[EAS] State Plan Mapbooks

[Gary Timm]

There appear to be differing opinions on what is contained in the FCC Mapbook.
 
Rule 11.21(c) says: "The FCC Mapbook is based on the above plans.  It organizes all broadcast stations and cable systems according to their State, EAS Local Area, and EAS designation."
 
The "above plans" it refers to are the State plan and Local Area plan.
Under State Plan in 11.21(a), it says "State EAS Plans should include a data table, in computer readable form, clearly showing monitoring assignments and the specific primary and backup path for the EAN from the PEP to each station in the plan."
 
These statements to me mean the Monitoring Assignments are in the State Plan main document, and all the FCC Mapbook comprises is a list of stations and cable systems showing their EAS Local Area and EAS designation.  And in fact, the last FCC Mapbook that was supplied to Wisconsin by the FCC itself in the year 2000 has just that info (See: http://www.sbe24.org/eas/FCC-MAPBOOK-0400.pdf)  The first 3 pages are every City of License in the state, the County it is in, and the EAS Local Area that County is in.  The rest of the document is a list of call letters and cable ID numbers showing their City of License and EAS Designation.  Although explanation paragraphs in the EAS First R&O said FCC would be supplying each state these Mapbooks, that never made it into the actual Part 11 rules and FCC stopped doing that in 2000, so that is the last FCC Mapbook posted for Wisconsin.
 
So the FCC Mapbook is just really an extension of the FCC database (and should and could easily be produced by FCC).  Wisconsin's Monitoring Assignments are kept in a separate Appendix and amended as needed, but are not considered a part of the FCC Mapbook.
 
Since the FCC Mapbook is merely an always-out-of-date list of call letters, I maintained in my comments that it is useless and should be eliminated.  The Commission is still considering whether the FCC Mapbook should be eliminated - it is one of the decisions deferred until after the results of the Nationwide EAS Test are fully analyzed - so stay tuned, the FCC Mapbook may be going away - another reason to not put alot of effort into this useless info that the FCC already has in its database.  I dare say no one has ever looked at our FCC Mapbook.  With our Monitoring Assignments table organized by county in a Plan Appendix, everyone can easily find their assignment, and no "call letter by call letter" list is needed.  Tryng to maintain that list is a futile waste of time, IMHO.
 
Gary Timm
WI SECC

--- On Fri, 4/13/12, Adrienne Abbott <nevadaeas at charter.net> wrote:

>From: Adrienne Abbott <nevadaeas at charter.net>

>Let's first define the FCC Mapbook...it is more than a "map"...it is a list
>of all broadcasters in an EAS Operating Area and the stations they are
>supposed to monitor. The perimeters of an Operating Area are defined by the
>coverage of NOAA weather radio transmitters and the Local Primary stations.
>Not an exact science, to be sure, and the process of developing the Mapbook
>takes some time and detective work. Originally the Operating Areas came from
>the FCC and were based on coverage from the old EBS. The boundaries have
>since been defined and refined.

>There are three EAS Operating Areas in Nevada and the signals from NOAA and
>the LP stations do not overlap their boundaries due to the sheer size of the
>state and our mountainous terrain. Those signals do overlap into other
>states so there are stations in California, Arizona, Utah and Idaho that are
>part of the Nevada EAS Plan because they can't monitor NOAA and LP stations
>from their own states. Each Operating Area here has an LECC and a
>relationship with state and local law enforcement, public safety and
>emergency management officials.

>Frankly, it took years to update the original list of stations in each
>Operating Area. And before I published the new Mapbook, I tried to contact
>each station to confirm their ability to monitor their assigned stations.
>The FCC also considers the Mapbook an "enforcement tool" for when they
>inspect stations and want to make sure the EAS equipment is set to monitor
>the appropriate stations. The Nevada Mapbook is posted on the Nevada
>Broadcasters Association website, wwwnevadabroadcasters.org and I
>occasionally receive information from stations updating their status, call
>letters and ability to monitor their assigned stations, so a Mapbook has to
>be considered a "living document". 

>To begin the process of updating the original 1997 Mapbook from our original
>EAS Plan, I used the FCC database to develop a list of stations in the
>state. You can generate an Excel spreadsheet from the database and then put
>it in any order that makes it easy for you to produce your list--I put mine
>in alphabetical order and then started pulling out the different communities
>of license in a particular Operating Area. Then I used the geographical
>features of the database to find stations in a given area. This was
>particularly helpful in finding stations in other states where I wasn't as
>familiar with the names of cities, towns and old railroad watering stations
>where the FCC decides to put an allotment. I found that once you identify a
>transmitter site you can go to Google Earth and actually look at for other
>towers. You can use those coordinates to search the FCC database for nearby
>stations.

>I will say that this process took years because for the most part, I would
>only have an hour or two to devote to it but two things kicked it up from
>being a "hobby" to actually becoming useful work. The first was the DTV
>conversion and the need to understand the extent of the OTA coverage of TV
>stations and translators in Nevada and the second was the National EAS Test
>and the FCC's emphasis on Monitoring Assignments for the test. Now my
>biggest challenge is keeping up with call letter changes.

>Adrienne Abbott
>Nevada EAS Chair
>"Radio burps, it cries, it needs to be fed all the time, it requires
>constant attention, but we love it." Jim Aaron WGLN

>-----Original Message-----
>From: possiblefraudstart_"us.mc1817.mail.yahoo.com"_possiblefraudend_eas-bounces at radiolists.net [mailto:possiblefraudstart_"us.mc1817.mail.yahoo.com"_possiblefraudend_eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On
>Behalf Of Richard Rudman

>As most of you know the FCC expects to see a map book in state EAS plans
>that actually tells the story of how the LECC's in the state are stitched
>together.

>We are looking for best practices on how to compile map books for state
>plans. If any of you relied on your state emergency management partner to
>create the map book for your original plan, and will do so for your
>re-write, please let us know.

>If anyone has software that might help with this that does not cost two arms
>and a leg, that would be good information to get out to the group as well.

>I wonder if Google might have a low or no cost solution that could be used.
>If anyone has thoughts on that, please chime in.

>Regards,

>Richard
>The BWWG

>_______________________________________________
>This is the EAS Forum Discussion List

>Please invite your friends to join our Forum!
>http://lists.radiolists.net/mailman/listinfo/eas

>And, remember the main page: http://eas.radiolists.net