[EAS] FW: The Daisy Chain

[Randall Miller]

Another trick I use when possible:
When I know the day and time of an upcoming test coming through, for example, the state relay, I'll monitor that source at that time to see how the levels hit my decoder (vs. the sources' normal audio).
No recording or activating is necessary.

I'll see emails on "EAS-OR" (the EAS remailer for Oregon) indicating the date and time of an upcoming local RMT in the Portland area (a different Operational Area than I am in), and since the state relay is one of the stations in that market, I know my decoder will hear (and ignore) that test.
I can underdrive or overdrive that sources' regular audio if need be, knowing the inserted EAS message will hit my decoder's ear just right (of course, I don't have to under- or overdrive the regular audio. They have their EAS insertions set correctly!).

If these national sources announced the date and time in advance of their tests, stations monitoring them could "tune-in" at that time to check the levels.

I figure this is probably not a realistic suggestion, though.
Even if the national player (Premier, etc.) could/would publish that information, the odds of station technical staff being available at a specific moment is probably a big ask.
At least we can access our decoders via web browsers now, instead of having to stand in front of the EAS box as it used to be.

Randall Miller
KOBI-TV Engineering