[EAS] EAS on Internet Streams

[Lowell Kiesow]

Sorry Adrienne, but I disagree.  You ARE correct in that the EAS box 
must be near enough to the transmitter that nothing done by an 
operator or an automation system would prevent an EAN from being 
broadcast without human intervention.  Putting the EAS output into a 
pot on the console, or where automation supercedes it, is a quick way 
to be found in violation.  Field inspectors have said as much, and 
there have been fines for it.

The reason the box was supposedly to go after the audio processing 
was because virtually all modern processors react to solid tone by 
decreasing the level such that the modulation is about 40% or 
less.  Broadcasters and manufacturers made the FCC aware of the folly 
written in 11.51 even before EAS went on line.  In fact, I had a 
telephone conversation, in mid 1996, with the EAS guru at the FCC 
(his name escapes) and he agreed with me that placement ahead of the 
processor was appropriate and the minimum modulation requirement 
wasn't practical.  It has been un-written policy to ignore that rule 
even though it wasn't deleted from Part 11.  AFAIK, no station has 
ever been fined for not meeting tone modulation minimums due to 
having the processor after the EAS box.

The fact is that the aural warning message will be far less effective 
without proper compression and peak limiting applied to keep its 
perceived loudness on par with the surrounding programming.  I know 
of no, none, zero, zilch, not any stations where EAS isn't installed 
ahead of the main station audio processor.

At 06:37 PM 7/22/2011, you wrote:
>EAS equipment was supposed to be the last thing in the broadcast chain
>before the signal went to the transmitter. That way activations could take
>over the program signal, especially in automated operations, so the signal
>for the Internet feed would come off before the EAS equipment. That means
>that the duck quacks and attention signal don't get on the Internet feed
>unless someone is using a true "off air" feed and not a program feed for the
>Internet.
>Adrienne
>

         Lowell Kiesow, Chief Engineer
         KPLU 88.5, KVIX 89.3, KPLI 90.1
         www.kplu.org  www.jazz24.org