[EAS] Converters or not?

[Mike McCarthy]

If the FCC starts making selective exceptions based on the relative age 
of equipment, then the slippery slope of pigeon holing the rules starts 
and consistency slides into oblivion. First the secular stations plead, 
then comes the religious stations begging for mercy from the latest 
requirement. Eventually, the standard goes into the toilet. Rules are 
rules and unfortunately they're mostly age agnostic.

I think most of us have spent time in college and/or high school radio 
and know to what you are referring. I started my life in radio within 
the shanty walls of a high school class D and then time at two college 
stations. If it wasn't for the gracious donations of their old equipment 
made by folks in and out of the business, most school based stations 
would have never made it on the air let alone survive to this day. Most 
of learned being frugal at that point. The time span is irrelevant as 
each generation had it's own challenges, legal requirements, and 
sustaining efforts to meet. Our little Class D station needed and got 
it's TFT EBS box in the 70's as did every other high school station 
around us never mind the college stations.

Every licensee acknowledges when they sign the initial Form 301 there 
are inherent capital costs of sustaining their operation. If a licensee 
feels the privilege of operating the station is becoming excessively 
burdensome, it's their choice to pack it in. Which many stations around 
here have done over the years when one thing or another has forced a 
brightly lit examination of the operation and benefits for the monies 
expended.

That's not to say or suggest your specific operation isn't worthwhile. 
But when one looks at the bigger picture (as I did when looking at the 
converter V total unit issue) the fact is your then 11 year old 
Holly-Anne box needed to be repaired already. It was/is a functionally 
deficient unit. Buying the proper device now under a planned budget is 
far better than an emergency purchase your operation would be less 
likely to afford. Not to mention the new boxes get away from the the 
printer/paper/ribbon requirement.

And if you're an automated station any part of the day, the newer boxes 
are far more automation system system friendly.  I can't say that for 
the Holly-Anne unit without investing heavily in outboard devices and 
circuitry.  Then again, that's what high school and college radio is 
for...experimentation.

MM

On 3/5/2012 12:43 AM, Edward Ford wrote:
> Let's not assume that every EAS unit in the field is 25 years old.  I have a HolyAnne HU-961 that's from the dawn of EAS (factory repaired in 2008) but it's a back up unit.  Our main unit I bought was bought in late 2008.  Some broadcasters may have EAS units that are less than 5 years old.  From the quotes I got, the price difference between a converter box and new unit was $800.  That's a lot of money at my non-commercial station operated by a college district.  And if we didn't make revenue from sports broadcasts, we would even have the converter box.  If that buys time until 2015, that's fine.  If it buys 10 years, then that's even better.  With the state of cutbacks at colleges, our radio program will have been axed long before then.
>
> It would be nice if every station could have newer equipment.  However, if 25 year old equipment wasn't allowed then a large number of radio stations would be going off the air.