[EAS] Observations and a question

[Rod Simon]

Gregory nobody forced you to wait till the absolute last monument to install the equipment, that was your choice. Equipment was available last year, we received and installed our DASDEC units last September and have only needed a couple of firmware upgrades that took less than 5 minutes to complete. So whining that someone was holding a gun to your head to make you work till midnight when that person was you, rubs me the wrong way.

As a person who has a lot of experience with disaster response and emergency management including serving on the national Red Cross Communications response team, being the communications officer for a county's Office of Emergency Management and doing consulting for local EMA around the state. My belief is that most broadcasters don't have a clue about Emergency Management, (there are definitely exceptions and many are on this list) and see EAS and now CAP as a necessary evil, not a public service. Everyone was so excited when a bill passed to include a section about EAS in the NIMS training, what would excite me would be that FEMA would develop a "Public alerting handler" training that would help broadcasters and others understand emergency Management. They should encourage all entities who handle Life safety messages including broadcasters, and make it mandatory for those who serve on state EAS committees and LP's to take this class.  

You do however raise a concern for the future that a incorrectly configured unit can be a big problem. Cap alerting is a great step forward but as ED stated in an earlier message, we are at the starting gate not the finish line.  Manufactures have had a tough time looking into that Crystal Ball and designing something that can and will work in the future as new systems and requirements are developed. One of the next big hurtles is incorporating polygon biased alerting verses the County level FIPS codes.   

As long as the current EAS system is still active, despite its archaic phone tree style of message dissemination, "life safety" will not be degraded. CAP can and will only enhance the "Life Safety factor.  As lessons are learned, upgrades are made, and systems are tweaked; the configuration (or programming as you called it) of these units will be a process not a onetime set it and forget it. Take the time and effort to compare what you receive and what you don't.  Learn how your brand of choice, label and has chosen to implement the various aspect of the Common Alerting Protocol.

Doing this shouldn't require you to become a recluse but someone who actually learns your system over time. Your statement "to become proficient in only a small sliver of technology which carries such stringent penalties if something is overlooked?"  This sounds like a typical broadcaster not a broadcaster who is really concerned with providing their listeners timely and correct information that will affect their lives. Because if you and your stations management truly have the listeners well being in mind and not the almighty $$, then compliance will be a snap. 

Rod Simon

-----Original Message-----
From: eas-bounces at radiolists.net [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On Behalf Of Gregory Muir

Good evening,
 
I enjoy occasionally browsing all of the banter on this list and have managed to pick up a few very useful items.  But I wanted to lend a comment and also ask a (probably naive) question.
 
The EAS list is a very good compilation of "what is," "what should be" and "what may happen" scenarios regarding the new EAS functions.  But I am having a basic problem regarding sifting through all of this information to come to some very basic decisions as to "how to work with it."
 
I am an engineer who is responsible for not only a single chain of six radio stations but also have to deal with several more plus a couple of television concerns in the outside world beyond my "normal" scope work each with their own needs.  The problem stems from the fact that I am only one engineer who has to deal with all of the technical issues amongst all of these entities.  From this comes the problem of having to deal with a constant majority of system upgrades, new system installations, off-air emergencies and such.  As a result my "basic" schedule ranges around a 14 to 16 hour day often 7 days a week.  And this doesn't include the EAS responsibilities of which this last week was entirely that forcing me to put off several major emergencies to accomplish the feat of last-minute ENDEC equipment arrivals and installations.
 
While spending all of that time (up until midnight each evening) installing the equipment, I quickly became aware of the manufacturer's (namely Sage) ambitious effort to put as many possible permutations as they could into the programming of the filters.  I respect the flexibility offered but spent a lot of time scratching my head as I went through the effort of trying to use my best judgment as to how to handle many of the events now affected by alerts emanated from new sources.  As I did, I quickly started to think that there has to exist somewhere an understandable (and reasonably brief and readable without every other word being an acronym for us neophytes to understand) document that could spell out in fairly simple terms the things that need to be addressed in order to get the filter programming correct possibly after a first or second iteration.  Granted the manufacturers are now providing "quick start" guides but that mainly addresses how to plug the unit in and turn!
  it on.  Beyond this is the aspect of what FEMA and the FCC require or expect to see coming out of a properly operating and programmed ENDEC.  Much of this is legacy we can glean from prior operating ENDECs but some of it is not.
 
So, am I in the wrong place and should I be looking somewhere else?  I do realize that there are other documents available but really have not found a satisfactory source that completely addresses this need.  Do I need to take a week off and become a recluse to pour over thousands of pages of "EAS speak" or "governmentese" to become proficient in only a small sliver of technology which carries such stringent penalties if something is overlooked?  Any advice is welcome.
 
Regards,
 
Greg
 
PS - Over the last couple of days I have had a chance to peer into the ENDEC programming works of other engineers.  From what I have seen, the best efforts of others has shown me that I may not be alone with respect to how one can approach and solve a problem in several different ways.  And this concerns me especially from the standpoint of life safety should the unit not understand the syntax of the person who programmed it.
 

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