[EAS] Warning, Again

[Ed Czarnecki]

That's interesting.  The source audio we captured on a DASDEC was crystal clear (from the audio resource in the CAP file).  It was TTS, but it seemed good quality (I had attached the file, but this list strips out attachments).

 
Ed Czarnecki | VP Global and Government Affairs | Digital Alert Systems Inc. 

From: EAS On Behalf Of Larry Wood

Quick FYI,

The LP1 did not send the EAS alert described below. The audio we broadcast must have been TTS. And what look like typos in my quoting of the TTS audio are what I heard when I played it back.

Cheers,

Larry Wood,
KQED-FM

From: EAS <eas-bounces at radiolists.net> On Behalf Of Ed Czarnecki

A few observations on this:

I was sent the audio captured from the CAP message, as well as the decoded CAP message for this event. The voice (female TTS) was clear and distinct, but otherwise the content was as Larry describes - short and uninformative. As an LP-2, perhaps the audio was degraded from the LP-1 transmission source. But, again the audio message itself was quite different from the text included in the CAP source message (audio file just under 8.8 seconds in length).

The CAP text is much more descriptive, decoded as: "A civil authority has issued A FIRE WARNING for the following counties or areas: Napa, CA; at 2:10 PM on OCT 1, 2020 effective until 2:10 PM. Glass Fire currently burning in Napa County. Severe winds forecasted for later Thursday afternoon could increase fire danger. If you feel unsafe or ordered to evacuate, please leave immediately, whether directed to evacuate or not. Residents are asked to remain alert and leave the area if you feel unsafe. Residents looking for clarification on this information are encouraged to call the CAL FIRE information line at (707) 967-4207 or the Napa County Public Information Line at (707) 253-4540. The National Weather Service in San Francisco has extended the Red Flag Warning ... which is in effect from 1 PM Thursday through 6 AM PDT Saturday. If you feel unsafe or ordered to evacuate, please leave immediately, whether directed to evacuate or not."

Observation: alert originators should strive to keep the audio message as close to the textual message as possible. Alert originator software providers should stress that in their training materials.

It was also mentioned in this thread that several other jurisdictions still do not utilize the EAS warning channel, despite repeated information about the limits of other systems (WEA, telephone dial out, etc.).

Observation: Alert originators need to use all the tools at their disposal, as appropriate for the situation and event. With fast moving wildfires, which present a very real risk of telephone/internet (VOIP) services being disrupted, I would make the case that EAS is a tool that should be strongly considered. Alert originators should be reminded of this in their training. Alert origination systems providers should give more weight to EAS in their product orientation - I understand that that one software provider barely mentions EAS.

Federal partners (FCC, FEMA) should continue to stress the importance of EAS as a tool - I've heard too many times that the emphasis is more on WEA. Which is fine, expect for folks like me who turn their mobile phones off when I'm watching TV, or just tired of the text message spam and robocalls, or constantly forget to charge the phone.

####

Ed Czarnecki
Chairman and Executive Director, NextGen Video Information Systems Alliance - www.nvisa.org<http://www.nvisa.org>

-----Original Message-----
From: EAS <eas-bounces at radiolists.net<mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net>> On Behalf Of Larry Wood

Yesterday KQED-FM San Francisco received an EAS from CAP. (see below)

The audio was short and up cut, 8.7 seconds. And what there was of the audio did not follow the text below. "tream fire danger. Stay alert. Leave area if you feel unsafe. Follow burst responders." That was all there was to the audio. No location details or anything else. Our operator sent the alert without first listening to the audio. Then when he heard what was broadcast he read the text contained in the alert. This alert was worse than useless. As the LP2 I sure hope no one monitoring us sent the defective alert.

Larry Wood, CPBE
KQED-FM