[EAS] Next Generation

[ray at electronicstheory.com]

Sorry I'm just getting back to this - I've been out of pocket trying to solve
(of all things) an EAS problem at some of our local stations.
(In addition to my regiular duties - I maintain about 100 or so EAS boxes for
our network - a full time job in itself).
I haven't yet read all the responses - so someone else might have covered this.
I did miss one key point I mean to hit:

What if (and I'm just throwing balls out here), we had verification.
What if, after receiving an EAN, the box used its fancy internet connection to
request verification of the alert?

Yes I understand that the internet might get knocked out by a nuke/emp.  If it
does it is too late to send the alert anyway - the damage has already been done.
 Assuming that it hasn't, then we have a nearly instant way for the EAS boxes
across the country to say, "hey - I got this message - is it real?"

Of course there is the other issue
Our government can't make a healthcare website that doesn't crash.  How would we
expect them to make an emergency alert system that won't crash in an emergency.

Well, that is what a national TEST (and I do mean TEST) is about.

Let's stop the monthly state wide tests (or do them every other month?) and do a
national test that tests the national system on a monthly basis?

One test in 20 years does not a flawless system make.

In the end - if you don't expect what you don't inspect.  If you aren't willing
to make the effort to make sure the whole system works, you are going to wind up
with a system that doesn't, and never will work properly.

Now I'm not saying we send an EAN every month.  That would be absurd.  But how
about an NPT? (National Periodic Test).  I know it was built into the code, and
I know I've never seen one. If the NPT works, then the EAN/EAT should work.
  Furthermore, it should be sent via fips code 00000. I know it isn't in the
federal code - but it should be.  I shouldn't have to configure my box to get
Washington D.C. weather reports just so I can receive a national alert - and to
my knowledge, there isn't a way to tell even the fantastic DASDEC box "I only
want to receive EAN,EAT, and NPT messages from Washington D.C."

Now let me give up the soap box to people with more power than common sense -
like politicians.