[EAS] New England IPAWS Test Tech Webinars

[Kenyon, Alfred]

I want to encourage broadcast engineers and technicians at stations and cable systems in New England to participate in one of two special technical webinars being conducted by FEMA. The webinars are open to all but will specifically address the New England test. FEMA will conduct additional webinars in support of future tests in other areas of the country.
  
FEMA, working with state broadcast associations in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont is planning to conduct a New England regional IPAWS test in September.  This test will be a follow up to the tests conducted in West Virginia last September, which resulted in 90% of participating stations successfully carrying the National Periodic Test EAS code and second test involving participants in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee, conducted on Wed. March 18th which met with similar success.  FEMA is conducting a series of regional tests in preparation for a future nationwide IPAWS test.  The goal of these preliminary tests is to evaluate how messages are distributed and propagated throughout the system, and identify areas for improvement.  

The next regional test - which will involve participants in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont - will be conducted on Wed. September 16th at 2:20pm Eastern Time.  Local radio and television stations are not required to participate in the test; however, broad participation by stations will be very helpful in evaluating how the test messages propagate throughout the region.

In preparation for the test, FEMA is hosting technical webinars on Wed. August 19 at 2 PM eastern and Thur. September 3rd at 10 AM Eastern.  The webinars will outline how the September 16th test will be conducted, and will also provide information regarding EAS device configuration in preparation for the test. The technical webinars will discuss the technical side of IPAWS and conclude with step-by-step instructions for configuring various EAS devices. The two Tech webinars will be essentially identical. The webinars are scheduled on different days of the week and different times in hopes that one might be more convenient you are welcome to attend either one. The webinars will be recorded and available for later viewing as well.

Links to participate in the webinar are:  

Topic: NE ISSRT Technical Webinar I
Date and Time:  Wednesday, August 19, 2015 2:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00) Event address for attendees: https://femaipawslab.webex.com/femaipawslab/onstage/g.php?d=662686997&t=a
or
http://tinyurl.com/nufuecl

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Audio conference information
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US TOLL: 1-650-479-3207
Access code: 662 686 997
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Topic: NE ISSRT Technical Webinar II
Date and Time:  Thursday, September 3, 2015 10:00 am, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00) Event address for attendees: https://femaipawslab.webex.com/femaipawslab/onstage/g.php?d=662930173&t=a
or
http://tinyurl.com/nlrpfmc

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Audio conference information
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US TOLL: 1-650-479-3207
Access code: 662 930 173

Al Kenyon
FEMA IPAWS Engineering