens.
Kelly Williams, Senior Director of Engineering and Technology Policy at the National Association of Broadcasters is leaving his position. He will be missed.
The National Weather Service Seattle Office activated EAS for a flood warning Tuesday night. The new weather radio station for the upper Cowlitz worked great.
Tab 15 for the state plan was distributed in September.
The Oregon SECC will discuss a High Wind Warning protocol at their next meeting.
The NWS Hazcollect system is again moving forward. They plan to implement it in 2009.
The new EAS remailer is now in use. Go to
http://sea.sbe16.org/mailman/listinfo/eas-wa to sign up.
The SECC is still looking for a local chair for the Tri Cities. In the North Puget Sound are, Stephan Cornmesser of KVOS-TV has accepted the position of local chair. We still need a representative of the cable industry on the committee. And we are also recruiting members for the Technical Committee. Call Clay for more info.
A National AMBER Alert Conference was held in October. Some foreign countries are adopting their own versions of AMBER. There needs to be better training for law enforcement. Silver Alerts for missing seniors or disabled adults were discussed. These alerts are not appropriate for EAS. Lower level alerts should not include EAS activation. Cell phone alerts were also discussed. People could opt out of receiving alerts.
The state AMBER Alert Committee also met. More training for law enforcement was emphasized. It was also brought up that it was taking too long for alerts to get out. This cuts down on their effectiveness.
The test schedule for 2009 was discussed. There have been a couple of revisions to the schedule that was sent out the morning of 11/12. There are also some minor revisions in the notes. The schedule was approved.
In new business, the last (November) RMT was discussed. The state emergency management center originates alerts for the North Puget Sound area. For the last RMT, the duty officer used the wrong template, sending a RMT to all of Washington.
Event codes have been standardized for the Portland area. The stations in that area have been asked to forward certain event codes. The recommendations were made by the Portland/Vancouver Emergency Communications Committee, which has representatives from emergency management, the National Weather Service, and local broadcast stations. We have done something similar here and it is in the state plan.
The question of who maintains the EAS equipment at the entry points was asked. Usually it is the entity where the equipment is located, such as a local 911 center or sheriffs office.
Class D FM's need to have an EAS box that decodes only, although they can have a fully functioning EAS box if they so choose. For EAS questions contact Bonnie Gay at the FCC, bgay@fcc.gov.
AMBER Alerts are now being relayed on most of the amateur radio repeaters.
See http://www.easwatch.com for an interesting EAS product. The company is located in Sumas.
The next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 14, at 9:30 AM at Camp Murray.
Terry Spring
Chief Engineer
KWPX TV/DT
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