[EAS] EAS Digest, Vol 15, Issue 19

[Tom Spencer]

I thought of a way that the intermediary device and a legacy device that 
can't be updated to include the "000000" location code.

1) in the setup routine for the converter, include this menu item:  "Has 
your Legacy Device been updated to include the national location code 
000000?"

a Yes answer skips over the rest of this, and sets the converter to pass 
the "000000" location through normally.

a NO answer continues with this workaround:

"Enter the location code of your primary listening area:" (This would be 
the location code for the primary listening area; only one would be 
needed; eg:  018097)

What this would do is substitute the code that the legacy box will 
recognize as being something it should take care of for the national code. 

That should work, shouldn't it?  Other than not rebroadcasting the SAME 
code for the national location, it would at least allow the legacy 
device to see a national event, I'd think.

The EAN and the rest of the header coding would remain the same SAME 
data... only the location code, which is in a specific field, would be 
changed by the converter.  And the converter has to be an EAS encoder, 
so that shouldn't be an issue.

Harold Price wrote:
> The footnotes indicate that the FCC is going to defer action on this until after they finish their review of the Nov 9 test. 
>
>       "Accordingly, it would be premature to take any actions with respect to adding a new national EAS location code until after we have reviewed and processed the test data from the November 9, 2011 Nationwide EAS Test. Accordingly, we defer taking any action on this matter at this time."
>
> The sticking point on this is the old legacy devices in the field, i.e., those that intermediary devices must depend on.  Many of those 16 year old devices can't handle a new 000000 code.  Some of those devices can't be updated.  The FCC can't mandate that those old devices be updated, only that they no longer be used if they don't conform with the new rules. Adding the 000000 code would make the use of the intermediary devices problematic.  Keeping EANs mired in 1996 may be an unintended side effect of allowing intermediary devices.
>   

-- 
Tom Spencer