[EAS] ALL USA FIPS CODE; converter boxes

[Dave Turnmire]

I'm just curious... has anyone evaluated which of the popular EAS 
decoders currently in the field are already capable of handling the 
proposed "national FIPS Code" (000000)?  I took a look at my DASDEC and 
it appears to support it.  How about the other products out there?  I'm 
particularly interested in products that are either old enough 
technology to require a chip replacement to update firmware ($$$) or 
those few decoder vendors that charge $$$ for software updates.

I'm guessing that for many of us, either our existing hardware already 
supports this code or will be able to at no cost other than engineering 
time.   But at least one vendor charges over $1K for software updates on 
their currently shipping products and others charge something like a 
$100 for a replacement firmware chip on older products... assuming they 
would even make that firmware available.

Numerous broadcasters tried to save money by purchasing converter boxes 
with old boxes.  It is probably not too soon to identify which of those 
will become non-compliant under current rules on June 30, 2015 and which 
of those systems the new National FIPS Code requirement will eventually 
make non-compliant (depending on what date the FCC sets).  The stations 
most likely to have invested in these "cost saving" solutions may be the 
ones that need to the most lead time to save up their pennies for a new 
box...

Dave