[EAS] National EAS Test

[Harold Price]

Wayne, in principle, you are correct, and if they did just push the 
button, I think the EAN would work pretty well in areas with access 
to the PEP network,

There are several issues however, some technical, some human.

1) while there is a national test code, no one is mandated to use it, 
it is in few, if any, state plans, and few stations have it in their 
go to air filters.  Sending an NPT would fall on deaf ears.  The 3rd 
R&O lays the groundwork for changing that.

2) The emergency management types are always reluctant to send out 
live codes without warning.  The 3rd R&O allows for coordination on that.

3) The EAN is different than the other codes in the way it is handled 
by EAS devices.  The first live test in Alaska showed that there are 
some glitches in how that was handled, and the EAN can be improved by 
some stations changing their settings or updating software.  The 3rd 
R&O lays the groundwork for that.

4) And, since we don't do a national live code test very often, it 
would be nice to get the right kinds of feedback when the first one 
is run - also a topic of the 3rd R&O.

A nationwide live EAN won't be business as usual, some advance 
education will go a long way to getting the success rate for a live 
test close to 100%.

Harold

At 03:15 PM 3/9/2011, Wayne R. Miller wrote:
>It is amazing to me that there has to be so much gobbly-gook 
>involved just to do a national EAS test.
>
>Can't they just PUSH the button?  We in the industry actually do it 
>every week without an act of congress.