September 4, 2003

Present:

Terry Spring-KWPX
Mark Allen-WSAB
Ted Buehner-NWS Seattle
Jim Tharp-Entercom
Lowell Kiesow-KPLU
Don White-KCPQ/KTWB
Jim Pace-Amateur Radio
Shelli Jones-KBCB
Roland Robinson-KSTW TV
Clay Freinwald-Entercom

The recent 911 outage EAS alerts in Snohomish and Whatcom counties was discussed. The latter was issued about an hour after it occurred. It was a good test for the new NWS relay system which worked perfectly.

There is a problem with the old two tones being sent as part of an alert. If everybody in the chain sends them, they add up. Research will be done to determine if originators have to send them. There will be more discussion at the next meeting.

In Forks, Al Monroe has passed away. KVAC and KLLM has been transferred to his estate.

The EM Net alert system was discussed. See www.comlabs.com. More states are starting to use it.

Idaho ran a test of their AMBER plan, and it was proclaimed a success by the Idaho Attorney General. Unfortunately they used the CAE code for the EAS part of it and did not coordinate with the Inland Empire local area, which receives Idaho alerts. Fortunately, Q-6 did not relay it.

Qualcom and Walmart will partner to relay missing children alerts to Walmart truck drivers out on the road using an in board system.

Clay will be in Madison, Wisconsin, from October 13-16 for the SBE Board Meeting.

The previous meeting minutes were accepted. They are now on the WSAB web site.

In old business, Wenatchee was discussed. Clay is still trying to get everybody together for an EAS meeting.

Under new business, mark October 7 on your calendars for the SBE Expo at the Washington Convention and Trade Center. From 10 AM to Noon the yearly EAS panel will occur. AMBER and other EAS topics will be discussed.

In Klickitat County, the Goldendale Chamber of Commerce called Mark Allen about how to set up an AMBER program. They were under the impression the SECC had grant money available for a sign. He gave direction on the proper way to set up a program locally.

In Easter Washington, their are still problems with the WSEM weekly tests, possibly caused by local law enforcement radio traffic on the Mount Spokane repeater. Walla Walla is working on earthquake preparedness. There will be a special RMT for the Hanford tone alert radios.

The Partnership for Public Warning was discussed. A common alerting protocol for passing alerts between different systems is being worked on. Alerts would be sent out in a common form no matter what the interface. The first demonstration would be in Washington DC. There will be an Expo there in October with many different vendors. What ever is done in the future should be backward compatible. The pilot program was to be at no cost to state and local governments, but now there are funding issues. Other systems are a possibility, and are being tested. There will be a demonstration on September 10th at WSEM of a different system.

There is a possibility of receiving state alerts via satellite. This is being looked into.

At the National Weather Service, there is a new system in place to relay audio for alerts. A dedicated PC is connected to their Sage unit to record received alerts. The recorded audio is cleaned up and put into the NWS weather radio system. I worked great on the last two alerts (see above).

September is weather radio awareness month.

On September 16th at 11 AM, there will be a Tsunami test using the EAS RWT code.

Grays Harbor wants a local EAS meeting. There has been a change in leadership at the local EOC.

The expansion of the NWS Seattle experiment was discussed. The national office is dragging their feet, and there is not much we can do.

NWS will have a booth at the Puyallup Fair and the Deaf World Expo on September 20.

The Capitol Peak project is still progressing. There is a possibility of a new weather radio transmitter in Packwood.

In WSAB news, Mark attended a conference in Dallas. It was skewed toward law enforcement. He would like to do a state conference on AMBER to educate local law enforcement. Broadcasters are frustrated and are pushing for a change from multiple-entry to a single entry point for AMBER EAS alerts. There could be resistance from some local law enforcement.

There is still a problem with cable systems covering local channels when they run their own alerts. The SECC would like a representative from Comcast to attend the meetings.

The proposed 2004 RMT schedule will be put on the remailer for comment.

The technical committee has installed an EAS reader board at NWS. The

NOAA Mark Trail Award has been presented to WSEM for installing and upgrading 3 weather radio transmitters in Eastern Washington, and their work at Hanford.

In amateur radio news, the Capitol Peak ham repeater now rebroadcasts selected EAS alerts.

The next meeting will be November 13th at 9:30 AM at Camp Murray.

Terry Spring
Chief Engineer
KWPX Seattle