[EAS] Single point entry of CAP messages

[Tom Spencer]

Adrienne -

All that is fine and dandy - for TV and Cable Systems.

How does it benefit *radio*???

Legacy EAS is sufficient for radio, in 999,999 times out of a million.  
That one in a million is when the audio gets garbled - and I'd note that 
the data in the CAP message is also prone to being corrupted.  Garbled 
audio is less likely to occur than corrupted data - and yes, data can be 
resent, but that takes time - time which, as you point out, a victim may 
not have.  Garbled audio is generally at least partially intelligible on 
the first pass.  (Same as with any analog circuit; it's far more robust 
on the first attempt than any digital circuit.  It's amazing what the 
ear can hear. - or the eye can see, for that matter; even the tiniest 
bit of information can be gleaned from even the noisiest analog signal - 
but digital is all-or-nothing.)

I've spent a lot of time over the years deliberately seeking those 
signals - signals that are gone if digital, but through the pops, 
cracks, hiss, and crashes, the information generally gets there. 

Even managed to watch some TV from stations over 200 miles away, at 
times.  Snowy, but there.  No longer possible, alas.

Adrienne Abbott wrote:
> Jonathan--
> EAS may work well for you and your stations but it doesn't mean it works
> well for the rest of us. One of the biggest problems we have had since EAS
> took effect in 1997 is the lack of specific information in the text produced
> by the current EAS equipment.
>   
Snip
> However, you are right about one thing. Even with all the potential of CAP,
> there will still be problems. There will be a learning curve especially for
> the state and local law enforcement, emergency management and public safety
> agencies who will originate the messages. But just like we did with EAS, our
> job is to make it work.
>   

And this will still be the problem with CAP - because there's no mandate 
to the originators to properly originate!

> I would only ask you: how well does your 14 year old computer work these
> days?

It works fine, doing the task it was set to do.  Running DOS, even!

>  And are you still getting analog service for that bag phone you're
> carrying around? 

It would if the carriers still supported it.

> After all, those technologies worked too. Or have you
> upgraded since 1997? And was it really that tough to figure out your iPhone
> or Windows 7?
>   

What iPhone?  What Windows 7?  None of that stuff here.  Last Windows 
install was Win2kPro - now has SP4 included.  One system running Ubuntu 
Linux.

And I don't have - nor want - data service to my phone - not even 
texting.  Phone is for audio.  Computer is for text, graphics, 
internet.  And for security, the computers are linked via Ethernet, not 
WiFi.