[BC] Sage updated web page

[Keith Hammond]

Kevin Raper wrote:

>It is really the FCC's fault for sticking us broadcaster with this
expensive pile of Junk. EAS is still an out of >date Cold War Relic that
should be thrown on the Trash Heap of History. If anything, it should be an
Option for >Broadcasters, not mandated by Law.

Kevin, I normally agree with everything you say but, in this matter, I am
afraid that I will have to disagree as follows:

For national level emergencies, EAS does indeed appear to be useless.
However, before, during and after each and every local event (our deadly
tornado outbreak of April 27th, 2011, for example) I find that it's the
single most useful means of getting emergency information out to the public.

The best possible example that I can use is a tornado warning which, by
definition, means that a tornado has been confirmed and is approaching
someone. Many, many times, I have had people contact me thanking us for
being "first with the warnings". This is because, while all of the other
stations in the area are transcribing the official NWS release so their
local "star" can read it in their own station voice, we've already allowed
NWS to broadcast the message and this causes the other stations to lag by
three to five minutes on average. This is three to five minutes that can get
someone killed. I know. I watched this (literally) happen to an entire town
that is less than five miles from our station just over a year ago.

"Perfect Paul"* may not have a beautiful voice but, when my listeners' lives
are at stake, we can forgo the branding and imaging in order to save lives.

The point of all of this is that EAS does indeed save lives and serves a
vital purpose. The shortcoming is that there are no receivers in the hands
of the public that would make us a vital link in this chain. Yes, there are
some (around $70 to $100) that can be marketed through the station IF a
station wants to get into the business of selling radios. What I am *not*
understanding is (if a weather radio can decode and EAS encoded message and
be sold for under $30) why can the very same decoder used in weather radios
not be installed in AM and FM receivers at or about the same price range?

I know there is a very valid argument to just let the public monitor NWS and
to eliminate ourselves from the process entirely but, I see where most
people are already looking at local stations as "a big iPod that I can't
control" so, I am not too enthused about further removing my station (or any
other station) from the chain of information. Why go to great lengths to
remove local stations from the chain and teach the public to NOT come to us
for vital information?

Keith Hammond
MonsterFM.com / Broadcast Technical Services
LPFMRadio.com
830 Hillsdale Road
Jasper, Alabama 35504