[EAS] Furthermore re: Fire

[Dale Lamm]

The ATSC receiver is a Novra A75. It has an F connector for external antenna, LAN connector and wall wart socket. About the size of an external computer modem from the 80's. A software utility is included, which allows the station engineer to change RF channels or PID. You can also keep an eye on SNR.

Normally, the A75 is direct-connected to a DASDEC running special software. The DASDEC has 2 NICs and one of them is attached to the station's LAN (behind a firewall of course!). Assuming the stations's present EAS device is also on the same LAN, the present EAS device can treat the DASDEC as just another CAP-IPAWS source to be polled.

The folks at OEAS (Ohio EAS) have done a super job of documenting the installation and providing assistance. Ours went in relatively easy. Tests are being received now.

There's not a lot of public information on the net about the hardware specifics. However, this URL will give a good description of the overall system:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/thewire/triveni-digital-teams-ohio-educational-tv-stations-and-digital-alert-systems-strengthen-dissemination-emergency-public-information/154934

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From: eas-bounces at radiolists.net [eas-bounces at radiolists.net] on behalf of Gary Timm [gteas at sbcglobal.net]

This Ohio model of distributing the CAP message rather than the Legacy EAS alert sounds like a good direction for us all to head as a way to avoid Legacy EAS messages airing ahead of the arrival of the CAP message.

Does anyone know what Ohio uses for DTV data receivers, and how much they cost each station?

Gary Timm
WI SECC

From: "Botterell, Arthur at CalOES" <Arthur.Botterell at CalOES.ca.gov>

As a fresh-page approach I'd recommend careful consideration of the "Ohio Model."  Using donated bandwidth from the state's public TV stations and their statewide fiber interconnect, Ohio has set up a rapid last-mile dissemination of CAP alerts data over the public stations' generally pretty high-powered transmitters.

Let's think a moment about what that means.  First thing it represents is a modern digital State Relay Network.  Because it's native CAP all the way to the edge of the network, it opens up a whole raft of opportunities for intelligent alerting devices that simply aren't available once the alert has been dumbed-down into the SAME format.  I'm thinking of everything from opening firehouse doors and such for earthquake warnings to flashers, shakers and other customized user experiences for folks with access and functional needs.

And while EAS devices can consume the CAP fed over the datacast, its entirely possible for the TV station to disseminate an alert without interrupting it's own program(s).  Meanwhile, location-aware receiving devices can determine for themselves and their owners whether a particular CAP alert is relevant to them.  Which was really one of the most fundamental notions behind CAP, and one that's been overlooked in both EAS and WEA.

(An important side consideration is that people frequently have "locations of interest" other than where they physically are at any moment.  Maybe a child's school, maybe a business or plant location.  By disseminating the actual CAP alert it becomes feasible to use intelligent receiving devices to tailor their behavior to their individual owners.)

Not making any sort of commercial endorsement here... we're doing our own evaluation of the technology now... but I do think the Ohio system is, if not a model for everyone, then at least instructive as an example of the sort of thing that's possible once we start thinking outside the CONELRAD/EBS box.

Art

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