[EAS] EAS CAP and some thoughts

[Richard_Rudman]

On Mar 11, 2011, at 9:55 AM, Jim-M1-Radio wrote:

> My concern is this "change" in adding CAP to the EAS.  The most 
> prominent aspect currently in my mind (and there are others) has to do 
> with the, what I would call, blind reliance on this ubiquitous entity 
> called the Internet.  

Jim/Everyone:

There has been a lot of discussion among the sponsors of the EAS Forum in the last few days on the point you are raising about the Internet. Many of us who have been close to the evolution of CAP have been concerned about this for some time and have made our concerns known to both FEMA and the FCC.

I think there is a feeling inside the Beltway that leaving what I call "classic EAS" in place is the backup system. Aside from losing the benefits of CAP, I for one believe this viewpoint has to change. I do not think we can or should depend on FEMA and the FCC to change their current stance.   That said, I really hope I am wrong about that.

Opportunities to stand up multipoint distribution wireless links capable of handling a CAP message data payload can and should be on the table when LECC's and SECC's meet with government emergency managers.

I believe this could be accomplished faster and better than we can dare hope by simply talking to state and local governments to get agreements to override government low priority UHF repeater systems for CAP relay to create wireless local relay networks (LRN's).

This is not a new idea. It has been done before in my region, and I do not see any reason it could not be done everywhere there is a need. 

Connectivity to these local warning center CAP sources, regional aggregators, and back to the Federal aggregator will have to be established, so writing memorandums of understanding (MOU's) for radio systems may be the easiest part of this. Making this possible will be easier if an agreement to connect the CAP aggregator source to a data channel on a geo satellite can be put in place. Many entry points might even then consider installing satellite receive dishes to get the federal CAP aggregator stream that way. However, wireless CAP for state and local use must be a goal when (not if) the Internet does down.

Richard Rudman
CA SECC, Vice Chair